Iraq – News Stories About Iraq - Page 78

Oct 16, 2007 3:43 PM CDT

Iraq to Blackwater: Get Out

Official probe finds civilian shootings unprovoked; US investigations ongoing

(Newser) - The Iraqi government has determined that last month's shooting of civilians by Blackwater guards was unprovoked and random, and the government is "insisting" the company leave the country, CNN reports. An adviser to Nouri al-Maliki said today the PM asked the US to withdraw the contractors. The FBI and...

Turkey's Threats Send Oil
to Record High Near $88

Oct 16, 2007 8:32 AM CDT

Turkey's Threats Send Oil to Record High Near $88

Many fear disruption of Kurdish pipelines

(Newser) - Crude oil hit yet another record today, trading near $88 a barrel over fears that a looming Turkish attack on Northern Iraq would disrupt pipelines in the world’s third-largest oil producer. Turkey’s PM said he expected parliament to approve an incursion to root out PKK militants in the...

Turkey Weighs Iraq Strikes

Oct 16, 2007 4:07 AM CDT

Turkey Weighs Iraq Strikes

Military should begin sorties into northern Iraq this month

(Newser) - Despite intense diplomatic opposition from the US, the Turkish prime minister has set in motion the parliamentary process to deploy troops to Northern Iraq. PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a motion yesterday authorizing military action in response to attacks across the border by Kurdish rebels, the Times of London reports....

Gore Inspires ‘Deranged’ Righty Hatred

Oct 15, 2007 6:06 PM CDT

Gore Inspires ‘Deranged’ Righty Hatred

Krugman speculates about why he drives conservatives so batty

(Newser) - Conservatives are incensed over Al Gore’s Nobel prize, and the Times' Paul Krugman says he knows why: The former veep “keeps being right.” The reactions range from the Journal's refusal to mention his name while rattling off more worthwhile contenders to a National Review suggestion that climate-sensitive...

Washington Post Reporter Killed in Iraq

Oct 15, 2007 5:59 AM CDT

Washington Post Reporter Killed in Iraq

Shot taking photos in embattled neighborhood

(Newser) - A Washington Post correspondent in Iraq was killed yesterday reporting from one of the most volatile neighborhoods in Baghdad. Iraqi Salih Saif Aldin, 32, was shot in the head while taking photographs of burned-out homes. US news organizations rely heavily on Iraqi correspondents willing to brave the hazards outside the...

Embattled Blackwater Maneuvering to Expand Role

Oct 15, 2007 3:05 AM CDT

Embattled Blackwater Maneuvering to Expand Role

Seeks new contracts despite massacre

(Newser) - Blackwater, the private security firm under fire for controversial shootings in Iraq, is preparing expansion plans to develop a bigger role as an arm of the US military. Company founder Erik Prince wants to make Blackwater a one-stop shop for all kinds of operations to which Washington won't commit US...

European Militants Find Training in Pakistan

Oct 14, 2007 6:38 PM CDT

European Militants Find Training in Pakistan

Fighters wary of Iraq are groomed for terror ops on Afghan border

(Newser) - Renewed Al-Qaeda strength on the Pakistan-Afghan border is wooing European militants to train in Pakistan, the Los Angeles Times reports. Fighters who are wary of Iraq—where they may have to strap on a bomb on short notice—can enjoy being groomed for missions in Pakistan. “Pakistan worries me...

Cats of Iraq Bring Solace
in War

Oct 14, 2007 1:10 PM CDT

Cats of Iraq Bring Solace in War

Stray felines find place in the heart (and home) of Times bureau chief

(Newser) - As bombs rocked the outside world, New York Times correspondent John Burns found one hopeful symbol within the newspaper’s Baghdad compound—the growing cat population. Keen survival instincts brought the cats over the blast walls to adoring humans who fed and counted the feline population. It was “one...

Aussie Chief Calls New Elections

Oct 14, 2007 11:14 AM CDT

Aussie Chief Calls New Elections

(Newser) - Prime Minister John Howard, trailing in national polls after 11 years in office, set national elections today for Nov. 24. Howard will run on the nation’s current economic boom, Reuters reports. His opponent, Labor leader Kevin Rudd, says he'll pull Australian troops out of Iraq, though domestic issues are...

US Halts Hanging of Convicted Saddam Chief

Oct 13, 2007 4:07 PM CDT

US Halts Hanging of Convicted Saddam Chief

Official says his work 'saved American lives'

(Newser) - The US stopped Saddam's defense chief from hanging last month, claiming Iraqi outrage inspired the pardon — but insiders say that Sultan Hashem earned his reprieve by thwarting Iraqi attacks during the 2003 US-led invasion. Officials tell Time that Hashem’s execution would be a “gross miscarriage of justice”...

