Constitution update.

Baha' Al-'Araji, a member of the constitution drafting committee told Al-Mada paper yesterday that there are going to be 5 spots in each Iraqi province where citizens can find designated boxes where they can put their opinions and suggestion as to the process of writing the constitution.
Only Baghdad will be an exception due to its high population so there will be 5 spots in each main quarter in the capital.

One million "suggestion forms" are planned to be distributed nationwide soon and there will be specialized teams to read, sort the received forms and prepare summaries that will eventually be submitted periodically to the main committee.
He also mentioned-according to the paper-that the committee has already purchased air time on satellite channels and columns space on papers (ten in total) to publish/broadcast materials of value to constitutional education to help people get a better understanding of the process.

The same paper also has published (exclusively as paper said) a big part of the draft of bill of rights (pdf Arabic).
These 23 clauses that were drafted by "committee of rights, freedoms and basic duties" are scheduled to be submitted to the rest of the members to be discussed and modified within a couple of days.

As you can see, the document is too big to translate but my 1st impression is that it's acceptable in general, especially when it comes to equality among citizens, the laws of citizenship and the freedom of expression except for that...well, there were probably too many clauses that contained something like "…has the right to…unless that contradicts with the basic values and teachings of Islam and the traditions of the Iraqi society".

I hope they can omit some of these restrictions in the coming discussions before the final shape version of the draft is reached; basically because terms like ethics, values and traditions differ from one city to another and sometimes there are differences even within the same city, especially the big cities that have mixed populations.
So I believe it'd be much better if such loose terms are avoided.

Iraqi blogger Vahal made a comparison between Madeline Albright (he says he prefers to use the name "Halfbright"!) and GWB.

I honestly know nothing about that 1996 interview the blogger is referring to, so I'd like to hear your opinions because it seems to me that the math doesn't add up!

I mean according to the Albright's answer, (x) was worth it, when (it) at that time equaled zero (not to say less).
But now some people suggest that (√x) isn't worth it when today's (it) > zero (not to say it's a lot).

Of course every single human life is special and precious and I myself could have been part of that x or this √x but I'm discussing the subject their way.
I don't get it! Any ideas?

Remember that power station (scroll down) I told you about last month?
I'm sure some of you do because some readers were asking me if any updates as to this story were available.

Well, I'm glad to say that it's working now!
I passed by the station this morning and I saw that one of the two new units is actually working and the 2nd one is expected to start operating within a few weeks.

Talk less, think more and do more.

It's visible to everyone that debates over the war in Iraq, war on terror, invasion or occupation or whatever you may name it are at peak levels right now.
The process is being questioned, criticized and discussed more profoundly than at any time in the last two years but you know what?
That's not happening in Iraq; you can find such discussions and accusations in America but you can't find them in Iraq.

As a matter of fact there are some similar debates here in Iraq but at very limited levels; in the National Assembly there are 83 members who signed a declaration where they accused the government of treason because it asked the multinational troops to remain for another year in Iraq and they said that the government ought to demand a timetable for withdrawal and they're also planning to organize protests and rallies to put more pressure on the government.

However, on the streets, such demands are not popular among everyday Iraqis who are more concerned about finding solutions for their daily life problems whether the solutions came form the government, the Americans or from Martians.
As for the other 192 members of the Assembly, they find such demands irrational and inconvenient at least for the time being.

Those 83 Sadrists and Fadhela party members as well as some other Islamists want to embarrass the government and use slogans that sound great and patriotac to undermine the public support the current government enjoys.
This reminds me of the communists and the pan-nationalists back in the 1st half of the 20th century when they demanded the ousting of British troops and the result was a disaster; all they wanted was power and the deterioration didn't end since then.

The truth is that with very few exceptions, most people and politicians here have thrown this argument behind their backs long time ago; whether they're supportive of the war/liberation or against it and whether they want the coalition to stay forever or they want the troops to leave now, they are now living and discussing the present and planning for the future trying to get the best results possible out of the current situation, each party from it's own perspective.

