US Eyes Iraqi Parliamentary Schedule

[brooklynite]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON — The White House on Friday appeared resigned to the fact that the Iraqi parliament is going to take August off, even though it has just eight weeks to show progress on military, political and economic benchmarks prescribed by the United States.

"My understanding is at this juncture they're going to take August off, but, you know, they may change their minds," White House press secretary Tony Snow said.

"You know, it's 130 degrees in Baghdad in August," he said, sympathetically.

Snow was reminded that U.S. troops will be continuing to fight throughout August in the heat

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070713/bush-iraq/

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Legislating is hard work.....

[lyonn]

1. Will they vacation on the Riviera

Or maybe the beautiful Gaza beach? Sheesh, probably Miami Beach. If they were smart they would go to the Alps. Also, are they planning on coming back? Will their homes/palaces still be there when they get back?

No doubt our military will not notice that the govt. they are protecting are vacationing for a month.

[Orsino]

2. Are they scheduling a quorum sometime this year? n/t

[Juan_de_la_Dem]

3. Truly Appalling

But if there is one thing this administration does understand, it's vacation. What are we doing there!

[Barrett808]

4. US says Iraqi lawmakers to take August break

Source: AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House said Friday that Iraq's parliament may take the month of August off but downplayed the impact on political reconciliation efforts seen as key to quelling deadly violence.

"My understanding is at this juncture they're going to take August off, but you know, they may change their minds," said spokesman Tony Snow, who refused to say whether there had been US efforts to dissuade them.

"You know, it's 130 degrees (54 Celsius) in Baghdad in August. I'll pass on your recommendation," he said when a reporter asked about the impact on an Iraq progress report due by September 15.

Reminded that the heat affected the roughly 160,000 US troops in Iraq, Snow replied: "You know, that's a good point. And it's 130 degrees for the Iraqi military."

Asked whether the United States had made any renewed efforts to convince them not to go on vacation, he replied: "I'm not in a position, at this point, to try to gainsay what the Iraqis are doing. We are working with them and trying to help them succeed," he said.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070713/pl_afp/usiraqpoliticswhouse

[seafan]

5. Bu$hCo just wants that Oil Grab Law signed off on.... he cares about nothing else.

We can bet that Bush is pressuring the Iraqis to stay in town until they *git 'er done*.


We are in the midst of a crisis in Iraq and in America.

And we won't be able to stop the hemorrhaging until we remove Bush/Cheney/Gonzales from office and charge them with their many crimes.

[leftchick]

6. why the fuck shouldn't they?

monkeyboy's whole life has been a vacation.

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/8601


I read somewhere that while George W. Bush was governor of Texas he was prone to leave his office in the early afternoon. He was not the most energetic governor and retains a well-known penchant for naps even when surrounded by troubling news.

If true that Texas story would jibe with other reports I've read. After graduating from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where his main academic achievement seems to have been heading the cheerleader squad, he received his Bachelor of Arts in History from Yale with a C average in 1968.

Bush enlisted in the Texas Air National Guard in May 1968, with a commitment to serve to May 1974. But there is no record of him performing any such service between May 1972 and October 1973. During that time he apparently refused to submit to a drug test, terminating his flier's career. In September 1973, eight months before his service was supposed to end, he requested discharge in order to attend Harvard Business School.

Yoshi Tsurumi, one of Bush's Harvard professors told CNN's Phil Hirschkorn in 2004 that Bush as a graduate student was "Lazy. He didn't come to my class prepared. He did very badly." His performance may have been influenced by substance abuse; he was arrested for DUI in Maine near his family's summer home in 1976 and had his license suspended.

[AzDar]

7. It'd be real fucking nice if the troops could take the month off, too.

It's a Charlie-Foxtrot, sir.....

[rodeodance]

8. I read that they are not in session of this week either!

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

9. Green Zone's getting crowded . . .

. . . Taco Bell's got the only air conditioner going.

I have a GUT FEELING that September's going to bring no change in the Iraq benchmarks.

[tanyev]

10. Bring 'em all to Crawford.

They can help clear brush.