2010

At least 21 dead in Iraq violence
At least 21 people are killed and scores wounded in early morning drive-by attacks in Baghdad, and a series of bombings outside the Iraqi capital.

Iraq groups agree coalition deal
Two of the largest Shia groups have announced they have formed a new coalition following inconclusive elections in March.

Abu Ghraib-style brutality: Maliki's secret detention site in Baghdad In a disclosure that is widely being compared to the Abu Ghraib scandal, it has been reported that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ran a covert prison in Baghdad for the purposes of holding and torturing hundreds of Sunni insurgents.

Baghdad recount as bomb strikes
A car bomb in the Iraqi capital kills eight people, as officials say a vote recount in the city could take three weeks.

Dozens die in Baghdad bomb blasts
At least 58 people are killed in Baghdad in what the government describes as a wave of revenge attacks by al-Qaeda.

"Not out of the ordinary in Iraq" Iraq war veteran Josh Stieber, whose company is seen in the video posted by WikiLeaks of a July 2007 massacre of civilians in Baghdad, talked to the World Socialist Web Site about his experiences in Iraq and why he has chosen to speak out.

Third Iraq al-Qaeda leader killed
Officials say US and Iraqi troops kill an al-Qaeda leader in northern Iraq, the third such militant to be killed in recent days.

Iraq Election: Can Maliki Win With a Baghdad Recount?
Jane Arraf, The Christian Science Monitor: "An Iraqi appeals panel ordered Monday that more than 20 percent of the votes cast in national elections be manually recounted in response to complaints from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's political bloc, further placing the Iraq election results in doubt."

Seven Years of (Unconvincing) Lies in 39 Minutes: A Primer
Dr. Matthew Feldman, Truthout: "No wonder the US military said the tape was lost. Those murderous images leave you gasping for air like a punch in the gut at boot camp. Then you hear a bit of cackling, some banter and more shooting. Dahr Jamail reported in Truthout that a dozen people were killed in the massacre, including two Reuters news staff, with another two children wounded but (amazingly) alive. The US troops sounded as if they were having fun, like aiming for high-score on an arcade game."  

Iraq airport shut over plane plot
Iraqi officials say they have closed an airport in Najaf for a week amid reports of a hijack plot by Sunni insurgents.

Iraq: Seven Years of Occupation
Raed Jarrar, Truthout: "On April 9, 2003, exactly seven years ago, Baghdad fell under the US-led occupation. Baghdad did not fall in 21 days, though; it fell after 13 years of wars, bombings and economic sanctions. Millions of Iraqis, including myself, watched our country die slowly before our eyes in those 13 years. So, when the invasion started in March of 2003, everyone knew it was the straw that would break the camel's back."

Iraq group claims embassy bombs
A militant group linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq says it was behind attacks in Baghdad on Sunday which killed 40 people near foreign embassies.

US 'reviewing' Iraq killing video
The US military is reviewing a video of a controversial helicopter attack on a group of people in Iraq in 2007, officials say.

Al-Qaeda Kills Dozens in Multiple Attacks in Baghdad
Kristen Chick, The Christian Science Monitor: "Al-Qaeda is blamed for a series of attacks Tuesday in Baghdad. Insurgents, who have killed more than 100 in the past week, seek to exploit the delay in forming a new Iraq government after last month's election."

Deadly blasts hit Iraqi capital
Three large explosions hit the centre of Baghdad killing at least 30 people and injuring 168, reports say

Former IAEA chief: Iraq war killed "a million innocent civilians" The former head of the UN’s chief nuclear agency, Mohammed ElBaradei, said in an interview with the British newspaper Guardian Wednesday that those who launched the war in Iraq were responsible for killing a million innocent people and could be held accountable under international law. He was clearly referring to US President George Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and their top military and security aides.

Call to bar Iraq election winners
Six of the winning candidates in Iraq's elections should be disqualified because of alleged ties to the former Baath government, a vetting panel says.

Children 'stunted by Iraq war' 
Iraqi children born in the most violent areas are shorter than those born in other parts of the country, a study says.

Allawi urges fast Iraq poll count
The narrow frontrunner in the race to become Iraq's next prime minister says poll results are taking too long to declare.

Cultural Cleansing in Iraq
Lieven De Cauter, Truthout: "With the anniversary of the war waged on Iraq, I think of what I wrote seven years ago: that this illegal invasion had nothing to do with the war on terror, but was planned well in advance, and was not about democracy but about the destruction of Iraq. I was openly taunted for it. At best, I was considered endearing or pathetic in my anger, but not on the level when it came to world politics."

A Tale of Two Wars From a Man Who Was There for Both
Michael Gass, Truthout: "In May 1991, my Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit stationed at Incirlik AB, Turkey, was deployed into northern Iraq in support of the Kurdish relief efforts. Our mission was simple; find and destroy any ordnance that posed a threat to the civilian population. In four months, our unit found and disposed of over 1,000 tons of high explosives."

Britain's Chilcot inquiry: A whitewash of war crimes and Iraq war The hearings held by the inquiry into the war in Iraq, headed by Chairman Sir John Chilcot, have confirmed that the fundamental purpose for which it was convened was to ensure that those responsible for waging an illegal war of aggression are not held to account.

Iraq election entrenches communalist divisions Initial reports indicate that none of the major political coalitions won an outright majority in Iraq's March 7 election. The results highlight the ethno-communal divisions that the US occupation has fomented.

Maliki leads Baghdad poll count
Partial results for Iraq's elections show PM Nouri Maliki's coalition ahead in the crucial area of Baghdad, officials say.

Iraq results point to tight race
First results from Iraq's election suggest a tight contest may be developing between PM Nouri Maliki and main rival Iyad Allawi.

Iraq election voter turnout '62%'
The voter turnout in Iraq's parliamentary election was 62%, officials say, despite attacks that killed 38 people.

Votes being counted in Iraq poll
First results are not expected for several days, but PM Nouri Maliki appears to be establishing a lead, officials say.

Deadly Iraq car bomb hits Najaf
A car bomb in Iraq's holy city of Najaf kills at least three people on the eve of tense parliamentary elections, officials say.

PM's Iraq evidence 'disingenuous'
Former defence chiefs challenge Gordon Brown's claim at the Iraq inquiry that no military request for equipment was turned down.

Polling stations attacked in Iraq
Three bombs go off in Baghdad killing at least 14 people as early voting gets under way in Iraq's parliamentary election.

'More birth defects' in Fallujah 
Doctors in the Iraqi city of Fallujah report a high level of birth defects, with some blaming weapons used by the US military.

Iraqi city hit by triple bombing
Three suicide attacks in the central Iraqi city of Baquba kill at least 31 people, days ahead of landmark elections.

Iraq Christians protest at deaths
Hundreds of Iraqi Christians take part in protest marches calling for government action after a spate of killings.

Iraq given its largest IMF loan
The IMF is to lend Iraq $3.6bn to rebuild its infrastructure as low oil prices slash its revenue.

Deadly explosion hits Iraqi city
At least 11 people have been killed and more injured in a bomb attack in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, officials say.

Iraq election campaign under way
Campaigning for next month's elections in Iraq is under way amid a continuing row over the ban on scores of candidates.

Eight arrests over Red Cap deaths
There is enough evidence for eight Iraqi suspects to face trial over the 2003 killing of six British soldiers, a judge indicates.

Straw 'wrong on Iraq', says Blix
The former UK foreign secretary gave incorrect answers to the Iraq war inquiry, says ex-UN weapons inspector Hans Blix.

Bombings hit Iraq Shia pilgrims
Suicide bombers kill at least 40 Shia pilgrims during a major ceremony in the Iraqi city of Karbala, police say.

The Iraqi Oil Conundrum: Energy and Power in the Middle East
Michael Schwartz, TomDispatch.com: "How the mighty have fallen. Just a few years ago, an overconfident Bush administration expected to oust Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, pacify the country, install a compliant client government, privatize the economy, and establish Iraq as the political and military headquarters for a dominating US presence in the Middle East. These successes were, in turn, expected to pave the way for ambitious goals, enshrined in the 2001 report of Vice President Dick Cheney's secretive task force on energy."

Iraqi female bomber kills dozens
At least 41 people are killed and more than 100 injured in a suicide bomb attack on Shia pilgrims in north-east Baghdad

I'd do it again - Blair on Iraq
A defiant Tony Blair tells the Iraq inquiry it was right to remove Saddam and says he would take the same decision again.

Blair denies 'covert' Bush deal
Tony Blair has denied striking a "covert" deal with George Bush to invade Iraq at a 2002 meeting at the US president's ranch.

Iraq crime lab bomber kills many
A suicide car bomber kills at least 18 people and injures 80 at an Iraqi forensics centre in Baghdad, police say

'Chemical Ali' executed in Iraq
Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam Hussein's notorious cousin known as "Chemical Ali", is hanged for crimes against humanity in Iraq

US audit attacks Iraq police deal
The US state department is accused of grossly mismanaging oversight of a $2.5bn contract for training Iraqi police.

More names on Iraq election ban
Iraq's election commission says more names are likely to be added to a list of candidates banned from running on 7 March.

Oil, the Dutch Iraq inquiry on the Iraq war, and the missing letter The report has also thrown up new evidence about the role of the British government under Prime Minister Tony Blair in preparing the war. In the course of the commission’s investigation, it was alleged that in 2003 the British ambassador presented a letter from Blair to Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch prime minister. He insisted that this letter was for Balkenende’s eyes only, and that the Dutch prime minister had to read it in his presence and immediately hand it back to him

Hoon denies Iraq war inevitable
UK involvement in the invasion of Iraq was not decided until Parliament approved the move, Geoff Hoon says.

Iraqi body bars 500 candidates
Iraq's election commission has barred around 500 candidates from running in national elections in March.

Death sentences for Iraq bombers
A court in Baghdad sentences 11 Iraqis to death for their role in bombings that killed more than 100 people last August.

Dutch report: Iraq war not legal
A Dutch inquiry into the Iraq war says that military action was not justified by UN resolutions on Iraq.

Iraq attack kills eight people
Several people have been killed in a series of bomb attacks on the homes of police in the western Iraqi town of Hit, police say.

Charges dropped against Blackwater mercenaries in 2007 Baghdad massacre The ruling makes it almost certain that the security guards, Blackwater management, and the US State Department officials that employed the guards will face no consequences for gunning down 17 innocent Iraqis and wounding 20 others on September 16, 2007, in Bagdad’s Nisour Square.

2009

Released hostage 'held in Iran'
British hostage Peter Moore was held in Iran, a newspaper claims, but an Iraqi negotiator denies Iran was involved in the kidnap.

Iraqi forces 'defuse nine bombs'
Iraqi police say they defused nine bombs in Karbala as hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims gather for the Ashura festival.

Iraqi bomb blasts leave 23 dead
At least 23 people are killed and scores are wounded in a series of bomb blasts in Iraq, some targeting Shia Muslims.

Iraq tells Iran to leave border 
Iraq demands the withdrawal of Iranian troops it says have crossed into Iraqi territory and taken control of an oil well.

Iraq rebels 'hack into US drones'
Insurgents in Iraq have hacked into live video feeds from unmanned American drone aircraft, US media reports say.

Deadly bombing in Pakistan town
At least 18 people are killed in a bomb attack in the central Pakistani town of Dera Ghazi Khan, officials say.

