Iraq

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40 Iraq Shiite Pilgrims Killed in Blast

Tent explodes as pilgrims take a break during a days-long trek

(Newser) - At least 40 people were killed today when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest amid a crowd of Shiite pilgrims during a trek south of Baghdad. A tent where the marchers stopped for food exploded in Iskandariyah in the second attack on Arbaeen, a day when millions descend on...

Turkey Bombs Rebels in Iraqi Mountains

Attacks must end 'as soon as possible,' Baghdad warns

(Newser) - Fighting continued in semiautonomous Kurdistan today as Turkey’s air and artillery forces let loose a hail of bombs in the mountains of northern Iraq, the AP reports. The strikes are ratcheting up tension between Turkey and the US-backed Iraqi government: Iraq’s foreign minister today told Turkey to get...

Basra Awash in Violence as It Tests Self-Rule

Militia violence doesn't bode well for rest of the nation

(Newser) - Basra is supposed to be a shining example of Iraqi self-rule, but the city remains riven by violence five months after British forces pulled out and left local leaders in control, the New York Times reports. Dozens of Shia militias are competing for power, and murders and kidnappings of prominent...

Militias Shell Green Zone in Baghdad

Assault on US-protected compound could hurt al-Sadr's credibility

(Newser) - A volley of rockets or mortar rounds hit Iraq’s Green Zone today, causing no injuries except perhaps to the credibility of a Shiite militia cease-fire extended just one day ago. The AP reports that nearly 10 explosions were heard inside the zone, which houses the American embassy, Iraqi government...

Surge: Success or Standstill?
Surge: Success or Standstill?
OPINION
Feb 22, 2008 4:11 PM CST

Surge: Success or Standstill?

Post columnists stake out opposing stances

(Newser) - The year-old troop surge in Iraq has Washington Post op-ed columnists at odds, with Charles Krauthammer saying it’s unreasonable to call it a failure and Michael Kinsley arguing it can’t be deemed a success. The former points to changed hearts and minds, anecdotes of emotional reconciliation, legislation that...

UK Troops Accused of Executing Iraqis

Five men file suit, say soldiers killed and tortured 20 captives

(Newser) - British soldiers killed up to 20 Iraqi captives after a 2004 firefight, say lawyers representing five men taken prisoner that day, the BBC reports. The men—described by their lawyers as laborers, not insurgents—say they heard UK soldiers killing and torturing captives at a British base after the gun...

Sadr Extends Ceasefire 6 Months
Sadr Extends Ceasefire 6 Months
Feb 22, 2008 7:38 AM CST

Sadr Extends Ceasefire 6 Months

Rumors confirmed as cleric calls on Mahdi Army to freeze activities

(Newser) - Muqtada al-Sadr has extended the ceasefire of his Mahdi Army by six months, writes the Wall Street Journal, confirming yesterday's rumors from US officials. At midday prayers across Iraq imams read out the announcement of the Shiite cleric, who had been under pressure from some of his followers to allow...

10,000 Turkish Troops Enter Iraq
10,000 Turkish Troops Enter Iraq
Feb 22, 2008 5:57 AM CST

10,000 Turkish Troops Enter Iraq

Ground offensive marks major escalation in fight with Kurd separatists

(Newser) - Turkey has sent 10,000 troops over the border into northern Iraq to hunt down militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, marking the first major ground incursion into the country since 1997, reports Bloomberg. The Turkish military said that the action began last evening, and local television is reporting that...

Poll Sees Texas Dead Heat, Slight Clinton Lead in Ohio

Races close ahead of March 4 primaries

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are running neck and neck in Texas, while Clinton holds a significant but tenuous lead in Ohio, according to a Washington Post-ABC News Poll. Heading into the crucial March 4 primaries, Clinton leads Obama 48% to 47% in Texas, and 50% to 43% in Ohio...

Al-Sadr to Extend Ceasefire
Al-Sadr to Extend Ceasefire
Feb 21, 2008 11:57 AM CST

Al-Sadr to Extend Ceasefire

Six-month renewal of cleric's truce key to Iraq security gains, US says

(Newser) - Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will prolong by six months the ceasefire that has reduced violence across Iraq, officials tell Reuters. Sadr today sent a sealed sermon to mosques across Iraq to be read during midday prayers tomorrow. Exact details won’t be known until those envelopes are unsealed, but “the...