We're living through probably the most critical phase of this conflict; a phase where firm decisions and clear stands are needed more than ever, while sterile arguments can do nothing but weaken our position against our common enemy; the global terrorism.

I wasn't in touch with media and blogs when the September attacks happened but I heard a lot about the great sense of patriotism and the beautiful unity that grew among different political trends in America at that time and this is a time where such unity must be revived.
This is not the right time to argue about "why we went to this war".
It is time to think together for a way to win this war which none of us can afford to lose.

It doesn't really matter if Saddam had connections with Al-Qaeda prior to 2003 or not and it does not matter if he had the ability to attack the west with WMDs or not.
What really matters here is how to protect the world from terrorism.
Al-Qaeda is present and active in Iraq today; we all know this and this terror group's lethal power cannot and must not be underestimated.

Yesterday for example, interior ministry in Saudi Arabia uncovered a new list of wanted Al-Qaeda members with 36 names on it, 21 of who are believed to be residing in Iraq right now.

Can anyone tell me how can these terrorists be stopped from moving their zone of action to other countries if they weren't intercepted right here and right now?
There's no doubt that once Iraq falls in their hands they will start looking for other battle grounds and they will search for the "greatest Satan" in other places.
It is the American existence in Iraq that attracted them to a great extent and when there are no Americans in Iraq Al-Qaeda will not simply drop their weapons and start a normal life, they will seek other places where they can find, and kill Americans.

What I want to say here is that it is our fate to fight terrorism on our own land and we (the majority) have accepted to challenge this fate the day we abandoned Saddam and welcomed our freedom but that's not the case for you in America.
Actually we've got no other choice but to fight and keep fighting until we win over the terrorists because otherwise we'll have to submit to their will and the damage would be irreversible.

Fighting terrorism for us in Iraq is a matter of life or death so we have no choice but to keep fighting until we kill or lock in jail every one of them and we're doing this whether the world supported us or not but in case we failed, the consequences will not be confined by Iraq's borders.
You (the west) can step back and wait for the terrorists to knock on your doors at any minute or you can put your s*** together and fight them while they're thousands of miles away.

This is war, it's not a picnic and don't think that we're enjoying it and we're not expecting you to enjoy it either.
By quitting now some might think that needless losses are going to be avoided but that's-in my opinion-is a very shortsighted way of thinking because quitting now will only expose America and the rest of the world to a much greater threat.

I was talking about this to one of my friends and he described this war in an interesting way, he said "this war is much like a fierce boxing match; you punch and you get punched but even if you're stronger than your opponent you should not allow him to catch his breath at any round because he might then give you a surprising punch when the next round begins and knocks you down".

So my advice to the American politicians on both sides but especially those on the left side is: grow up, this is not the time to seek political wins and it's not the time to use other's mistakes to get some publicity.
We're facing very tough times so use your skills to find solutions.
Bottom line is, talk less, think more and do more.

Blog display error corrected.

The blog is back to normal…at last!
I didn't realize exactly how much blogging meant to me until I had this problem which caused the blog to appear as a blank white page.
I felt paralyzed, truly paralyzed.
Although it only lasted for less than a 100 hours, it seemed like a 100 days and I felt like missing a very big component of my daily life.

I contacted the BLOGGER support team an hour after the problem appeared and they explained to me that introducing "Blogger Images" was causing these problems for some bloggers and they told me that they were working hard on solving the problem.
However, the solution didn't come from BLOGGER, instead I was able to solve it after I received an invaluable e mail from a thoughtful guy (Thank you John) who pointed out a blog that posted a suggested solution for this blog crisis.

I copy pasted the short code, made some changes, republished the blog and now you can see that it works perfectly.
As you can see, I have changed the title of the previous post as now it looks stupid after the "bug" is no longer there!

