Iraq – News Stories About Iraq - Page 91

May 23, 2007 4:23 PM CDT

Bush Details Bin Laden Plot

Attempt to start Al-Qaeda cell in Iraq dates to 2005

(Newser) - Osama bin Laden attempted to launch a terrorist cell in Iraq through which Al-Qaeda could attack the US, President Bush said today. The newly declassified information fleshed out a 2005 Homeland Security alert that Bin Laden directed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, then his top man in Iraq, to organize the unit...

Iraqis Seek Employment—
In Prison

May 23, 2007 4:16 PM CDT

Iraqis Seek Employment— In Prison

The troop surge has produced a surge in prisoners, and new demand for guards

(Newser) - Iraq has a new growth industry: prisons. A post-surge increase in Iraqi prisoners has put guards in hot demand, and other employment is scarce. So former shopkeepers and farmers are flooding over the border to reach American training facilities in Jordan, where they learn skills like cell-searching and how to...

Bush Prepares Iraq Plan That Includes UN

May 23, 2007 11:22 AM CDT

Bush Prepares Iraq Plan That Includes UN

With troop surge faltering, new strategy spreads responsibility

(Newser) - Four years after the US went into Iraq without Security Council support, the administration may be ready to ask the UN for help. The Guardian reports that a plan to "internationalize" the peace process reflects President Bush's concern about the 2008 elections and the apparent failure of the troop...

Body Found in U.S. Uniform in Euphrates River

May 23, 2007 10:00 AM CDT

Body Found in U.S. Uniform in Euphrates River

(Newser) - Iraqi police found the body of a man dressed in a U.S. military uniform in the Euphrates river today. A soldier from the unit that lost three soldiers earlier in the month is en route to see if he can identify the body. If the body belongs to one...

Brass Plan New War Strategy

May 23, 2007 7:00 AM CDT

Brass Plan New War Strategy

(Newser) - US officials are quietly developing a plan to stabilize Iraq by neutralizing subversive and corrupt elements within the government, the Washington Post reports. The classified plan, still being finalized by Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker, shifts the focus of America's strategy in Iraq from military to political objectives.

House Breaks
Up Iraq War
Funding Bill

May 23, 2007 5:59 AM CDT

House Breaks Up Iraq War Funding Bill

Unusual move allows vote against war, for domestic spending

(Newser) - House Democratic leaders are splitting the new Iraq funding bill into two distinct amendments, the Politco reports. One will be the $103 billion Bush requested for the war in Iraq, which will speak of benchmarks but won't demand a withdrawal date, the other a $17 billion domestic spending package.

Troops May Double in 'Second Surge'

May 22, 2007 3:33 PM CDT

Troops May Double in 'Second Surge'

Analysis of Pentagon orders shows 8 more brigades in Iraq by year's end

(Newser) - The number of US combat troops in Iraq is being quietly doubled this year in what the San Francisco Chronicle calls a second surge, the paper concludes from an analysis of Pentagon orders. The combination of new combat brigades and lengthened tours for troops already stationed in Iraq could bring...

Dems Ditch
Iraq Timeline Demand

May 22, 2007 9:51 AM CDT

Dems Ditch Iraq Timeline Demand

New war spending bill won't include much-ballyhooed provision

(Newser) - Democratic leaders have quietly abandoned a cornerstone of their Iraq war platform: a timeline for withdrawal. Racing to pass a spending bill before the Memorial Day recess, they don't have the votes to pass a timeline, the LA Times reports, and they risk fallout for failing to fund troops in...

Satire Finds a Stage in Baghdad

May 21, 2007 3:41 PM CDT

Satire Finds a Stage in Baghdad

Iraq's waning community of actors is free of censorhip, but under siege by extremists

(Newser) - At least someone is laughing: At Iraq's National Theater a one-act play called "The Intensive Care Unit" satirizes the country's bombed-out chaos. The prevailing mood, the Washington Post reports, is jovial and non-sectarian; performances are all matinees because no one dares venture out at night.

Iraqi Cash
Is Funding
Al Qaeda

May 21, 2007 4:52 AM CDT

Iraqi Cash Is Funding Al Qaeda

Bin Laden search finds money trail leading from various sources

(Newser) - A stepped-up CIA effort to hunt down Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan hasn't succeeded in locating the terrorist, the LA Times reports, but it has uncovered evidence that cash is being funneled from Iraq to keep Al Qaeda alive and well. "Iraq is a big moneymaker for them,"...