Blair attacked for Iraq war claim
Critics attack Tony Blair, after he said he would have invaded Iraq even if he had known there were no weapons of mass destruction.

Iraq eyes huge oil capacity rise
Iraq could produce 12m barrels of oil per day in 2015, the oil minister says, making it the world's second-largest producer

Shell wins Iraq oil field rights
A consortium led by Shell wins the rights to develop Iraq's giant Majnoon oil field, and other contracts are awarded.

Al-Qaeda group claims Iraq attack
A group affiliated to al-Qaeda claims that it carried out four bomb attacks in Baghdad that killed scores of people.

Iraqi leaders face bombings anger
Iraqi MPs demand to grill top ministers over security after a series of car bombings killed at least 127 people on Tuesday.

Scores killed in Baghdad bombings
A series of car bombings kills at least 127 people and wounds 448 in the centre of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

Revised Iraqi election law alienates Sunni minority Changes made last Monday to Iraq’s election law have inflamed the sectarian and ethnic animosities fomented by the US occupation since the 2003 invasion. The dominant Shiite-based and Kurdish nationalist parties used their majority in the parliament to ram through legislation that increases the number of seats in areas they expect to win, at the expense of those with a majority Sunni population.

US imperialism, 9/11 and the Iraq war An official British inquiry into the war with Iraq, which opened this week, has already heard evidence sufficient to indict top Bush administration leaders on the same charge that was the axis of the indictment of the Nazi leaders at Nuremberg—deliberately waging an aggressive war.

No public probe into Iraq 'abuse'
Fresh claims of abuse by the UK military in Iraq do not warrant a new public inquiry, the Armed Forces Minister Bill Rammell says.

MoD probes new Iraq abuse claims
The Ministry of Defence says it is investigating new allegations of abuse by UK troops during the years they spent in Iraq

Iraq minority rights fears grow
Iraq's minority groups could face a human rights "catastrophe" as Arabs and Kurds vie for control, Human Rights Watch says.

The plunder of Iraq's oil The awarding of development rights over the huge West Qurna oilfield in southern Iraq to Exxon-Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell underscores the criminal character of the continuing US-led occupation.

Iraq's Election Date Set, US Withdrawal Reaffirmed
Maya Schenwar, Truthout: "Following months of postponements and derailed votes, Iraq's Council of Representatives finally passed the law governing the country's parliamentary elections. With that barrier cleared, Iraq's electoral commission announced today that elections will be held on January 21. The law's delayed passage provoked doubts that the US would keep its plans to end combat operations in Iraq by August 31, 2010. Its approval revives hope that the Obama administration will make good on its promise."

Al-Qaeda group claims Iraq blasts
A militant group linked to al-Qaeda says it was behind two massive car bombs in Baghdad that killed more than 150 people.

Baghdad bomb fatalities pass 150
Iraqi officials raise the death toll from Sunday's bombing in Baghdad to 155 and with another 500 people wounded.

Iraq cabinet ratifies oil deals
Iraq's cabinet ratifies a deal with a British and a Chinese energy company to develop the giant southern oilfield in Rumaila.

Iraq sends back UK asylum flight
Iraqi asylum seekers returned to Baghdad by the UK government are refused re-entry to their homeland, and flown back to Britain.

Suicide bombing hits Iraq mosque
A suicide bomber attacks a Muslim congregation in northern Iraq, killing at least eight people, Iraqi police say.

Bombings Kill 23, Wound 80 in Iraq's Anbar Province
Mohammad al Dulaimy and Jamal Naji, McClatchy Newspapers: "The bombers who attacked the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on Sunday seemed determined to make sure that none of their targets survived. First, they bombed a crowded parking lot outside the Anbar provincial government's headquarters. Seven minutes later, they detonated a car bomb aimed at the rescue workers. An hour later, a third bomb exploded outside the hospital where survivors were receiving treatment."

Service honours UK Iraq personnel
Relatives of some of the 179 UK personnel killed in Iraq join the Queen at a service honouring those who served in the conflict.

'Nine dead' in Iraq market blast
A car bomb in a market near the Iraqi city of Falluja kills at least nine people and wounds dozens more, police say.

Iraqi bomb disposal soldiers die
Fifteen Iraqi soldiers were killed as they prepared to detonate roadside bombs in the north of the country, officials say.

UK army 'rotten', Iraq probe told
British soldiers who abused an Iraqi detainee who died in their custody were not just "a few bad apples", a public inquiry is told.

Three held in Iraqi art 'sting'
The bust of a Sumerian king is among stolen antiques recovered in an undercover sting operation by Iraq police.

Deadly bomb hits Iraqi shoppers
At least seven people are killed and several wounded in an explosion in the Iraqi town of Mahmudiya, say reports.

Biden in Baghdad to uphold occupation, speed access to oil US Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Iraq this week for a series of discussions with Iraqi officials aimed at forestalling a precipitous end to the US military occupation of the country and opening up Iraq’s oil wealth to exploitation by US-based energy conglomerates

Attack on Baghdad as Biden visits
Several mortars or rockets are fired into the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad as US Vice-President was visiting, police say.

US Court Dismisses Iraqi Contractor Torture Case
James Vicini, Reuters: "A federal appeals court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit against two US defense contractors by Iraqi torture victims, saying the companies had immunity as government contractors. The lawsuit was filed in 2004 on behalf of Iraqi nationals who say they or their relatives had been tortured or mistreated while detained by the US military at the Abu Ghraib prison."

Iraq shoe thrower release delayed
An Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former US President George W Bush is to be released a day later than expected.

Riot at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison
Inmates start a fire and clash with guards during two days of unrest at Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

Welcome awaits Iraq shoe thrower
Job offers and money await the Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at George W Bush when he is freed on Monday, his family says. 

Lorry bombers target Iraqi Kurds
A lorry bomber attacks a Kurdish village in northern Iraq, killing at least 19 people, but a second raid is foiled.

UK soldier dies in Afghan rescue
A British soldier is killed during a dramatic operation to rescue a UK journalist kidnapped in Afghanistan.

Iraq bank raiders to be hanged
Four security force members are given death sentences for a bank robbery in Baghdad in which eight guards were killed.

Blackwater Tapped Foreigners on Secret CIA Program
Adam Goldman and Pamela Hess, The Associated Press: "When the CIA revived a plan to kill or capture terrorists in 2004, the agency turned to the well-connected security company then known as Blackwater USA."

Iraq Shia leader mourned in Iran
The body of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, a powerful Iraqi Shia Muslim leader, begins its journey from Tehran to Najaf in Iraq for burial.

Tensions Rise as Iraq Blames Baathists in Syria for Bombings
Adam Ashton and Laith Hammoudi, McClatchy Newspapers: "Iraq Tuesday demanded that Syria hand over two high-ranking Iraqi Baath Party officials following last week's bombing of two government ministries. Iraq later recalled its ambassador to Damascus for consultations, and Syria followed suit, withdrawing its envoy from Baghdad."

Iraqi 'bomber confession' aired
Iraq TV broadcasts what it says is the confession by a former policeman to recent devastating bombings in Baghdad.

Baghdad market struck by bombing
A lorry bomb explodes at the entrance to a market in Baghdad as officials meet to discuss the spike in violent attacks.

Bicycle Bomb Kills Two Near Restaurant in Baghdad
Sinan Salaheddin, The Associated Press: "A bicycle bomb exploded near a restaurant in Baghdad Thursday killing two people in a deadly reminder of Iraq's security problems as the death toll rose to at least 101 from a string of blasts the day before that mainly targeted heavily guarded government buildings."

Iraq's Gays Face Rising Persecution
Liz Sly, The Los Angeles Times: "In January, a video began circulating on cellphones in Baghdad showing men dancing provocatively with one another at a party. At the time, many Iraqis considered the video a sign of how much life in Iraq had normalized, an indication of new freedoms. But activists and some gays in Baghdad say the video instead served as a trigger for a systematic campaign of persecution and killings of gays by Iraqi security forces and Shiite militias."

Iraqi protest at media censorship
Some 200 Iraqi media workers protest in Baghdad at what they say is growing state interference in their work.

British Contractor in Iraqi Custody After Killings
Kim Gamel, The Associated Press: "Iraqi authorities arrested a British contractor Sunday over the shooting deaths of two co-workers in Baghdad's protected Green Zone. The suspected gunman could be the first Westerner to face an Iraqi trial on murder charges since a security pact lifted the immunity that had been enjoyed by foreign contractors for most of the war."

Bomb attacks mar Shia Iraqi feast
Bomb attacks on a Shia mosque and pilgrims kill at least 23 people as Iraq's main Muslim community marks one of its biggest feasts.

Iraq 'suicide bomber', 16, jailed
A juvenile court in Iraq sentences a 16-year-old girl to seven and a half years in jail for a failed suicide bomb attack.

Remains of Gulf War pilot found
The US says it has found the remains of the last serviceman still listed as missing in action from the 1991 Gulf War.

Market in Iraq 'hit by car bomb'
A car bomb has killed at least six people in a crowded market in the town of Haditha in western Iraq, police say.

Deadly blasts hit Baghdad mosques
At least 29 people are killed in a series of bombings outside Shia mosques in Baghdad, Iraqi police report.

Three held over Baghdad robbery
Three people are detained in Iraq in connection with a Baghdad bank robbery in which eight guards were killed.

Iraq inquiry 'may be televised'
The inquiry into the Iraq war will be as open as possible with hearings televised or streamed on the internet, its chairman says.

Iran exiles 'killed in Iraq raid'
Seven Iranian dissidents have been killed in a raid by Iraqi security forces on their camp north of Baghdad, Iraqi police say.

Iraq awaits Kurdistan poll result
Polls close in Iraqi Kurdistan elections, where the ruling coalition faces a stiff challenge from reformists.

Iraq cleric on rare public visit
The Iraqi Shia cleric, Moqtada Sadr, makes a rare public appearance, visiting Syria for talks with the president.

Blast targets Iraq tribal leader
A roadside bomb targets a Sunni tribal leader in the Iraqi city of Falluja, wounding him and killing three other people.

Iraq's Weakened Unions Fight Foreign Oil Firms
Aref Mohammed, Reuters: "Unions are lobbying against Iraq's new oil contract with BP and China's CNPC, but the weakened labor movement may have a hard time thwarting deals desperately needed to revive a struggling oil sector."

Dozens killed in Iraqi bombings
At least 42 people are killed in bomb attacks in Iraq, the deadliest day since US troops withdrew from Iraqi towns.

US Not Talking Much About Iraq's Detention Nightmare
Nick Mottern, Truthout: "As most American troops reportedly are leaving Iraqi cities, the occupation enters a new phase in which it will become more clear whether the US-backed Iraqi government will be able to retain control without having US firepower instantly available to it in the street. In this situation, detention of Iraqi citizens, a key element of the occupation, may increase."

Biden urges Iraq reconciliation
US Vice-President Joe Biden marks 4 July in Baghdad, urging Iraqi leaders to foster political reconciliation.

Iraq: What We Leave As We Withdraw
Jodie Evans, Common Dreams: "Not long after the statue of Saddam fell in Firdos Square, several CODEPINK women and I returned to Iraq. We'd first visited in February during the time Bush proclaimed, "The game is over" and announced his plans for "shock and awe." We'd learned then how much Iraqis loved Americans and did not want our disrupting their country; they asked us to let them deal with Saddam because the change had to come from within or it could be a disaster. We fell in love with Iraq and felt totally safe there, taking cabs in the wee hours of the morning, walking at 2 a.m. on the Tigres and driving to many parts of the country."

