Mark Kurlansky writes for the Los Angeles Times, April 26: Seventy years ago, on April 26, 1937, at 4:40 in the afternoon when the stone-walled, medieval Basque town of Guernica was packed with peasants, shoppers and refugees for its Monday… Read moreFrom Guernica to Baghdad: 70 years of “shock and awe”
Journalists in Iraq’s Kurdistan face arrest and harassment for reporting on government corruption and poor public services, the UN says in a new report on the autonomous region. The report also criticises Kurdish officials for failing to respond to growing… Read moreIraq: Kurds limit women’s rights, press freedom
Defying President Bush’s veto threat, the House of Representatives April 25 narrowly approved a war funds bill that sets a timeline for the withdrawal of all US combat troops from Iraq by March 31, 2008. “Tonight, the House of Representatives… Read moreUS House wants US out; al-Sadr wants US in?
Unknown gunmen shot dead 23 textile factory workers from the ancient Yazidi culture in an apparent revenge killing in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul April 22. Authorities said the gunmen erected a roadblock, forced the workers out of a… Read moreIraq: Yazidi workers massacred in Mosul
From the Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC), April 21: Iraq Freedom Congress congratulates all freedom-loving and progressive people around the world for the launch of Sana TV today. It is you who made it happened and you who will keep it… Read moreIraq civil resistance satellite TV goes live
Hilmi al-Asmar writes for the Jordanian newspaper Al-Dustur, April 7: Barzani accuses extremist Shi’i, Sunni forces of fuelling the conflict, welcomes hosting Palestinians residing in Kurdistan Arbil, Iraqi Kurdistan — Mas’ud Barzani, head of the Iraqi Kurdistan region and leader… Read moreIraqi Kurd leader: Palestinians welcome to live in Kurdistan
Eleven electricity plant workers were killed in an ambush as they drove to work in northern Iraq April 4. Police said gunmen stopped a vehicle carrying the workers near Hawija, about 70 kilometers southwest of Kirkuk, then sprayed it with… Read moreKirkuk: insurgents kill workers
Gunmen rampaged through the Sunni and Turkmen district of al-Wihda in the northwestern Iraqi town of Tal Afar overnight, killing about 50 residents, apparently in reprisal for bombings in a Shi’ite area. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has ordered an inquiry… Read moreIraq: more sectarian massacres
The March English edition of Le Monde Diplomatique has an in-depth story on the state of the world’s oil industry, “Hydrocarbon nationalism: States claim back their energy reserves,” which sheds much light on the underlying imperatives for the Iraq adventure…. Read moreSpecter of “hydrocarbon nationalism” drives Iraq war
Moktada al-Sadr’s Shi’ite militia, the Mahdi Army, is breaking into splinter groups, with up to 3,000 gunmen financed directly by Iran and no longer loyal to the militant cleric, Iraqi and US officials say. Two senior Mahdi Army commanders also… Read moreIran backs Mahdi Army splinter faction?
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, joined by MPs, military chiefs and diplomats, say up to 3,800 PKK fighters in Iraqi Kurdistan are preparing for attacks into Turkish territory—and Turkey is ready to hit back if the US fails to act…. Read moreTurkey rattles sabre at Iraqi Kurdistan —again
From the British computer trade journal The Register, March 22: US Marines in Iraq staged an elaborate fake gunfight to foil an overhead surveillance drone and cover up a murder, according to court testimony. Wired reports that the Marines successfully… Read moreIraq: Marines spooked drone to cover murder
