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Iraq :: Specific Conflicts
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The Economist: Iraq's troubles
Iraq and Afghanistan: Petraeus's next war
Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:11:45 -0000
After success in Iraq, can America’s favourite general win in Afghanistan?IN LESS than two years General David Petraeus has become the most admired American general of recent times. His success in overseeing America’s military surge in Iraq, reversing the country’s descent into a sectarian bloodbath, has earned him praise from both contenders in America’s presidential race. He is a “great general” in the view of John McCain, and has “done a brilliant job” according to Barack Obama. Given his intelligence, ambition and deft handling of the media, the general is talked of as a possible future president.First, though, he has some more soldiering to do. As he has left Iraq to take over Central Command later this month, presiding over operations from Egypt to Afghanistan, his views will do much to shape the course of the “war on terror” under the next president. He faces a persistent question: can his Iraqi success be replicated in Afghanistan? ...
Repatriating refugees: Managing the right of return
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:30:35 -0000
On paper, people who flee war and persecution have an unconditional entitlement to go back to their homeland. In reality, lots of other factors come into play THE scenes look encouraging. Since the beginning of August, hundreds of Iraqi refugees living in Egypt have gone back to their homeland on flights sponsored by the Baghdad authorities. The Iraqi government hails these returns as a sign that things are getting back to normal in a country where more than 2m people have fled abroad, and even more were internally displaced, as a result of the chaos that followed the American-led invasion of 2003. But away from the fanfare, the feelings of the Iraqis involved in these homecomings are mixed. A few expressed mild optimism that the situation has improved in their home areas. Many more said they were returning because they had little choice: they were unable to work in Egypt and were running out of money. ...
Iraq: Leave as soon as you sensibly can
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:35:36 -0000
Iraqis naturally want their country back, and should have it as soon as they think they are readyIT IS a cheering new sign of confidence that Iraq’s prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, is now demanding an agreement with the United States that would require all American troops to leave the country by the end of 2011. That is a bit later than Barack Obama’s proposal to bring them home by May 2010 and a bit earlier than John McCain’s more tentative hopes for a withdrawal by 2013. But it suggests that the spectrum of serious possibilities is narrowing. It shows that Iraqis are beginning to believe in their ability to stand on their own feet. And it flashes a ray of light at the end of Iraq’s still dismally dark tunnel. Iraq is far less horrible than it was two years ago. The Americans’ surge of extra troops, a series of ceasefires and deals with once hostile Sunni tribes in the west and with Shia militias in the slums of Baghdad, the windfall of extra cash from oil exports: all these things have given the country fresh hope. ...
Iraq on film: Waiting for John Wayne
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:35:36 -0000
American audiences have been staying at home, not tempted by films about an unpopular war. Perhaps the emergence of a new hero may do the trickWITH one exception, films about the Iraq war have done badly in American cinemas. The exception was Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11”, a fiercely anti-war film made the year after the invasion. Though Disney refused to distribute it, the movie still made a fortune. But the films that came after it have mostly bombed at the box office, a fact that has led film financiers to regard the war with a superstition as potent as that which has actors referring to “Macbeth” as “the Scottish play”.Why is this so? Persuading audiences to flock to a film about an unpopular war is obviously difficult. Comparisons with Vietnam don’t really work. Television coverage of the Vietnam war was so intensive that Hollywood did not bother to make many films about it while it was going on. (John Wayne’s “The Green Berets” was released in 1968 as a corrective, it was hoped, to the TV coverage that was turning the country against the war.) But, with Iraq, that situation is reversed. The New York Times has reported that the three major American television networks logged only about 180 minutes of weekday evening reporting on the war in the first half of this year (compared to 1,157 minutes for all of 2007), and that CBS News no longer has a full-time correspondent in Iraq. ...
Iraq: Whose law must mercenaries obey?
Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:47:15 -0000
Private contractors in Iraq operate in a legal limbo. That may changeTHE American federal agency that monitors progress in rebuilding Iraq recently gave warning to Congress that proposed changes in Iraqi law could provoke an exodus of private contractors, who remain a crucial part of the American presence in the country. In particular, proposals by Iraq’s government to end the contractors’ immunity from prosecution in Iraqi courts is a contentious aspect of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that will, among other things, define the Americans’ legal status in Iraq after the UN mandate ceases, at the Iraqis’ request, at the end of this year. This week American and Iraqi negotiators sounded close to an agreement. But it was still unclear whether contractors’ immunity, let alone a date for America’s troop withdrawal, has been nailed down.If all the privateers in Iraq ran scared of the new law, the American coalition’s manpower would be drastically squeezed. The Congressional Budget Office says that 190,000 people work for contractors in Iraq. Some 38,000 are American, 82,000 hail from elsewhere and 70,000-plus are Iraqi. But the law under which the foreigners operate has been murky. “We should have figured out the laws first and then hired the guys,” says Peter Singer of the Brookings Institution, a Washington think-tank. “We did the opposite.” ...