Iraqi oil for sale in TV auction
Iraq is auctioning contracts to run eight oil and gas fields live on television in its first big tender since 2003.

New bomb blast at Baghdad market
At least 11 people are killed and more than 40 wounded in a new bomb attack in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Baghdad market bomb kills scores
A blast at a market in Baghdad's Sadr City kills nearly 70 people, six days before US troops are due to leave Iraqi cities.

Iraqi Kurds launch poll campaign
Campaigning gets under way in Iraq's Kurdish north, one month ahead of elections for its semi-autonomous parliament.

Brown defends hostages strategy
Prime Minister Gordon Brown insists the UK left "no stone unturned" to try to free two British hostages who died in Iraq.

Iraq karate coach shot and killed
The coach of the Iraq's national karate team is shot dead by gunmen in the northern city of Mosul, Iraqi police say.

Iraqi Oil Minister Accused of Mother of All Sell-Outs
Patrick Cockburn, The Independent UK: "Furious protests threaten to undermine the Iraqi government's controversial plan to give international oil companies a stake in its giant oilfields in a desperate effort to raise declining oil production and revenues."

Iraqis Take Control of Baghdad's Green Zone
Daniel Wallis, Reuters: "... as US soldiers pull out of towns and cities this month, they are handing control back to Iraqi security forces. The balance of power is changing and Multinational Force Iraq (MNF-I) cards, which once guaranteed swift passage in a separate lane past waiting Iraqis, have lost their clout."  

Head of Iraq's Main Sunni Bloc Is Slain
Zaid Sabah and Nada Bakri, The Washington Post: "The head of Iraq's biggest Sunni Muslim bloc in parliament was shot dead at a mosque after delivering a sermon Friday, underlining fears that violence might mount as U.S. forces prepare to withdraw from Iraqi cities before a deadline in two weeks."

Fifteen Months After Bloodbath in Iraq, Young Veteran Takes His Life
Cynthia Hubert, The Sacramento Bee: "On March 7, 2007, Army Spc. Trevor Hogue was inside his barracks in Baghdad, describing his morning on the battlefield. 'I saw things today that I think will mess me up for life,' Hogue typed to his mother, Donna, as she sat at her computer thousands of miles away from Iraq, in Granite Bay. That day the young soldier, whose assignment included driving a Humvee through perhaps the most dangerous ZIP code on the globe, saw his sergeant blown to pieces. He saw the bodies of half of the men in his platoon torn apart. Heads were cut off and limbs severed. It happened 30 yards in front of him, and he had never been so afraid, he told his mom. 'My arms are around you,' Donna Hogue wrote. 'You'll be alright.' But Hogue never really recovered. Last week, he committed suicide by hanging himself in the backyard of his childhood home. He was 24 years old."

Marines Will Come Out of Iraq by Spring 2010
Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press: "All but a few dozen of the 16,000 Marines now in Iraq will be out by next spring, the Marine Corp Gen. James T. Conway said his Marine commanders are already moving equipment out of Anbar Province, where his forces have largely been concentrated. But the larger exodus will begin shortly after the Iraqi elections. 'I see the number going down to essentially zero in, I think, sometime in spring 2010,' Conway told an audience at the National Press Club. The only exception, he said, will be about 30 Marines who will be working with Iraq's fledgling Marine Corps securing oil platforms in the south around Basra."

Iraq releases three of five US contractors
Iraqi police release three of the five US men who were held in connection with the killing of a fellow American last month.

Deadly blast hits southern Iraq
A car bomb kills at least 32 people in southern Iraq, just weeks before US troops are due to withdraw from city centres.

Kidnap hope after Shia's handover
An imprisoned militant whose release has been demanded by the kidnappers of five British hostages has been freed, US and UK officials say.

Minibus bomb 'kills seven' in southern Baghdad
Seven people have been killed and 24 wounded in a bomb attack on a minibus in southern Baghdad, Iraqi officials say.

Iraq: Bomb in Baghdad cafe kills nine
Iraqi officials say a bomb exploded in south-west Baghdad on Wednesday evening, killing nine people and injuring others.

Iraq Halts Clearing Landmines Even as Huge Toll Keeps Rising
Jack Dolan and Jenan Hussein, McClatchy Newspapers: "That scrap trade, and the fear that desperate villagers are selling harvested explosives to Iraq's many insurgents, prompted the Ministry of Defense to halt all mine-clearing operations last December. International relief organizations and Iraq's Environment Ministry opposed the ban, saying it delays desperately needed cleanup work in perhaps the most mine-ridden country in the world."

US deaths in Iraq rise sharply in May
US military confirms 24 service personnel were killed in Iraq in May, the highest total since September 2008.

Is Halliburton Forgiven and Forgotten?
Pratap Chatterjee, TomDispatch.com: "Two weeks ago, David Lesar, CEO of the once notorious energy services corporation Halliburton, spoke to some 100 shareholders and members of senior management gathered there at the company's annual meeting. All was remarkably staid as they celebrated Halliburton's $4 billion in operating profits in 2008, a striking 22% return at a time when many companies are announcing record losses. Analysts remain bullish on Halliburton's stock, reflecting a more general view that any company in the oil business is likely to have a profitable future in store."

Dahr Jamail: The Return of the Resistance
Dahr Jamail, Truthout: "At least 20 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq in May, the most since last September, along with more than 50 wounded. Iraqi casualties are, as usual and in both categories, at least ten times that number."

Families' hope for Iraq hostages
Relatives of five Britons captured in Iraq speak of their ordeal, almost two years after the kidnapping.

Three die in bombing of US convoy in Iraq
One soldier and two civilians working for the US are killed when a roadside bomb explodes near their convoy in Iraq, the US military says.

US soldier spared death penalty 
A former US soldier convicted of rape and murder in Iraq is spared the death penalty by a Kentucky jury.

US Army Paid Bonuses to KBR Despite Questions
Thomas Ferraro, Reuters: "The US Army paid 'tens of millions of dollars in bonuses' to KBR Inc, its biggest contractor in Iraq, even after it concluded the firm's electrical work had put US soldiers at risk, according to a source close to a US congressional investigation."

Iraq deal to revive gas pipeline
A consortium of oil companies plans to revive a project to supply gas from Iraq's Kurdish region to Europe.

Iraq deal to revive gas pipeline
A consortium of oil companies plans to revive a project to supply gas from Iraq's Kurdistan region into Europe.

Did Blackwater Contractors Attempt to Hide Evidence of a Massacre in Iraq?
Scott Horton, Harpers Magazine: "Private security contractor Xe (formerly Blackwater USA) has fallen on hard times. Iraq has yanked its license, forcing Blackwater out of one of its former operations centers. Last December, five Blackwater employees were indicted on fourteen manslaughter charges and allegations they used automatic weapons in the commission of a crime. A sixth Blackwater agent pleaded guilty to two charges as part of an agreement to testify against his colleagues. Now the company faces more bad news. Bill Sizemore of the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot reports that charges are being brought based on obstruction of justice."

Iraq arrests minister's brother
A brother of Iraq's trade minister is arrested on suspicion of corruption as the prime minister condemns corruption.

US ex-soldier guilty of Iraq rape
A US jury finds a former US private guilty of the rape of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the killing of her and her family.

Deadly bombing in Baghdad market
An explosion at a market in the south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad kills at least 10 people, say reports.

Iraq Rules Out Extension of US Withdrawal Dates
Reuters: "Iraq will not extend withdrawal deadlines for US troops set out in a bilateral accord, ending months of speculation about whether US combat troops would stay beyond June in bases in the restive northern city of Mosul. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Iraq was committed to adhering to the withdrawal schedule in the pact, which took effect on Jan. 1, including the requirement to withdraw US combat troops from towns and cities by the end of June and a full withdrawal by the end of 2011."

Uniformed Iraqi kills US soldiers
A man wearing an Iraqi military uniform shoots dead two US soldiers and injures three others in the city of Mosul.

Three US soldiers killed in Iraq
US military officials have confirmed the death of three soldiers, killed in fighting in Anbar province in western Iraq.

Turkey hits Kurdish bases in Iraq
Turkish warplanes bomb PKK bases in northern Iraq, a day after rebel attacks killed 10 Turkish soldiers, the army says.

Iraq says US raid violated pact 
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki says a US raid in the south of the country was a breach of the security pact.

Hillary Clinton makes crisis visit to Iraq In the wake of a series of deadly bombings that have called into question Washington’s plans to transfer American troops from Iraq to Afghanistan, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a crisis trip to Baghdad on Saturday

Millions of Iraqis displaced As many as 2 million Iraqi citizens are still refugees in neighbouring countries and at least 1.6 million are classified as internally displaced persons (IDPs). Despite the US occupation forces and Iraqi government claiming that the security situation has “stabilised”, most of the people who fled their homes are too terrified to return.

Blast carnage at shrine in Iraq
At least 60 people die as female suicide bombers attack Baghdad's main Shia shrine, after one of the deadliest days in Iraq this year.

US to issue 'prison abuse' photos
The US is about to release hundreds of photographs showing alleged prisoner abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan, officials say.

Iraqi Police: 60 Dead in Double Bombing in Baghdad
Hamid Ahmed, The Associated Press: "Back-to-back suicide bombings killed 60 people Friday outside the most important Shiite shrine in Baghdad, a day after the country was rocked by its most deadly violence in more than a year, police officials said."

Diplomat Testifies About Legality of Iraq Invasion
David Hencke, The Guardian UK: "A former diplomat at the centre of events in the run-up to the Iraq war revealed yesterday that the government has a 'paper trail' that could reveal new information about the legality of the invasion.

Iraq kidnappers send latest video
The kidnappers of five Britons held in Iraq for nearly two years send a new video to the British embassy in Baghdad.

Iraqi Widow Sues Former Blackwater Employee and Company Over Shooting
Tony Perry, The Los Angeles Times: "Lawyers for the widow and young sons of an Iraqi man allegedly killed by a drunken employee of the former Blackwater Worldwide security firm after a Christmas Eve party in Baghdad have filed a damage suit in federal court in San Diego."

New speaker for Iraq parliament
Members of Iraq's parliament elect a new speaker, ending months of dispute about who should fill the post.

Shells Hit Baghdad's Green Zone After Three Month Lull
Brian Murphy, The Associated Press: "Suspected militants shelled Baghdad's protected Green Zone on Saturday in the first such bombardment in more than three months. The back-to-back strikes reverberated across the Tigris River to a popular promenade, sending families packing up from fish restaurants and abruptly halting a party at a club."

Safety Team Warns of "Catastrophic" Wiring in Iraq
Kimberly Hefling, The Associated Press: "A military team sent to evaluate electrical problems at US facilities in Iraq determined there was a high risk that flawed wiring could cause further 'catastrophic results' - namely, the electrocutions of US soldiers. The team said the use of a required device, commonly found in American houses to prevent electrical shocks, was 'patchy at best' near showers and latrines in US military facilities. There also was widespread use of uncertified electrical devices and 'incomplete application' of US electrical codes in buildings throughout the war-torn country, the team found. At least three US service members have been electrocuted in Iraq while taking showers in the six years since the US-led invasion of the country."

