Iraq Report: Diyala Salvation, Politics, Sadr Sleight-of-hand

In Iraq, the major developments over the past two days occurred in the political realm. First, the tribes of Diyala are beginning to organize along the lines of the tribes in Anbar province and have now vowed to battle al Qaeda. "Tribesman Sheikh Wameed al-Jabouri told al-Hayat that a number of tribes had signed a cooperation agreement to undertake this mission and to bring the city [of Baqubah] back to how 'it used to be,'" notes Deutsche Presse-Agentur. "The agreement could be considered 'a national charter' that proves their rejection of the actions of the terrorist groups, al-Jabouri said." This development comes as U.S. force level increases for the surge are nearly complete, and the Coalition is preparing a move against al Qaeda in that province.

Back in Baghdad, controversy continues over the decision of the Iraqi parliament to take a summer recess, despite the fact that outstanding issues such as the petroleum law and the status of federalism in the Iraqi constitution have yet to be resolved. This impasse is creating enormous political pressure back in the United States, where Congress and the Bush administration are battling over a funding bill. Vice President Cheney visited Baghdad to reinforce the need for political progress to accompany the military 'surge'.

In Baghdad, the Sadrist block has pushed a draft bill through parliament calling for "a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops and a freeze on the number of foreign troops already in the country." The parliament would also have to approve the UN mission in Iraq, which expires at the end of 2007. A Sadr aide claimed to have 144 of the 275 parliamentarians supporting the bill. The bill is under legal review and has yet to reach the speaker of the parliament's desk.

According to Alertnet, the bill is actually a "petition, which is nonbinding," and must be presented to speaker. "Under Iraqi law, the speaker must present a resolution that's called for by a majority of lawmakers, but there are significant loopholes and what will happen next is unclear."

The Kurdish block backed the legislation but "only on the condition that the withdrawal timetable be linked to a schedule for training and equipping Iraq's security forces." The Sadrists didn't include this requirement, prompting the Kurdish block to refer to the legislation as a deception.

The Sadrist block pulled off a masterful propaganda stunt. Expect the bill to be defeated when it comes to the full vote in parliament, as prior versions have been.On the security front, al Qaeda was able to conduct a major suicide bombing in the city of Irbil yesterday, a typically quiet Kurdish region. Sixteen were killed and over 70 wounded after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive-laden truck outside the regional Interior Ministry. Al Qaeda claimed credit through its proxy Islamic State of Iraq. No other major attacks have been reported in the past 48 hours.

Iraqi and Coalition forces continue to press the fight against al Qaeda, the wider insurgency, and the Mahdi Army. Coalition forces raided three Mahdi Army cells in Sadr City, killing three and capturing four "members of a secret cell terrorist network known for facilitating the transport of weapons and explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, from Iran to Iraq, as well as bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training."