Saturday, Nov. 29, 2008

At last, a vote; withdrawal deal delays frustrating

Now I can breathe.

It's been a really busy week here, and most all of it took place in Iraq's parliament.

That assembly approved a withdrawal agreement Thursday that allows the United States to stay here for an additional three years, but it gives Iraq much more control over American operations.

We anticipated a vote Monday, and then Wednesday, and then Thursday. I walked into parliament Thursday morning and lawmakers were talking about postponing it again.

My heart sank.

It wasn't the terms of the pact that held up the vote. Rather, the blocs had to compromise on a companion measure that calls for some political reform. Without it, the treaty would've won a majority, but not a mandate.

The suspense ended late Thursday afternoon when parliament passed the pact by a broad majority. A political bloc tied to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr made some noise to protest the deal, but that party didn't have enough votes to derail it.

So that was my Thanksgiving. It kept me busy past midnight for a story The Bee published Friday morning on Page A-1.

With that over, I should have more time to get out and write some different stories. The debate in parliament made me cancel a couple of trips out with the U.S. military. I'm looking forward to making up for those missed visits.

As an aside, getting into parliament can be an adventure. I had been to that part of the Green Zone every day since Monday, and the rules seemed to change a little depending on who was running the checkpoints.

On Wednesday, the day with the most tension for the parliament vote, I was searched nine times on my walk from the first Green Zone checkpoint to the convention center where the political blocs had their offices.

Getting home is something of a thrill, too. The drivers pick me up on a street with a checkpoint that can tie up traffic. To avoid that, we race across the road on foot, hop in the car and head in reverse along the side of the street until we can make a U-turn.

It's not an uncommon move here, and I can tell it's well-practiced.

"We can't do that in America," I said, laughing at one of the drives.

Bee staff writer Adam Ashton is in Iraq on a two-month assignment for McClatchy Newspapers.