Iraq's Prime Minister Jalal Talabani and Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the majoritarian party SCIRI, are both out of the country for health-related reasons. Talabani's in the U.S. on a severe diet regimen (the only characteristic he shared with Ariel Sharon is the girth) and Hakim is in Iran undergoing chemotherapy for lung cancer.
Yet more fodder for the "Bomb Iran" comments thread: it's not an option while the Ed Gillespie of the Iraqi Shia is in a Tehran hospital. The Washington Times:
He chose treatment in Iran rather than the U.S. because he wanted to be close to his family and proper treatment was not available in Iraq, party officials said. His choice of Iran also reflected his close links to the Shi'ite theocracy there.
Mr. al-Hakim's absence could last several months or longer, said the officials, robbing Iraq of a key player at a time when the United States is pressing for parliamentary action on a series of political "benchmarks" in support of its military surge in Baghdad.