Majority Of Iraqi Parliament Calls For Timetable For U.S. Withdrawal
Majority Of Iraqi Parliament Calls For Timetable For U.S. Withdrawal
Today, the New York Times highlights a visit to Capitol Hill by Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie and reports that al-Rubaie is “trying to persuade American lawmakers who have all but run out of patience that still more patience is required.”
The Times piece fails to note that in June 2006, Rubaie was calling for a significant troop reduction. He wrote in the Washington Post, “We envisage the U.S. troop presence by year’s end [2006] to be under 100,000, with most of the remaining troops to return home by the end of 2007.”
Rubaie’s call for “more patience” is increasingly out of touch with Iraqi opinion. AlterNet reports a significant development that has yet to be noted in the U.S. media — a majority of Iraqi parliament members have signed a petition calling for a U.S. withdrawal:
On Tuesday, without note in the U.S. media, more than half of the members of Iraq’s parliament rejected the continuing occupation of their country. 144 lawmakers signed onto a legislative petition calling on the United States to set a timetable for withdrawal, according to Nassar Al-Rubaie, a spokesman for the Al Sadr movement, the nationalist Shia group that sponsored the petition.
[…]
Reached by phone in Baghdad on Tuesday, Al-Rubaie said that he would present the petition, which is nonbinding, to the speaker of the Iraqi parliament and demand that a binding measure be put to a vote. Under Iraqi law, the speaker must present a resolution that’s called for by a majority of lawmakers, but there are significant loopholes and what will happen next is unclear.
A new Gallup poll finds a majority of Americans — roughly 60 percent — are united with the Iraqi parliament.
Sort Comments By: Top Rated | Date
64 Responses to “Majority Of Iraqi Parliament Calls For Timetable For U.S. Withdrawal”
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
So…they’re not going to throw flowers?
May 9th, 2007 at 10:36 amWhat part of “democracy” do these elected Iraqis not understand?
May 9th, 2007 at 10:38 amThere’s an old saying: Why buy milk when the cow’s free?
The Iraquis apparently are incapable of self rule, so they need some other fool to make the decisions, govern, control, etc. When everything is nice again, then they’ll be willing to take over.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:40 amIt looks as though the Iraqis are standing up. Time to honor your earlier words Bush and prepare to stand down.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:40 amSo….the Iraqi parliament wants us gone…
The Iraqi people want us gone…
The American people want us gone…
The American soldiers want us gone…
The American Congress want us gone…
So…who doesn’t want us gone?
Chimpy & Co.
Big Oil.
The terrorists.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:42 amDon’t worry. Bush will veto this bill just as he did the funding bill from Congress. That’s how democracy works in colonial Iraq.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:43 amTripMaster Monkey- don’t forget the right wing talking heads whose only strategy consists of “victory” and “winning” without ever defining what those are.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:46 amdon’t tell paul……
May 9th, 2007 at 10:49 amLet’s have a U.N. vote on American withdrawal from Iraq! Then Shrub can boast, “I ignored the will of the whole world!” Woo hoo!
May 9th, 2007 at 10:49 amOn Tuesday, without note in the U.S. media, more than half of the members of Iraq’s parliament rejected the continuing occupation of their country. 144 lawmakers signed onto a legislative petition calling on the United States to set a timetable for withdrawal
Liberal media? Huh?
oh, and isn’t democracy grande? I’d love to see what this administration thinks of the Iraqi people’s will.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:50 amYeah? Who cares? WE toppled Saddam to give them freedom…and they think they can use that freedom to do whatever they want? /sarc
May 9th, 2007 at 10:52 amDon’t leave without the OIL! My pick up truck is going to have to go on blocks in my front yard if these gas prices keep rising! It’s killing me.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:56 amMaybe the Iraqi parliament and the US Congress can get together in a conference committee to put together a bill that will pass in both countries with a plan for getting their act together and withdrawal of US forces within a year. That would be interesting.
Of course Bush would still veto it because he wants a victory - whatever that means.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:02 amParliament is a cigarette.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:09 amWasn’t Al-Rubaie appointed by the provisional authority? It’d be surprising if he said anything other than the Bush administration’s lines.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:09 amYes most Iraqis want the US to leave Iraq ASAP, but Bubba Boy Bush and Darth Dicky Cheney refuse to give up the OIL. The lust for black-gold crude has driven them into utter madness. King George III of England went insane and now King George Bush has gone insane too.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:10 amThis won’t make a difference, just like the majority will of the American people makes no difference to Bush. Do we have to wait until not a single person agrees with him, and he still continues to be an idiot, before he can be impeached? It’s just become so ridiculous and grows ever more so by the day.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:11 amand Pall Mall describes their legislative agenda
May 9th, 2007 at 11:13 amGood one Raven.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:19 am133 Iraqi lawmakers out of 275 so far have asked the US to set a timetable for withdrawal —— This is being ignored so much that the 133 Lawmakers TOOK the claim to the UN security council two days ago
May 9th, 2007 at 11:21 amThis was legislative petition was taken to the UN security council for backing
May 9th, 2007 at 11:23 amI wish politicians would quit equating the Iraqi people with the Iraqi government. The Iraqi people are just trying to survive. The Iraqi government is going on vacation for two months, and some members of Parliament are willing to privatize Iraq’s oil. When we say the Iraqis aren’t standing up, it infuriates me. They can’t even get food or decent water or electricity, thanks to America. They’ve been every bit as traumatized as our soldiers (if not more), and I’m tired of the belligerence toward the general population (not by those commenting here, but by our members of Congress and those assclowns Cheney and Bush).
