Sunday, May 20, 2007
Getting out while the getting's good
OK, maybe not "good." But at least while they're still alive:
President Jalal Talabani left Iraq on Sunday for a trip to the United States that was expected to include a medical checkup.I'm willing to bet there are a few more Iraqis who would like to get away for three weeks of rest and relaxation, millions of them in fact. The only difference between them and Talabani is that they'd probably like to gain weight, and most of them don't have the luxury of being flown out of the country on a U.S. military aircraft. Or leaving at all, for that matter. They're trapped in a hell that Talabani and al-Hakim played a small part in creating.
"I will go to the U.S.A and stay nearly three weeks to lose weight and have some rest and relaxation ... away from meetings and work," Talabani, a 73-year-old Sunni Kurd, said.
Talabani was the second top Iraqi politician to fly to the United States for medical reasons in four days.
Senior Shiite politician Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim flew there aboard a U.S. military aircraft Wednesday for further tests to determine if he is suffering from lung cancer, according to members of his staff.