Report: Iraq Air Raids Hit Mostly Women and Children
Kim Sengupta, The Independent UK: "Air strikes and artillery barrages have taken a heavy toll among the most vulnerable of the Iraqi people, with children and women forming a disproportionate number of the dead. Analysis carried out for the research group Iraq Body Count (IBC) found that 39 per cent of those killed in air raids by the US-led coalition were children and 46 per cent were women. Fatalities caused by mortars, used by American and Iraqi government forces as well as insurgents, were 42 percent children and 44 percent women. Twelve percent of those killed by suicide bombings, mainly the tool of militant Sunni groups, were children and 16 percent were females."

Iraq Study: Executions Are Leading Cause of Death
Kim Gamel, The Associated Press: "Execution-style killings, not headline-grabbing bombings, have been the leading cause of death among civilians in the Iraq war, a study released Wednesday shows. The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, point to the brutal sectarian nature of the conflict, where death squads once roamed the streets hunting down members of the rival Muslim sect. Estimates of the number of civilians killed in Iraq vary widely. The study was based on the database maintained by Iraq Body Count, a private group that among other sources uses media reports including those of The Associated Press. The authors concede the data is not comprehensive but maintain that the study provides a reliable gauge of how Iraqis have died in the six-year conflict."

US troops 'might stay in N Iraq'
US combat troops may stay in northern Iraq after a 30 June deadline for them to pull back, the top US commander in the area says.

Iraq Kurdish force 'beyond law'
Security forces in Iraq's northern Kurdish provinces carry out torture and arbitrary detention, Amnesty International warns.

No Coincidences in Iraq
Dahr Jamail, Truthout: "Following George W. Bush's example of keeping war funding off the books, President Barack Obama is seeking $83.4 billion in additional 'emergency' funding for the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which, if approved, would bring the 2009 funding to around $150 billion and the overall costs of the two wars to nearly $1 trillion."

Suicide bomber kills Iraqi Sunnis
A suicide bomber attacks US-allied Sunni Awakening militiamen in Iraq, killing at least nine and wounding about 30.

KBR Granted New Million Dollar Iraq Contract Despite Soldier Deaths
Kimberly Hefling, The Associated Press: "A New Hampshire congresswoman said the Pentagon has failed to justify giving a new, $35 million contract to a company whose electrical work on U.S. facilities in Iraq has been criticized as shoddy and unsafe. At least three service members were electrocuted while showering at U.S. facilities in Iraq. Others have been injured or killed in electrical incidents."

Suicide Bomb Kills Five US Soldiers, Two Iraqi Police
Mohammed Abbas, Reuters: "A suicide bomber detonated a truck packed with explosives outside an Iraqi base in the northern city of Mosul Friday, killing five US soldiers and two Iraqi policemen, the US military said."

Pentagon budget envisions a series of Iraq-style wars At a formal press announcement Monday and in media appearances over the next day, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates unveiled the biggest military budget in world history, in anticipation of an endless series of Iraq and Afghanistan-style wars by American imperialism.

Iraq shoe thrower's jail term cut
The Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at George W Bush has his sentence reduced from three years to one year.

Obama Makes Unannounced First Visit to Iraq
Jennifer Loven, The Associated Press: "On a trip shrouded in secrecy, President Barack Obama flew into Iraq on Tuesday for a brief look at a war he opposed as a candidate and now vows to end as commander in chief. Obama flew into the country hours after a car bomb exploded in a Shiite neighborhood of the capital city, a deadly reminder of the violence that has claimed the lives at least 4,266 members of the U.S. military and thousands more Iraqis since March 2003. The visit came at the conclusion of a long overseas trip that included economic and NATO summits in Europe and two days in Turkey."

Series of Baghdad Car Bombs Kills at Least 32
Anthony Shadid, The Washington Post: "A series of six car bombs struck markets, a police convoy and a gaggle of workers in Shiite Muslim neighborhoods Monday, killing 32 people and wounding more than 120 in one of the most violent days in the capital in months." 

US Aircraft Opens Fire on Sons of Iraq Members
Ernesto Londono, The Washington Post: "An American military aircraft opened fire Thursday night on Sons of Iraq members who were allegedly spotted placing a roadside bomb north of Baghdad, the US military said Friday."

The Growing Storm
Dahr Jamail, Truthout: "Last weekend, the Iraqi government arrested an Awakening Group leader of a Baghdad neighborhood, then moved into the area. With the help of US occupation forces, they disarmed the militiamen under his control, but only after fighting broke out between US-backed Iraqi government security forces and the US-formed Sunni Awakening Group militia. This disturbing event is the realization of what most Iraqis have long feared - that the relative calm in Iraq today would eventually be broken when fighting erupts between these two entities."

UK troops begin Iraqi withdrawal
Britain's official military pull-out from Iraq begins as the top general in the south of the country hands over to the US.

Arrest of Sunni Leaders Raises Fears of Broader Clashes
Leila Fadel, McClatchy Newspapers: "The arrest of two Sunni paramilitary leaders in Baghdad and the violent clashes that followed this weekend have cast a harsh light on a US program on which Iraq's future stability may depend - the integration of US-backed militias into Iraq's security forces and government ministries. The latest violence, coupled with a pattern of arrests of Sunni leaders in other parts of Iraq, raises fears that the integration plan could collapse, and with it the understandings that led to drastically lower levels of violence throughout the country. Tensions were high in Baghdad's Fadhil neighborhood Sunday, where at least 18 people were wounded in hours-long clashes on Saturday and Sunday morning."

Iraq battle after militia arrest
Two passers-by die in a Baghdad shootout between Iraqi security forces and one of the US-backed militias.

Blast rips through Baghdad crowd
A car bomb blast near a bus stop in northern Baghdad kills at least 20 people and injures more than 35, officials say.

Despite Obama's Vow, Combat Brigades Will Stay in Iraq
Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service: "Despite President Barack Obama's statement at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, February 27 that he had 'chosen a timeline that will remove our combat brigades over the next 18 months,' a number of Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs), which have been the basic US Army combat unit in Iraq for six years, will remain in Iraq after that date under a new non-combat label."

Suicide attack on Iraqi funeral
At least 25 people have been killed by a suicide bomb attack on a Kurdish funeral in the Iraqi province of Diyala, police say.

Remember
William Rivers Pitt, Truthout: "Six years ago, the United States of America began the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Since then, 4,259 American soldiers have been killed and tens of thousands more have been wounded. There is no accurate accounting of Iraqi dead and wounded, because as we were told, we do not do body counts. Because the Bush administration left its Iraq expenditures off the budget, and because of the tremendous amount of war-profiteering, graft and theft that has been involved, we do not know exactly how much we have spent. For the record, 2,192 days later, this is how we got here."

Many Iraqis Held by US to Go Free
Lara Jakes, The Associated Press: "Thousands of Iraqis held without charge by the United States on suspicion of links to insurgents or militants are being freed by this summer because there is little or no evidence against them. Their release comes as the US prepares to turn over its detention system to the fledgling Iraqi government by early 2010. In the six years since the war began, the military ultimately detained some 100,000 suspects, many of whom were picked up in US-led raids during a raging, bloody insurgency that has since died down."

US Moves to Replace Contractors in Iraq
Karen DeYoung, The Washington Post: "The decision not to renew Blackwater Worldwide's security contract in Iraq when it expires in early May has left the State Department scrambling to fill a protection gap for US diplomats and civilian officials there."

Iraq’s former foreign minister sentenced to 15 years jail Tariq Aziz, the former foreign minister and deputy prime minister of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime, was found guilty last week and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on charges stemming from the 1992 execution of 42 businessmen accused of manipulating prices.

How Not to End Another President's War (L.B.J. Edition)
Robert Dallek, The New York Times: "On November 24, 1963, two days after John F. Kennedy's assassination, President Lyndon B. Johnson met with his principal national security advisers to consider the most volatile issue he had inherited: Vietnam. A coup at the beginning of November - approved by the Kennedy administration - had toppled Ngo Dinh Diem's government and taken his life. Concerns about the ability of his untested successors to withstand Vietcong insurgents backed by Ho Chi Minh's North Vietnamese Communist regime gave Johnson a sense of urgency about an issue that could threaten United States interests abroad and undermine his standing at home."

Philip Bennett: What We Don't Know About Iraq
Philip Bennett, The Washington Post: "What do Iraqis call the war that is now entering its seventh year? If you can't answer that question, it's not because you haven't been paying attention. In this country, the Iraq war has been an American story. It was born inside the Beltway. Its costs in suffering have been most visible to us at gravesides across the United States, or in the wards of Walter Reed. A growing library of histories of the war chronicles battle after bitter battle between factions of official Washington, skirmishing over ideas, strategy, about how we got in and how to get out. As the war has gone on, Iraqis' stories have been overshadowed by the towering drama of our own experience. The imbalance struck me as I recently read and revisited some of the best books to grow out of American journalism on Iraq since the invasion began on March 19, 2003. They are rich in raw, unblinking dispatches from alongside US troops and investigative digging into the thinking of US leaders - overall, a remarkable record of a continuing conflict. But they also reflect how frustration and isolation, including the isolation of journalists, have reduced Iraqis to a narrow cast of supporting roles: ungrateful partners, untrustworthy supplicants, invisible enemies and unreadable victims."

Iraqi jailed for Bush shoe attack
An Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at US President Bush tells the judge his action was natural but is jailed for three years.

Tariq Aziz guilty of Iraq murders
Tariq Aziz, one of Saddam Hussein's closest advisers, is jailed for 15 years over the 1992 executions of Iraqi traders.

Ethnic Tensions in Kirkuk Turn US Military Into Mediator
Trenton Daniel, McClatchy Newspapers: "As American forces shift their focus from combat operations to peacekeeping efforts because of recent security gains, Col. Ryan Gonsalves and his soldiers from the US Army's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, are working against the clock to mediate a long-standing dispute over oil and land and federalism and nationalism in the battleground of Kirkuk. The sense of urgency: Washington plans to pull out combat troops in August 2010. If left unresolved, the Kirkuk issue could explode."  

Baghdad police attack 'kills 28'
A suicide bomber kills 28 people at a police academy in Baghdad, as the US says it will withdraw 12,000 troops by September

Baghdad police attack 'kills 28'
A suicide bomber kills 28 people at a police recruitment centre in Baghdad which has been attacked on several occasions.

Iraqi women 'lack basic services'
Women in Iraq still lack security, despite an overall drop in violence six years after the US-led invasion, aid agency Oxfam says.

US officer 'stole Iraq aid funds'
A US army captain is charged with stealing nearly $700,000 intended for Iraq and Afghan relief efforts.

Car bomb hits Iraq cattle market
At least 10 people are killed and many are wounded in a car bomb attack near a busy livestock market in Iraq.

Xe Tries to Leave History of Blackwater Behind
Mike Baker, The Associated Press: "The Blackwater name is gone. So is the focus on the security business that made it famous. Now the founder who built the private company into one of the world's most respected - and reviled - defense contractors is stepping aside as its chief executive. Erik Prince's decision Monday to relinquish his role as chief executive officer underscored how hard the company now called Xe - pronounced like the letter 'z' - is working to bury the Blackwater brand and move its focus further away from the security contracting that severely tarnished its reputation."

Iraqis detain al-Qaeda 'minister'
Iraqi security forces say they have captured 11 members of al-Qaeda, including the group's self-styled "oil minister".

