Monday, March 28, 2005

Juan Cole v. Star Tribune

The Shiite Muslim likely to be Iraq's next prime minister said Saturday
that the country's long-awaited government could be formed within days, an
accomplishment that would mark the end of nearly two months of negotiations
after the nation's first free elections in half a century.

Iraqi politicians, however, have been reporting that they were near a deal
for at least a month.

There seems little likelihood of a government being formed before the
beginning of April. Two sticking points in the negotiations are the role of
Islam in the new government and who gets the ministry of petroleum. The
Kurds want it, as a way of getting hold of the city of Kirkuk, which they
covet. The Shiites want it, because they have the huge Rumaila oil field in
the south. InPresident Obama arrived in Colombia for the Summit of the Americas yesterday, but the Secret Service agents sent in advance of his arrival were M.I.A. That's because 12 agents were relieved of duty and sent home after allegations of misconduct involving prostitution. Former Washington Post reporter Ronald Kessler calls it "clearly the biggest scandal in Secret Service history."

Kessler became aware of the investigation into Secret Service misconduct and alerted the Washington Post, which was the first publication to report on the story. According to Kessler, "One of the agents did not pay one of the prostitutes, and she complained to the police."

Agency spokesman Edwin Donovan released a statement in which he confirmed the allegations of misconduct against Secret Service agents but refused to elaborate on what exactly that