Iraqiya Coalition Ends Parliament Boycott

The Sunni-backed bloc of parliament, Iraqiya, has announced it will end its boycott and return to parliament. “As a good-will gesture, Iraqiya announces its return to Parliament meetings to create a healthy atmosphere to help the national conference, and to seek guarantees for the conference to succeed and defuse the political crisis,” the Iraqiya spokeswoman, Maysoon al-Damluji, said. Although many see this as a positive move toward improving a torn political landscape, according to Reuters, “deep disputes over power-sharing remain unresolved, keeping alive the risk that Iraq could fall back into widespread sectarian violence.”

Meanwhile, a small active fleet of surveillance drones operated by the U.S. State Department has angered some Iraqi government officials. The drones are unarmed and are intended to protect the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and American personnel in the country, and officials also said many are just used for spare parts. Some senior Iraqi officials expressed outrage at the program, saying the unarmed aircraft are an affront to Iraqi sovereignty. “Our sky is our sky, not the U.S.A.’s sky,” said acting Minister of Interior Adnan al-Asadi.

Additionally, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s chief policy aide revealed that the Pentagon is “preparing to begin talks with Iraq on defining a long-term defense relationship that may include expanded U.S. training help.” ”The Iraqi army, while capable of conducting counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations, possesses limited ability to defend the nation against foreign threats,” said the report submitted to Congress Monday by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction,  Stuart W. Bowen, Jr.