May 9th, 2007 at 11:25 amI say leave Iraq so they all kill each other!
May 9th, 2007 at 11:30 amThen let’s LEAVE ALREADY!!!!
May 9th, 2007 at 11:35 amLeaving Iraq will be a blessing.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:38 amIran and The Saudis will fight over the carcass of Iraq!
It’ll be great seeing Jihad on Jihad violence.
Leave now so they all fight!
Why doesn’t the Iraqi Parliament care about the Iraqi people? Don’t they know that they’ll all die if we leave?
Why are they such terrorist sympathizers? It’s as if they think they are a soveriegn nation or something. As if….
May 9th, 2007 at 11:43 amCrump,
May 9th, 2007 at 11:52 amThe reason most people favor withdrawl isn’t because the American people care for Iraqi’s. It’s because if we leave the Jihadis will kill each other.
I would love to see a poll asking Why we should leave Iraq?
The majority will say so they can destroy each other.
ok, so Americans want a timetable, Iraqis themselves want a timetable, but Bush still won’t budge? he just doesn’t know how to plan or manage anything…
May 9th, 2007 at 11:57 amJoker,
I guessing your ‘joking’, or you’re an idiot. You really want a withdrawal so that human being’s can really kill each other more? I want a withdrawal so our troops are no longer caught in the centter of a civil war that they have no business being in.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:57 am“I guessing your ‘joking’, or you’re an idiot. You really want a withdrawal so that human being’s can really kill each other more? I want a withdrawal so our troops are no longer caught in the centter of a civil war that they have no business being in.”
We have the same position.
If we leave the Jihadists destroy each other.
They will expend their energies on each other rathet than us!
Why do you care about Jihadists.
Let them kill each other!
Pete Bogs,
May 9th, 2007 at 12:06 pmBush is too stupid to realize, we leave the Jihadists destroy each other!
Joker,
Many of the people fighting in Iraq are not “jihadists”. They are sectarian groups fighting for a share of the poilitcal pie, and trying to settle old scores. It has nothing to do “Jihad”.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:13 pmIt has nothing to do “Jihadâ€.,
Yes it does.
The Al-Qaeda led Islamic State of Iraq claims they are fighting a Jihad agaisnt the Us presence and The Shia who they view as Un-Islamic.
The Mehdi Army is killing Sunnis because as Shia they belive in the return of the Mahdi hence they commiting Jihad to bring about the return of the 12th Iman.
Also when we leave, Iran and Saudi Arabia will intervene and set of a Jihad vs. Jiahd war!
May 9th, 2007 at 12:22 pmIt will be great!
If the Iraqi’s want us gone - then I support that decision. Of course, I would not want to see such an achievement until Congress agrees to allow more refineries (which is the reason our gas prices are higher with cheaper by the barrel oil) and suspends all gas taxes until the new refineries are up and running. (We’ll convert them to water eco-friendly fuel when necessary.)
Tooodles……….
May 9th, 2007 at 12:39 pmJoker
“The Al-Qaeda led Islamic State of Iraq claims they are fighting a Jihad agaisnt the Us presence and The Shia who they view as Un-Islamic.”
When was Al Qaeda elected to lead Iraq? Dumb. Can’t talk with you anymore Joker. I’m done arguing with people that just make sh*t up.
Perhaps the Neo-Con led Christian state of America could fight a crusade against the presence of those they fins unchristian?
May 9th, 2007 at 12:45 pmYou could park it right next to that Ford station wagon on block and the transmission in the bath tub you already have in your front yard that would take a combine to mow.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:47 pmCrump,
May 9th, 2007 at 12:49 pmThe Islamic State of Iraq is the Jihad group in Iraq led by Al-Qaeda.
I can’t talk with someone who doesn’t know what I was talking about.
They are already killing each other. Hence the whole civil war thing.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:51 pmThe majority will say “because it is a waste of our fu*king money and The Joker is a dumb fu*k.”
