Iraq Parliament taking next 30 days off...

[SirFozzie]

Sure must be nice.. then again, they've not been able to do much of anything with the secterian divide down there anyway, so why not make it official... At least Cheney kept them from taking TWO months off..

BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq's parliament adjourned Monday for an August recess without receiving from the government a series of U.S.-backed draft laws designed to promote national unity and stem support for the Sunni-led insurgency.

Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani closed the three-hour session without a quorum present and declared it would not resume work until Sept. 4.

Legislators blamed the government of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for failing to construct compromise versions of the key pieces of legislation such as the so-called oil law, intended to ensure a fair distribution of Iraq's considerable oil wealth.

``We were supposed to discuss important issues in the month of July, but we did not. Sitting in August is unconstitutional and even if we sit next month, that's no guarantee that the important business will be done,'' said Mahmoud Othman, a prominent Kurdish lawmaker.

``There are Iraqi-Iraqi and Iraqi-American differences that have not been resolved. The government throws the ball in our court, but we say that it is in the government's court and that of the politicians. They sent us nothing,'' he said.

The U.S. military said three soldiers had been killed in fighting in Anbar province west of Baghdad on Thursday. At least 3,651 members of the U.S. military have died since the start of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Also Monday, a minibus exploded in a central Baghdad market district, killing at least six people - a brutal reminder of the dangers facing Iraqis who celebrated by the tens of thousands Sunday night after their national team won the prestigious Asian Cup soccer tournament.

Black smoke rose into the air after the blast struck a transit point near Tayaran Square at about 1 p.m., damaging several nearby cars and kiosks selling clothes, fruit and juice, police and hospital officials said. The minibus was one of several waiting for passengers heading to predominantly Shiite areas in eastern Baghdad.

At least 31 people were wounded in addition to the six killed, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information.

The bombing came hours after the expiration of a vehicle ban that had been imposed in the capital and several other cities on Sunday ahead of Iraq's soccer final against Saudi Arabia in the Asian Cup. Iraq won the championship 1-0, and tens of thousands of Iraqis poured into the streets for largely peaceful celebrations as fans welcomed the victory as a show of pride and unity.

Chants of ``Long live Iraq'' and ``Baghdad is victorious'' rang out across the country. Some of the revelers - mostly men - took their shirts off to display the red, white and black colors of the Iraqi flag painted on their chests.

Within seconds of the final whistle, celebratory gunfire echoed across Baghdad and elsewhere despite a government ban and the threat of arrest by authorities. Authorities said that in Baghdad alone, at least five people were killed and nearly 30 wounded in the shooting that broke out after the game.

There were no reports of bombings such as those that killed at least 50 and wounded dozens in Baghdad during celebrations of Iraq's semifinal win over South Korea on Wednesday. But bombings, shootings and mortar attacks striking other targets killed at least 58 people nationwide.

About two dozen masked gunmen also bombed a Shiite shrine that had a reputation for healing powers in a volatile mainly Sunni area north of Baghdad late Sunday, police said. The attack flattened the building and destroyed the shrine holding the remains of a revered medieval Shiite saint Jamaluddin.

Witnesses said it followed warnings by extremists in the area that the mosque would be targeted if faithful continued to bring their sick to the building to be cured.

``The gunmen were telling us that this was polytheism and they would blow it up if we allow people to bring their sick people to that place,'' said one of the shrine's guardians, Mohammed al-Magdami. The shrine was guarded by Sunnis and visited by followers of both Islamic sects, residents said.

The gunmen arrived in four vehicles and told people living nearby to leave their houses to avoid being hurt, and no casualties were reported.

Scattered violence also was reported elsewhere, including a roadside bomb that killed two Iraqi soldiers and wounded three in a predominantly Sunni area in northwestern Baghdad and a mortar barrage against a market south of Baghdad that killed one civilian and wounded three others.

Northeast of the capital, dozens of suspected Sunni insurgents attacked a Sunni village near Baqouba, killing 20 civilians and kidnapping others for not cooperating with them, a local police official said, declining to be identified because he feared becoming a target himself. The attack began late Sunday and lasted through Monday morning, the officer said. The report could not be independently confirmed.

[bulletsponge]

Taking cues from our overworked Congress

[JediKooter]

Looks like they are mirroring our Congress quite well.

[BYU 14]

Looks like democracy has been achieved.

[Passacaglia]

I think they're copying other people.

[vex]

Sounds like our Congress.

[graygoosetwelve]

Sounds familiar

[sabotai]

Generic Congress bashing joke