At least seven young men were killed in an apparent US helicopter attack on an outdoor Ramadan gathering in the Baghdad Shi’ite suburb of Abu Dshir late Sept. 27. Witnesses say the men were playing a traditional Ramadan game called… Read moreIraq: US bombs Shi’ites —again; Congress funds carnage —again
Juan Cole‘s Informed Comment blog Sept. 24 has an enlightening commentary on a Sept. 20 AP story about the Pentagon’s latest report to Congress on supposed “progress” in Iraq. Cole writes that the report, entitled “Measuring Stability and Security in… Read morePentagon data reveal grim reality of “surge” —and “resistance”
Former US Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan famously spills the beans in his new memoir, The Age of Turbulence: “I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.” (London… Read moreAlan Greenspan vs. Naomi Klein: who has rights to Iraq’s oil?
Another blow in Iraq’s escalating Sunni civil war—and further evidence that any attempt at “reconciliation” will be doomed as long as the US remains in Iraq, allowing the jihadis to pose as the “resistance,” and anyone advocating co-existence to be… Read moreIraq: occupation kiss of death for “reconciliation”
While Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Sept. 24 soapbox session at Columbia University sparked high-profile protests and a media feeding-frenzy, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s appearance that same day at a Shi’ite mosque in Queens went largely unnoticed—despite the fact that… Read moreAl-Maliki does Queens, nobody protests
From the Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC), Sept. 20: The Iraqi minister of oil (Shehristani) has requested the Iraqi Prime Minister Almaliki to arrest the leaders of the Anti-oil Law Front (Subhi Albadri; chairperson. Hassan Juma; president of GUOE and Front… Read moreIraq: oil union leaders threatened with arrest
Blackwater security guards who protect US diplomats in Iraq have been involved in at least seven serious incidents—including some which resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians—Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Sept. 19. The revelation came as al-Maliki announced… Read moreDoes Iraq have authority to expel Blackwater?
From CBS News, Sept. 15: Tens of thousands of anti-war demonstrators marched through downtown Washington on Saturday, clashing with police at the foot of the Capitol steps where more than 190 protesters were arrested… [C]ounterprotest groups, including a contingent of… Read more190 arrested at DC anti-war protest
First, the basic facts from the New York Times, Sept. 14: Sunni Sheik Who Backed U.S. in Iraq Is Killed BAGHDAD, Sept. 13 — A high-profile Sunni Arab sheik who collaborated with the American military in the fight against jihadist… Read moreAbu Risha: war criminal?
Some very insightful words from Paul Krugman in the Sept. 14 New York Times on the Kurdish Regional Government’s unilateral oil deals. Fortunately, Ed Strong’s Best That’s Left blog rescues the column from the Times’ elitist pay-per-view policy. Relevant passages:… Read moreOil struggle: Kurds bet on no Iraq
And now for some bad news. From the Italian news agency AGI, Sept. 12: A cholera epidemic has affected at least 7,000 people in the northern provinces of Iraq and may reach Baghdad in the next few weeks. The accomplices… Read moreCholera threatens Baghdad
Hundreds of Iraqis staged a protest against the building of a dividing wall being built by US forces between a Shi’ite and Sunni district of Baghdad Sept. 12. Residents of the Shula and Ghazaliya neighborhoods waved Iraqi flags and chanted… Read moreBaghdad residents protest separation wall