May 9th, 2007 at 12:52 pmvaliant venus
I don’t see where the oil producers have any incentive to build more refineries. To do so would take money out of their profits, which come from the increased price which comes from the limited supply which comes from the lack of refineries. Such a “catch-22″. I also don’t see how gas taxes could be suspended without seriously cutting into government revenues which are already seriously compromised.
BTW, I appreciate the more civil tone of your post.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:53 pmSo then, we shouldn’t expect to hear the tired old line about them following us back here from you right? Good.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:54 pmAnd once again, it doesn’t have anything to do with jihad, because most of the population of Iraq IS NOT IN AL QAEDA.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:55 pmSo, you are saying that if we pretend to be as dumb as a neo con, you will go away? Sweet.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:57 pmWe already have refineries right here in the US that are kept in working condition, but refine no oil. You need to catch the fu*k up. Your hatred for the liberals has clouded your vision so you do not see that which is right in fron of your face.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:00 pmThen you missed this part.
This is mighty aphrodite’s way of telling you to fu*k off.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:01 pmSponge Boy,
“And once again, it doesn’t have anything to do with jihad, because most of the population of Iraq IS NOT IN AL QAEDA.”
A good portion of the Sunnis are supporting the Al-Qaeda led Islamic State of Iraq. There vare other groups that Al-Qaeda has allied itself and now has become dominant. It is a Jiahd because the Sunnis view Shias as fake Muslims. Again you defend the Jihadists.
Why?
“So then, we shouldn’t expect to hear the tired old line about them following us back here from you right? Good.”
I never belived that for an instance. If we leave the Sunnis and Shia’s will be at each other’s throat.
The Iranians and Saudis will interven so will all the Jihad groups.
They will destroy each other.
We leave, we win!
May 9th, 2007 at 1:06 pmThe Sunnis are a fu*king minority stuper fu*k.
And you will still be a dumb fu*k.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:15 pmConsidering that a large portion of Iraq’s leaders also want us to withdraw, Bush should perhaps give it more consideration. We have already spent over $300 billion on this war and lost countless lives. And as all this has been occuring we have been ignoring other pressing world issues, such as poverty. According to the Borgen Project we could eliminate extreme world hunger with $19 billion annually. The US agreed to the Millennium goals in 2000, promising to work to cut severe poverty in half by 2015. I haven’t heard Bush mention that agreement in a while.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:18 pmThe Sunnis are a fu*king minority stuper fu*k.
The Islamic State of Iraq is fighting the majority Shias because they view them as un Islamic. That’s Jihad.
That’s why the Saudis will jump in to save them, then Iran will jump in.
They will destroy each other!
We win!
May 9th, 2007 at 1:19 pmAnd you will still be an idiot.
Everything you fu*ktards has predicted has NOT come true. Almost everything you people has said has turned out to be WRONG.
So, you just sit there in your wrongness and be a moron. Moron.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:29 pmSponge Face,
“Everything you fu*ktards has predicted has NOT come true. Almost everything you people has said has turned out to be WRONG.”
I never supported this war idiot!
May 9th, 2007 at 1:44 pmYou are supporting it right this very minute moron.
Also, stop with the idiotic Rush Limbaugh spellings of my name. If you can’t properly cuss at somebody without having to use third grade tactics, then just give up.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:58 pmMy goodness, The Joker knows crap about Islam. The theological differences between Shia and Sunni are not that different. The biggest conflict is more ethnic than religious. But even Iraqi nationalism could trump that difference.
The fact is the invasion was illegal. The UN resolutions that the trolls have brought up were passed after the fact. The UN, unlike the White House, is a practical body that knows it has to live with the world as it is and not the world as John Bolton thinks it should be.
Interestingly, if this resolution should pass, the US is screwed. The UN Security Council resolution becomes null & void and the US becomes the enemy. And the resolution –what is it? 1723??– runs out this year. So what’s Bush’s rush with Congress when it’s the Iraqi parliament who’ll be kicking his butt soon.
May 9th, 2007 at 2:40 pmhttp://www.priceofoil.org/
Iraqi Union Set to Strike over Oil Law
Iraq’s largest oil workers’ trade union will strike tomorrow, in protest at the controversial oil law currently being considered by the Iraqi parliament. The move threatens to stop all oil exports from Iraq.
The oil law proposes giving multinational companies the primary role in developing Iraq’s huge untapped oilfields, under contracts lasting up to 30 years. Oil production in Iraq, like in most of the Middle East, has been in the public sector since the 1970s. Continue reading ‘Iraqi Union Set to Strike over Oil Law’
May 9th, 2007 at 3:05 pmWell, there you go. According to polls Iraqi citizens want us to leave by a 2/3 majority and now a majority of the Iraqi Parliament wants us to leave. WTF is stopping us? Oh yeah, Bush and his buddies love for unmetered sweet crude.
