Thursday, August 2, 2007

US, Britain seek UN resolution to expand role in Iraq

Well, now we want the UN to come in and clean up our mess. Since two bombings in 2003, the UN has had only a small presence in Iraq because of the incredible security risk (despite what John McCain would have you believe as he strolls thru the markets in a vest and escorted by armed guards).

It's not clear if this is a direct result of the recent meeting between President Bush and the new British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, but the timing is interesting.

Also this week, Iraq's largest Sunni Arab bloc resigned from the cabinet yesterday. They said they were resigning in protest against what they said was the prime minister's failure to respond to a set of demands, including the release of security detainees not charged with specific crimes, the disbanding of militias and the participation of all government groups in security talks.

Nuri al-Maliki's regime now consists of only two Sunnis in the 40-member cabinet. This does not bode well for efforts to have the sectarian groups work together in a united Iraq.

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