Obama announces plan to continue US military occupation of Iraq President Obama formally announced his administration's plans for the continued US military occupation of Iraq on Friday, in remarks delivered at the Camp Lejeune marine base in North Carolina. Far from bringing the war to an end, the plans will maintain present troop levels for one year and ensure a substantial military presence for at least three years, through the end of 2011.

Iraqi elections underscore fragility of US occupation The January 31 Iraqi provincial elections have resulted in a strengthened position for Da'wa, the Shiite fundamentalist party of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Da'wa's "Coalition of the State of Law" obtained about 25 percent of the vote and has gained sufficient seats in 10 provinces to dominate their governments.

Iraq marshes face grave new threat
Iraq's famed southern marches are shrinking again because of record low rainfall and dam and irrigation systems upstream.

Iraq's National Museum reopened
Iraq's National Museum reopens six years after it was vandalised and looted after the 2003 US-led invasion.

New jail opens at Abu Ghraib site
Abu Ghraib, the Iraqi prison which became notorious for detainee abuse by US forces, is being re-opened in a new incarnation.

Iraqi Defends Shoe-Throwing Incident
Ernesto Londono and Zaid Sabah, The Washington Post: "Wearing leather shoes, a pressed beige suit and a scarf emblazoned with the Iraq flag, the Iraqi journalist who became a folk hero in the Arab world by slinging shoes at President George W. Bush defended his conduct on Thursday in court. 'I did not mean to kill the leader of the occupation forces,' Muntadar al-Zaidi said, speaking clearly and forcefully from a wooden cage before a packed courtroom. 'I was expressing what's inside of me and what's inside the Iraqi people from north to south and from west to east.'"

Iraqi shoe thrower trial delayed
The trial of an Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former US President George W Bush is adjourned shortly after it begins.

US occupation of Iraq: An ongoing criminal enterprise Recent media reports on the mounting evidence of wholesale corruption in US reconstruction efforts in Iraq are symptomatic of the criminal nature of Washington’s war and occupation from their inception nearly six years ago. These crimes are continuing under the Obama administration, with no end in sight.

Commanders in Iraq Challenge Petraeus on Pullout Risk
Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service: "Although Oates did not explicitly address the issue of drawdown plans, he has been known to favour a more rapid withdrawal from Iraq than Petraeus and Odierno for some time, according to a military officer who served under Odierno and is familiar with Oates's views. 'His belief is that we need to get out of the country and let the Iraqis take responsibility for their areas.'"

Iraq's Young Jobless Threaten Stability, Report Says
Tina Susman, The Los Angeles Times: "More than one-fourth of Iraq's young men are out of work, a situation that is likely to worsen and that threatens the country's long-term stability, according to a dismal economic forecast Sunday from U.N. and nongovernmental agencies. Overall, the country's unemployment rate is 18%, but an additional 10% of the labor force is employed part time and wanting to work more, said the first Iraq Labor Force Analysis, which cited falling oil prices and a weak public sector as major problems facing the nation. Among its findings: 28% of males age 15 to 29 are unemployed; 17% of women have jobs; and most of the 450,000 Iraqis entering the job market this year won't find work 'without a concerted effort to boost the private sector.'"

Iraq suicide bomb kills pilgrims
At least 32 people are killed by a female suicide bomber who targeted Shia pilgims south of Baghdad, Iraqi police say.

The New Fallujah
Dahr Jamail, TomDispatch.com: "Driving through Fallujah, once the most rebellious Sunni city in this country, I saw little evidence of any kind of reconstruction underway. At least 70 percent of that city's structures were destroyed during massive US military assaults in April, and again in November 2004, and more than four years later, in the 'new Iraq,' the city continues to languish."

Police: 16 Dead, 45 Wounded in Twin Baghdad Bombs
Reuters: "Sixteen people were killed and 45 wounded on Wednesday when twin car bombs exploded at a bus terminal and market area in southwestern Baghdad, Iraqi police said. The coordinated explosions at the bus terminal in Baghdad's Bayaa neighborhood took place as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shi'ites are making their way toward a holy city for an annual pilgrimage, a ritual often targeted by insurgent attacks."

Sarkozy pays first visit to Iraq
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is in Iraq - the first visit by a French leader since Saddam Hussein's overthrow in 2003.

UN  hails Iraq election results
UN chief Ban Ki-moon pays a surprise visit to Baghdad to congratulate Iraqi voters after local elections.

Low turnout in Iraqi provincial elections The low turnout for the elections held in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces last Saturday underscored the enduring hostility of the Iraqi people toward the US occupation and their alienation from the political system that has been imposed on the country. According to initial estimates, just 51 percent of registered voters cast a ballot. Turnout in the December 2005 national election was 79.6 percent.

Obama Says Most US Troops in Iraq Home Within a Year
Ross Colvin, Reuters: "President Barack Obama told Americans on Sunday a substantial number of the 140,000 US troops in Iraq would be home within a year, saying Iraqis were now ready to take more responsibility for their own security. Obama, who inherited two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, pledged during his presidential campaign to withdraw all US troops from Iraq within 16 months, at a rate of one or two brigades a month."

Iraq Elections Could Be a Telling Signpost After strong polling for the provincial elections Saturday, Iraqis are looking out for new signposts of political recovery from the U.S.-led invasion and occupation.

Iraqis Stream to the Polls Amid Tight Security
Sudarsan Raghavan, The Washington Post: "Iraqis streamed past police cordons and barbed wire as they went to the polls on Saturday to vote in their first elections in four years, widely seen as a test of Iraq's stability as the US role in Iraq diminishes. The all-important provincial elections are viewed as a key indicator of whether the nation can build upon fragile security gains and address imbalances in power that still plague many areas. More than 14,000 candidates are running for 440 seats to lead councils that are the equivalent of state legislatures in the United States."

Threat of Violence Looms Again Over Fallujah The threat of violence hangs over Fallujah again as leaders of the Awakening Council fight for political power through the elections Jan. 31.

Iraq ends licence for Blackwater
Iraq will not renew the licence of US security firm Blackwater, involved in an incident in 2007 in which civilians were killed

Tentative Hope Rises Ahead of Elections Uncertainty and tension are running high in Baghdad ahead of the provincial election due Jan. 31. But this time fears are also touched by a new hope.

Troops killed in Iraq air crash
Two US military aircraft have crashed in northern Iraq, killing four soldiers, the US army says.

Bush shoe man 'not after asylum'
The brother of the Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at George W Bush tells the BBC he is not seeking asylum in Switzerland.

Bush shoe man in Swiss asylum bid
The Iraqi who hurled his shoes at George W Bush is seeking asylum in Switzerland, a Swiss newspaper reports.

Spate of bomb attacks in Baghdad
A series of bomb blasts during rush hour in Baghdad kills at least eight people and injures many others, officials say.

Spate of bomb attacks in Baghdad
A series of bomb blasts during rush hour in Baghdad kills at least eight people and injures many others, officials say.

Iraqis 'capture leading militant'
Iraqi security forces say they have captured a leading Sunni militant thought to be the leader of militant group Ansar al Sunna.

Re-Writing the First Draft of History
William Rivers Pitt, Truthout: "The mainstream American news media is just as responsible for what has happened in Iraq as the Bush administration; they are as responsible for the lies they repeated as the ones who first told them, and are as guilty for what happened in Iraq as the Bush administration officials they enabled and covered for."

Women banned from Baghdad shrine
Iraqi authorities close a major Shia shrine in Baghdad to women amid security concerns as the rite of Ashura reaches its climax.

Blackwater men plead not guilty
Five employees of US security firm Blackwater plead not guilty in a US court to the manslaughter of 17 Iraqis in 2007

New US embassy opens in Baghdad
The new US embassy in Baghdad - one of the largest and most expensive ever built - is officially opened in Iraq's capital.

US Installed Iraqi Ex-Prime Minister Says Bush "Utter Failure"
Khalid al-Ansary, Reuters: "Former US-installed Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has denounced the policies of President George W. Bush as an 'utter failure' that gave rise to the sectarian venom that ravaged his country. In an interview published on Saturday in the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, Allawi found fault with American management of Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003 as well as the government of present Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki."

Suicide bomb kills many in Iraq
A suicide bombing kills at least 23 people at a Sunni gathering in a town south of Baghdad, Iraqi police say.

European flight lands in Baghdad
The first commercial flight between Europe and Iraq in at least 17 years lands at Baghdad airport.

US Soldiers Will Remain in Green Zone Next 90 Days
Amit R. Paley, The Washington Post: "The United States on Thursday handed the Iraqi government formal control of the Green Zone, the locus of power in the country and symbol of American influence for the past five years, but officials announced that U.S soldiers would continue to help maintain security in the area for at least the next 90 days."

Iraq takes control of Green Zone
Iraq takes control of the Green Zone in Baghdad and assumes more powers over foreign troops based in the country.

Iraq shoe thrower trial postponed
The trial of the Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at US President Bush is postponed pending an appeal against the charges.

Iraq signs foreign troops deals
Iraq signs deals with the UK and Australia for their troops to stay after a UN mandate expires on 1 January, Baghdad says.

Iraq militants in police battle
Six Iraqi police and seven detainees suspected of al-Qaeda links die in a bid to break out of a police station in Ramadi.

Are Iraq Contractors Subject to US Law?
Daphne Eviatar, The Washington Independent: "Earlier this month, the Department of Justice announced to great fanfare that it had indicted five guards employed by the private security firm Blackwater Worldwide for their role in a Baghdad shooting that left 17 Iraqis dead last year. A sixth guard had pled guilty to manslaughter and weapons violations. But lawyers for the five men indicted in the first case of its kind appear to have a strong defense, regardless of the circumstances of the shooting: private security guards contracting with the Department of State may not be subject to American law."

UN gives Iraq economic protection
The UN Security Council passes a resolution to stop foreign governments and companies seeking compensation from Iraq during 2009.

Iraq MPs to vote on non-US forces
The Iraqi parliament is to vote shortly on a resolution allowing non-US forces to remain in the country into 2009.

Falling oil prices shatter Iraqi budget forecasts The fall in world oil prices is slashing the revenues of the US-backed regime in Iraq, forcing it to drastically reduce its projected budget for 2009. Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh told a recent conference in London: "The decline in oil prices has serious implications on the Iraqi economy."

Iraqi shoe-thrower 'apologises'
The Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at US President George W Bush apologises to the Iraqi prime minister, a spokesman says.

The Shoe Heard Round the World
Aaron Lake Smith, Truthout: "As with any event that pushes history forward, when you click the play button over and over to watch Muntanzer al-Zaidi mumble something in Arabic that we now know meant 'This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog!,' the question inevitably arises - Why hasn't this happened before?"

Bush brushes off shoe attack
George Bush has no hard feelings about the Iraq shoe attack, says his spokeswoman, who received a black eye in the melee.

Shoe thrower 'beaten in custody'
The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush has been beaten in custody, his brother tells the BBC.

Yazidis targeted in Iraq attack
Seven members of the Yazidi minority religious sect in Iraq have been killed in an attack on their home.

Iran cuts support for Iraq groups
US and Iraqi officials say there are signs that Iran has reduced its support for militant Shia groups in Iraq.

