Iraq VP has added his voice to calls for PM Ibrahim al-Jaafari to stepdown

[Roland99]

Iraq's vice-president has added his voice to calls for Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to step down
http://www.rawstory.com/showarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fnewsvote.bbc.co.uk%2Fmpapps%2Fpagetools%2Fprint%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2F2%2Fhi%2Fmiddle_east%2F4877432.stm

Adel Abdul Mahdi is the most senior figure in Mr Jaafari's dominant Shia alliance to urge him to withdraw.

...

Mr Mahdi's comments came a day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw ended a visit to Baghdad to press for swifter movement on establishing a government of national unity.

He told the BBC's HARDtalk TV programme that Mr Jaafari should step down because he had so far failed to get the approval of minority political groups in parliament in his efforts to form a national unity government, and was also facing rejection within his own block.

The US was reported in Baghdad last week to have taken a similar view.

Coincidence??

[saltpoint]

1. Maybe Tom DeLay should send along his resume for the top spot in

Iraq.

Darn it, he's just not ready to retire just yet, and this could be just the thing.

[Roland99]

2. Well, DeLay *did* say this about Houston in comparison to Iraq >>>>>>>>>>>

http://www.brazosriver.com/rick.htm

“You know, if Houston, Texas, was held to the same standard as Iraq is held to, nobody'd go to Houston, because all this reporting coming out of the local press in Houston violence, murders, robberies, deaths on the highways.”

[saltpoint]

9. I'd forgotten about that, but he DID say that! OMG and then some.

DeLay was acknowledged on DU for a long time to be a horrible public servant, but quotes like the one you just posted remind us that he might have been worse than even we thought he was!

Thanx for the post, Roland99.

[Teaser]

3. Mahdi wants al-Jaafari's job

The US is just an ally of convenience here. It's funny, we want to reign in the death
squads, but SCIRI (MAHDI's party) does most of the death squad work. We're handing over the gov't (or trying to) to the worst culprits.

Some misguided types think giving SCIRI the PMship will halt the death squads, but that just isn't going to happen. As it is SCIRI is preventing the deployment of Iraqi police not affiliated with its militia. So shiite death squads are on the menu for Iraq no matter who is in charge.

If SCIRI keeps pushing this, Sadr's bloc and the DAWA party will party will withdraw from the UIA (they have both stated as much) leaving the UIA without nowhere near a majority in parliament.

Furthermore Sadr's group has been itching to kill some SCIRI boyz for a while now. This is a good reason for them to do so.

[K-W]

4. Its clear the real President of Iraq is George W. Bush EOM

[wordpix]

5. so much for swifter movement on unity gov in Iraq - based on this, we're

not leaving the chaos * created for a long time yet. IMPEACH THEM ALL!

[SoCalDem]

6. maybe Bush needs to send in these guys..They did it once before

[Roland99]

7. heh heh

[Roland99]

8. Kickeroo

Mostly cuz I've had a few beers. ;)