Baghdad Shiites Turn Away From Mahdi Army

Oct 12, 2007 1:22 PM CDT

Baghdad Shiites Turn Away From Mahdi Army

As al-Sadr's militia degenerates, locals seek out US military

(Newser) - In Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad, a substantial shift in allegiances is under way, the Times reports: locals are beginning to turn from the Mahdi Army, the militia that once represented their best defense against Sunni insurgents. A lack of coherent ideology has turned a militia into a gang, and local...

Blackwater Shot Fleeing Iraqis,
US Soldiers Say

Oct 12, 2007 10:02 AM CDT

Blackwater Shot Fleeing Iraqis, US Soldiers Say

First on scene found no evidence private guards were in danger

(Newser) - Some of the Iraqis killed by Blackwater guards in the Baghdad shootings last month were "fleeing the scene when they were engaged," say the first US soldiers on the scene in an Army report obtained by the Washington Post. Worse, says one commander, there was no indication that...

US Attack Kills 15 Iraqi Civilians

Oct 12, 2007 7:08 AM CDT

US Attack Kills 15 Iraqi Civilians

Nineteen insurgents also believed dead in strike

(Newser) - In one of the war's largest losses of civilian life in a US operation, a raid north of Baghdad yesterday killed 9 Iraqi children and 6 women. Nineteen suspected insurgents also died in the air and ground strike, which targeted a meeting of senior al-Qaeda leaders, BBC reports. The US...

Britain Coordinated
Troop Cuts With the US

Oct 11, 2007 6:55 PM CDT

Britain Coordinated Troop Cuts With the US

Defense heads say they agreed southern Iraq was secure enough

(Newser) - The British and American defense secretaries say the US was consulted before Britain halved its troops in Iraq, the Los Angeles Times reports, and they agreed southern Iraq was secure enough for the withdrawal. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the withdrawal was coordinated with US commander Gen. David Petraeus,...

Army Pulls Out Checkbook to Keep Officers

Oct 11, 2007 1:08 PM CDT

Army Pulls Out Checkbook to Keep Officers

Defense Dept. offers up to $35K to retain young specialist officers

(Newser) - An acute shortage of young officers trained in aviation, intelligence, and other key specialties has prompted the Army to offer cash bonuses—up to $35,000—to persuade more to re-enlist, the Washington Post reports. The move is an effort to combat a shortage of 3,000 captains and majors...

US Marines Want Out of Iraq

Oct 11, 2007 3:15 AM CDT

US Marines Want Out of Iraq

Commander calls for lead Afghan role instead

(Newser) - The US Marine Corps is lobbying to be withdrawn from Iraq and instead be given the lead role in Afghanistan, reports the New York Times. The move would leave the Army with primary responsibility for the increasingly unpopular war in Iraq. Supporters believe it would allow the branches to operate...

Guards Kill 2 Iraqi Women

Oct 9, 2007 10:57 AM CDT

Guards Kill 2 Iraqi Women

Shot in car at Baghdad intersection; Blackwater denies involvement

(Newser) - Two Christian women were shot dead in their car at a Baghdad intersection today by security guards escorting a four-vehicle convoy. Which firm was involved has not been released, Reuters reports. A policeman who witnessed the shooting said the men fired a smoke bomb, apparently to warn the car, 100...

UK to Slash Iraq Force by More Than Half

Oct 8, 2007 1:15 PM CDT

UK to Slash Iraq Force by More Than Half

PM sees 'overwatch' role after cut from 5,500 to 2,500 troops

(Newser) - British troops will number only 2,500 in Iraq by next spring, Gordon Brown said today. In “two distinct stages,” the PM said, the UK will shrink its presence to 4,000 troops from the current 5,500 and then to 2,500, the Guardian reports. Three of...

Iraqis Vow
to Prosecute Blackwater

Oct 8, 2007 1:19 AM CDT

Iraqis Vow to Prosecute Blackwater

Blackwater deaths called 'deliberate killings'

(Newser) - A spokesman for the Iraqi government continued to escalate the rhetoric on the Blackwater shootings yesterday, charging that security guards "deliberately killed" 17 Iraqi civilians in last month's massacre in Baghdad. Ali al-Dabbagh said the Iraqis intend to take legal action, despite a US ruling in 2004 that the...

US Ignored Blackwater Warnings

Oct 7, 2007 8:02 PM CDT

US Ignored Blackwater Warnings

Immunity for guards was 'a bomb that could go off at any time'

(Newser) - The White House ignored signals about Blackwater and other private mercs for years, rejecting the idea that they were "a bomb that could go off at any time," the Los Angeles Times reports. One official says that contract guards blatantly smashed property and scared Iraqis, then argued that...