Iraq - Just another day in paradise

(FT) "The committee in charge of reviewing Iraq’s constitution has asked for a weeklong extension to complete its work - an indication that the legislature is having difficulty meeting self-imposed deadlines set in May."

(NYTimes) "Sprawling street battles between militia gunmen and Iraqi security forces erupted in three cities on Wednesday on a day of wide-ranging violence that underscored the grave security situation across much of Iraq."

Sunni insurgents in Mosul mount several attacks on a jail, a bridge, and the homes of two government officials. In Diwaniyah, "scores of militiamen loyal to the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr fought street battles against Iraqi soldiers as government security forces swept into militia strongholds." Iraqi police and Mahdi also battled in Nasiriyah.....

"In Diyala Province, insurgents fired at a police brigadier’s house in Baquba, killing three police officers and wounding two....In Ghalbiya, a town in eastern Diyala Province, gunmen stopped a bus traveling from Iraqi Kurdistan and kidnapped 21 passengers.....

Several ied's in Baghdad, another outside Kirkuk, mortars killing Iraqis inside the Green Zone, a suicide bomber in Ramadi, and "Gunmen killed a police colonel in the predominantly Sunni Arab neighborhood of Amariya. An insurgent lobbed a hand grenade in Mustansiriya Square, in central Baghdad, wounding four people. And at least 30 corpses were found dumped on the streets of the capital."

Oh, and of course the chlorine bombing.....

(AP) Iraqi police fired shots in the air to prevent journalists from covering a bombing in Baghdad in accordance with the new Iraqi government policy.

And, it looks like the Saudis have threatened regional war to prevent a US withdrawal.

"Saudi Arabia has threatened direct interference in Iraq to protect Sunnis in case [coalition forces] suddenly pull out," (a US diplomat told the Egyptian daily Al Masry Al Youm.)....

Al Masry Al Youm added that the source close to the United States State Department revealed that there was a letter sent to Washington concerning this development. According to the source, American Vice-President Dick Cheney's recent Middle East tour was related to this matter.

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