Iraq

Iraq spending bill stalls in Senate

Former Iraqi commander says bring the troops home The Senate remains deeply divided over whether to give President Bush all the money he wants � without limitations � for continuing the war in Iraq, as two opposing war funding measures failed to...

Iraq

Will ‘armloads’ of U.S. cash buy tribal loyalty?

The U.S. policy of paying Sunni Arab sheikhs for their allegiance could be risky. TIKRIT � Inside a stately guesthouse on the grounds of Saddam Hussein's palace in Tikrit on the banks of the Tigris, sheikh Sabah al-Hassani jokes that the initials "SH" of the former dictator etched on the walls are his. "I have a weakness for Cuban...

Iraq

The Sunni in Iraq’s Shi’a leadership

Baghdad � Tariq al-Hashemi says he cringes when he's described as Iraq's Sunni vice president. Mr. Hashemi, one of two vice presidents � the other, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, is Shi'i � says he is trying to reach out to all Iraqis. In September, he met for the first time with Iraq's most influential Shi'i cleric, the reclusive Grand Ayatollah Ali...

Iraq

A spiritual first in Baghdad

BAGHDAD � There is neither a cross nor a sign on the heavy metal gate to indicate that this is the official residence of one of the country's most prominent Christians, the first in Iraq in modern times to be elevated to cardinal by the Roman Catholic Church. The simple structure, in a dilapidated neighborhood of this capital, opposite...

Iraq

Evaluating the Iraq war

This week marks the fifth anniversary of Congress's vote to authorize the Bush Administration to overthrow the government of Iraq by military force. The Nation opposed the war authorization. In "An Open Letter to Congress," which we published on the magazine's cover on the eve of the vote, we argued that it would have "a significance...

Iraq

The wider dilemma of Iraq

The intense political focus on Iraq in the United States continues to revolve around the theme of how soon the U.S. might be able to substantially withdraw its troops. Democrats who won a majority in the Congress last November have run up against the limits of their slim majority. Their lack of a two-thirds majority to override a...

Iraq

U.S. Senate votes to partition Iraq. Softly.

On 26 September 2007 the United States Senate voted 75�23 in favor of an amendment to the defense spending bill for 2008 that authorizes the U.S. government to "encourage" Iraqis to find a "federal" solution to the internal conflicts in their country. At least two different interpretations of the bill are possible. First, one may...

Iraq

Bush’s fake sheik whacked

Did you see George all choked up? In his surreal TV talk two weeks ago, he got all emotional over the killing by Al Qaeda of Sheik Abu Risha, the leader of the new Sunni alliance with the U.S. against the insurgents in Anbar Province, Iraq. Bush shook Abu Risha�s hand two weeks prior to that for the cameras. Bush can shake his hand...

Iraq

First cholera case confirmed in Baghdad

Baghdad � The World Health Organization on Thursday confirmed the first cholera case in Baghdad, raising fears the disease is spreading. A 25-year-old woman from western Baghdad was found to have cholera after she turned up at the hospital with a severe case of diarrhea, said Dr. Naeema al-Gasseer, the WHO's representative in...

Iraq

Maliki blasts Blackwater firm for other attacks

BAGHDAD � Blackwater security guards who protect top U.S. diplomats in Iraq have been involved in at least seven serious attacks, some of which resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki said Wednesday. Maliki didn't detail the incidents, which he said add to the case against the North...

Iraq

The Shi’a power struggle: Not good news in Iraq

The decision made by Shi'a cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to halt his Mahdi Army's attacks on occupation forces and Iraqi security is likely to be considered the single most promising breakthrough for the U.S. military in Iraq. Although the move comes ahead of several reports to be presented to the U.S. Congress later this month, the decision...

Iraq

In Iraq, sex is traded for survival

Baghdad � When Rana Jalil, 38, lost her husband in an explosion in Baghdad last year, she could never have imagined becoming a prostitute in order to feed her children. A mother of four, Jalil sought out employment, but job opportunities forwomen had decreased since the U.S. invasion. She begged shop owners, office workers and companies...

Iraq

America waking up to scale of Iraq disaster

July 29th, 20070 The most probable result of U.S. withdrawal will be further bloodshed Iraq is over. Iraq has not yet begun. Two conclusions from the American debate about Iraq, which dominates the media in the U.S. to the exclusion of almost any other foreign story. Iraq is over insofar as the American public has decided that most U.S. troops should...

Iraq

What next after Samarra bombing?

ARBIL (IPS) � Iraq is again haunted by the ghosts of Samarra, with last week's attack on the Shi'a-revered al-Askari mosque raising fears that it could touch off a new wave of sectarian violence in a country already crippled by large-scale violence and political crisis. In a similar move last year, al Qaeda in Iraq bombed the...

Iraq

Showdown looms over Iraq withdrawal

April 4th, 20070 WASHINGTON (IPS) � With U.S. President George W. Bush reiterating his threat to veto legislation that makes funding for the Iraq war conditional on a deadline for withdrawing at least some U.S. troops, Washington moved rapidly this week toward a major confrontation between the White House and Democrats in Congress. The latter won...

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