• Listen to this segment

GUEST: Raed Jarrar, Iraq Consultant to the American Friends Service Committee

Last Tuesday more than half of Iraq’s Parliament voted to reject the US occupation of their country. 144 lawmakers signed onto a legislative petition calling on the United States to set a timetable for withdrawal. The petition was sponsored by the Al Sadr Movement, according to their spokesman. Remarkably this news has barely been reported in the US media. The Iraqi Parliament has attempted several times to pass similar resolutions but have often fallen just short of the 138 votes needed, sometimes because of difficulty reaching quorum. Like many ordinary Iraqis, many members of Iraq’s parliament have fled the country. The petition that passed on Tuesday is non-binding. It will be presented to the speaker of the Iraqi parliament to demand that a binding measure be put to a vote. What will happen next is unclear.

Raed Jarrar’s article is online at: http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/51624/