Update: Well, not exactly "works perfectly" because when it comes to archives or permalinks for previous posts, there will still be a blank space before the text appears at the bottom of the page.
The good thing is that permalinks for the latest 2 posts do work well, so I hope this will apply for the future posts.
Anyway, it's only a temporary measure until the techies at BLOGGER find a real solution.

Their Losses...

Now after you have probably listened to our losses through the media, I'd like to carry the news of their losses…I hate to parrot what others say.
It's not only us who bleed, they're bleeding too end even more profusely and obviously the media has a purpose behind focusing on our losses while mentioning the terrorists losses in the inner pages or in many cases pretending that they don’t exist.
Iraqi and multinational forces are still scoring victories over terrorists and here on this blog, we'd like to summarize the victories of the latest 48 hours:

-1st regiment/2nd commandoes brigade arrested 43 suspects in Al-Doura district while the 2nd regiment/1st brigade arrested 2 terrorists in Shu'la district.

-The interior ministry announced the beginning of operation lightning-1 in Babil province which is going to be a joint effort between the Army and the local police forces. The 1st wave of raids resulted in arresting 43 suspects and confiscating 10 vehicles used in terror attacks against Iraqi civilians and security forces.

-A force from the Iraqi army backed by Polish troops raided terrorists hides in the areas of Jibla and Rashad in the same province and arrested 8 terrorists and confiscated their Ak-47's.

-Police forces in Kerbala arrested 20 terrorists and confiscated 6 suspicious vehicles and disarmed 2 vehicle-born bombs.

-In Zangora area near Ramadi, Iraqi and American troops arrested a terror cell leader named 'Jbair Grayen Al-Jiblawi who's one of Zarqawi's aides in Anbar province.

-In the north, 3 members of the Ansar Al-Sunna army were captured in Mosul; one of the 3 terrorists carried a Saudi ID.

-In Tikrit, multinational forces arrested 3 roadside bombs-makers and in Kirkuk 10 suspects were arrested. The men are supposed to be responsible for some missile attacks in the city.
Explosives' ingredients and blast capsules were found during the search of the arrest scene.

-In Abu Ghraib, Al-Muthana brigade arrested 19 terrorists and found amounts of weapons and detonation devices as well as vehicles that were prepared for performing terror attacks.

-In Al-Kasra neighborhood in Baghdad, IP men and American explosives experts failed an attack with a car bomb that was parked in the heavily crowded main commercial street in the district.
A shop keeper was suspicious of a car that was left in front of his shop, the driver claimed that the car broke and that he's going to find a mechanic but the shop keeper didn't believe the story and called the police and it was found later that the car contained a large bomb that was a mix of artillery shells, TNT rods and gas containers.
By 1 am, the area was evacuated and people were told to keep a distance from the car. The explosives experts detonated the car in its place as it was impossible to move it away. No casualties happened but there was some inevitable material loss in adjacent shops.

-In Tal-afar near Mosul, Iraqi and American troops killed 15 terrorists in clashes that took place yesterday.

-Police patrols in Dibis town arrested two terrorists while they were trying to plant a roadside bomb on the main street in the town.

-One of the most important successes was arresting one of Izzat Al-Douri's relatives along with 3 of his bodyguards.

-Iraqi TV announced Khalid Sulaiman Darwis (aka Abu Al-Ghadia Al-Soori) was killed during a raid as part of Operation Spear in Anbar province.
The Syrian terrorist is one of the leaders of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Sources: Iraqia TV, Al-Sabah, New Sabah and Al-Mada papers.

Who thinks that a war can be won without losses and sacrifices is far from reason.
Yes, sacrifices, efforts, time and costs are all factors that make us seriously worried but we have to remind ourselves that abandoning the mission before it's fully done would be a disaster for all of us.

I'm positive that Iraqis have no intention of giving up and so do their allies and friends while those who think that our position is weak are actually allowing lies and illusions to control their thinking and were driven away from the larger image by the narrow image provided by the media.
The future is ours, there's no doubt about that and we shall win.

Mohammed.

More disgusting bias from the media.

