Sorry, suds.

"Douglas W. "Popeye" Frederick" <Buzcutt454@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1159f87pg3tmlbd@news.supernews.com...

Dude, nothing you can say could ruin my mood. I spent a good part of Monday
morning sitting in the chamber at UofH talking with the head of the
Hyperbaric Medicine Department. Today I took my regs and tanks in for a
long over due annual. As soon as I can find a free day, I'm headed back in!
;^)


suds

One more time, wicked burn.


"Douglas W. "Popeye" Frederick" <Buzcutt454@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1159f87pg3tmlbd@news.supernews.com...
> Updated: 08:07 PM EDT
> Iraqi Parliament Names Kurd as President
> Saddam Hussein Watches Proceedings From Jail Cell
> By MARIAM FAM, AP
>
>
>
> Reuters
>
>
>
> BAGHDAD (April 6) - Two months after elections, Iraq's new government
> finally began to take shape Wednesday as lawmakers elected as president a
> Kurdish leader who promised to represent all ethnic and religious groups
in
> a session broadcast across the country - and shown to Saddam Hussein in
his
> jail cell.
>
> A prominent Shiite Arab was expected to be named on Thursday as prime
> minister, the most powerful post in what will be Iraq's first
democratically
> elected government in 50 years. That would open the way to picking a
> Cabinet.
>
> Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani was chosen for the largely ceremonial job of
> president, while Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a Shiite, and current interim President
> Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni Arab, were elected vice presidents.
>
> Talabani's selection and the expected choice of Ibrahim al-Jaafari as
prime
> minister further consolidate the power shift in Iraq, where both the
Shiite
> Arab majority and the Kurdish minority were oppressed, often brutally,
under
> Saddam's Sunni-dominated regime.
>
> Talabani, 71, reached out to all sectors of the country, appealing for
them
> to join with fellow Iraqis who are working ''to found a new Iraq, free of
> sectarian and ethnic persecution, free of hegemony and oppression.''
>
> He also urged Iraqi insurgents, who are believed to be mostly Sunni Arabs,
> to sit down and talk with the new government.
>
> President Bush called Wednesday's session a ''momentous step forward in
> Iraq's transition to democracy.''
>
> ''The Iraqi people have shown their commitment to democracy and we, in
turn,
> are committed to Iraq,'' the president said in a statement. ''We look
> forward to working with this new government, and we congratulate all
Iraqis
> on this historic day.''
>
> Saddam and 11 of his top aides were given the choice of watching a tape of
> the National Assembly session in their prison and all chose to do so, said
> Bakhtiar Amin, human rights minister in the outgoing interim government.
>
> Amin said Saddam watched by himself, while the others viewed it as a group
> at their undisclosed detention center, which is believed to be near
> Baghdad's airport.
>
> ''I imagine he was upset,'' Amin said. ''He must have realized that the
era
> of his government was over, and that there was no way he was returning to
> office.''
>
> Iraq's new presidential council, made up of the president and his two
> deputies, is to be sworn in Thursday. The three are then expected to
> immediately name the prime minister.
>
> Lawmakers can then start to draft a permanent constitution, which is
> supposed to be finished by Aug. 15.
>
> Among the touchiest issues that remain are whether the oil city of Kirkuk
> should be part of the autonomous Kurdish region, what role Islam should
play
> in Iraq's governmental system and who will be named defense minister.
>
> Negotiators had agreed on Talabani for the president's job weeks ago, but
> news of his formal election was greeted with dancing in the streets of the
> Kurdish north.
>
> ''Today Jalal Talabani made it to the seat of power, while Saddam Hussein
is
> sitting in jail,'' said Mohammed Saleh, a 42-year-old Kurd in Kirkuk.
''Who
> would have thought!''
>
> When the results were announced, legislators swarmed around Talabani,
> hugging and kissing him. Members gave him a standing ovation and tears
> welled up in the eyes of some Kurdish lawmakers and Talabani's relatives
> attending the session.
>
> ''This is the new Iraq,'' said parliament speaker Hajim al-Hassani, a
Sunni
> Arab.
>
> Kurds make up about 20 percent of Iraq's 26 million people, and won 75 of
> the 275 seats in parliament. A Shiite alliance holds 140 seats.
>
> Sunni Arabs, who make up 15 percent to 20 percent of the population, have
> only 17 seats, largely because they boycotted the election or stayed home
> out of fear of attacks.
>
> Lawmakers tried to reach out to Sunni Arabs by naming al-Yawer and
> al-Hassani to top posts.
>
> But prominent Sunni Arab groups distanced themselves from the new
> government.
>
> ''We are not related to any process in this matter of choosing
candidates,''
> Muthana al-Dhari, spokesman for the Association of Muslim Scholars, a
Sunni
> group, told Al-Jazeera satellite television.
>
> World leaders congratulated Talabani on his post, and U.N.
Secretary-General
> Kofi Annan welcomed ''the commitment of Iraq's new leadership to working
> toward national unity through peaceful democratic means''
>
> As parliament met, mortar rounds exploded in a street across the Tigris
> River. A blast left a crater near the Ministry of Agriculture and the
> al-Sadeer hotel and injured at least one Iraqi civilian. The target of the
> attack was unclear, but the hotel, which has housed foreign contractors,
has
> been attacked in the past.
>
> Associated Press writers Sinan Salaheddin, Qasim Abdul-Zahra and Sameer
> Yacoub contributed to this report.
>
>
> AP-NY-04-06-05 19:23 EDT
>
>
> --
> One million Marines cannot seize Tarawa in a thousand years.
> Admiral Keiji Shibasaki, 4 days before his death.
>
>

Updated: 08:07 PM EDT
Iraqi Parliament Names Kurd as President
Saddam Hussein Watches Proceedings From Jail Cell
By MARIAM FAM, AP



Reuters



BAGHDAD (April 6) - Two months after elections, Iraq's new government
finally began to take shape Wednesday as lawmakers elected as president a
Kurdish leader who promised to represent all ethnic and religious groups in
a session broadcast across the country - and shown to Saddam Hussein in his
jail cell.

