Middle East

A three-judge panel in Iraq acquitted Hakim al-Zamili, a former deputy health minister, and Brigadier General Hamid al-Shammari, the chief of the health ministry’s security forces, of the charges of murder, kidnapping, and embezzlement. The judges ruled that no compelling evidence had been presented of the charges against al-Zamili. Critics of the process complained that […]

The USG Open Source Center translates an Iranian op-ed on the significance of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Iraq. Daily sees ties consolidating between Iran, Iraq, urges unityResalat (Internet Version-WWW)Monday, March 3, 2008 . . .Document Type: OSC Translated Text Daily sees ties consolidating between Iran, Iraq, urges unity Iran press: Daily sees ties consolidating […]

Som 92 percent of Democrats and 77 percent of independents are opposed to the Iraq War, which cannot be good news for John McCain, who has tied his campaign to staying in Iraq. Peter Slevin of WaPo argues that the public is now understanding the Iraq War in terms of other issues, especially the economy. […]

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began the second day of his state visit to Iraq on Monday. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called Iran’s stance toward Iraq “helpful,” contradicting his American allies. The entire love fest of Ahmadinejad’s visit underscores how George W. Bush has inadvertently opened the Iranian sluice gates. Iran is the regional victor in […]

ON MERCY AND REDRESS Matthew Walleser There have been over four million Iraqis displaced because of the war and its effects, both inside and outside Iraq. They have fled to destinations that span the far reaches of the globe, from Jordan to Sweden, and many places in between. Some of those who have fled have […]

John McCain has been running mainly against Barack Obama in recent days, and has been running on the successes he says that the Iraqi government has racked up. McCain (and the US corporate media) manages to avoid noticing that Turkey has staged a major incursion into Iraq and still has ground troops there and is […]

The Turkish military announced on Monday that it had killed another 41 Kurdish guerrillas inside Iraq. It claims to have killed 151 fighters of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) during the present operation. It admitted the deaths of 2 more Turkish troops, bringing the total loss for Ankara in this operation to 17 dead. The […]

Between 40 and 60 Shiites were killed and 105 wounded on Sunday by a suicide bomber at Iskandariya in northern Babil province as they made their way south to the holy city of Karbala. Entire families were on the move together, so that the bombing killed or wounded many women and children. Many of the […]

Turkish military land and air operations inside northern Iraq left 35 PKK guerrillas dead on Saturday, and two Turkish soldiers. The PKK warned that it would blow up people in Turkish cities if the Turkish army did not withdraw. This threat would be more impressive if they hadn’t already been blowing up people in Turkish […]