No Deal On Iraq Election Bill

Despite Push By Bush & U.S. Officials, Kurdish Autonomy Over Oil-Rich Region Remains Stumbling Block

(AP)  Despite intense U.S. pressure, Iraqi leaders failed Sunday to resolve differences over how to govern the oil-rich city of Kirkuk - a dispute that is blocking provincial elections and stoking tension in the volatile north.

Parliament had called a special session Sunday to try to reach agreement on a bill authorizing elections in all 18 Iraqi provinces - a move the United States considers essential to reconciling Iraq's rival ethnic and religious communities.

But the session never convened because intensive talks among party and legislative leaders were unable to produce agreement on a formula that would satisfy Arab, Kurdish and Turkoman demands for governing Kirkuk.

Kurds consider Kirkuk their traditional capital and want to incorporate it into their self-ruled region of the north. Arabs and Turkomen want the city to remain under central government control.

Last month, parliament approved an election bill after Kurdish lawmakers walked out in protest. But President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, rejected the bill and sent it back to parliament.

With the elections bill held hostage over Kirkuk, U.S. officials have been stepping up pressure on the Kurds and other groups to resolve their differences so the provincial balloting can take place this year.

U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and U.N. special representative Staffan de Mistura met late Sunday with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other top leaders to try to hammer out an agreement that could be submitted to parliament.

President Bush telephoned the Sunni parliamentary speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani and Shiite Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi to urge a resolution, according to statements Sunday from their offices.

"President Bush has been working with the Iraqis to encourage them to work out their differences and get the provincial elections law passed," said White House press secretary Dana Perino.

The United Nations has recommended postponing provincial elections in Kirkuk and surrounding Tamim province while allowing the vote to proceed in Iraq's other 17 provinces. A committee would make recommendations on how to govern Kirkuk by the end of the year.

A senior parliamentary official said lawmakers were leaning toward approving the U.N. proposal, but Sunni Arabs and Turkomen were seeking international guarantees. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.

The issue of Kirkuk, the center of Iraq's vast northern oil fields, has emerged as a litmus test for the ability of Iraq's ethnic and sectarian leaders to compromise on critical issues in the interest of national reconciliation.

The Kurds control the current provincial council, which would be up for re-election in a new ballot. Arabs and Turkomen have called for a quota system for council seats to guarantee representation of all communities - a demand the Kurds reject.

"The struggle in the country is now turning from a sectarian to an ethnic one due to the Kurdish behavior, which poses a danger on the country," said Dhafir al-Ani, a Sunni Arab lawmaker. "There are efforts and wishes to end this crisis but they always fail due to the obstinacy of the Kurdish parties that want to annex Kirkuk at any price."

Issues such as Kirkuk underscore U.S. fears that the improved security in Iraq is fragile because Iraqi leaders have failed to exploit the drop in violence to reach long-term political and power-sharing agreements.

U.S. officials fear that al Qaeda in Iraq, a Sunni group, and Shiite extremist organizations may seek to exploit lingering social tensions to undermine security gains.

Residents of Kirkuk fear that if lawmakers fail to reach agreement, tension could rise in the city, where a suicide bomb attack killed 25 people last week during a Kurdish protest.

"I hope they can reach a solution that fits all parties and prevents the situation from deteriorating further," said Yelman Ayad, a 59-year-old Turkoman who sells spare car parts in Kirkuk.

"The mistakes of politicians brought us to this stage. Our social fabric was torn up in Kirkuk, and this is very dangerous for all of Iraq," Ayad said.

[samsel3]

The Times of India August 2007 reported : " Iran, Iraq signed an agreement to build pipelines for the transfer of Iraqi crude oil and oil products." Under the deal crude will be refined and sent back to Iraq. Bush opposed this agreement and wanted the Iraqi Parliment to accept and sign a U.S. designed oil law that would result in huge profits for BIG OIL. Iraqi oil workers and 63% of Iraqis polled are opposed to the Bush law and prefer a hands off Iraq oil policy.

Reuters UK December 30, 2007 Reports: "Bin Laden says U.S. seeks to exploit Iraqi Oil". OBL states: "America seeks, alongside it''s agents in the region, to create an allied government...that would accept in advance the presence of major U.S. bases in Iraq and give the Americans all they wish of Iraqi Oil.

[six-six-seis]

ok ok, the Surge worked, now re Deploy and hold them Kurdish Fields.....

[juwboy]

nextGenMan:

The Constitution states that Supreme Court Justices shall hold their offices during "Good Behavior".

