Developments in Iraq
- After approval of this year’s budget in Iraqi Parliament, many became outraged at the dispersal of around USD $50 million to create a fleet of personalized armored vehicles for Iraq’s politicians. The Iraqi news website Rudaw reported on that outrage: “Apparently, the lives of the Iraqi MPs and their families are more precious than the blood of Iraqi citizens that is being spilled every day on the streets,” said Jamil Faraj, a resident of Baghdad. “The Iraqi people are paying the price with their blood and lives for electing these people and letting them stay in power.”
- Although every major political bloc was in favor of the decision to purchase the armored vehicles, MP’s from the Sadrist bloc have now requested a committee that would work to re-distribute these funds to work toward the public good.
- Others have mentioned that they may, in the future, utilize the fleet of 400 armored cars that was recently delivered for the upcoming Arab Summit in Baghdad.
- In other news, Iraqi government statistics say 151 were killed in violence over the last month, as militants continue to disrupt the daily lives of Iraqis
- The militant group Asaib ahl al-Haq handed over the remains of the last remaining American Soldier declared MIA in Iraq. The group facilitated the handover to the Iraqi government, most likely as a goodwill gesture upon it’s entry into Iraqi politics, although it denied any involvement in the soldiers death. Ahmed Al Taie was an Iraqi American interpreter for the U.S. Army who was abducted and killed at the height of violence in 2006, after he left his base to see his Iraqi wife.