Bombs kill 19; Iraqi ministers sworn in
Bombs struck a busy outdoor market and a police patrol in a mostly Shiite area of Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 19 people and wounding more than 40, police said.
Also Thursday, Iraq's parliament approved new ministers of defense, interior and national security, ending a three-week stalemate among Iraq's religious and ethnic groups over the crucial posts.
The three men were sworn in after Nouri al-Maliki announced the death of al-Zarqawi.
The new ministers are Iraqi Army Gen. Abdul-Qadre Mohammed Jassim, a Sunni Arab, for defense and Shiites Jawad al-Bolani for interior and Sherwan al-Waili for national security.
The posts are considered crucial for al-Maliki's government to implement a plan allowing Iraqi forces to take over security for the country from the U.S.-led coalition within 18 months, opening the way for the eventual withdrawal of foreign troops.
Ok, now if today the Pentagon released a report saying Iraqis thought the future looked good I might be inclined to believe them considering that todays top news is that Zarqawi was killed.
Now lets hope that the new appointees can get things moving in the right direction and refrain from forming death squads to kill off member of other sects unlike the former minister of the interior.
It is nice to see some positive news coming out of Iraq that isn't spin.
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