If you believe any of them have acted otherwise, explain why steps have not been initiated for their removal from office.

[imprisonkarl]

Uhhhh-ohhhh. Looks like Five Deferrment Dickwad Cheney''s gonna have to go kick some a$$!

How dare anyone deny our Supreme Leader the fulfillment of his whims?

Haliburton''s bottom line must not be allowed to suffer. This cannot be stand!

Hope everybody''s ready for the invasion of Iran to commence! It should coincide with the Rethuglicans'' convention, around 9/11 -- just in case anyone misses the symbolism -- with a coup d''etat following closely on the heels of that obscenity of uber-patriotic indulgence.

[nextgenman]

nextGenMan said:

"You`ve mistaken me with somebody else".

Wrong again, nextGenMan.

Posted by juwboy at 06:27 AM : Aug 04, 2008
----------

I''m never wrong sweetheart.

And BTW, which country had its President chosen by its Supreme Court.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[juwboy]

nextGenMan said:

"You`ve mistaken me with somebody else".

Wrong again, nextGenMan.

[nextgenman]

Hilarious. People like me have been saying since day one of the invasion that Iraq would never be an Amurrica-lovin'' puppet state because the various factions had other plans.

Even dingdong Cheney said that back in ''93 after the first gulf war.
Which is why Daddy Bushs didn''t go in....

Failure is the only thing RINOs know how to succeed at....

[nextgenman]

Posted by Nancy_Naive at 06:17 AM : Aug 04, 2008
---------

Have a small stroke over your keyboard?

[nextgenman]

yongamerica:

Pay no attention to NextGenMan.

Last week, when I said "In MOST Moslem countries, NO-ONE votes", he called me a liar and then named only a handful of Moslem countries where people have the right to vote, usually for a slate of candidates from a single party.

NextGenMan:

What part of MOST don''''t you understand?

People like you come here to our country, steal our jobs, but you don''''t even make the effort to learn our language.

Go back where you came from!!!

Posted by juwboy at 05:20 AM : Aug 04, 2008
-------------

You''ve mistaken me with somebody else screecher boy....

[juwboy]

yongamerica:

Pay no attention to NextGenMan.

Last week, when I said "In MOST Moslem countries, NO-ONE votes", he called me a liar and then named only a handful of Moslem countries where people have the right to vote, usually for a slate of candidates from a single party.

NextGenMan:

What part of MOST don''t you understand?

People like you come here to our country, steal our jobs, but you don''t even make the effort to learn our language.

Go back where you came from!!!

[jetman4u-2009]

CAN''T WE ALL JUST GET ALONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

[downtowner97]

Effed in the A.

[spadeisspade]

Can''t says I blame the Kurds; right now, Northern Iraq is the only safe and stable part of the country. Could be argued that it''s because of its self isolation...therefore admitting other groups into the fold would be a threat to what they have going on...

That country is so effed.

[deacon20081]

If Dubya is the Super Hero BlunderBush, Nancy, I guess McCain is the new MC-UNDERDOG, My guess is that DEPENDS would play a vital role.

[deacon20081]

Just crious I guess but why on earth would the Iraqis listen to anything George Bush tells them?
Oh that''s right he''s the "Uniter President"

[nextgenman]

Only the Turks and Syrians who have been waging decades of genocide on the Kurdish people have anything to fear from the Kurds and their rightful demands for autonomy.

Posted by yongamerica at 04:53 PM : Aug 03, 2008
-------

You obviously have no clue about the history of the region.

Take a lunch break, let another Belgianweiser-drinking, America-Lover at McLiverspot HQ take a turn at the computer.

[nextgenman]

Well, that would be beciae the Kurds don''t give a rattsass about the Shia and Sunnis and want their own nation in North Iraq and South Turkey.

But hey, the Surge is working and an American-Friendly Freedom is on the March in Iraq....HAHAHAHAHAH!!!

[secundus2]

Turks, Syrians and Arabs have all given the Kurds terrible reasons to want autonomy; their consent is crucially important, as it should be in a parliament.

[pvperson]

I wonder what McCain has to say about this road block in Iraq, oh I forgot, he''s to busy screen name calling ads that compare Obama to Paris Hilton and Britany Spears. This from a man that has cultivated appearances on over a dozen movies and TV shows calls Obama a celebrity. Maybe you need a new publicist McBush, but frankly I''m beginning to like those ads. They ridicule Obama childishly, but in the long run they show the republicans and especially McCain to be buffoons, unable to address real issues and left to go the lowest possible road. Keep up the good work McBush, you make people think twice about your being president.

but,...but,... the surge is working....