Steven Lee Meyers and Alissa Rubin - U.S. Scales Back Political Goals for Iraqi Unity.
... administration officials say they are focusing their immediate efforts on several more limited but achievable goals in the hope of convincing Iraqis, foreign governments and Americans that progress is being made toward the political breakthroughs that the military campaign of the past 10 months was supposed to promote.
The short-term American targets include passage of a $48 billion Iraqi budget, something the Iraqis say they are on their way to doing anyway; renewing the United Nations mandate that authorizes an American presence in the country, which the Iraqis have done repeatedly before; and passing legislation to allow thousands of Baath Party members from Saddam Hussein's era to rejoin the government. A senior Bush administration official described that goal as largely symbolic since rehirings have been quietly taking place already.
... administration officials have not abandoned their larger goals and emphasize the importance of reaching them eventually. They say that even modest steps, taken soon, could set the stage for more progress, in the same manner that this year's troop "surge" opened the way, unexpectedly, for drawing Sunni tribesmen to the American side.
Voice of America reported that Iraq's parliament began discussing a draft law Sunday that would ease job restrictions on former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party. But a political faction loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr jeered and raised objections that halted the presentation of the bill. It is the first time this year that Iraq's parliament has debated a major bill that Washington hopes will promote reconciliation among Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds. The proposed law would make it easier for former Baathists, many of them Sunnis, to apply for jobs in the Iraqi government.
Zaid Sabah and Sudarsan Raghavan have more at the Washington Post.