Iraq

Madhavi Bhasin writes in an IC Guest Editorial: The most consistent answer to the differently phrased generic query, “When will the U.S. troops withdraw from Iraq?” is “Will be determined by the situation on the ground and U.S. military’s assessment of it.” Is it really so? Is the U.S. presence in Iraq contingent upon the […]

The al-Maliki government has just launched another of its military offensives against guerrillas, this time in Baquba, the capital of Diyala Province. I am skeptical about these campaigns. They are announced well in advance, allowing the guerrillas to go underground or relocate. Then in Mosul and now in Baquba the campaigns don’t appear to involve […]

Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that four female suicide bombers killed or wounded 350 persons on Monday. Late reports give 61 as the number of those killed. Al-Hayat says the bombings reminded Iraqis of the bad old days when this level of destruction was a common, almost daily occurrence. The bombing of an enormous crowd of […]

Guerrillas in Iraq set off three bombs one after another on Monday morning, targeting Shiite pilgrims on their way to the Shrine of Imam Musa al-Kadhim in Kadhimiya, north Baghdad, to commemorate his death. They killed at least 11 persons and wounded some 33. The bombings on this Shiite holy day are an unwelcome reminder […]

Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that a controversy is raging in the Iraqi parliament about the veto exercised by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani against a bill passed last week enabling elections in the fall. MP and former court judge Wael Abd al-Latif of the State Party charged that the veto was “unconstitutional.” He said that when […]

Vincent Bugliosi’s opening statements during the House Judiciary Committee hearing on the constitutional limits of executive power. He argues that since Bush took the country to war against Iraq on false pretenses and that therefore he is guilty of tens of thousands of counts of murder.

Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that the Kurdistan Alliance has responded to the Iraqi parliament’s passage of a bill concerning provincial elections. (The bill was vetoed by Kurdish President Jalal Talabani). The committee in the Kurdistan Parliament in charge of revising the Kurdistan constitution has proposed language that would formally incorporate portions of four provinces into […]

A female suicide bomber killed 8 Iraqis in Diyala province on Thursday, including the head of a local Awakening Council. Turkey bombed 13 targets in northern Iraq on Thursday, targeting positions of the Kurdish Workers Party or PKK. Turkish PM Tayyip Rejep Erdogan recently visited Baghdad and relations seemed to be improving, but apparently the […]

Keith Olbermann and Jedreport clear up the gaffe that John McCain made about the history of the surge and examine the Orwellian editing techniques of CBS News.