Fiddling while Baghdad burns

Can we please, please get the hell out of Iraq? We are fighting a stalemate at best, the locals suck, and the folks that are nominally on our side don’t appear to give a shit.

BAGHDAD — Missing from Thursday's session of the Iraqi parliament were about half of the members, including the speaker, the former speaker and two former prime ministers.

Also missing: a sense of urgency.

American officials have been pressing Iraqi leaders to prove their commitment to ending sectarian strife by enacting landmark legislation before mid-September, when the Bush administration is to present its next report on Iraq to Congress.

But even as parliament's monthlong August break approaches, key issues aren't being discussed. Quorums are marginal, or fleeting.

Despite the high stakes here, the Iraqi parliament appears to be deliberating at a pace to rival plodding legislative bodies around the world.

Thursday's session, the 50th of the year, convened half an hour late.

The Iraqi government has never been a model of speed or efficiency but this is just pathetic. I almost want to say screw the insurgency; let's start shooting members of Parliament.