US Keeps Silent as Afghan Ally Removes War Crime Evidence
Tom Lasseter, McClatchy Newspapers: "Seven years ago, a convoy of container trucks rumbled across northern Afghanistan loaded with the human cargo of suspected Taliban and al Qaida members who'd surrendered to Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, an Afghan warlord and a key U.S. ally in ousting the Taliban regime. When the trucks arrived at a prison in the town of Sheberghan, near Dostum's headquarters, they were filled with corpses. Most of the prisoners had suffocated, and others had been killed by bullets that Dostum's militiamen had fired into the metal containers."

Fifty-Five Dead in Bombing at Restaurant in Iraq's North
Sameer N. Yacoub, The Associated Press: "A suicide bomber struck a crowded restaurant in northern Iraq on Thursday where Kurdish officials were meeting with Arab tribal leaders to discuss long-standing ethnic tensions, killing at least 55 people, police said. It appeared to be the deadliest attack in Iraq in nearly six months."

Babylon's History Swept Away in US Army Sandbags
Agence France-Presse: "Fragments of bricks, engraved with cuneiform characters thousands of years old, lie mixed with the rubble and sandbags left by the US military on the ancient site of Babylon in Iraq. In this place, one of the cradles of civilisation, US troops in 2003-2004 built embankments, dug ditches and spread gravel to hold the fuel reservoirs needed to supply the heliport of Camp Alpha. Today, archaeologists say a year of terracing work and 18 months of military presence, with tanks and helicopters, have caused irreparable damage." 

Blackwater Guards "Used Grenades"
BBC News: "US guards indicted over the 2007 fatal shooting of 17 Iraqis used machine guns and grenade launchers against unarmed civilians, prosecutors have said. The guards, from the US security firm Blackwater, were contracted to defend US diplomats. The firm says its guards acted in self-defence."

The Debt We Owe Iraqi Interpreters
Michael Breen, The Christian Science Monitor: "For a platoon leader on the streets of Iraq, a trusted interpreter can be the difference between a successful patrol and a body bag. At great personal risk, interpreters bridge the language gap, guide soldiers and Marines through unfamiliar streets, serve as cultural advisers, and make crucial introductions. Unfortunately, the same US military that depends on them has needlessly placed Iraqi interpreters and their families in jeopardy. For the past several months, commanders in Baghdad enforced an ill-considered policy prohibiting Iraqi interpreters from wearing masks to conceal their identities while on patrol."

'Subtle shift' to US role in Iraq
The US military leader in Iraq announces changes to operating procedures, following a deal with the Iraqi government.

Suit Claims Halliburton, KBR Sickened Base
Kelly Kennedy, Army Times: "A Georgia man has filed a lawsuit against contractor KBR and its former parent company, Halliburton, saying the companies exposed everyone at Joint Base Balad in Iraq to unsafe water, food and hazardous fumes from the burn pit there. Joshua Eller, who worked as a civilian computer-aided drafting technician with the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, said military personnel, contractors and third-country nationals may have been sickened by contamination at the largest U.S. installation in Iraq, home to more than 30,000 service members, Defense Department civilians and contractors."

Obama Partially Rescinds Promise to "End the War"
Thom Shanker, International Herald Tribune: "On the campaign trail, Senator Barack Obama offered a pledge that electrified and motivated his liberal base, vowing to 'end the war' in Iraq. But as he moves closer to the White House, President-elect Obama is making it clearer than ever that tens of thousands of American troops will be left behind in Iraq, even if he can make good on his campaign promise to pull all combat forces out within 16 months."

Fifteen Dead in Baghdad Blasts; Violence Rising
Sameer N. Yacoub, The Associated Press: "Bombs exploded at a bus station and a small market in Baghdad, killing fifteen people Tuesday in an increase in bloodshed in the Iraqi capital after a week of relative calm, police and hospital officials said."

Iraqi Detention Gulag Awaits Obama
Nick Mottern and Bill Rau, Truthout: "When Barack Obama becomes president, he will inherit a human rights debacle in Iraq, now entering a phase in which the US appears ready to bulldoze thousands of its Iraqi prisoners over a legal cliff into Iraqi government prisons where they face the possibility of torture and execution. The darkening future for the detainees comes with the approval on November 27, 2008, of the US-drafted Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) by the Iraqi Parliament."

Bombings hit Iraq police academy
Two bombs explode near the police academy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, killing 15 people, Iraqi officials say.

Iraq-Iran war dead are exchanged
Dead Iraqi and Iranian soldiers from the 1980-88 war are exchanged, in the first such move since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

UN contractors killed in Iraq
Two foreign UN contractors are killed and 15 injured in a rocket attack on Baghdad's Green Zone.Suicide bombing at

EU ready to accept 10,000 Iraqis
The EU says it is ready to accept up to 10,000 Iraqi refugees, many of whom are living in extreme hardship in Jordan and Syria.

Separate Bombings in Baghdad Kill at Least 20
Bushra Juhi, The Associated Press: "A female suicide bomber blew herself up near an entrance to the US-protected Green Zone and a bomb tore through a minibus carrying Iraqi government employees in separate attacks on Monday, killing at least 20 people, Iraqi officials said. Three more people were killed in bomb attacks on police patrols in Baghdad and Baqouba, northeast of the capital, police said."  

Sadr Followers Protest Iraqi-US Pact in Huge Rally
Adam Ashton, McClatchy Newspapers: "Tens of thousands of followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr packed a central Baghdad square Friday, where they protested a US-Iraq security agreement and likened Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to fallen dictator Saddam Hussein."

Lawmaker Accuses Bush of Secrecy Over Iraq Deal
Ross Colvin, Reuters: "The US government is refusing to make public the security pact it has signed with Iraq, even though it has already been published in full in an Iraqi newspaper, a congressional hearing was told on Wednesday." In Iraq, "a session of Iraq's Parliament collapsed in chaos on Wednesday, as a discussion among lawmakers about a three-year security agreement with the Americans boiled over into shouting and physical confrontation," according to Campbell Robertson of The New York Times.

Company That Bungled Baghdad Embassy Repeats in Gabon
Warren P. Strobel, McClatchy Newspapers: "A year after problems emerged in the construction of the new US Embassy in Baghdad, another State Department post being built largely by the same Kuwaiti-based company is engulfed by delays, recriminations, and an Inspector General's probe, according to US officials. The embassy building, in the central African nation of Gabon, was supposed to be finished by April 2009."

Iraqi Cabinet Approves Accord Setting US Troop Withdrawal
Adam Ashton and Leila Fadel, McClatchy Newspapers: "Iraq's cabinet on Sunday approved a security pact that sets a timetable for the nearly complete withdrawal of American forces within three years, but the agreement faces an uncertain outlook in Iraq's parliament. The largest Sunni party in Iraq, the Iraqi Islamic Party, wants the agreement to go to a nationwide referendum. Its affiliated parties complain that their efforts to amend the plan to require the release of detainees and to provide compensation for war victims were ignored by lawmakers who shaped the pact." 

Iraqi Cabinet Approves Security Pact With US
Campbell Robertson, The New York Times: "The Iraqi cabinet voted overwhelmingly Sunday to approve the security agreement that sets the conditions for the Americans' continued presence in Iraq from Jan. 1 until the end of 2011. All but one of the 28 cabinet ministers who attended the two-and-a-half- hour session voted for the agreement and sent it to Parliament for consideration, a huge relief to the United States, which had been in intense negotiations with the Iraqis for nearly a year."

Maliki Tells Bush He Now Backs New US Troop Deal
Leila Fadel, McClatchy Newspapers: "After months of tough negotiations and multiple revisions, Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki has decided to back the controversial US-Iraq security agreement that calls for the complete withdrawal of American troops by the end of 2011, Iraqi and US officials said Friday."

Iraqi Clerics Contracting in US Prisons
Nick Mottern and Bill Rau, Truthout: "When Iraqi imams sit down with prisoners at a US detention center in Iraq to discuss Islam, they are working for a subsidiary of Global Innovation (GI) Partners LLP, a California- and London-based private equity firm that claims to have '$2 billion in capital under management.' GI Partners sells, among other things: base maintenance for US military forces in Iraq; psychiatric care in the United Kingdom; in-room television and movies for hotels; wine, movie production studios and pubs."

Central Baghdad shaken by bombing
At least four people are killed in a car bomb attack in a busy shopping area in central Baghdad, Iraqi police say. 
 

Fresh bombs hit Baghdad rush hour
At least three people are been killed in a double bomb attack in a mainly Shia part of eastern Baghdad, Iraqi police say.

Iraq Triple Bombings Kill Dozens
CNN: "A triple bombing in Baghdad has killed more than two dozen people and wounded scores more in the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital in almost four months."

Iraq suicide bombing kills eight
Eight peopleare killed in a suicide bombing near the city of Ramadi, in Iraq's Anbar province, west of Baghdad, police say.

Iraqis Seek More "Withdrawal" Talks; US Says They're Over
Leila Fadel, Nancy A. Youssef and Warren P. Strobel, McClatchy Newspapers: "The United States delivered Thursday what it said was the final text of the controversial accord on the stationing of U.S. forces in Iraq, but Iraq said more talks are needed before the government can accept it."

Four killed in twin Baghdad bombs
Four people have been killed by twin bombs at a checkpoint in a Sunni enclave of Baghdad, Iraqi police say.

Six killed in Baghdad bomb blasts
Two bombs explode in Baghdad, killing six people and wounding about 20 others, including a deputy minister, police say.

US hands province to Iraqi forces
The US military transfers control of Wasit to Iraqi forces, in the latest in a series of provincial handovers.

US Threatens to Halt Services to Iraq Without Troop Accord
Roy Gutman and Leila Fadel, McClatchy Newspapers: "The US military has warned Iraq that it will shut down military operations and other vital services throughout the country on Jan. 1 if the Iraqi government doesn't agree to a new agreement on the status of US forces or a renewed United Nations mandate for the American mission in Iraq. Many Iraqi politicians view the move as akin to political blackmail, a top Iraqi official told McClatchy Sunday."

Iraq's Prime Minister Won't Sign US Troop Deal
Roy Gutman, McClatchy Newspapers: "Fearing political division in the parliament and in his country, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki won't sign the just-completed agreement on the status of U.S. forces in Iraq, a leading lawmaker said Friday."  

Wrecked Iraq: What the Good News From Iraq Really Means
Michael Schwartz, TomDispatch.com: "Even before the spectacular presidential election campaign became a national obsession, and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression crowded out other news, coverage of the Iraq War had dwindled to next to nothing. National newspapers had long since discontinued their daily feasts of multiple - usually front page - reports on the country, replacing them with meager meals of mostly inside-the-fold summary stories. On broadcast and cable TV channels, where violence in Iraq had once been the nightly lead, whole news cycles went by without a mention of the war."

Dealing With Iraq
Brian Katulis and Peter Juul, The Center for American Progress: "The Bush administration is engaged today in perhaps its last significant policy decision on Iraq before a new U.S. president and Congress are elected to office next month - negotiating a status of forces agreement with the Iraqi government that will determine how U.S. military forces operate in Iraq beginning in 2009. This is not a decision that should be left to a lame duck administration. The American people should be engaged in the debate every bit as much as the Iraqi people are today across their own country."

Fifteen Dead as Iraq Tribe Clashes With Militants
Agence France-Presse: "At least 15 men were killed and 14 more wounded on Tuesday in fierce early morning clashes between insurgents and Sunni tribes in the central Iraq Shiite province of Babil, police and a medic said. The ferocious firefight came just two days ahead of a planned transfer of security control in Babil by US forces to Iraqi troops."

