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| Iraq |
| Iraqi leader wins backing for reforms but walks a dangerous line |
| 2015-08-12 |
| [WASHINGTONPOST] Iraq's parliament voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to back a package of measures aimed at stamping out corruption and government overspending, opening the way for the biggest overhaul of the country's political system since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Just one of the 297 politicians who attended the vote objected to the plan, which was proposed by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in the wake of large protests against graft and a lack of services. The near-unanimous backing of his reform agenda bolsters Abadi, who has been struggling to assert control since taking power last year. His plan calls for initiating a corruption probe, ending a sectarian-based quota system for top government positions and scrapping the posts of three vice presidents and three deputy prime ministers. When Abadi took office in September, Iraq was rife with corruption and struggling with a security crisis as Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... Lions of Islam seized around a third of the country's territory. In pursuing his reform program, he is navigating a perilous path in a country where graft is deeply ingrained and powerful political players stand to lose from changes to the status quo. The premier acknowledged the danger Tuesday in a statement in which he vowed to continue down the road of reform even "if it costs me my life." |
| Posted by:Fred |