Middle East

The banner under all CNN stories on Iraq on Wednesday in the US was “Progress in Iraq 2008,” with the ‘reduction in violence’ the subtext. This is not news, it is propaganda. CNN can’t know what 2008 in Iraq will be like, and this ‘progress’ banner gives a positive impression of what is still a […]

10. Myth: The US public no longer sees Iraq as a central issue in the 2008 presidential campaign. In a recent ABC News/ Washington Post poll, Iraq and the economy were virtually tied among voters nationally, with nearly a quarter of voters in each case saying it was their number one issue. The economy had […]

Guerrillas in the oil refinery town of Bayji killed at least 26 persons and wounded 80 others with a suicide truck bombing. In Diyala province to the southeast, a suicide bomber killed 10 persons and wounded 5 others in the provincial capital of Baqubah. A day earlier in Diyala Province, gunment kidnapped 14 Shiites from […]

Turkey bombed northern Iraq again on Sunday, in an apparent attack on suspected bases of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) guerrilla group. Early reports were that no one was killed. US officials in Baghdad are convinced that some of the reduction in the number of attacks on US troops is owing to conscious Iranian decisions […]

Turkey bombed the Amadiya area of northern Iraq on Saturday. Ankara said that it was targeting bases of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) guerrilla organization. The PKK stands accused of killing over two dozen Turkish troops in recent months. Turkey says that the culprits then cross into Iraq, where they are given safe haven by […]

The USG Open Cource Center translates portions of the Friday Prayer sermon of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI). Al-Hakim said he wanted to limit the Sunni Arab ‘Awakening Councils’ so that they did not become an independent force in their own right. He wants to see such […]

Reuters says that Iraq made a comeback as a campaign issue on Wednesday through Friday of this week. On Wednesday, Senator Hillary Clinton told a voter that she could get all US troops out of Iraq by early 2009. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who has called for an immediate and complete withdrawal of troops […]

A suicide bomber killed 13 in Kanaan, village near the provincial capital Baquba in Diyala Province. The bomber was targeting a patrol of the local Awakening Council (pro-US Sunni tribal levies). Reuters adds: “In another attack, a car bomb parked outside a liquor store in central Baghdad killed three people and wounded 20.” Leila Fadel […]

The USG Open Source center does a report on the security situation in Babil Province, just south of Baghdad. ‘OSC Report: Iraq — Babil Police Force Faces Uncertain Future After Chief’s Murder . . .Iraq — OSC ReportFriday, December 21, 2007 Iraq –Government Handling of Security in Babil Raises Questions About Independence of Police, Parties’ […]