A number of prominent Iraqi politicians and analysts are voicing concern that the national army will be unable to secure the country in the absence of US troops which could enable neighbouring countries to interfere in the country's internal affairs.
Despite some of the concerns, Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, insists that the withdrawal of US combat forces from Iraqi cities proves that Iraq can handle its own security, despite a recent spike in bombings in the past month.
"We are on the threshold of a new phase that will bolster Iraq's sovereignty. It is a message to the world that we are now able to safeguard our security and administer our internal affairs," he said in a televised event on June 27.
He has called on Iraqis to mark June 30 as a national holiday earmarked as Sovereignty Day.
Usama al-Nujaifi, an Iraqi MP from the Iraqi Nationalist List said: "We think Iraqi forces are not up to the standards of maintaining Iraq's sovereignty and dignity and this could jeopardise Iraq's security."
In November 2008, the Iraqi and US governments signed the Status of Forces Agreement (Sofa) which stipulates the withdrawal of US troops from Iraqi cities to several bases throughout the country on June 30, 2009.
While Iraqi forces step in to take charge of security in the cities, the US army will be tasked with securing Iraq's borders and airspace until its full withdrawal in December 2011.
Debatable sovereignty
Saad Qandil, a member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, which is part of the Shia-majority ruling coalition, thinks declaring and celebrating national sovereignty is premature.
"We know it is not full sovereignty, but it is a step in the right direction. We are still looking forward for the full withdrawal of all foreign troops."
Dhafir al-Ani, an opposition member of the parliament and head of the al-Tawafuq Party, the largest Sunni bloc (44 seats out of 275 seats), agrees with Qandil.
He said: "Sovereignty means you are capable of free decision-making, defending your national soil, airspace and waters. Iraq is definitely far from achieving all this, I think the title of 'sovereignty day' should be reserved until we achieve the full sovereignty."
Security challenges
For the first time since the March 2003 US-led invasion, Iraqi security forces and the army will take sole responsibility for overcoming security challenges posed by local militias, groups like al-Qaeda and foreign infiltrators.
Although the Iraqi security situation has improved somewhat since 2006, hundreds of Iraqi civilians and a number of US soldiers have been killed in a recent spate of attacks.
Major General Qassim Atta, the commander of Baghdad security operations, believes that cadres of the outlawed Baath Party, al-Qaeda and "extreme religious groups" are responsible for the latest wave of attacks in Iraq.
"It is not only al-Qaeda, there are networks calling themselves al-Naqshabandiya, the Baath Party and foreign-backed organisations, all of them aim at defeating the government and foiling the political process," he said.
Khudair al-Murshidi, the spokesperson for the Baath Party in exile, strongly denied that his organisation was behind any of the attacks and accused the government of "distorting the facts".
An Airbus A330-200 operated by Yemen's state carrier Yemenia Air that took off from Paris has disappeared between Yemen and Comoros with 147 passengers on board, an airport source said.
The plane left Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport on Monday and traveled to Marseille and then Sanaa in Yemen before heading towards Moroni.
The aircraft -- which was due to have landed in the capital of the Indian Ocean archipelago at 2300 GMT Monday -- disappeared from radar screens, said the airport source.
A crisis task force was set up at Charles de Gaulle airport early Tuesday.
Another Airbus A330 aircraft, operated by Air France, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean between Brazil and France on June 1 with 228 people on board. There were no survivors.
As for her salon, Pierre Michel, Mrs. Madoff had dropped in every six weeks over the last 10 years. One morning in March, she was told that she could no longer enjoy her routine of sitting with a glass of Poland Spring water while Giselle, a colorist often cited in Vogue and Allure, wielded the foils...
The salon also refused to send a stylist to her apartment, a few blocks away, Ms. Brady said. Too many clients at the salon had been swindled, and the owners did not want their image further harmed, she explained.
Quote by Raine:
Drudge HAs OFFICIALLY lost his Mind...
NOT from the Onion...
Quote by BobR:
Things are getting interesting on the job front. I contacted a sales manager I used to work with (and got along with and got respect from) at a former company we both used to work for via LinkedIn. He asked me to pass along my resume. I got a message back from him with a sense of urgency asking if I can meet him and the tech manager for a lunch interview tomorrow.
I checked out the company - it's a document/information management software company, which is what I've been working on at 3 of my past 4 employers (the exception being the company he and I both worked for). If the job openings list on their website is anything to go by, the job involves going to customer sites, analysing their information workflow, and designing/coding integration software to automate their processes. This is a nearly perfect combination of my experience and what I'm looking for.
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Quote by BobR:
Things are getting interesting on the job front. I contacted a sales manager I used to work with (and got along with and got respect from) at a former company we both used to work for via LinkedIn. He asked me to pass along my resume. I got a message back from him with a sense of urgency asking if I can meet him and the tech manager for a lunch interview tomorrow.
I checked out the company - it's a document/information management software company, which is what I've been working on at 3 of my past 4 employers (the exception being the company he and I both worked for). If the job openings list on their website is anything to go by, the job involves going to customer sites, analysing their information workflow, and designing/coding integration software to automate their processes. This is a nearly perfect combination of my experience and what I'm looking for.
