Arab World

An American soldier was killed and five were wounded by roadside bombs on Friday in Diyala Province northeast of Baghdad. Congress passed a $161 bn. budget for the Iraq War, with a bit for Afghanistan in it, but failed to get language about a timetable for troop withdrawal included. If Americans dislike this outcome, they […]

The consortium of American and European oil companies that had dominated Iraqi petroleum in the twentieth century is returning to Iraq to carry out service agreements aimed at expanding production in four southern oil fields. Jonathan Steele reports, ‘ But the deals, known as service contracts, are unusual, said Greg Mutitt, co-director of Platform, an […]

Iraqi government troops began fanning through Amara and other towns of Maysan Province in the Shiite South on Thursday morning. Shiite militiamen, having been given three days to put away their heavier weapons, appear to have largely melted away for the time being. There were no reported clashes, and the army did not declare a […]

Guerrillas detonated a massive bomb in a Shiite market in north Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 51 and injuring 75. The bomb levelled a two-story building and set ablaze 20 shops. (Courtesy Farsnews). McClatchy says that US military sources suspect a rogue Shiite group of being responsible for the bombing, speculating that the blast may have […]

Two bombings near a university in Baghdad killed 2 and wounded 23 persons on Monday. 3 GIs were announced killed on Monday in separate incidents. Some 15 Iraqis were estimated killed in political violence, with 43 wounded. The Sadr Movement says it will not oppose the planned military operation in Amara as long as the […]

Salah al-Ubaidi, a spokesman for the Sadr Movement, says that it will not boycott the fall provincial elections, exactly. The Movement will not run candidates under its own name, but will rather have some Sadrists run on other party lists, and will through support behind independents. This strategy is similar to that of the Muslim […]

A female suicide bomber injured 34 soccer fans and police in the town of Qara Tappah in Diyala Province, 75 miles northeast of Baghdad. The fans had poured into the street after watching Iraq beat China in a sports cafe. Likely this was an attack by a radical Sunni Arab cell on a largely Kurdish […]

First, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced that negotiations between Iraq and the Bush administration over a status of forces agreement were at an impasse. He said that the US was asking Iraq to give up too much sovereignty. Earlier this week he had met with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who warned him against giving […]

If you liked the Supreme Court’s reinstatement of Habeas Corpus, vote Obama. McCain did not like it and will be in a position to appoint a justice who will vote with the four dissenters. Bush dismissed the ruling as that of only 5 against 4. (Wasn’t that the margin that made him president in 2000?) […]