A New Era Begins In Iraq

Iraq's National Assembly convenes in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, March 16, 2005. Iraq's first freely elected parliament in half a century began its opening session Wednesday marking a major milestone on the road to forming a new government in the insurgent-wracked country. Kurdish delegate Fuad Masoum is at the podium. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

On the anniversary of the Saddam Hussein-ordered chemical attack in 1988 on the northern Kurdish town of Halabja, an attack that killed 5,000 people, Iraq’s first freely elected parliament in half a century began its opening session Wednesday.

AP reports that the parliament’s 275 members convened in an auditorium amid tight security in the heavily guarded Green Zone with U.S. helicopter gunships hovering overhead.

Minutes before convening, at least a half dozen explosions detonated a few hundred yards away. The U.S. military said two mortar rounds landed inside the zone but caused no injuries.

Rachel Corrie's Parents Seek a 16th Minute of Infamy
Taxing your ass for a leaky hole in the ground

6 Comments

  1. Big Bang Hunter March 16, 2005
  2. Just John March 16, 2005
  3. Henry March 16, 2005
  4. McGehee March 16, 2005
  5. Henry March 16, 2005
  6. BR March 16, 2005