The Iraqi Parliment Ends the Deadlock!

Yahoo! News has the story:

Iraq's president formally designated Shiite politician Jawad al-Maliki to form a new government Saturday, starting a process aimed at healing ethnic and religious wounds and pulling the nation out of insurgency and sectarian strife.

The move ends months of political deadlock among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds that threatened to drag the nation into civil war. Al-Maliki has 30 days to present his Cabinet to parliament for approval.

Parliament elected President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, to a second term and gave the post of parliament speaker to Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni Arab. Al-Mashhadani's two deputies were to be Khalid al-Attiyah, a Shiite, and Aref Tayfour, a Kurd.

The tough-talking al-Maliki was nominated by the Shiites on Friday after outgoing Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari gave up his bid for another term. Al-Jaafari's attempt to stay in office was adamantly opposed by Sunnis and Kurds, causing a monthslong deadlock while the country's security crisis worsened in the wake of December's election.

U.S. and Iraqi officials hope that a national unity government representing Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds will be able to quell both the Sunni-led insurgency and bloody Shiite-Sunni violence that has raged during the political uncertainty. If it succeeds, it could enable the U.S. to begin withdrawing its 133,000 troops.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the Bush administration is hopeful that the latest political developments in Iraq will lead to significant progress in forming a permanent government.

'We hope to see good progress in the coming days,' McClellan told reporters traveling with
President Bush to California. 'We'll be watching.'

While the MSM continues to harp on when the troops will come home, QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA has some reason to celebrate this occasion. If Mr. Al-Maliki successfully establishes a national unity government, he can earn the Iraqi people's confidence. This will suck the oxygen out of the Sunni faction that still supports the blood-lusting terrorism.

That will allow the government to concentrate on routing the foreign terrorists.

Iran's proxy within the Iraqi shiite community will most likely do what they can to disrupt the process. A chaotic Iraq consumed by civil war allows them to effectively control southern Iraq. This would give Al Zarchowi, whom Iran sponsered after the fall of the Taliban, a free hand to dismember the center of the country.

The Iraqis must not allow the Mullahs to play their twisted hand. Mr Al-Maliki must work quickly and effectively to ensure that the new government represents the interests of all Iraqis. The sooner the new government can do this, the sooner the Iraqis can at last begin to enjoy the full fruits of their freedom.