A prominent Shiite Arab was expected to be named on Thursday as prime
minister, the most powerful post in what will be Iraq's first democratically
elected government in 50 years. That would open the way to picking a
Cabinet.

Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani was chosen for the largely ceremonial job of
president, while Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a Shiite, and current interim President
Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni Arab, were elected vice presidents.

Talabani's selection and the expected choice of Ibrahim al-Jaafari as prime
minister further consolidate the power shift in Iraq, where both the Shiite
Arab majority and the Kurdish minority were oppressed, often brutally, under
Saddam's Sunni-dominated regime.

Talabani, 71, reached out to all sectors of the country, appealing for them
to join with fellow Iraqis who are working ''to found a new Iraq, free of
sectarian and ethnic persecution, free of hegemony and oppression.''

He also urged Iraqi insurgents, who are believed to be mostly Sunni Arabs,
to sit down and talk with the new government.

President Bush called Wednesday's session a ''momentous step forward in
Iraq's transition to democracy.''

''The Iraqi people have shown their commitment to democracy and we, in turn,
are committed to Iraq,'' the president said in a statement. ''We look
forward to working with this new government, and we congratulate all Iraqis
on this historic day.''

Saddam and 11 of his top aides were given the choice of watching a tape of
the National Assembly session in their prison and all chose to do so, said
Bakhtiar Amin, human rights minister in the outgoing interim government.

Amin said Saddam watched by himself, while the others viewed it as a group
at their undisclosed detention center, which is believed to be near
Baghdad's airport.

''I imagine he was upset,'' Amin said. ''He must have realized that the era
of his government was over, and that there was no way he was returning to
office.''

Iraq's new presidential council, made up of the president and his two
deputies, is to be sworn in Thursday. The three are then expected to
immediately name the prime minister.

Lawmakers can then start to draft a permanent constitution, which is
supposed to be finished by Aug. 15.

Among the touchiest issues that remain are whether the oil city of Kirkuk
should be part of the autonomous Kurdish region, what role Islam should play
in Iraq's governmental system and who will be named defense minister.

Negotiators had agreed on Talabani for the president's job weeks ago, but
news of his formal election was greeted with dancing in the streets of the
Kurdish north.

''Today Jalal Talabani made it to the seat of power, while Saddam Hussein is
sitting in jail,'' said Mohammed Saleh, a 42-year-old Kurd in Kirkuk. ''Who
would have thought!''

When the results were announced, legislators swarmed around Talabani,
hugging and kissing him. Members gave him a standing ovation and tears
welled up in the eyes of some Kurdish lawmakers and Talabani's relatives
attending the session.

''This is the new Iraq,'' said parliament speaker Hajim al-Hassani, a Sunni
Arab.

Kurds make up about 20 percent of Iraq's 26 million people, and won 75 of
the 275 seats in parliament. A Shiite alliance holds 140 seats.

Sunni Arabs, who make up 15 percent to 20 percent of the population, have
only 17 seats, largely because they boycotted the election or stayed home
out of fear of attacks.

Lawmakers tried to reach out to Sunni Arabs by naming al-Yawer and
al-Hassani to top posts.

But prominent Sunni Arab groups distanced themselves from the new
government.

''We are not related to any process in this matter of choosing candidates,''
Muthana al-Dhari, spokesman for the Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni
group, told Al-Jazeera satellite television.

World leaders congratulated Talabani on his post, and U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan welcomed ''the commitment of Iraq's new leadership to working
toward national unity through peaceful democratic means''

As parliament met, mortar rounds exploded in a street across the Tigris
River. A blast left a crater near the Ministry of Agriculture and the
al-Sadeer hotel and injured at least one Iraqi civilian. The target of the
attack was unclear, but the hotel, which has housed foreign contractors, has
been attacked in the past.

Associated Press writers Sinan Salaheddin, Qasim Abdul-Zahra and Sameer
Yacoub contributed to this report.


AP-NY-04-06-05 19:23 EDT


--
One million Marines cannot seize Tarawa in a thousand years.
Admiral Keiji Shibasaki, 4 days before his death.

"suds" <knowthebiblebetterthantho@foad.net> wrote in message
news:MY35e.20579$e06.11118@twister.socal.rr.com...
>
> "Douglas W. "Popeye" Frederick" <Buzcutt454@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:1159f87pg3tmlbd@news.supernews.com...
>
> Dude, nothing you can say could ruin my mood. I spent a good part of
Monday
> morning sitting in the chamber at UofH talking with the head of the
> Hyperbaric Medicine Department. Today I took my regs and tanks in for a
> long over due annual. As soon as I can find a free day, I'm headed back
in!
> ;^)

Congrats!!

"suds" <knowthebiblebetterthantho@foad.net> wrote in message
news:MY35e.20579$e06.11118@twister.socal.rr.com...
>
> "Douglas W. "Popeye" Frederick" <Buzcutt454@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:1159f87pg3tmlbd@news.supernews.com...
>
> Dude, nothing you can say could ruin my mood. I spent a good part of
Monday
> morning sitting in the chamber at UofH talking with the head of the
> Hyperbaric Medicine Department. Today I took my regs and tanks in for a
> long over due annual. As soon as I can find a free day, I'm headed back
in!
> ;^)

Very cool - congrats!

Dennis
>
>
> suds
>
>
>