May 9th, 2007 at 3:29 pmIt has always been about the profits of the military industrial complex and oil companies, stupid.
http://video.google.com/ videoplay?docid=881321004838285177
May 9th, 2007 at 5:51 pmThey hate us because we are trying to steal their oil. Nothing more, nothing less. The Bush Crime Family is made up of crooks, liars, cowards and fucking murderers. Their supporters and their apologists are the lowest form of scumbag, lower than whale shit and that resides on the bottom of the ocean.
May 9th, 2007 at 5:56 pmIf it’s true that we are no longer welcome in Iraq, we should leave. If this is something that Bush cannot understand then that’s too bad. Just staying for the sake of the oil companies and big business is not what the U.S. should be used for. Doesn’t this rise to the level of impeachment? If not this then what?
May 10th, 2007 at 3:37 amOops, I ment U.S. Army. My bad.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:38 amWhat people must understand, is that if America withdraws, then the dollar will fall.
General Dynamics and Northrop will go bust.
As will Exxon and Ford, so will GM.
So unless you want america to become a ruined nation, and a laughing stock, then the war must continue, war and oil are so important.
Without war, it would be americans who would grovel in the garbage for a meal.
May 15th, 2007 at 6:12 amUnfortunately many countries hate us because of our government, many times helping despotic regimes in other countries besides Iraq that support American “interests. The Iraqi people proably resent us for the same eason because of helping Saddaam Hussein in the past and for now destroying their infrastructure and killing alot of their people. If oil is a motive here, we have no business in thinking we are entitled do do what we want in their country and trying to steal their resources, which rightfully belong to them and not us. Is this an issue on morality ,you bet.In the bible it says do not trust in vanity , oppression and robbery to increase thy riches.” Greed , you bet. What we call American interests is often an intrusion on foreign soil, to take over their resources for our own benefit. Why do we act surprise if they feel enraged and fight back and want us out of Iraq? We se them as the enemy , they see us as an occupier.
June 30th, 2007 at 3:29 pmAnd it is awfully naive for anyone here to think that the Iraqis are not going to fight tooth and nail to regain control of their country. That is the main reason for the violence escalating. In war there are two view points and two signs of the coin. Looking at American history, we may learn a lesson from this. Why did our fathers want independence from the monarchy and England.Why was there the revolutionary war? Why do any of you think the Iraq people are any different in wanting their independence and wanting the “occupation” to end. They do not want an installed American puppet government, they do not want America to have control of their resources.
Now turn the coin around and lets think about what we would do for example if a country like China invaded us, took over things, and wanted all our resources to use for their benefit. What do you think would happen with the American people? How would they react to such an intrusion on their turf?
To the Iraqis occupation= humiliation. It is an insult to their sense of dignity, they think of us as the oppressors, trying to steal their resources right from under their noses and trying to interfere in their affairs and trying to control their country..
June 30th, 2007 at 3:43 pmNow before you all get bent out of shape and conclude I’m anti-American and unpatriotic and sympathize with their cause. This is what I will say. This does not mean I’m in sympathy with their cause, but rather this is an analysis, an understanding of the motivation behind the violence. What the psychic reasons are behind the violence, without some understanding of the problem we cannot hope to resolve the issues around Iraq. What is at the root of sctarian violence? We need to understand these things in depth.From what I’ve read there have been age old animosities between the sunnis, shiites and other groups. Without some in depth understanding about what are the root causes of the animosity, we will only end up in an escalation of the violence without any resolution in sight, more Americans will also die as a result.We need to be objective observers in other words without projecting our subjective biases onto the scenario.Most Americans I think would agree that there has to be some resolution that could hopefully end the violence on all sides. Most of us don’t want more of our men and women coming home in body bags.
June 30th, 2007 at 4:13 pmOur troops are the ones who pay the ultimate price, but the American people are as well. Our troops have often been sent back onto the battlefield mutiple times and are come home mentally and emotionally torn apart ,if not having had a few limbs blown off or other physical problems due to the war. Many familes lose a dad, mom a brother to the war, because when they come home they are no longer the people they know. War has had tragic consequences to both sides, American and Iraqi. We all grieve whether American or Iraqi when we lose loved ones.
June 30th, 2007 at 4:21 pmNotice I don’t make our troops out to be the villains and bad guys here, because they aren’t they are the guys caught in the middle of a politcal and ideological war and politcal interests. They just go over there doing what they are told. Perhaps it is easier to say our troops are the pawns in a politcal game. Cheney had already decided to go to war with Iraq before the facts were on the table, and even then when things were presented to him that casted doubt on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction, they were conveniently overlooked , in other words the public and our soldiers were manipulated to believe the information that was presented to them.
June 30th, 2007 at 4:37 pm