Word: jaafari
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...positions left vacant in Tuesday's swearing in of a new Iraqi cabinet - and the decision by Sunni vice president Ghazi al-Yawer to boycott the ceremony - suggest that democracy and civil war are not mutually exclusive in Iraq. To be sure, the cabinet of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari- the first government chosen by Iraqis themselves in a half-century-is an historic milestone. It is difficult to envisage circumstances in which Iraqis would be prepared to surrender their hard-earned right to choose their leaders. Unfortunately, democracy has not resolved the ethnic conflict among them, which is being...
...some time before the new political order attracts the support of the bulk of the Sunnis. The insurgents, by repeatedly and consistently demonstrating their considerable capability for violent disruption, hope to convince the Sunnis that they needn't settle for the minority stake in power being offered by Jaafari. And the very fact that the new government feels compelled to try and accommodate them despite their absence at the polls may reinforce that perception...
...Even more contentious than the number of cabinet positions being offered to Sunnis has been the plan by Jaafari's alliance to oust former Baathists from the security services and deny anyone with a Baathist past a cabinet position. Debaathification has been vigorously opposed by Sunni representatives in negotiations with Jaafari, and the U.S. has also urged the new prime minister to abandon plans for a purge of Baathists from the security services, believing that this could fatally weaken the ability of the Iraqi security forces to fight the insurgency. Jaafari is reportedly backing away from a wholesale purge, recognizing...
...Jaafari's alliance is significantly divided on a number of questions, ranging from the place of Islam in a future constitution to the issue of whether to seek a timetable for U.S. withdrawal. And the halting process by which it has taken three months from election day to seat a partial cabinet is not an encouraging indicator of the prospects for the National Assembly to complete its primary function, drafting a permanent constitution for Iraq, by the August 15 deadline - or even, for that matter, by the fallback date next February...
...Earlier today Iraqi legislators ended a three-month impasse by approving a Cabinet for new Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. The new Prime Minister is a Shi'a, the new President is a Kurd, and--as always, of course--the Transportation Secretary is Hispanic." --JON STEWART...