![]()
Quote by Raine:
What did Joe Jackson Say?
Quote by Scoopster:Quote by Raine:
What did Joe Jackson Say?
Is she really going ouuuuuuut with him?!
(yea I know.. different Joe Jackson :lol:)
Quote by BobR:
Things are getting interesting on the job front. I contacted a sales manager I used to work with (and got along with and got respect from) at a former company we both used to work for via LinkedIn. He asked me to pass along my resume. I got a message back from him with a sense of urgency asking if I can meet him and the tech manager for a lunch interview tomorrow.
I checked out the company - it's a document/information management software company, which is what I've been working on at 3 of my past 4 employers (the exception being the company he and I both worked for). If the job openings list on their website is anything to go by, the job involves going to customer sites, analysing their information workflow, and designing/coding integration software to automate their processes. This is a nearly perfect combination of my experience and what I'm looking for.
![]()
Quote by BobR:
Things are getting interesting on the job front. I contacted a sales manager I used to work with (and got along with and got respect from) at a former company we both used to work for via LinkedIn. He asked me to pass along my resume. I got a message back from him with a sense of urgency asking if I can meet him and the tech manager for a lunch interview tomorrow.
I checked out the company - it's a document/information management software company, which is what I've been working on at 3 of my past 4 employers (the exception being the company he and I both worked for). If the job openings list on their website is anything to go by, the job involves going to customer sites, analysing their information workflow, and designing/coding integration software to automate their processes. This is a nearly perfect combination of my experience and what I'm looking for.
![]()
Quote by velveeta jones:Quote by Raine:
Drudge HAs OFFICIALLY lost his Mind...
NOT from the Onion...
:rofl::rofl:
Oh....... that's good! Let the base get dumber and dumberer (and smaller).
Quote by TriSec:
So. Billy Mays' heart attacked him.
Ed and Farrah were expected; MJ was really not that surprising. Poor Mr. Mays wins the "most shocking" award for this past week, IMHO.
Quote by velveeta jones:
OMG.... In looking at Pina's obit, a friend of mine died! :O
Quote by wickedpam:
from Twitter
johnboehnerTop Democrats in February said "stimulus" would create jobs "almost immediately." Instead, we've lost 1.6M. http://is.gd/1je31
wickedm@johnboehner and Repubs and Bush said they'd get Bin Laden - I'm still waiting.
Quote by TriSec:
Everything OK in Atlanta?
Quote by clintster:
:devilbanana: You know you want to click it.
Quote by clintster:
:devilbanana: You know you want to click it.
Quote by Random:
Oh my...Random may join Facebook now
Quote by Raine:
Someone NEEDS to take away Newt Blackberry:
@newtgingrich: Having castro call for defending democracy should convince any reasonable person that honduras was on the edge of a leftist dictatorship
@newtgingrich Sadly the obama administration has joined castro and chavez attacking honduran supreme court and congress for defending their constitution
=====================
So there it is -- Newty is FOR the Honduran Coup.
Quote by livingonli:Quote by Raine:
Someone NEEDS to take away Newt Blackberry:
@newtgingrich: Having castro call for defending democracy should convince any reasonable person that honduras was on the edge of a leftist dictatorship
@newtgingrich Sadly the obama administration has joined castro and chavez attacking honduran supreme court and congress for defending their constitution
=====================
So there it is -- Newty is FOR the Honduran Coup.
Well the leader of the Honduran Coup was trained at the School of the Assasins in Fort Benning which usually means that he is backed by the Righties. So, he probably would like a nice puppet fascist in Latin America like the guys we used to prop up.
Quote by Raine:
Someone NEEDS to take away Newt Blackberry:
@newtgingrich: Having castro call for defending democracy should convince any reasonable person that honduras was on the edge of a leftist dictatorship
@newtgingrich Sadly the obama administration has joined castro and chavez attacking honduran supreme court and congress for defending their constitution
=====================
So there it is -- Newty is FOR the Honduran Coup.
Quote by Raine:
Andy Borowitz On Thom!![]()
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said Tuesday that he "crossed lines" with a handful of women other than his mistress — but never had sex with them.
The governor said he "never crossed the ultimate line" with anyone but Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentine at the center of a scandal that has derailed his once-promising political career.
"This was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love story," Sanford said. "A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day."
Quote by Raine:
Oh DEAR LARD... (yes LARD --)South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said Tuesday that he "crossed lines" with a handful of women other than his mistress — but never had sex with them.
The governor said he "never crossed the ultimate line" with anyone but Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentine at the center of a scandal that has derailed his once-promising political career.
"This was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love story," Sanford said. "A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day."
TMI!!!!
Quote by Raine:
Someone NEEDS to take away Newt Blackberry:
@newtgingrich: Having castro call for defending democracy should convince any reasonable person that honduras was on the edge of a leftist dictatorship
@newtgingrich Sadly the obama administration has joined castro and chavez attacking honduran supreme court and congress for defending their constitution
=====================
So there it is -- Newty is FOR the Honduran Coup.
