Archives: January 2008

One Million Iraqis Killed; Humanitarian Crisis of Vast Proportions; 6 Bombings in Baghdad

Ambassador Marc Ginsburg is astonished that John McCain could win in Florida on a platform of a Hundred Years War in Iraq and phony slogans about "victory" that McCain is careful never…

5 US troops Wounded; 5 Killed Monday put on Planes; Who is thinking about the 18-year Olds?

AP reports that:' A bomb exploded at a checkpoint Tuesday in Baghdad, wounding five American soldiers and three civilians, the U.S. military said. Iraqi officials claimed it was a suicide bombing and…

One last Argument with Bush

When Bush first came in, the comedian Will Ferrell did a skit on the television show "Saturday Night Live" that depicted the president cowering under his desk as bombs went off in…

2 US Troops Killed; Marsh Arab Tribal Sheikh Murdered in Basra; Bombings, Kidnapping in Baghdad

The USG Open Source center translates from an Iraqi television report, "Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki pledged to end the crisis facing his government as a result of the recurring withdrawals of…

Sunni-Shiite Pact in Parliament

The USG Open Source Center translates a broadcast by the Iranian Al-Alam satellite television station reporting on a new pact between the [Shiite] Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq and the [Sunni coalition,…

OSC: Iraqi Kurd official says Kurds unequal US ally

The USG Open Source Center translates an opinion piece from a major Kurdish Iraqi newspaper containing quotes from a Kurdish official about the Kurdish-US relationship. The piece maintains that the alliance is…

Maliki Announces Push on Mosul; ICTJ says Iraq Debaathification law Makes things Worse

According to al-Hayat in Arabic, Iraqi preachers on Friday expressed outrage over the Israeli siege of Gaza and condemned Arab governments for doing nothing about it. They also condemned the bombing in…

Mosul Police Chief Killed; Karbala’i Escapes Assassination

The police chief of Mosul and two other officers were killed by a suicide bomber when they came to the site of the recent powerful explosion. The death toll from that bomb…

159 Killed or Wounded in Massive Mosul Blast; Dems take on Bush over Iraq SOFA

Guerrillas were stockpiling munitions in an unoccupied building in the Zanjabili district near the Houston-sized northern city of Mosul. Someone informed the Iraqi security forces of the stockpile, and apparently the guerrillas…

935 False Statements that Led a Nation to War

The Center for Public Integrity has published a study finding that'President George W. Bush and seven of his administration's top officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and…

Barzani charges Michael Rubin with Libel

The USG Open Source Center translates a letter from Kurdistan Regional Authority leader Massoud Barzani slamming the Hawlati newspaper for having published in Kurdish an article by Neoconservative operative Michael Rubin of…

2 US Troops Killed; 20 Injured in School Blast; Assassination Attempt Kills 18; Weekend Cult Casualty toll 278

On Tuesday morning in Iraq, a suicide bomber walked into a school in downtown Baquba and detonated his payload, killing a guard and wounding 20 students and teachers. Baquba, a city of…

Iraq Dominates Testy Dem Debate

Iraq as an issue was back front and center in Iraq on Monday in the South Carolina presidential debate among the Democratic candidates. Barack Obama complained that his record of opposing the…

King: War Cannot Achieve Even a Negative Good

Martin Luther King will be honored today throughout America as a champion of racial justice and racial harmony. That is a pivotal legacy for the United States of America, which for 87…

Iraq is Still a Bad Bargain

Andrew Bacevich eviscerates the Iraq War party with this passionate and clear-sighted essay on 'the Surge to Nowhere' in WaPo. He points out that the real motivation behind last year's troop escalation…

US Soldier Killed; 21 Dead in Ashura Violence; OSC: Messianic Cult Expected Appearance of Promised One

Another US soldier was killed on Saturday, bringing January's total to 23 -- already as much as in all of December. Street battles and machine gun fire rang out for a second…

80 Dead in Clashes with Millenarian Cult; Sadrists threaten to end Freeze on JAM; Al-Hakim Criticizes al-Maliki

The instability of the Iraqi south was on display Friday, as a doomsday cult attacked police and religious mourners on the eve of Ashura', the holiest day of the Shiite Islamic calendar.…

Wave of Killing of Women;

