We are in Iraq to give the Iraqi government time to take charge

Um... WHAT Iraqi government?

AJ in DC at AmericaBlog:

This idea that we need to train forces to support the central government is based on a complete fallacy. There is no functioning central government; the "national unity government" hailed by war supporters in early 2006, which never really existed in the first place, is a demonstrated failure. The only think keeping Maliki in power is the complete lack of alternative candidates who could unite enough parliament members to form a ruling coalition, and in the meantime, no progress occurs.

How that parliament working out? (my bold):

WASHINGTON, July 5 Iraq's oil minister says a Saddam-era oil deal with China has not been finalized and no oil deals will be until an oil law is passed by Parliament.

[snip]

That deal, along with those signed with Vietnamese, Indian and Indonesian firms, and those the Kurdistan Regional Government has signed since 2003, must be brought in line with the pending federal oil law before they are legit, said Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani, who was in the China delegation.

"No oil deal, regardless, specifically those that are signed in the Kurdish region, will be valid until they are approved by the federal council (on oil and gas) after the oil and gas law is passed and the federal council is formed," Shahristani told UPI from Baghdad during a telephone interview.

"There is an article in the law that specifically states that all contracts that were made under the previous regime and by the KRG have to be reviewed in the light of the new oil and gas law by the federal council," he said.

Progress was made on the federal law lately, though its success in the Parliament is unsure. The council of ministers approved it suddenly Tuesday, but numerous parties have boycotted the council and the Parliament -- threatening quorum -- and are against the law. The Kurds, the law's biggest proponents, said they may be against changes that were made to it in the council.

The Iraqi parliament has one job... to deliver their country's oil wealth into the clutching hands of Dick Cheney and George Bush. Oddly, the Iraqis are balking at such a thing. I'm sure the idea their lives would be immediately forfeit doesn't occur to the PNAC crowd.

A reminder:
Michael Schwartz of the Asia Times:

Since the invasion of Iraq, US officials have melded economic and military policy into a single fatal brew, driven by dreams of controlling the country's fabulous potential oil wealth. The key "benchmark", therefore, that the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki must pass is passage of a new oil law forced on it by the Bush administration. Widespread opposition to the law, though, could result in escalating conflict that leaves the oil out of the United States' reach.

This excellent adventure of Bush and Cheney's could all be for naught....