Shiite al-Sadr
Reaches Out
to Sunni Rivals

May 20, 2007 3:14 PM CDT

Shiite al-Sadr Reaches Out to Sunni Rivals

Switch in tactics aims at hastening US withdrawal

(Newser) - In a dramatic shift in tacttics, Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is reaching out to rival Sunni leaders in Iraq, and purging radical elements of his own militia, the Washington Post reports. With Sunni insurgents making moves to distance themselves from al-Qaeda, Sadr sees an opportunity for a cross-sectarian political alliance,...

Bush, Dems Test Compromise Skills on Iraq

May 19, 2007 8:58 PM CDT

Bush, Dems Test Compromise Skills on Iraq

(Newser) - Congress' Democratic bosses and the White House are attempting diplomacy after six years of Republican neglect that has left the new majority uneasy, the Times reports. But this week's agreements on less thorny issues, trade and immigration, contrast significantly with a divided Washington's repeated, fumbled attempts at a compromise war...

Iran Extends Hand Into Southern Iraq

May 19, 2007 7:13 PM CDT

Iran Extends Hand Into Southern Iraq

Foreign militias threaten tenuous stability in Basra area

(Newser) - The southern Iraqi city of Basra is under the control of an array of private militias, some of which have strong ties to Iran, the Guardian reports. Factions like "God's Revenge" mete out patronage and enforce a fragile order in Iraq's second-largest city at the behest of competing warlords...

Blair Makes Last Visit to Iraq

May 19, 2007 9:13 AM CDT

Blair Makes Last Visit to Iraq

PM pays goodbye call amid mortar attack, radio assault from Jimmy Carter

(Newser) - Tony Blair dropped in on Iraq's prime minister today, to assure him the Britain would continue to support the struggling Iraqi government even after he leaves office next month. Blair used the surpise visit to reiterate his confidence that there are "real signs of change and progress" in Iraq,...

Contractor Fatalities Soar in Iraq

May 19, 2007 9:13 AM CDT

Contractor Fatalities Soar in Iraq

New numbers show soaring increases in civilian casualties, even as the troop presence rises

(Newser) - Private contractors have been killed in Iraq in record numbers this year, the New York Times reports, as the deployment of U.S. forces in outside the Green Zone amps up the danger for both soldiers and civilians. Through March, there were at least 146 killed, compared to 224 troops...

Report: Iraq Nears Collapse

May 17, 2007 7:12 AM CDT

Report: Iraq Nears Collapse

(Newser) - The Iraqi government is becoming impotent and irrelevant as the country stumbles toward fragmentation and collapse, a new report by a British think tank concludes. The matter-of-fact name, "Accepting Realities in Iraq," belies the grim verdict that large areas are under the control of local factions rather than...

Senate Votes Down Iraq Withdrawal

May 17, 2007 6:03 AM CDT

Senate Votes Down Iraq Withdrawal

Proposal would have ended funding by March

(Newser) - The Senate yesterday shot down a plan to cut all funding for the war in Iraq by next March. Russ Feingold's proposal, largely a test of anti-war support, was defeated in a 67-29 procedural vote, as Congress moves towards compromise with the White House on a spending measure.

US Posts Reward for Missing Troops

May 16, 2007 4:40 PM CDT

US Posts Reward for Missing Troops

Search for kidnapped soldiers generates $200K offer, thousands of leaflets

(Newser) - The US military is offering a $200,000 reward for information regarding the whereabouts of three soldiers who were kidnapped following an ambush Saturday. Helicopters dropped thousands of leaflets over the southern region of Iraq where the attacks took place, beseeching Iraqis to call a hotline with information. Search operations...

British Army Grounds Harry

May 16, 2007 2:49 PM CDT

British Army Grounds Harry

In official about-face, young royal won't deploy to Iraq for fear of assassination

(Newser) - British brass have dashed 22-year-old Prince Harry's dreams of fighting in Iraq, citing fears of a targeted assassination. The head of Britain’s army made today’s announcement—a reversal from earlier promises that Harry would fight—after a visit to Iraq last week revealed direct threats against the prince.

Bush Names Surge Skeptic
War Czar

May 16, 2007 5:52 AM CDT

Bush Names Surge Skeptic War Czar

White House taps active-duty officer to coordinate war effort

(Newser) - After public rejection by at least five prominent former generals, the Bush administration named its war czar, three-star general Douglas Lute. The Washington Post describes Lute as a low-key soldier who expressed skepticism about sending more troops to Iraq. Durning internal discussions, Lute is said to have argued that a...