Iraqi oil: Welling up
Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:49:37 -0000
Iraq's oil is flowing a bit more freelyIRAQ'S oil production averaged over 2.4m barrels a day in the second quarter, the highest level since America invaded in 2003. This should boost the country's oil revenues to around $80 billon this year and production should keep on rising as security improves. Iraqi oil is cheap to extract and there are probably new fields to be found. But political uncertainty is hampering the investment needed to overhaul exitisng infrastructure and oilfields that might dramatically boost output in near future. ...
csmonitor.com | Notebook: Iraq
NPR Topics: Iraq
Report: Iraq Situation Likely To Worsen
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:00:00 -0400
A report from top U.S. intelligence agencies says that the relative calm in Iraq could dissolve at any moment. McClatchy Senior Correspondent Warren Strobel discusses what the report says and how it may change the presidential race.
In Iraq, Those Displaced By Violence Return Home
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:28:00 -0400
After the holy month of Ramadan, hundreds of families displaced by sectarian fighting began returning to the divided neighborhood of Ghazaliyah. To help the process, the U.S. military has been visiting the returnees.
Hurdles Remain In Iraq Security Agreement
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:31:00 -0400
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte is making an unannounced visit to Iraq on Tuesday. U.S. and Iraqi officials have been negotiating a deal governing the operation of U.S. troops in Iraq, which expires this year. Iraq's foreign minister says it will take "bold political decisions" to overcome the final hurdles.
New Army Field Manual Is Road Map To Stabilization
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:30:00 -0400
The Army has a new operations manual that emphasizes nation-building over conventional warfare. The Stability Operations Field Manual was put together at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., the home of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center. The new doctrine will drive Army resources, organization and training for many years to come.
Christian Security Forces Growing Stronger In Iraq
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:10:00 -0400
The security forces, organized through local churches, are manning checkpoints in Iraq and working with police. The mystery of where their funding comes from seems to center on a media-shy and reclusive political figure.
The Race For Iraqi Oil
Sun, 05 Oct 2008 09:59:00 -0400
The competition for Iraqi oil is gaining momentum. Later this month, Iraq will host more than three dozen major oil companies. All of them hope to bid and win the account for handling Iraq's massive oil reserves.
Alsumaria TV Iraq, Iraq news | Iraq News | RSS feed
Political powers debate over Turkish Parliament decision
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 08:29:00 -0000
Political powers in Turkey are debating over the decision of Turkish Parliament that stipulates to extend the authorization of Turkish military to conduct cross border operations into Iraq against Kurdistan Workers Party. Some parties consider the decision as a violation to Iraq’s sovereignty ...
Quiet and normal scene at Iraqi stock market
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 06:45:00 -0000
It is a quiet and normal scene far away from the financial crisis taking grip of the world economy. This is what it looks look like at the Iraqi Stock Market which has not been affected by the financial crisis. Inside the monetary market in Baghdad, dozens of brokers wrote down stock prices on ...
Iraq violence kills at least 18 people
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 06:23:00 -0000
At least 18 people were killed and tens others wounded in violence mainly due to the car bomb explosion in Abu Dchir in Dora District in southern Baghdad. In Mosul, 15 citizens were killed and tens were wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up in Al Kornish market in central the city. ...
Sadr residents mourn MP Saleh Al Ugaili
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 06:13:00 -0000
Thousands of citizens from Al Sadr City marched in the funerals of MP Saleh Al Ugaili who was killed due to sustained wounds as his convoy was targeted by a roadside bomb explosion in Al Habiba region related to Al Sadr City. Mourners held US and Iraqi Forces responsibility for the assassination of ...
Iraq latest developments entail urgent talks
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 06:06:00 -0000
Coalition Party senior official Sheikh Hamid Al Saidi declared that the current political situation in Iraq as well as the latest developments that occurred in addition to the disintegration of political parties including recent rows between Kurdistan regional government and the central government ...
Iraq PM Nuri Al Maliki visits Najaf
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:52:00 -0000
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki arrived today in the morning to the holy city of Najaf where he visited the tomb of Imam Ali Ben Abi Taleb (A.S) then headed to meet Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani. Al Maliki said that the present meeting comes in light of political and security successes ...
