Iraqi Lawmakers to U.S.: Get Out

Technorati Tags: Iraq war, occupation, Condoleezza Rice

This report that over half of Iraq's parliament rejected the U.S. occupation and called for a withdrawal timeline is especially noteworthy, in the light of Condoleezza Rice's recent "assurance" to Iraqis that the U.S. is "not looking to leave Iraq." Clearly, Iraqis are looking for assurances that the U.S. will leave Iraq -- and soon.

On Tuesday, without note in the U.S. media, more than half of the members of Iraq's parliament rejected the continuing occupation of their country. 144 lawmakers signed onto a legislative petition calling on the United States to set a timetable for withdrawal, according to Nassar Al-Rubaie, a spokesman for the Al Sadr movement, the nationalist Shia group that sponsored the petition.

It's a hugely significant development. Lawmakers demanding an end to the occupation now have the upper hand in the Iraqi legislature for the first time; previous attempts at a similar resolution fell just short of the 138 votes needed to pass (there are 275 members of the Iraqi parliament, but many have fled the country's civil conflict, and at times it's been difficult to arrive at a quorum).

Reached by phone in Baghdad on Tuesday, Al-Rubaie said that he would present the petition, which is nonbinding, to the speaker of the Iraqi parliament and demand that a binding measure be put to a vote. Under Iraqi law, the speaker must present a resolution that's called for by a majority of lawmakers, but there are significant loopholes and what will happen next is unclear.