This article by the Guardian is another striking evidence to the bias of the media whenever it comes to Iraq. (Hat tip: Kerry).

"What's new?" One would think. Well, the new thing and really disgusting thing is that the paper didn’t only ignore a piece of good news or exaggerated a piece of bad news like we get to see, hear or read almost every day in the last two years; instead, a frank victory for Iraqi police was somehow changed into a victory for the "insurgents"!!

I read the piece twice and tried to see the any sign that indicates such a victory for the insurgents but I failed in both trials.
The editor carried almost accurate news about the incident in question, yet the commentary and conclusions were a piece of mere ridicule.
It is true that the terrorists were able to arrange a relatively large assault but it was far from being well organized or well done let alone a victory, and here is why:

-The attack was successfully repelled. Now does that make it a victory for the aggressors? I guess not.

-Reinforcements were'nt available during the critical phase of the battle as they couldn't make their way to the battle scene but this didn't deter the IP men from fighting and defending their station independently and I guess everyone agrees that policemen are not supposed to fight against men armed with RPGs and mortars; at least that's true in the vast majority of countries but our IP men accepted the challenge and won.

-It was mainly the bravery and good training of one Iraqi policeman that "turned the tide" according to the paper itself.
Now, one gunner was able to turn the tide and this-in my opinion-is a big sign of skill and organized defense.
Still, the Guardian wants us to believe it was a victory for the insurgents!

-By the end of the battle, at least 10 terrorists were found killed and some 40 were arrested. What a victorious battle those terrorists planned for!

-Finally and actually most important is that during the battle, people from the mixed Sunni and She'at neighborhood called 55 times and provided tips to the IP about the movements of the terrorists.
Yes, 55 phone calls in less than 2 hours and if this doesn't show the real attitude of Iraqi citizens towards terrorists then I don't know what can! But still, the Guardian wants us to believe that the insurgents are winning.
How disgusting!

More fuel for power stations.

I read on Al-Sabah yesterday that the ministry of oil is going to increase daily fuel supplies delivered to the ministry of electricity by 2 million liters to reach 4.5 million liters instead of the current 2.5 million liters of daily supplies.
Officials from the ministry of electricity welcomed this step that will "allow the ministry to operate some idle units and enable the production of an additional 1000 mega watts of electricity" and this will reflect positively on the amount of power available from the national grid.

It's worth mentioning that the peak power production has reached the 5000 mega watts milestone earlier this month and it is planned to increase that amount to 6000 mega watts by the end of this months.
I hope their plans are good enough to provide the electricity we need; we've tolerated 15 years of electricity shortages so far and I really don't mind waiting for another year or two if I'm sure that the guys in charge are really doing all they can to improve the situation.

Iraqi blogger Hussein Al-Kaabi wrote a brilliant and funny post about conspiracy theories and the different forms of mice in Iraq!
The translated version is available from the Friends of Democracy blog.

Lightning, Thunder then Rain...

Okay, I think that "Lightning" updates have become a regular item on this blog, so here's today's-rather short-briefing of what's been happening as to this operation and other activities of security forces in Iraq in the last 24 hours:

Since the Operation Lightning started 1215 were arrested and 49 weapons caches were found, 303 searches and inspections and 67 raids were performed. Also the number of checkpoints placed reached a total of 1519 and 4340 patrols roamed the streets of Baghdad; an Iraqi government official said yesterday.
As to the operations of yesterday; government officials said that 91 terrorists and suspects were arrested throughout the country.

Among yesterday's arrests, 4 wanted terrorists were captured in Tikrit and other 18 suspects in the north western sector; one of who confessed that he smuggled weapons to the terrorists.
Two IEDs makers were arrested also as well as 7 men suspected of being responsible for assassinating a member of Baghdad's city council.
In Mosul, two significant arrests were made when the security forces captured 2 of Abu Talha's senior aides namely Abu Sarhan and Abu Nabhan who surrendered without any resistance.

