Coincidence? Pres.Talibani suffers stroke leaves country, VP injured in bomb attack.

[Blackhatjack]

It sure is suspicious that the two top officials of the Iraqi government could have died.

[helderheid]

1. I don't believe in coincidence. n/t/r

[itsmesgd]

2. there are NO coincidences

[sabbat hunter]

3. how much power does the president

how much power does the president of iraq have? from what i understand the real power in the iraqi government is in the PM postion, as it is in most parlimentary forms of government.


does anyone know how much real power the president of iraq has?

reason this is being asked is if the president has no power, what would be the reason to 'take him out'?

[Kagemusha]

5. There is no reason. And VP's are basically powerless too

The only reason to take that VP out is that the man is a favorite to replace Maliki if something should happen to Maliki himself.

Granted, you need a president to sign an oil law into law. I have zero idea how a dead president would be replaced in the Iraqi system.

[Dr.Phool]

7. We could send them our president.

[JanusAscending]

15. There ya go......!!!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: LOL!!!

[smoogatz]

4. Another thread on this subject

here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x292204

[smoogatz]

6. This is an interesting possible connection:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070226/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_oil_law

No details in the AP story about the details of the "new oil law," but if it's the one we've been hearing about that was basically written by Exxon-Mobil, Gulf and BP, it might have been expedient to get the top Kurdish and Sunni officials in the govt out of the way for awhile.

[Kagemusha]

8. Uh, doesn't the president have to like, sign the law?

And that VP that got targeted, it's not for the first time and it won't be the last..

[smoogatz]

9. I have no idea.

Does he? Or is that the PM's function? I really don't know. Tinfoil hat on too tight, most likely.

[Kagemusha]

14. No way in hell a prime minister signs bills into law. Not how it works

Even if a president is a complete figurehead, that is almost always his core job. The PM gets laws passed through parliament and the President signs them.

Having said that, like I said, not even the slightest clue what mechanism they have for replacing a President, if they have one.

[Supersedeas]

10. and Ahmed Chalabi meets a political resurrection in the Wall Street Journal

[Nimrod2005]

11. Do you really believe it was a stroke?

[peace13]

12. This article says kidney trouble. Go figure.

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Tired_Iraqi_president_falls_ill_as__02252007.html

[seafan]

13. YahooNews: Iraq VP escapes assassination bid

Coincidence is no longer operable in this madness.


Iraq VP escapes assassination bid

by Dave Clark
February 26, 2007

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdel Mahdi escaped an apparent assassination attempt on Monday when a bomb hidden in the public works ministry exploded, killing at least five people.

.....

The attack came as a city-wide security plan failed to halt the vicious sectarian carnage between hardline Sunni and Shiite factions in Baghdad, with at least eight other people killed in attacks in and around the capital.

Shiite lawmaker Jalal al-Din al-Saghir, a member of the vice president's political coalition, said the vice president and public works minister Riyad Ghraib were only lightly hurt and had been released from hospital.

"The bomb was hidden just outside the meeting room. An inquiry has been launched, but it seems that five people are dead -- including three women and a departmental director -- and 31 wounded," a security official said.

.....

Meanwhile, President Jalal Talabani was also in hospital on Monday for tests after suffering what his office called "fatigue and dehydration."

The country's 74-year-old Kurdish head of state was flown from his hometown of Sulaimaniyah in northern Iraq to Amman on Sunday after falling ill, and was undergoing tests at the King Hussein Medical Centre.

Iraq's day-to-day government is run by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is commander in chief of the armed forces, but both Talabani and Abdel Mahdi are significant figures.

.....

[jazzjunkysue]

16. Gee. Things are going great in Iraq this week.

I can't wait until next week.

I can't believe the US GOP senate is still supporting this banana republic.

Take back your country, you bunch of losers, while it's still a country.