Iraq

The Dust Bowl of Babylon

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:20:23 -0500

by Martin Chulov

BAGHDAD -- From his mud brick home on the edge of the Garden of Eden, Awda Khasaf has twice seen his country’s lifeblood seep away. The waters that once spread from his doorstep across a 20% slab of Iraq known as the Marshlands first disappeared in 1991, when Saddam Hussein diverted them east to punish the rebellious Marsh Arabs. The wetlands have been crucial to Iraq since the earliest days of civilization -- sustaining the lives of up to half a million people who live in and around the area, while providing water for almost two million more.

The Audacity of Hype

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:41:00 -0500

by Richard W. Behan

President Obama's West Point speech was a brutal disappointment. Arguing to escalate the Afghan war, the President simply parroted the exaggerations, deceptions, and lies George Bush used so effectively in launching it.

More Than 100 Killed in Baghdad Explosions

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:42:04 -0500

by Mark Tran and Agencies

Iraq today suffered one of its worst days of violence this year as insurgents struck government buildings in Baghdad, killing at least 112 people and injuring up to 197.

The explosions happened within minutes of each other, with police saying there could have been as many as four or five. Insurgents, who included suicide bombers, detonated powerful explosives near the labour ministry building, a court complex near the Iraqi-protected Green Zone and the new site of the finance ministry after its previous building was destroyed in attacks in August.

US Was 'Hell Bent' on Iraq War, UK Envoy Says

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:06:19 -0500

by David Stringer

LONDON - The United States was "hell bent" on a 2003 military invasion of Iraq and actively undermined efforts by Britain to win international authorization for the war, a former British diplomat told an inquiry Friday.

Jeremy Greenstock, British ambassador to the United Nations from 1998 to 2003, said that President George W. Bush had no real interest in attempts to agree on a U.N. resolution to provide explicit backing for the conflict.

AfPak-Iraq: Wrong War, Wrong Thinking

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:45:18 -0500

by Paul Rogers

The term "global war on terror" has long since been dropped from the United States's official vocabulary. The phrase that came to be proposed as a replacement even when George W Bush was still in office, the "long war", has similarly fallen by the wayside, to be succeeded in March 2009 by a less overtly combative Pentagon formulation: "overseas contingency operation".

Audit: KBR Must Trim Iraq Work Force or Face Fines

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:34:54 -0500

by Richard Lardner

WASHINGTON - The Army's primary support contractor in Iraq is being warned by Pentagon auditors to cut its work force there or face nearly $200 million in penalties for keeping thousands too many on the payroll.

The Houston-based KBR Inc., responsible for everything from mail and laundry to housing and meals, has increased employee levels while U.S. troops steadily leave the country after more than six years of war, the audit says. As a result, the U.S. government is paying far more in labor costs in Iraq than it should as military resources are shifted to Afghanistan.

Bombings in Baghdad Threaten DC Security

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:08:16 -0400

by Laura Flanders

“Deadliest bombs since ‘07 shatter Iraqi Complexes. Key Government Sites. Synchronized car blasts kill more than 130 — Security issue.” So reads the headline in my newspaper.

According to the Associated Press, Iraq’s deadliest bombing in more than two years killed at least 155 and wounded more than 500 Sunday.

Premature Peace Prize or Call to Action?

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:51:10 -0400

by Kevin Martin and Medea Benjamin

As we demonstrated at the White House last Monday calling for an end to the U.S. war in Afghanistan, we could hardly have imagined President Barack Obama would be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize four days later.

While the award came as a surprise, it is somewhat understandable. We have met and conversed with peace activists from around the world over the last year, and we've observed a palpable, nearly desperate, universal hunger (obviously shared by the Nobel Committee) for a more peaceful, less militaristic U.S. foreign policy.

Red Cross Warns of Complacency in Still-Bloody Iraq

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:36:45 -0400

by Mohammed Abbas

BAGHDAD - Violence may have fallen sharply in Iraq from the worst days of sectarian killing, but an average monthly death toll of 500 people must not be considered "normal," the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

"There is a lack of respect for human life. Even if security has improved a lot ... you still have dozens of people killed on a daily basis," Juan-Pedro Schaerer, the head of the Red Cross' Iraq delegation, told Reuters in an interview Tuesday.

US 'to Speed up Iraq Withdrawal'

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:03:02 -0400

The US military commander in Iraq is set to announce that the US will withdraw 4,000 of its soldiers from the country by the end of October.

General Ray Odierno is due to tell the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee on Wednesday that the US is speeding up its military withdrawal to complete it by September 2010.

In an advance copy of his address, Odierno said: "We have approximately 124,000 troops and 11 Combat Teams operating in Iraq today. By the end of October, I believe we will be down to 120,000 troops.