Iraq Wins Right to Prosecute Felonies by Off-Duty US Troops
Agence France-Presse: "Iraq has secured the right to prosecute US soldiers and civilians for crimes committed outside their bases and when off duty, in the latest draft of a security pact that will set the terms of their deployment beyond this year. The draft stipulates that the United States will have the primary right to exercise jurisdiction over its soldiers and civilians if they commit a crime inside their facilities or when on missions, according to a copy obtained by AFP."

Iraqis stage mass anti-US rally
Thousands of supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr march in Baghdad against plans to extend the US mandate in Iraq.

Hutton makes surprise Iraq visit
The new defence secretary, John Hutton, makes an unannounced visit to Baghdad to meet Iraqi leaders and British troops.

Top GOP Fund-Raiser Tied to Iraq Fuel Contract
James Glanz and Michael Luo, The New York Times: "The Democratic chairman of a House investigative committee presented documents to the Pentagon on Thursday alleging that a top Republican fund-raiser, Harry Sargeant III, has made tens of millions of dollars in profits over the last four years because his contracting company vastly overcharged for deliveries of fuel to American air bases in Iraq."

Detention Has a Wide, Destructive Impact in Iraq
Nick Mottern and Bill Rau, Truthout: "When an Iraqi is pulled off the street by US forces or captured in combat, that person is facing enrollment in the 'population engagement program called detention.' This description of the US imprisonment of thousands of Iraqis was offered by Maj. Gen. Douglas Stone, former commander of Task Force 134 (TF-134), the unit in charge of US detention prisons in Iraq, speaking at a Pentagon press briefing in June 2008 at the completion of his 14-month tour in Iraq."

Deadly bomb attack at Iraq market
A vehicle bomb in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, kills 13 people and injures 27 others, say police.

Turkey hits rebel targets in Iraq
Turkish jets bomb suspected Kurdish rebels inside Iraq, the army says, days after the policy is extended.

Iraq PM vows to find MP's killers
Iraq's prime minister says he will find those behind the assassination of an MP loyal to the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

New US Intelligence Report Warns "Victory" Not Certain in Iraq
Jonathan S. Landay, Warren P. Strobel and Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy Newspapers: "A nearly completed high-level US intelligence analysis warns that unresolved ethnic and sectarian tensions in Iraq could unleash a new wave of violence, potentially reversing the major security and political gains achieved over the last year."

Eleven Iraqis Die as Bomber Strikes During US Raid
Mary Beth Sheridan, The Washington Post: "A man detonated a suicide vest inside a home in northern Iraq as U.S. forces were trading gunfire with its occupants, according to the American military. Eleven Iraqis were killed in the operation early Sunday.... At least five other Iraqis were killed Sunday in the city, which is about 240 miles north of Baghdad."
 

Two Black Hawks down in Baghdad
An Iraqi soldier was killed when two US helicopters collide while landing at a base in northern Baghdad, the US military says.

US kills 'senior Baghdad bomber' 
An al-Qaeda commander described as one of Baghdad's bombing masterminds is killed by US troops, military officials say.

Baghdad shaken by suicide attacks
Suicide bombers strike two Shia mosques in Baghdad, killing at least 20 people and wounding more, police say.

Suicide Bombers Kill at Least 20 in Baghdad
Stephen Farrell and Alissa J. Rubin, The New York Times: "As Muslims celebrated the close of the fasting month of Ramadan, suicide bombers killed at least 20 people in attacks on two Shi'ite mosques during early morning prayers in different areas of Baghdad early Thursday, the Interior Ministry said. The attacks were the second wave this week during a lengthy public holiday covering observances of the Id al-Fitr feast, which is celebrated at different times by Sunnis and Shi'ites at the end of Ramadan."

Iraq remains 'locked in conflict'
The US says Iraq remains locked in a communal struggle, despite dramatic security improvements.

Iraqi doctors to be allowed guns
The Iraqi government says it will allow doctors to carry guns after medics complain of being targeted.
 

Baghdad Bombs Kill at Least 32
Wisam Mohammed, Reuters: "Four bombs killed at least 32 people and wounded scores in busy districts of Baghdad on Sunday as Iraqis shopped and broke their fast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, police said. A car bomb exploded in a parking lot in central Baghdad's busy Karrada shopping district. Almost immediately afterwards, a suicide bomber detonated a vest packed with explosives at the same spot, the Interior Ministry said, after investigating the scene. The double strike killed at least 19 people and wounded 72, police said. A short time earlier a bomb exploded in a parked car in Baghdad's Shurta neighborhood in the early evening, killing at least 12 people and wounding 35, police said. At about the same time another bomb attached to a car in the nearby Hay al-Amil neighborhood killed one person."

US Interrogator: Abuses in Iraq Violated International Law
Pamela Hess, The Associated Press: "A military interrogation expert, Air Force Col. Steven Kleinman, told Congress on Thursday that prior to the abuses at Abu Ghraib, he witnessed interrogations of Iraqi detainees that he considers violations of the Geneva Conventions."

The Biggest Hospitals Become Sick Not even the elevators work now at Baghdad Medical City, built once as the centre for some of the best medical care.

US air raid kills Iraq civilians
The US military says seven people, including three women have been killed in an air strike near Tikrit.

Refusing to Kill
Ann Wright, Truthout: "In the five and one-half years of the US occupation of Iraq, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed by US military personnel at checkpoints, during convoy movements and during operations to find the 'enemy.' In the half-decade of US military presence in Iraq, a very small number of US military personnel and an even smaller number of CIA and contractors have been charged with manslaughter or murder in these deaths.... This week we see again that punishment is less for murdering four Iraqis than for refusing to participate in a war that many citizens, and many in the military, see as a crime against the peace - a war crime."

US Soldier in Iraq Shoots Two American Sergeants
Nicholas Spangler, McClatchy Newspapers: "An American soldier shot and killed two U.S. sergeants Sunday morning at a base southeast of Baghdad, a U.S. military spokesman said Thursday. The shooter's name and rank haven't been released, and the military would say only that the soldier is being held pending a review by a military magistrate. The dead men are Staff Sgt. Darris J. Dawson, of Pensacola, Fla., and Sgt. Wesley Durbin, of Dallas. 'It was a useless, bizarre, terrible thing,' Dawson's stepmother, Maxine Mathis, said Thursday."

Seven US Soldiers Die in Helicopter Crash
The Associated Press: "Seven American soldiers were killed in southern Iraq early Thursday when their helicopter crashed as it was flying into the country from Kuwait, the U.S. military said. The military said the CH-47 Chinook helicopter did not come under attack, and that the crash was an accident."

DOJ Mulls Criminal Charges Against Blackwater
The Associated Press: "Defense attorneys for Blackwater Worldwide employees are trying to head off Justice Department charges against the company's bodyguards who were involved in the deadly shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians exactly one year ago."

Petraeus Hands Control to Odierno
BBC News: "General David Petraeus, the outgoing US military commander in Iraq credited for improving security there, is to pass control to General Raymond Odierno."

No victory in Iraq, says Petraeus
The outgoing commander of US troops in Iraq says he will never declare victory there, adding the US faces "a long struggle".

The Value of One, the Value of None: An Anatomy of Collateral Damage in the Bush Era
Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch.com: "We have no idea just how many civilians have been blown away by the US military (and allies) in these years, only that the 'collateral damage' has been widespread and far more central to the president's War on Terror than anyone here generally cares to acknowledge. Collateral damage has come in myriad ways - from artillery fire in the initial invasion of Iraq; from repeated shootings of civilians in vehicles at checkpoints, and from troops (or even private mercenaries) blasting away from convoys; during raids on private homes; in village operations, and, significantly, from the air."

Tensions Rise Over Pending US Transfer of Awakening Councils to Iraqi Government
Erica Goode and Mudhafer Al-Husaini, The New York Times: "Gathered in the domed hall of a palace built by Saddam Hussein, Awakening Council leaders in the Adhamiya neighborhood met with Iraqi and American military officers on Monday to learn what the future holds for them once the Sunni-dominated citizen patrols begin reporting to the Iraqi government on October 1."

Heritage plan for Iraqi marshes
The UN launches an initiative to have the marshlands of southern Iraq listed as a world heritage site

Iraq Palestinians head to Iceland
About 30 Palestinians from a refugee camp along the Iraqi-Syrian border are due to leave for resettlement in Iceland.

Iraq Reports Seven Killed by US Friendly Fire
Tina Susman and Ned Parker, The Los Angeles Times: "A U.S. military boat patrolling the Tigris River in the dark drew fire Wednesday from Iraqi security forces who mistook it for the enemy, sparking a deadly gun battle that killed seven Iraqis and prompted local anger over American use of firepower against friendly forces. Iraqi officials said three soldiers, two police officers and two paramilitary fighters known as Sons of Iraq and allied with U.S. and Iraqi forces were killed in the clash in Tarmiya. The U.S. military confirmed only 'an incident involving weapons fire' and said reports indicated that Iraqi security forces had sustained casualties. 'It is always regrettable when incidents of mistaken fire occur,' it said in a brief statement, adding that a review of the incident was underway."

Former KBR Chief Pleads Guilty to Bribery Charges
Marcy Gordon, The Associated Press: "A former chief executive of construction firm KBR Inc. has pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges in connection with the company's natural gas operations in Nigeria from 1995 to 2004. The Justice Department said Albert 'Jack' Stanley entered a guilty plea Wednesday in federal court in Houston to conspiring in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials in return for engineering and construction contracts. As CEO of Houston-based KBR, Stanley headed a subsidiary within Halliburton Co., the oilfield services conglomerate whose chief executive from 1995 to 2000 was Vice President Dick Cheney."

Six Iraqi troops die in US fire
US troops kill six members of the Iraqi security forces during a patrol on the river Tigris north of Baghdad in a friendly fire incident.

Move to evict Baghdad squatters
Iraqi security forces in Baghdad begin to evict squatters from houses abandoned by people who fled sectarian violence.

Iraq's Sadr extends militia truce
Iraq's influential Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, indefinitely extends a truce being observed by his Mehdi Army militia.

US Soldiers Executed Iraqis, Statements Say
Paul Von Zielbauer, The New York Times: "In March or April 2007, three noncommissioned United States Army officers, including a first sergeant, a platoon sergeant and a senior medic, killed four Iraqi prisoners with pistol shots to the head as the men stood handcuffed and blindfolded beside a Baghdad canal, two of the soldiers said in sworn statements."

US Forces to Transfer Control of Anbar to Iraqis
Agence France-Presse: "US forces will hand over control of Anbar province to Iraqi troops in the coming days, military officials said Wednesday, touting improved security in the region."

Maliki Demands "Specific Deadline" for US Troop Pullout
Leila Fadel, McClatchy Newspapers: "Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki said Monday there would be no security agreement between the United States and Iraq without an unconditional timetable for withdrawal - a direct challenge to the Bush administration, which insists that the timing for troop departure would be based on conditions on the ground."

Iraq, US Agree No Foreign Troops After 2011: Maliki
Agence France-Presse: "Iraqi Premier Nouri al-Maliki said on Monday Washington and Baghdad have agreed there will be no foreign forces in Iraq after 2011, setting a timeline for a US withdrawal from the war-torn country."

