WASHINGTON POST: "SURGE" DOESN'T HELP UPCOMING ELECTION IN IRAQ

There has been a lot of banter lately about "the surge," but lost in all the bluster by talking heads on TV is "the surge" was designed to help Iraq bring about unification so elections could be held and the Iraqi government could be officially formed.

"The surge" was never about military accomplishments, but you would never know it if you only listened to the blabbermouth on FOX NEWS, CNN and MSNBC.

Now comes word, the President of Iraq says an election will have to be put off until 2009 because factions in Iraq can't get together on certain issues regarding the election.

Iraqi President Vows Veto of Election Bill
Measure Passed After Kurdish Boycott; Balloting Is Now Unlikely Until 2009

By Amit R. PaleyWashington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, July 24, 2008; Page A16
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072301978.html

BAGHDAD, July 23 -- President Jalal Talabani said Wednesday that he would veto a measure governing provincial elections scheduled for this year, making it all but certain that the balloting will be delayed until 2009.

The announcement was a setback for both the Bush administration and the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which hailed a preliminary election law passed earlier this year as evidence of political progress in Iraq. The ongoing disagreements over the polling have instead highlighted the sectarian fissures that still divide the country.

Talabani, a Kurd, said the bill passed by parliament Tuesday was unconstitutional and had been approved by only 127 lawmakers from the 275-member parliament, after the Kurdish delegation walked out in protest. For a bill to become law, it must be approved by the three-member presidency council, which Talabani heads.