Um…do you think that Pelosi will now say that the surge is working? *snicker* Don’t bet on it!

Using old-fashioned behind-the-scenes politicking, Iraq’s Parliamentary leaders pushed through three divisive laws that had been delayed for months by bitter maneuvering between factions and, recently, threats to dissolve the legislative body.

More than any legislation approved so far, the three measures have the potential to spur reconciliation between Sunnis and Shiites and set the country on the road to a more representative government.
The three laws are the 2008 budget, a law outlining the scope of provincial powers — a crucial aspect of Iraq’s self-definition as a federal state — and an amnesty that will cover thousands of the detainees held in Iraqi jails, including thousands of Sunnis, many of whom have been held without charges for months and, in a few cases, more than a year. It will be the largest release at one time since 2003.
The freeing of detainees who have not been charged has been a headline issue for Sunni legislators in Parliament and for the Sunni vice-president, Tariq al-Hashimi, who have charged that the Shiite-dominated security forces have charged many innocent Sunnis with being members of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, an extremist Sunni group that American intelligence says is foreign-led.
The three measures were put to a vote as a single package and passed Wednesday afternoon. There were 206 legislators of the 275-member body at the session, according to the Parliament’s press office. “Today we have a wedding party for the Iraqi parliament,” said Mahmoud Mashadani, the speaker, who is a Sunni. “We have proved that Iraqis are one bloc and parliament is able to find solutions that represent all Iraqis.”

(via)