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
In a military trial at Fort Campbell, KY, Pfc. Bryan Howard, 19, pleaded guilty to being an accessory to the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the slaying of her family. He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy… Read moreGI pleads guilty in Iraq rape-murder case
US-led forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are using a miniature unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Israel, the campany that produces the devide said in a statement released ahead an upcoming air show in Australia.. Elbit, one of Israel’s leading… Read moreIsraeli mini-UAVs used in Iraq, Afghanistan
Given all the reactionary prattle we have seen in the New York Times lead op-ed slot of late, it was quite a breath of fresh air to read something downright progressive and courageously iconoclastic: “Whose Oil is It, Anyway?” by… Read moreNYT op-ed: no to Iraqi oil “denationalization”
A suicide car bomber barreled into a flatbed truck packed with some 70 Shi’ite pilgrims March 11, leaving at least 32 dead. The latest attacks followed a week in which hundreds of Shi’ite pilgrims were killed trying to reach the… Read moreIraq: more Shi’ite pilgrims killed
From Military Families Speak Out, March 8: Military Families Oppose House Democratic Leadership Plan for Iraq MFSO Says Pelosi Plan Condemns at Least 1,500 Troops to Death Washington D.C. — Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), an organization of over 3,200… Read moreMilitary families oppose Pelosi plan
A statement from the international women’s rights group MADRE: On February 26, 2007, Houzan Mahmoud, an international representative of MADRE’s sister organization, the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, received an e-mail signed by Ansar al-Islam, the notoriously brutal jihadist… Read moreIraq: death threats against women’s rights defender
The potential for Iraqi Kurdistan to be the flashpoint for a wider regional conflict is becoming increasingly clear. On March 1, a former member of the Turkish National Security Council (MGK) weighed in on the brewing crisis in Kirkuk, which… Read moreTurkey rattles sabre at Iraqi Kurds; Kurdish guerillas attack Iran
