Replies to post #287462 on Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[ieddyi]

Interesting that you chose to pimp the "72% of people won't be affected by the report" line

How about this line:??

"47 percent -- feel that the military is making progress in Iraq, "

I don't see where you get the "pissed off 75% of the electorate"

So, the meme has shifted from " the surge is a failure " to " well, what about the political situation. Dontcha think there MIGHT be a connection between the 2??????

WHAt will the new meme be when there are signs of political progress.

Also funny how you discount members who were opposed to the war changing their tune after visiting there as a "dishonest political stunt" then trumpet one Rep senator who changes their mind.
Interesting that you think that these senators are making a stand against huge public pressure. They usually aren't known for principles stands that are unpopular.
Yeah, and you probably think the rating of Congress is down to 18% because they aren't radical enough

Your myopia is comforting because I know I can always count on you taking the wrong side of every issue

[PegnVA]

delete

[PegnVA]

Wow - that's a bombshell from Sen Warner (R-VA)! No way this admin can continue to ignore calls for a pullout...no way.

[SiouxPal]

Great thanks.

[ieddyi]

US pressure forces move to reconciliation


· Shia, Sunni and Kurdish parties achieve consensus
· Deal may not be enough to end boycott of cabinet

Ian Black, Middle East editor and Ed Pilkington
Monday August 27, 2007
The Guardian

Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, and fellow leaders in the country have reached consensus on key areas of national reconciliation, under mounting US pressure to demonstrate political progress on the eve of a key report to Congress on the Baghdad security "surge".

The Shia prime minister appeared on television flanked by Jalal Talabani, the country's Kurdish president, and the Sunni vice-president, Tareq al-Hashemi, to announce a deal on easing restrictions on former members of the Ba'ath party joining the civil service and military.

Easing de-Ba'athification laws passed after the 2003 US invasion has long been seen as a vital step if disenchanted Sunnis, who formed the backbone of Saddam Hussein's regime and, since its fall, of the insurgency, are to be persuaded to take part in Iraqi political life.

Agreement was also reported on holding provincial elections and releasing detainees held without charge across the country, two more of the "benchmarks" set by the Bush administration for political movement it hopes will stave off mounting congressional demands for a withdrawal from Iraq.

It was not immediately clear how, or when, these moves would be implemented and how far they would go to reversing the almost total Sunni boycott of the cabinet - the centre of Mr Maliki's difficulties. The beleaguered prime minister, facing mounting criticism from within the Bush administration, announced earlier that Mr Hashemi's Iraqi Islamic party was about to join with the four Shia and Kurdish parties which recently forged an alliance.

Mr Maliki said a committee formed by the parties had reviewed the current political stalemate and "accomplished some solutions".

Last week a US national intelligence report cast doubt on Mr Maliki's ability to heal the country's sectarian divide and predicted "the Iraqi government will become more precarious over the next six to 12 months".

The report forecast increased criticism from within the Shia-led coalition, as well as from Sunni and Kurdish parties. "Broadly accepted political compromises required for sustained security, long-term political progress and economic development are unlikely to emerge unless there is a fundamental shift in the factors driving Iraqi political and security developments," the report said.

In separate comments, Mr Maliki lashed out at his detractors with invective that focused on the Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. At the end of a week that saw George Bush make a rare attack on the Iraqi leadership, Mr Maliki ridiculed US politicians who talked about the country "as if it were one of their villages". At a press conference in Baghdad, he reserved his harshest words for Mrs Clinton and her Democratic colleague Senator Carl Levin, saying they needed to "come to their senses".

Mrs Clinton has made criticism of the Bush administration's prosecution of the war a mainstay of her presidential campaign. After a two-day trip to Iraq with Mr Levin, she last week added her voice to a growing list of influential Americans calling for the removal of Mr Maliki. She urged the Iraqi parliament to replace him with a "less divisive and more unifying figure".

There were further signs of Mr Maliki's weakening grip on power when the former temporary prime minister, Ayad Allawi, removed his faction from the "unity" government on Saturday and put himself forward as an alternative.

The growing pressure on the Iraqi leader comes at a sensitive moment in relations between Washington and Baghdad. The American commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, will soon present Congress with his analysis of the success or otherwise of the so-called "surge".

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence said last night that British forces have withdrawn from a base in Basra that they had shared with Iraqi police in the first phase of a plan to move all troops out of the city centre.

A small number of troops had been stationed at the provincial joint coordination centre where they had been helping to train Iraqi police.

Control of the facility has now been handed over to the Iraqi army.

Hmmm, better start thinking up new talking points- the surge is going well- signs of political progress- what will the labials complain about next??