Dude, Where's My Government?

Uniters, not dividers: Bush & Maliki


Awesome.

Escalating a political crisis that has paralyzed
the Iraqi government, three secular cabinet
members will formally resign Saturday,
according to a senior member of the group.

The Iraqi National List, an umbrella group of
several political parties composed of secular
Sunnis and Shiites, had boycotted cabinet
meetings since Aug. 7 because of frustrations
with what they saw as Prime Minister Nouri al-
Maliki's divisive leadership style. The party,
headed by former prime minister Ayad Allawi,
will now submit the official resignations,
National List member Iyad Jamal al-Deen said.

* * *

The largest Sunni political bloc has already
formally withdrawn from the cabinet, while the
party loyal to powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-
Sadr continues to boycott government meetings.
All told, nearly half the cabinet members are not
attending meetings.

And let’s not forget that Iraq’s parliament has been
out-to-lunch all month. Could someone please remind
me what the surge was supposed to accomplish?