It's worth mentioning that these two terrorists were nominated to succeed Abu Talha in leading the Qaeda branch in Mosul and they were also leaders for their own terror cells that carried out many attacks that killed many Iraqi civilians, clerics and officials.
In Baghdad, 28 suspects were captured by Iraqi soldiers with support from American troops.

In Baquba, 2 terrorists attempting to perform an attack with a vehicle loaded with explosives were arrested at an Iraqi army checkpoint south of the city.
In Adhamiya, A'amil, Saydiya and Yarmouk neighborhoods in Baghdad, 20 terrorists and suspects were arrested during raids carried out by special forces teams of the interior ministry.
In Al-Risala district south of Baghdad, a tip came from an Iraqi civilian lead to the arrest of 8 suspects who fled a spot from which the interior ministry complex was attacked. This arrest was done by task force Baghdad.

With operation Lightening apparently entering its last chapters, Iraqi interior minister announced that this operation will be followed by a couple of other massive operations with the names "Thunder" and "Rain".
As contrary to the mainly general Lightening, Thunder will aim at selected targets to eliminate terror elements that might have escaped the Lightning and the Thunder is supposed to depend mainly on tips from citizens and intelligence information.

While the Rain is going to be-according to the minister's words-more like an intensified search operations from house to house to collect unauthorized weapons and eliminate any remaining security threats.
I have noticed that the governemnet followed a logical sequence in choosing the names of the security operations; I mean names were obviously based on the fact that we normally see the lightening first, hear the thunder shortly after that and finally rain would start falling...Makes sense, no?

Anyway, the minister expressed the minstrie's ambition to see a great improvement in the security situation here after these operations are finished.

On the other hand, Zarqawi's group announced on a website that one of their members, Abdullah Al-Rshood who's one of the 26 wanted terror leaders in Saudi Arabia was killed early last month during a battle in the town of Qaim. The "battle" obviously refers to Operation Matador that took place in that area at that time.
I wonder what the response of the idiots who said that fighters in Qaim were exclusively peaceful Iraqi civilians defending their homes is going to be!?

An embedded reporter in Iraq provides a refreshing comment about Iraq from the kind that we don't often get from the media.
Hat tip: ITM reader.

Many of the soldiers I spent time with during this spring had also been deployed during the initial invasion back in 2003. Almost universally they talked to me about how much change they could see in the country. They noted progress in the attitudes of the people, in the condition of important infrastructure, in security...

Here's the whole thing.

This blog has been mentioned among the AO/Technorati Open Media 100 !
This sounds pretty cool, don't you think so?

Baghdadis are without water...And so is the government.

This article caught my attention while I was reading Al-Mada newspaper this morning and I would like to share it with you.
By the way, to avoid any misunderstanding or confusion I think I should mention that there are some sarcastic sentences in this article:


Baghdadis are without water… and so is the government.
Two contradicting feelings I had when I heard from some journalists that the offices of the Iraqi government had been temporarily evacuated because of the water shortage that is infesting Baghdad. Two different feelings I had; the 1st was positive and the other was negative.
The government is without water!!

The positive scene says that Iraqi officials at the top of the state's pyramid are no longer different from the people and here they are suffering from the shortage of water just like we're doing after the brave insurgents targeted the water pumps to get the Americans out of the country and rid the people of their evil and here are the Americans, thirsty to death in Iraq and they'll probably leave in a day or two!

In the near past, Iraqis lived an era where the ruling class was living in Iraq but not exactly living in it. They governed the country in the name of a people they haven't shared its pains and sufferings and never thought of providing the citizens with the most basic needs of living.
In summer times; our former officials didn't enjoy the burning sun and in winter they didn't get the advantage of sleeping on a bed of frost and the people alone-out of the government's love-enjoyed these generous gifts while they (our rulers) lived in high palaces away from noise and harm.

While today, a journalist told me what made me feel like crying and laughing at the same time, he told me about ministers and PM's who couldn't water in rest rooms and how he saw a number of them carrying water in containers on their way to the rest rooms in the corridors of the convention center.
…And Baghdadis are without water!!