Quote by BobR:Quote by Raine:
Someone NEEDS to take away Newt Blackberry:
@newtgingrich: Having castro call for defending democracy should convince any reasonable person that honduras was on the edge of a leftist dictatorship
@newtgingrich Sadly the obama administration has joined castro and chavez attacking honduran supreme court and congress for defending their constitution
=====================
So there it is -- Newty is FOR the Honduran Coup.
A leftist dictatorship? Doesn't he mean a leftist democracy with a democratically elected leftist president?
Quote by Raine:
Drudge HAs OFFICIALLY lost his Mind...
NOT from the Onion...
Quote by velveeta jones:Quote by TriSec:
So. Billy Mays' heart attacked him.
Ed and Farrah were expected; MJ was really not that surprising. Poor Mr. Mays wins the "most shocking" award for this past week, IMHO.
They keep coming: Pina Bausch dead at 68.
Quote by BobR:
I can't stop watching this cute cat video...
Quote by BobR:Quote by Raine:
Someone NEEDS to take away Newt Blackberry:
@newtgingrich: Having castro call for defending democracy should convince any reasonable person that honduras was on the edge of a leftist dictatorship
@newtgingrich Sadly the obama administration has joined castro and chavez attacking honduran supreme court and congress for defending their constitution
=====================
So there it is -- Newty is FOR the Honduran Coup.
A leftist dictatorship? Doesn't he mean a leftist democracy with a democratically elected leftist president?
Quote by TriSec:
I once looked at a woman with lust in my heart. Now I know what it feels like to have a long-distance affair in Argentina that will ruin my career and destroy my marriage.
Quote by Raine:
Cole NEws conferenece RIght now...
Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by Raine:
Cole NEws conferenece RIght now...
Watching it. He is almost being gracious.
Random comment, no I don't like the new screen format on MSNBC.
Quote by Raine:I do not like the MSNBC graphics at all.Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by Raine:
Cole NEws conferenece RIght now...
Watching it. He is almost being gracious.
Random comment, no I don't like the new screen format on MSNBC.
Quote by clintster:
SENATOR MUTHA-F'IN FRANKEN!!!!!
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Quote by Raine:
Damn -- Randi really hates Al.
She has never really gone into details why -- but hoohaw-- she hates him.
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Damn -- Randi really hates Al.
She has never really gone into details why -- but hoohaw-- she hates him.
personally I think it was Al taking credit for getting AA off the ground when Randi may have done the leg work.
Quote by wickedpam:
and O'reilly's head's gonna go.....![]()
Quote by Mondobubba:
Sources on from the McCain campaign on Sarah Palin: The Little Shop of Horrors.
Quote by clintster:
Get ready for the big shock!
FOX News didn't carry Al Franken's acceptance speech live.
Quote by Raine:I do not like the MSNBC graphics at all.Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by Raine:
Cole NEws conferenece RIght now...
Watching it. He is almost being gracious.
Random comment, no I don't like the new screen format on MSNBC.
Quote by Raine:
Damn -- Randi really hates Al.
She has never really gone into details why -- but hoohaw-- she hates him.
Quote by Raine:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Damn -- Randi really hates Al.
She has never really gone into details why -- but hoohaw-- she hates him.
personally I think it was Al taking credit for getting AA off the ground when Randi may have done the leg work.
I think there is a lot of sour grapes there. Love Randi, but yeah, Mala... I see resentment. Funny thing -- Randi has done more for progs than Al has in the past few years. ;)
Quote by Raine:I might DVR it...Quote by wickedpam:
and O'reilly's head's gonna go.....![]()
ok, no I won't. Someone will youtube it. ;)
Quote by livingonli:Quote by Raine:I might DVR it...Quote by wickedpam:
and O'reilly's head's gonna go.....![]()
ok, no I won't. Someone will youtube it. ;)
Don't give Fox the rating. Thank goodness for youtube.
Quote by Raine:Quote by Mondobubba:
Sources on from the McCain campaign on Sarah Palin: The Little Shop of Horrors.
It came from Wasilla.
Amazing read.
Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by Raine:I do not like the MSNBC graphics at all.Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by Raine:
Cole NEws conferenece RIght now...
Watching it. He is almost being gracious.
Random comment, no I don't like the new screen format on MSNBC.
It's too frickin' busy.
Quote by Raine:SERIES?!?!?!!?!! This is Hugh!Quote by clintster:
Get ready for the big shock!
FOX News didn't carry Al Franken's acceptance speech live.
(on a side note -- Randi is pretty funny today--- )
Quote by Random:
Random's never done this before...but caption contest...
Quote by clintster:
And O'Reilly pusses out. Glenn Beck is guest hosting.
Quote by BobR:Quote by clintster:
And O'Reilly pusses out. Glenn Beck is guest hosting.
He's at home in his stained underwear, passed out on the barca lounger with a half-empty bottle of Boone's Farm strawberry wine spilled on the floor next to him.
Quote by livingonli:Quote by BobR:Quote by clintster:
And O'Reilly pusses out. Glenn Beck is guest hosting.
He's at home in his stained underwear, passed out on the barca lounger with a half-empty bottle of Boone's Farm strawberry wine spilled on the floor next to him.
Or maybe Jack Daniels and Coors.