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
The game of bait-and-switch goes on, without anyone seeming to notice. Following the Congressional testimony of his commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, Bush has reportedly embraced his recommendation that the US withdraw 30,000 troops—by next summer. Bizarrely, this is… Read moreBush, Petraeus betray us
From the Iraq Freedom Congress, Sept. 8: Leaders of Iraqi Federation of South Oil Unions (IFOU) join Anti-Oil Law Front The Leaders of Iraqi Federation of South Oil Unions (IFOU) and many other unionists warn the Iraqi parliament of passing… Read moreIraq: unions join Anti-Oil Law Front
This Sept. 7 report from AP notes what seems to be a growing trend—and vindicates our observation of a strategic tilt to the Sunnis on the part of the US. US and Iraqi troops backed by attack aircraft clashed with… Read moreIraq: US bombs Shi’ites —again
From the Iraq Freedom Congress, Sept. 3: The Anti-Oil Law Front Stages a Mass Demonstration in Baghdad US Forces Try to Provoke the Demonstrators The Anti-Oil Law Front staged a demonstration in the center of Baghdad (Liberation Square) under Liberty… Read moreIraq: more protests against oil law
The Secretary of the Navy Sept. 5 handed down letters of censure to three US Marine officers for improper performance of duties in the reporting and investigation of the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians at Haditha in November 2005. A… Read moreMarine officers censured in Haditha probe
Bush’s Sept. 3 visit to Iraq was his first not involving a stop in Baghdad. Instead he visited the former Sunni-insurgent stronghold of Anbar province, in what The Wall Street Journal calls a “a symbolic nod to the emerging administration… Read moreIraq: WSJ paints rosy scenarios