The negative scene that came to my mind says that our security situation is still catastrophic and this is not the 1st time where the justice rangers attack the artery of life in Baghdad and the people go thirsty but the case remains that no protective measures are being taken and more worse, no backup plans were made to deal with emergencies.

However, we over at Al-Mada are still doing our job in spite of the water shortage and the constitutional committee is still doing its job too.
We have dug a well in the backyard some time a go and it's serving us at times of need and it seems that our National Assembly and constitutional committee should consider digging a well in the green zone so that they can find water when they need it, that if things are to remain as they currently are.
Baghdadis are without water…said hadji Ahmed, the taxi driver I hired in the morning.
But the government is without water too…said hadji Abu Hasan, the taxi driver who drove me home in the evening.

Rebuilding justice in Iraq...

The number of execution sentences against convicted criminal and terrorists that have has been declared so far is now 18; none of which has been practically executed till this moment.

An official from the "supreme judicial board of Iraq" explained that these sentences were not carried out because they represent preliminary sentences and can be subject to objections and retrials and that such cases would be-incase of objections-handed to the state attorney and then to the supreme court which consists of 14 judges to verify the sentences and give a final word about them.

Anyone who didn't live under Saddam's regime would not get the significance of the above paragraph and some might even say "what do 18 criminals represent compared to the hundreds that are getting killed or injured every month during enemy attacks and sometimes with friendly fire; people's rights are-in many cases-lost in a battle where it's not easy to discriminate between an enemy and a friend.

But to me, reading such news makes me feel the change, and gives me a growing feeling of hope and a building justice.
We're building future here that used to look like a hard-to get-dream a couple of years ago and we're ready to sacrifice today so that we can live a better life tomorrow.

The judicial system in Iraq lost credibility and respect over the past decades and turned into a killing tool in the hand of the dictator and was even totally ignored and replaced by the notorious "revolutionary courts" that never hesitated to sentence people to death for the silliest reasons.
No one was able to know the number of executions that were made under Saddam; people would vanish and no one would dare to inquire about their fate.
Is the situation getting worse now? Are we moving in the wrong direction?
Such questions mean nothing to me; maybe some people outside are interested in discussing them but for me?

What really matters here for me is that despite the critical situation and the public pressure on the judicial system in Iraq to reactivate the death penalty against terrorists and criminals, the judges in Iraq are sticking to the principles of law and the have proven to have a good measure of independence and this-in my opinion-is one of the most important elements we need if we want to establish a state of law and justice.

Right now I feel much safer than before and once again I say that I don't expect people who didn't suffer what we suffered under Saddam to understand how I feel.


Mohammed.

Constitution fever!

Public conferences and sessions in Baghdad and other provinces seem to be endless nowadays; municipalities, NGOs and forums are all very excited about Iraq's top topic which is writing the Iraqi constitution and they obviously don't want to miss the chance to take part in the historic event.
Such activities play a good role in educating the population and activating the concept of public involvement in the state's decisive steps through organizing sending the people's suggestions and thoughts to the authorities and making sure they're being considered.

During the past week, we were able to count a good bunch of interesting activities:

An advisor of the state ministry for women's affairs announced that the ministry will be holding its 2nd annual conference that would be dedicated to the issue of women's role in writing the constitution as well as providing constitutional education to Iraqi women so that they would be aware of their rights and duties in a constitutional state.
The conference will be attended by 14 foreign judicial personalities and is sponsored by the UNICEF.

The general directorate of youth organized an educational workshop about the role of youths in writing the constitution; a member of the National Assembly attended the event and he voiced his hope to see the "youth and sport committee" in the National Assembly get its deserved foundations and to get more care from the Assembly.
A number of young media workers asked upon the Assembly to officially grant the media a better access to the details of the constitutional process.
At the end of the workshop, the participants suggested that the government should sign the "children rights convention" which is already signed by 181 countries.

