More details of the new Iraqi cabinet are now out. The big and rather ominous surprise is that Ahmad Chalabi is the temporary Petroleum Minister. It has not in the past been easy to pry him out of positions once in them. And, in the past, whenever he has been around big money, a lot of it has mysteriously disappeared. Some are saying that at least he has the background to deal with foreign oil companies. But lots of Iraqis have such a background. The point is that Chalabi doesn't know anything about the petroleum industry and also has a poor business reputation to put it lightly.
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The new Iraqi government was approved by parliament on Thursday, by 180 of 185 MPs in attendance. About a third of parliamentarians did not show up for the vote. These probably included the 39 remaining members of Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya List, which was not awarded any cabinet posts. The Sunni Arabs weren't happy, either, though they only have 17 seats anyway.
Ghazi al-Yawir, now a vice president, termed the cabinet "disappointing" and complained about its sectarian character. Tariq al-Hashimi of the Iraqi Islamic Party complained that the new cabinet did not represent Iraq and would not bring national reconciliation. (- Ash-Sharq al-Awsat). He said that none of the persons suggested for cabinet posts by the IIP had been chosen, and blasted the current cabinet line-up as "racist."
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Coming along nicely, I'd say.
Resurgent Taliban forces attacked Afghan police and a US patrol on Wednesday, leaving one American soldier and 4 policemen dead.
CNN says the US has 18,000 troops in harm's way in Afghanistan as well as substantial NATO forces. Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri are at large. Parliamentary elections are due. The US was struck from there. It is a story.
The US media are not covering this story, and it is shameful. [...T]he US public should demand better coverage of Afghanistan as long as we have that many troops there.
Afghannews.net is a good place to follow the story. You'll note there that the neo-Taliban stormed a district HQ just recently.
For a US National Guard's experiences in Afghanistan, see
Jean-Paul Borda's Blog.
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