Al-Hayat reports in Arabic on the passage by the Iraqi parliament of three important laws. These included the annual budget, a general amnesty that will free thousands of mostly Sunni Arab prisoners in the teeming Iraqi security prisons, and finally a “law on the provinces.” The action came in the wake of threats by powerful […]
Speaker Threatens to Dissolve Parliament; 13 Bodies found at Muqdadiya; 3 Students Killed near Balad Ruz
The Daily Star summarizes reports coming out of Iraq that the Speaker of the House is threatening to dissolve parliament. Iraq’s legislature has been deadlocked for months over the budget and also setting a date for badly needed provincial elections. It is likely a hollow threat, but the Iraqi constitution does state, “The Council of […]
Twin Massive Bombings Target Awakening Leaders; Thousands Protest Police Chief in Baquba; Pipeline Bombing Causes Outages
Sunni Arab guerrillas deployed two massive car bombs in Baghdad to attack leaders of the Al-Anbar Awakening Council who were meeting in the city, killing at least 22 persons and wounding 42. McClatchy says that at least one major al-Anbar Awakening leader was among the dead, and that major figure Ali al-Hatem was wounded. Also […]
70 Killed or found Dead on Sunday; Big Bombing Near Balad: Baquba Clashes
So first on Sunday, Sunni Arab guerrillas tried to overwhelm Iraqi security forces, Awakening Council members and US troops at two villages near Sinjar not far from the Syrian border. The pro-US forces fought them off, but 22 died in the encounter, some on each side. McClatchy describes the events thusly: ‘ A source in […]
Bombing Kills 27 in Pakistan; Bin Laden in FATA?
A week from Monday, Pakistanis will go to the polls to elect their federal parliament, in one of the more consequential elections of the past two decades. The campaign season started out Saturday with an unfortunate bombing at a rally in Charsadda near Peshawar that killed 27 and wounded 40. The Awami National Party, a […]
7 US Soldiers Killed; Public Blames Iraq War for Economic Woes
5 US soldiers were killed by roadside bombs on Friday, 4 northwest of Baghdad and one in Kirkuk Province. Note that both these regions are Sunni Arab, and that it makes no sense that Shiite Iran gave explosively formed projectiles to Sunni Arab guerrillas in these areas, since they could also be deployed against Shiite […]
Mayor of Tikrit Killed; US Raids Sadr City; Sistani reduces Workload
Sunni Arab guerrillas are increasingly deploying explosively formed projectiles, roadside bombs that can pierce even tank armor. My guess is that the more sophisticated EFPs supposedly coming only from Iran are also sometimes made in Iraq, and that any Iranian ones are on the black market and could be bought by anyone, including Sunni groups. […]
McCain as Nixon?
John McCain is the Republican nominee for president. He promises “victory” in Iraq while never defining the word, except that he sometimes promises a long-term enmeshing of the US in a Korea-like war and decades-long military aftermath. It is eerily familiar. The president who started the war is not running for office. His popularity is […]
Arab Intelligence Organizations Hold Secret Meeting To Confront Shiites In Iraq
The USG Open Source Center translates a report from the Iranian Fars News Agency that summarizes an article in the Iraqi newspaper al-Bayanat al-Jadidah claiming that Sunni Arab intelligence agencies recently met in Amman to discuss ways of undermining the Shiite government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and of replacing al-Qaeda commanders in Iraq […]
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