Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hosheyar Zebari met with officials in Damascus Dec. 12, with both governments agreeing to speed reactivation of the oil pipeline from the Kirkuk fields to Syria’s Banias terminal on the Mediterranean. The Syrian government pledged to help… Read moreIraq, Syria pledge pipeline reactivation
A fire broke out at one of Iraq’s main oil refineries Dec. 10, with the US calling it was an industrial accident—but Iraqi officials insisting it was an insurgent attack. The Dora refinery was built in the 1950s and is… Read moreIraq: insurgents hit oil refinery?
At least 40 bodies have been found recently in Iraq’s southern oil port of Basra, with the pull-out of British troops leaving only chaos and women increasingly targets of religious fundamentalists. “Some women along with their children have been killed,”… Read moreWar on women in Basra
A fire erupted Dec. 7 on the pipeline carrying oil from the Kirkuk fields to the Baiji refinery north of Baghdad. The state-run Northern Oil Company said the reason was unclear. In September, the pipeline burst in a suspected bomb… Read moreAttacks continue on Iraq oil lines amid scramble for control
All the talk about how calm Iraq is now thanks to the surge only indicates how dumbed-down our definition of “calm” has become. A suicide bomber blew himself up near a police station northeast of Baghdad Dec. 4, killing at… Read morePeshmerga police Diyala; more terror in Kirkuk
Turkey attacked PKK rebel targets in northern Iraq Dec. 1, saying it inflicted “heavy losses.” The Turkish General Staff said it ordered artillery and air-strikes against a group of “50 to 60 terrorists…inside Iraq’s borders” southeast of the Turkish town… Read moreTurkey attacks Iraq —again
Australia’s Labor Party prime minister-elect Kevin Rudd said Nov. 30 he will pull the country’s 550 combat troops out of Iraq by the middle of 2008. Rudd was elected in a landslide Nov. 24, ousting veteran conservative prime minister John… Read moreAustralia to quit bleeding Iraq
Japan’s House of Councillors passed a bill Nov. 28 to end the nation’s air force mission in Iraq. Japan withdrew its ground troops from Iraq in July 2006, but a Japanese unit stationed in Kuwait still provides air support for… Read moreJapan’s upper house votes to end Iraq air mission
Masked gunmen reportedly stormed the family home of a journalist associated with Saddam Hussein’s party and critical of the Iraqi government, killing 11 relatives as they ate breakfast in a Baghdad neighborhood known as a Shi’ite militia stronghold Nov. 26…. Read moreIraq: journalist’s family reported slain
Both Sunni and Shi’ite opposition groups are criticizing the “declaration of principles” on long-term ties signed by US and Iraqi leaders Nov. 26, charging it would lead to “US interference for years to come.” The Iraqi parliament will have to… Read moreIraq: opposition assails pact with US
At least 27 women have died in “honor killings” over the past four months in Kurdish Iraq, an official from the regional government said Nov. 26. Aziz Mohammed, human rights minister in the Kurdish administration, said 10 of the murdered… Read more“Honor killings” soar in Iraqi Kurdistan
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, former US commander in Iraq, gave the Democratic Party’s weekly Saturday radio address Nov. 24, calling Bush’s Iraq adventure a failure—while emphasizing he was not representing the party. Said Sanchez: “That failure continues today…. Read moreDems close ranks with war criminal Sanchez
