Iraqi politicians continue to show their independence

Yet another Iraqi politician has decided to distance himself from the U.S.. The speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani a Sunni Islamist, spoke before the UN sponsored conference and likened U.S actions in Iraq to "butchery". The conference sponsored by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) was on the subject of transitional justice and national reconciliation and was meant to support the government efforts.

He was quoted by Al Jazeera as saying "If a reconciliation project is going to work it has to talk to all the people. It must go through our Iraqi beliefs and perceptions. What we need is reconciliation between Iraqis only, there can be no third party." He then related an anecdote about how American soldiers keep people waiting in lines at checkpoints for hours because they insist on resting their bomb-sniffing dogs. "The sleep of American dogs is more important than people being stopped in the street for hours," he said.

The UN host called his speech "spirited".