General Plans New Round of Iraq Troop Cuts

Petraeus reveals second withdrawal likely after July

(Newser) - General David Petraeus is preparing new plans to withdraw American troops from Iraq on top of previously announced reductions. The US commander in Iraq said that after more than 20,000 soldiers are pulled out by July, he will recommend further cutbacks later in the year, he told the Times...

Blackwater Probers Return to Baghdad

Feds investigate massacre that killed 17, seek trial in US

(Newser) - Federal authorities investigating the Blackwater shootings that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead will revisit the scene of the massacre this week. Prosecutors from the Justice Department have already arrived in Baghdad, to be joined by inspectors from the FBI. But the inquiry has been hamstrung by the American government's promise...

Abu Ghraib Film: Too Soft on Abuses?

Documentary wins Berlin prize, criticism for 'morbid voyeurism'

(Newser) - Documentary-maker Errol Morris has often spoken truth to power, but his new film about the Abu Ghraib prison scandal may tread too lightly, Geoffrey Macnab writes in the Guardian. Though Standard Operating Procedure explores the infamous prison photos in gritty detail, Morris’ interview style—focusing mainly on implicated American soldiers...

Al-Sadr May Call Off Ceasefire
Al-Sadr May Call Off Ceasefire
Feb 20, 2008 11:28 AM CST

Al-Sadr May Call Off Ceasefire

Will expire Saturday unless cleric renews; could jeopardize gains in security

(Newser) - The ceasefire ordered last August by Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr expires Saturday, and unless he renews it, his Mahdi Army will again take up arms—raising US fears that gains in staunching sectarian bloodshed across Iraq could jeopardized. Al-Sadr hasn't signaled his intentions, but some say US and Iraqi raids...

Iraq Tours to Cut by 3 Months This Summer

Top Army general plans to return to yearlong stints

(Newser) - American soldiers deployed to Iraq this summer will likely serve shorter tours, the AP reports. Soldiers at war today are serving 15 months and coming home for a year before going back to Iraq for another tour. War tours are expected to be shortened to 12 months for units leaving...

General's Iraqi Shift Mirrors US Strategy

Outgoing No. 2 evolved from aggressive tactics to nonlethal ones

(Newser) - Gen Raymond Odierno stepped down from his post as the No. 2 general in Iraq this week, having evolved from a proponent of heavy-handed tactics to a believer in nonlethal methods to win favor with Iraqis and reduce violence, the Washington Post reports. In a lengthy profile of the so-called...

Bush Rips Congress on Waterboarding Ban

Families of London bomb victims know 'nature of killers,' he tells interviewer

(Newser) - President Bush blasted the congressional move to ban waterboarding last night, suggesting that relatives of London bombing victims would understand the need for such interrogation techniques. Victims' families "understand the nature of killers," he told the BBC. He said lawmakers "are imposing a set of standards in...

Iraq Lawmakers Overcome Rifts, Pass Key Laws

Long deadlock had threatened to dissolve young parliament

(Newser) - A day after the speaker of Iraq’s parliament threatened to disband the legislature, lawmakers passed three key but divisive laws after months of infighting, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The measures—passage of a federal budget, limited amnesty for prisoners, and curbs on the powers of local governments—allowed...

Women Report Sex Assaults by Contractors in Iraq

Victims say assaults are common and complaints ignored in legal limbo

(Newser) - American women who report being sexually assaulted while working for contractors in Iraq are finding themselves stuck in a legal limbo, reports the New York Times. They are not covered by military laws, and the reach of American laws over US contractors abroad is still unclear. Contractors like KBR require...

CBS Journalist to Be Freed 'Within Hours'

Radical Shiite group says it negotiated freedom of 2 hostages

(Newser) - A kidnapped British journalist working for CBS and his translator are to be freed "within hours," according to the office of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Sadrists conducted negotiations with the kidnappers, who took the two hostage at gunpoint from a hotel in Basra, AFP reports. The captives have...

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