Iraq’s New Cabinet Introduced

After three weeks of consultations between different political parties, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari has introduced his new cabinet. There are 16 Shia Arabs, 8 Kurds, 6 Sunni Arabs, 1 Turkmen (who is also Shia), and 1 Assyrian in Iraq’s new cabinet.

Although the balanced cabinet is in accordance with the political participation of Iraq’s political and ethnic groups, no minister has yet been appointed for five of the six ministries that were set aside for the Sunni Arabs, which indicates that a segment of the minority cannot accept that they will no longer wield a disproportionate share of power in the new Iraq and are still seeking to gain control of key ministries in the new government.

Shortly after the National Assembly approved the new government team, Jaafari announced that giving the Sunni Arabs control of six ministries would not be compatible with their participation in the elections. In fact, if more Sunni Arabs had participated in Iraq’s general election, which introduced a new form of democracy to the Arab world, they could have gained control of more ministries.

On a side, and somewhat ironic note, the new cabinet was formed on Saddam's birthday.

More Random Coverage:

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&article_id=14710

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15130474-38201,00.html

Blair Reveals Secret Advice

With only a week to go until the general election, British Prime Minister Tony Blair gave in to public and political pressure and made public the secret advice he got on the legality of the war in Iraq. His decision was surprising considering he has been steadfastly refusing requests to make it public for months.

During a recent press conference in London Blair stated that he had no regrets about taking Britain into the US-led invasion that brought about the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

More Random coverage:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/29/news/brit.php

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/28/oakley.blog.28/

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/23935b6a-b782-11d9-9f22-00000e2511c8.html

Hillary Clinton Information

As I mentioned in my opening post we'll be discussing politics and topics that influence politics here. No discussion on politics would be complete without discussing politicians so I plan to add some entries over the next few days that highlight sites on the web that focus on politicians.

We'll kick things off with a link to a site about Hillary Clinton. The site has information about the life of Hillary Clinton - including her family and story behind her assent to the position of US senator. Hillary for president in 2008? Feel free to check out the site and post any comments or opinions on it here.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Laptop Seized

It's being reported that US officials think they barely missed capturing Zarqawi during raids that landed two of his associates in February.

During a news conference at the Pentagon Gen. Richard Myers, who is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: "We were close." He declined to elaborate.

"Zarqawi, who has a $25 million bounty on his head, is thought to have orchestrated car bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and beheadings across Iraq.

Troops with a covert military unit were reportedly in place to arrest him as he was on his way to Ramadi, but he caught wind of them, ABC News reported late Monday, citing an unidentified senior military official.

The official said that a car was pulled over as it approached a checkpoint. A pickup trailing the car then turned and headed in the opposite direction.

Officials think Zarqawi was in the fleeing truck, but when U.S. teams pulled the vehicle over several miles later, he was not inside, ABC reported. In the truck, the official told ABC, U.S. troops found Zarqawi's computer and about $104,000."

Source: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/11497183.htm

On the bright side, at least the US seized Zarqawi's laptop. It's being reported that the laptop contains information on multiple subjects including Zarqawi's health and his "My Pictures" folder.

"His computer ... has provided a treasure trove of information," says a Pentagon official who asked to remain nameless.

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