Iraq Takes Aim at Leaders of US-Tied Sunni Groups
Richard A. Oppel Jr., The New York Times: "The Shiite-dominated government in Iraq is driving out many leaders of Sunni citizen patrols, the groups of former insurgents who joined the American payroll and have been a major pillar in the decline in violence around the nation. In restive Diyala Province, Unites States and Iraqi military officials say there were orders to arrest hundreds of members of what is known as the Awakening movement as part of large security operations by the Iraqi military. At least five senior members have been arrested there in recent weeks, leaders of the groups say."

Rice in surprise visit to Baghdad
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Baghdad to discuss the future of American forces deployed in Iraq

Civil trial opens of US ex-marine
The civil trial opens of a former US marine accused of killing unarmed Iraqi detainees in Falluja, the first case of its kind.

Iraq governor's office attacked
The governor of Diyala province says his secretary was killed in an attack by a unit of the security forces on his office in Baquba.

Woman Suicide Bomber Kills Eight in Iraq
Agence France-Presse: "Eight people were killed and 20 wounded on Thursday when a female suicide bomber blew herself up as a Sahwa (Awakening) patrol passed in Baquba in eastern Iraq, police and medical sources said."

Baghdad suicide bomber kills 15
A suicide bomber kills at least 15 people, including an anti-al-Qaeda leader, in a mainly Sunni part of Iraq's capital, Baghdad.

Shia pilgrims killed in Baghdad
At least six people are killed in a car bomb attack on Shia pilgrims in Baghdad, Iraqi officials say.

Turkish warplanes 'bomb PKK base'
The Turkish military says its warplanes have "successfully" hit a base of PKK Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.

Book Prompts Congressional Probe on War Intel
Juan Gonzalez and Amy Goodman, Democracy Now: "Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind joins us for part two of an interview on his new book, "The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism." Suskind reports that in 2003 the White House ordered the CIA to forge and disseminate false intelligence documents linking al-Qaeda and Iraq. While much of the attention on the book has focused on the forged letter, Suskind also reveals that the Bush administration and the British government knew prior to the war that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. We also speak to Representative John Conyers, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, which is investigating some of the explosive findings in Suskind's book."

US jail guards in Iraq abuse case
Six US sailors working as prison camp guards in Iraq face courts martial for abusing detainees, the US Navy says.

Jordan's king in first Iraq visit
King Abdullah of Jordan becomes the first Arab head of state to visit Iraq since the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

How Tenet Betrayed the CIA on WMD in Iraq
Gareth Porter, writing for Inter Press Service:  "Journalist Ron Suskind’s revelation that Saddam Hussein’s intelligence chief was a prewar intelligence source reporting to the British that Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction (WMD) adds yet another dimension to the systematic effort by then Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director George Tenet to quash any evidence - no matter how credible - that conflicted with the George W. Bush administration’s propaganda line that Saddam was actively pursuing a nuclear weapons programme."

Suskind Stands by White House WMD Forgery Claim
According to MSNBC.com: "Despite adamant denials by both the White House and the CIA, journalist Ron Suskind Wednesday stood by his allegation that the Bush administration concocted a fake letter purporting to show a link between Saddam Hussein's regime and al-Qaida as a justification for the Iraq war. 'It's all on the record,' Suskind told Meredith Vieira on TODAY. Two former CIA officers denied that they or the spy agency faked an Iraqi intelligence document, as they are quoted as saying in Suskind's book 'The Way of the World,' published Tuesday. 'I never received direction from George Tenet (CIA director at the time) or anyone else in my chain of command to fabricate a document as outlined in Mr. Suskind's book,' said Robert Richer, the CIA's former deputy director of clandestine operations."

Farming Is Latest Casualty in Drought-Stricken Iraq
Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News: "Across Iraq, farmers are struggling with the worst drought the country has faced in years. Some say it's the worst they've seen in their lifetime - and not just because of the lack of rain. Some Iraqi officials blame waste and regional politics, as well as the continuing war in some of Iraq's bread baskets - such as in Diyala, just northeast of Baghdad, where a joint US-Iraqi operation is under way to oust al-Qaeda in Iraq from safe havens."

The Sahwa are the 'Awakening Forces' created and paid by the U.S. military to co-opt militants and to fight al-Qaeda, but which have become a force of their own parallel to the military and the police

Battle Over Oil-Rich City Threatens to Derail Iraqi Elections
For McClatchy Newspapers, Leila Fadel and Sahar Issa report: "Despite intense U.S. pressure, Iraqi legislators Sunday failed to reach an agreement to solve an increasingly bitter dispute over the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk. Kirkuk sits on Iraq's northern oil fields and also on a fault line between the Sunni Muslim Kurds who dominate most of northern Iraq and the Sunni Arabs who occupy the center of the country. Saddam Hussein forced thousands of Kurds out of the city to make way for more Arabs, but since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the Kurds and their militia, the peshmerga, have driven many Sunni Arabs out of Kirkuk. The parliament's inability to resolve the dispute over the city mirrors Iraqi political leaders' inability to make progress on other fronts, including constitutional amendments and the passage of a law governing the distribution of the country's oil revenues, despite the recent improvements in security.

Rise in Iraqi detainee releases
The US military says it has freed more than 10,000 Iraqi detainees so far in 2008, more than in the whole of 2007.

Iraqis squeeze rebel stronghold
Iraqi forces backed by US troops press ahead with a major offensive in Diyala province north of Baghdad.

Iraqis attack al-Qaeda stronghold 
Iraqi forces backed by American troops launch a major operation against insurgents in the Iraqi province of Diyala

Deadly attack on Lebanese troops 
Unknown assailants fire on a military post in eastern Lebanon, killing a soldier and wounding another, officials say

Iraq get green light for Beijing 
The International Olympic Committee clears the way for Iraq to compete in the Olympics after lifting its previous ban

Iraqis attack al-Qaeda stronghold
Iraqi forces backed by American troops launch a major operation against insurgents in the Iraqi province of Diyala.

US Concedes Iraq Victims Were Law-Abiding, Not Insurgents
Leila Fadel, of McClatchy Newspapers, reports: "The U.S. military said Sunday that the three people killed last month after U.S. soldiers shot at their car in one of the most secured areas of Iraq were civilians, not criminals as the military initially reported. The correction came more than a month after a bank manager at a branch inside the airport, Hafeth Aboud Mahdi, and two female bank employees were shot at by U.S. soldiers as they sped to work on a road within the secured airport compound."

Over 4,000 US Combat Deaths, Just a Handful of Images
Michael Kamber and Tim Arango report for The New York Times in Baghdad: "The case of a freelance photographer in Iraq who was barred from covering the Marines after he posted photos on the internet of several of them dead has underscored what some journalists say is a growing effort by the American military to control graphic images from the war. Zoriah Miller, the photographer who took images of marines killed in a June 26 suicide attack and posted them on his web site, was subsequently forbidden to work in Marine Corps-controlled areas of the country. Maj. Gen. John Kelly, the Marine commander in Iraq, is now seeking to have Mr. Miller barred from all United States military facilities throughout the world. Mr. Miller has since left Iraq."

Obama promotes wider war in Afghanistan: Another presidential race between pro-war candidates
Obama, who won the Democratic presidential primary by tapping into popular antiwar sentiment and exploiting his chief rival’s vote to authorize the Iraq war, has become the leading spokesman for an escalation of the war in Afghanistan and its possible extension into Pakistan, a policy which is gathering growing support within the political and military establishment.

Turkish jets target PKK in Iraq
Turkish warplanes attack 13 Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq, the Turkish military says.

Obama in Iraq underscores his commitment to US militarism The visit of US presidential candidate Barack Obama to Iraq on Monday underscores once again that the millions of American workers and youth who oppose militarism have been completely disenfranchised by the Democratic Party. The Illinois senator used the trip to make clear his commitment to the indefinite occupation of Iraq, as well as to agitate further for his policy of redeploying troops from the Middle East in order to escalate the war in Afghanistan.

Blackwater to Leave Security Business Following Problems in Iraq
Elana Schor, reporting for The Guardian, writes: "Blackwater, the US private military contractor widely accused of abuse of power in Iraq, is getting out of the security business." Blackwater's decision to shift its business to other sectors, however, may be prompted by other motives, like a potential US pullout from Iraq, according to Daniel Schulman of Mother Jones.

UK Iraq hostage 'killed himself'
One of the five UK hostages held captive in Iraq has killed himself, a video given to a newspaper claims.

Electrical Risks at Bases in Iraq Worse Than Previously Said
James Risen, The New York Times: "Shoddy electrical work by private contractors on United States military bases in Iraq is widespread and dangerous, causing more deaths and injuries from fires and shocks than the Pentagon has acknowledged, according to internal Army documents. During just one six-month period — August 2006 through January 2007 — at least 283 electrical fires destroyed or damaged American military facilities in Iraq, including the military’s largest dining hall in the country, documents obtained by The New York Times show. Two soldiers died in an electrical fire at their base near Tikrit in 2006, the records note, while another was injured while jumping from a burning guard tower in May 2007."

The Pentagon and the Hunt for Black Gold
Nick Turse writes for TomDispatch.com, "For years, 'oil' and 'Iraq' couldn't make it into the same sentence in mainstream coverage of the invasion and occupation of that country. Recently, that's begun to change, but 'oil' and 'the Pentagon' still seldom make the news together."

Bombers kill Iraq army recruits
At least 35 people die in a twin suicide bombing at an army recruitment centre north of Baghdad, Iraqi officials say.

Envoy Blair cancels visit to Gaza
The international Middle East envoy, former British PM Tony Blair, cancels a planned visit to the Gaza Strip.

Germany jails Iraqi PM plotters
A German court convicts three Iraqi men of plotting to kill ex-Iraqi PM Iyad Allawi during a 2004 visit to Germany.

Suspect Soldiers: Did Crimes in US Foretell Violence in Iraq?
Russell Carollo reports for The Sacramento Bee: "A yearlong examination of military and civilian records by The Sacramento Bee involving hundreds of troops who entered the services since the Iraq war began identified 120 cases of people whose backgrounds should have raised the suspicions of military recruiters, including felony convictions and serious drug, alcohol or mental health problems. Of those, 70 later were involved in controversial or criminal incidents in Iraq."

Abuse allegation against troops
The MoD refers an allegation that British soldiers sexually assaulted a 14-year-old Iraqi boy to the Royal Military Police.

Kidnapped US Soldiers Found Dead
Nancy A. Youssef and Sahar al-Issa report from Baghdad for McClatchy Newspapers: "The remains of two US soldiers kidnapped during a military patrol last year were found after a US-captured suspect led soldiers to their location, the Pentagon announced Friday."

Time for Iraq War Oil Profits Taxes - Part II
Nick Mottern writes in the second of this two-part series for Truthout: "Based on an analysis of economist Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, we estimate about 25 percent of oil company profits since the 2003 invasion of Iraq can be traced to the war's impact on world oil prices. On this basis, the excess war profit for ExxonMobil alone, between 2003 and 2008, would amount to about $40 billion."

Turkish PM in landmark Iraq visit
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in Baghdad for talks, only the second regional leader to visit since 2003.

Maliki Stunner: He Wants US Pullout Timetable
Robert Dreyfuss, of The Nation: "Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki tossed a bombshell today. In a news conference about the still-secret US-Iraqi talks, which began in March, Maliki for the first time said that the chances of securing the pact are just about nil, and instead he said Iraq will seek a limited, ad hoc renewal of the US authority to remain in Iraq, rather than a broad-based accord."