Iraqi legislators passed a resolution June 5 requiring the government to seek parliamentary approval before asking the UN to extend the mandate for US-led forces in Iraq. The Sadrist-drafted resolution passed by a vote of 85 to 59. The members of parliament voted along party lines, with Sunnis joining the bloc loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr and other Shi'ite legislators at odds with the leadership. Supporters of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki opposed the resolution.

From the Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC), June 3:

Cindy: Do not say good-bye
The U.S. needs you, not the criminals and thieves

Dear Sister Cindy Sheehan, Greetings...

I have read your article ("Good-bye America... you are not the country that I love anymore"), in which you declared resignation and your plan to stay away from the arena of struggle against war and the occupation of Iraq.

From the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), June 4:

At 6:30 AM this morning, 4 June 2007, oil workers struck the pipeline company in Basra, Iraq, bringing an immediate stop to the free flow of oil products, including kerosene and gas through pipe number 42.

Assyrian Christian leaders in Iraq say the future existence of the country's dwindling Christian population hangs in the balance as violence continues unabated. According to a report by the Assyrian International News Agency, direct blame has been leveled at Iraqi government and Coalition forces' inaction in the face of mounting attacks against Christian populations.

David Phinney writes for Iraq Slogger, May 31:

Rumors of labor trafficking and abuse have plagued building contractor now completing the $592 million Baghdad embassy building project, but a State Department Inspector General investigation reported finding nothing untoward. Now an IraqSlogger exclusive reveals previously unreported instances of appalling living conditions, abuse, and coerced labor, making clear that the allegations against the contractor managing the embassy project remain unresolved.

The "Awakening in Anbar" movement, which was started in the conflicted province by local tribes and Sunni insurgents opposed to al-Qaeda's attempts to impose its leadership, has now spread to all of the provinces bordering Baghdad and been officially renamed the "Awakening in Iraq." Over the past month, Awakening movements formed in Diyala and Salahadin, and, this week, the Babil Awakening was formed. Al-Qaeda in Iraq immediately targeted the leader of the Babil Awakening, Sheikh Obeid Al-Masoud, seriously wounding him and his wife in an attack in the city of Iskandaria. (The Weekly Standard, NPR, May 31)

Cindy Sheehan writes in her public diary on Daily Kos, May 28:

I have endured a lot of smear and hatred since Casey was killed and especially since I became the so-called "Face" of the American anti-war movement. Especially since I renounced any tie I have remaining with the Democratic Party, I have been further trashed on such "liberal blogs" as the Democratic Underground. Being called an "attention whore" and being told "good riddance" are some of the more milder rebukes.

From AP, May 28:

A suicide car bomber struck a busy Baghdad commercial district Monday, killing at least 21 people, setting vehicles on fire and damaging a nearby Sunni shrine, police and hospital officials said.