Al-Zaman reports in Arabic that women activists on Thursday organized a conference in Baghdad to protest the increasing problem of women being targeted for killing, especially by religious militias. They said that…

Basra Police Chief Denies Iran Mischief in Iraq

The USG Open Source Center translates an interview with the police chief of Basra, Staff Maj-Gen. Abdul Jalil Khalaf. Therein, Khalaf denies that Iran is playing a negative role and stirring turmoil…

3 US Troops Killed; Bomber Kills 9; US Bombing Raids Up 5 Times

In the small town of Khan Bani Saad in Diyala Province east of Baghdad, a woman suicide bomber killed 9 Shiites and wounded 15 at a market just before a major religious…

Al-Anbar Leader Condemns Iraqi Gov. as Sectarian Wants US Out

So whatever happened to Fallujah? Hard to get news from the city. Can they drive personal cars again, yet? Apparently the US military has built blast walls around each of 10 districts…

Kurds Miffed by New Coalition

Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that altogether 150 deputies in parliament (well over a majority) signed a memorandum of agreement aimed at resolving the most contentious issues facing Iraq. For their part, the…

Muqtada al-Sadr Denounces Bush

The USG Open Source Center translates a statement by Shiite clergyman Muqtada al-Sadr condemning Bush's Middle East tour."Iraq: Muqtada al-Sadr Statement Condemns President Bush's Mideast VisitIraq - OSC SummaryMonday, January 14, 2008…

12 Parties Sign Letter of Understanding: Seek to Block Kurds from Taking Kirkuk

Several Sunni, Shiite and secular political parties have come together in a new pact aimed at challenging the dominant coalition of the Kurdistan Alliance and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI).…

4 Killed in Baghdad Bombing Turks attack Kurds inside Iraq Again

PM Nuri al-Maliki called for widened political participation. He appears to be working on a compromise that might bring the parties of Iyad Allawi and Tariq al-Hashimi/ Adnan Dulaimi back into his…

9 US Troops Killed; 250,000 Civilians Dead in Bush’s War?

Sunni Arab guerrillas have killed 9 US soldiers in the past two days. They killed 6 and wounded 4 with a bomb in a booby-trapped safe house on Wednesday. The deaths come…

McCain Republicans’ anti-War Candidate; Sunnis Fear Return of Baghdad Violence;

In the US, here is an irony. John McCain, "Mr. Surge," who dreams of a century-long US occupation of Iraq, was the anti-war candidate for Republicans in Iowa. Yes:' Exit polls found…

24 Dead in Sunni Counter-Attacks; Major Refinery in Flames

In a further sign of a determined new year's counter-attack by the radical Salafis and/or neo-Baathists, a wave of bombings and kidnappings swept Iraq on Monday, leaving 24 dead, dozens wounded.In the…

11 Killed at Army Day Celebration; 2 US Troops Killed Christians Targetted in Mosul

George McGovern is calling for Bush and Cheney to be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, including ordering hundreds of warrantless wiretaps on US citizens. Good for him. Even if a plan…

Bombings Roil Diyala; Driving ban Imposed; US Soldier Killed

Radio Sawa reports in Arabic that Iraqi members of parliament dismiss the pledge of US presidential candidate Barack Obama to end the Iraq War and withdraw US troops from the country. They…

3 US troops Killed; Dulaimi May be Charged; Najaf Raid

Iraqi parliamentarians are attempting to strip Adnan Dulaimi of his parliamentary immunity. They charge that he is complicit with terrorists. Dulaimi leads the 44-member [Sunni Arab] Iraqi Accord Front in parliament. US…

Iraq, the Youth Vote, Women and Iowa

The conventional wisdom among the inside the beltway pundits is that Iraq is no longer a leading issue for American voters.This conventional wisdom is demonstrably untrue. First, some December polls (scroll down)…

Iraq in Iowa; Bomber Kills 10 in Diyala; Petraeus: US Cannot Organize Return of Refugees

Update: Zogby et al. is showing a last minute boost among voters for Obama and Huckabee in Iowa. But obviously many Iowans are undecided and the race is extremely volatile.Activists campaigning down…

Guest Op-Ed: US Foreign Policy; the Principle of Non-Intervention

A seasoned observer writes: ' The complexity, interrelationships, results and consequences (intended and unintended) of US Iraq policy – one of the seven foreign interventions by the Bush Administration – were on…