Iraqi parliament adjourns in blow to Bush..."We do not have anything to discuss..."

[ProSense]

Iraqi parliament adjourns in blow to Bush

By Mariam Karouny
26 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament went into summer recess for a month on Monday after political leaders failed to agree on a series of laws that Washington sees as crucial to stabilizing the country.

Lawmakers said the government had yet to present them with any of the laws. The parliament had earlier signaled its intention to go into recess in August after cutting short its summer break that normally starts in July.

"We do not have anything to discuss in the parliament, no laws or constitutional amendments, nothing from the government. Differences between the political factions have delayed the laws," Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman told Reuters.

The parliament is due to reconvene on September 4, just two weeks before the top U.S. general in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and Washington's envoy to Baghdad, Ryan Crocker, are due to report to Congress on the success of U.S. President George W. Bush's new Iraq strategy and make recommendations.

The recess leaves Bush with little to show Americans after sending nearly 30,000 more troops to Iraq to give Iraqi leaders breathing space to reach a political accommodation.

"Bush cannot realistically go to Congress and say he has to keep U.S. troops there because the Iraqi government is doing a good job -- because the government is largely absent. It places him in a very difficult predicament," said Gareth Stansfield, an analyst at leading British think-tank Chatham House.

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[bdamomma]

1. yea, can't stop them from them taking that vacation

and ours for that fact, while our troops/and Iraqi civilians are getting killed every day.

[Kagemusha]

2. I bet the Kurd lawmaker is correct; parliament is not the place for debate over there.

It's a place for rubber stamping decisions that have been worked out through long periods of negotiation between the big political/ ethnic/ religious factions. And those negotiations are not going smoothly, it seems.

So if no one even submits stuff to parliament, what's the point of them staying?

Aside from the US public's sensibilities, that is. Not like they were actually going to get anything done. This is not to excuse the parliament - it is to underline that the mess is even bigger than it has been portrayed to us.

[liberal N proud]

3. Why do people fight for governments ruled by egotist?

Leaders of nations sit high and mighty making decisions that effect the lives and deaths of thousands and shrug off the loss of human life and destruction around them. They have no respect or remorse for those who suffer and sacrifice for their decisions.

Why would anyone lay their own life down for the decisions of such fascist pigs?

[cliss]

4. Well, that's one way of getting rid of your occupier.

They know very well how desperate Bush is right now. They also knew that if they took off for a month-long vacation, Bush would have nothing to show this September, when the crap is about to hit the fan.

The Iraqi Parliament will be gone, the bombs will still be going off, and US troops will still be getting killed.

This was Bush's last chance to show some progress. Bush will have to face Congress, with absolutely NOTHING to show them. If the Iraqis wanted us to leave, that was the way to do it.

[Subdivisions]

5. But..but..but...