Another workshop was organized by the "Iraqi Journalists and Writers Association" where the role of the media and writers in the constitutional process was discussed in depth and the participants expressed their interest in seeing new legislations that protect the rights of journalists and media workers under international laws and agreements. Also the role of the media in spreading constitutional education had its share of the discussions.

Iraqis in exile had their role in these activities; the "Babil writers and artists association" held a conference (as part of a series) about the constitution to ensure a broader and more active participation of the independent intellectuals in this major national project.
The participants discussed the importance of learning from other nations' expertise and successes and mistakes.

Mean while "Iraq's Women" NGO is organizing a series of workshops for Iraqi women; again about the constitution and the role of women.

The "Akad cultural society" held a conference to discuss the necessity of including clauses in the constitution that protect the rights of writers and artists as well as the cultural rights of minorities.

It's worth mentioning that since the fall of Saddam's regime in April 2003; more than a thousand new NGOs of different interests were created in Iraq.

Mohammed.

80%!

Humam Hammodi, Chairman of the constitution drafting committee told Al-Sabah that the branch teams of the committee have succeeded so far in completing 80% of the constitution's draft.
Hammodi added that his colleagues at the committee branch-teams are willing to fulfill the task by the previously set deadline of August 15th 2005.
"The final draft will come out with an Iraqi spirit and there are actually little differences to debate" said Hammodi.

As a matter of fact, I'm not the least surprised by this bit of news because I was expecting this process to move smoother than the previous chapters of the democratic change in Iraq, yet I'm a little bit amazed at the rapid progress being made despite all the current difficulties that make any progress incomprehensible for many people outside Iraq and don't blame them for thinking that way because it's unfair to expect them to believe that work can be done this fast in a country living in such rough conditions.

I believe what made such a rapid progress possible is the availability of a good foundation from which a new permanent constitution can be created and here I'm talking about the TAL.
I actually didn't read the whole TAL but I had the chance to read the bill of human rights and it looked quite fair to me and I have no problem with using this law as a basic structure for the permanent constitution.

Everyone noticed that this law was heavily criticized by more than a one group when announced in the 1st place.
However-with time-this law has succeeded in winning the trust of most of the previously skeptical groups and individual politicians.

I remember that many Sunni (as well as dome She'at) politicians considered that law as an American plan to give the Kurds more rights than they deserve but lately I began to see the same people resort to the same law and use some of its clauses to defend their view points!
This might sound weird but actually it's good because it shows that people who chose to join the political process are beginning to use reason instead of their emotions and worn-out conspiracy theories.

So my guess is that the working members of the constitution drafting committee (I'll call CDC for short from now on) are introducing slight modifications to the TAL as a way to get the draft ready on time and to avoid wasting precious time while waiting for the additional 15 Sunni members to join the team.
And when those 15 members occupy their seats in the CDC, I think logically there will be further discussions to approve or re-discuss the clauses in question.

Bottom line, the people won the war when they said their word on the 30th of January and since then, many of the hesitant elements recognized the winning side and began joining it while the barking dogs will have nothing left to chew on but their bitter defeat.

Temperature: over 110f and rising although an A/C is running in the next room.
Background music: my favorite Metallica songs played at an extermely loud volume.
Location: our living room (NOT Gunatanamo).

I think my brother Mohammed will start accusing me of torturing him!

From New Sabah:

Zarqawi's group in an announcement on one of their websites accused Al-Jazeera of siding with the Americans and their allies through its biased coverage of events in Iraq.

Now this is extremely ridiculous. No no, it's funny. No it's...errrr
Well, you name it!

According to Azzaman newspaper, an Iraqi army brigade is now "responsible for providing 80% of the security needs" in a large part of Salahideen province.

Read the full report.

Two good questions:

1) To what degree is the existence of escalation telling as to the success or failure of the mission in Iraq?

2) Including that variable in its appropriate place, how can we judge whether we are winning or losing?

Grim from The Fourth Rail discusses the answers in a beautiful analysis.