2007 IRAQ ARCHIVE :

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International Herald Tribune, 22 Dec 07, by Alissa J. Rubin and Damien Cave
Seeds of conflict in a force for Iraqi calm
'The Awakening movement, a predominantly Sunni Arab force recruited to fight Sunni Islamic extremists like Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, has become a great success story after its spread from Sunni tribes in Anbar Province to become an ad-hoc armed force of 65,000 to 80,000 across the country in less than a year. A linchpin of the American strategy to pacify Iraq, the movement has been widely credited with turning around the violence-scarred areas where the Sunni insurgency has been based. But ... rivalries and sectarianism are still undermining the Americans' plans. And in particular, the Awakening's rapid expansion — the Americans say the force could reach 100,000 — is creating new concerns.'

Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec 07, by Alexandra Zavis
U.S. practicing balancing act on Kurdish question
'Condoleezza Rice, in Iraq for reconciliation work, urges caution after Turkey pursues rebels across the border.'

Christian Science Monitor, 19 Dec 07, by Scott Petersonand Sam Dagher
Turkey's raids against Kurdish rebels unsettle Iraq
'If this pattern continues and a new front opens in the Iraq war, the instability that Ms. Rice spoke of could not only unsettle a relatively calm northern Iraq, but jeopardize already troubled efforts toward national reconciliation.'

Washington Post, 19 Dec 07, by Karen DeYoung
All Iraqi Groups Blame U.S. Invasion for Discord, Study Shows
'Iraqis of all sectarian and ethnic groups believe that the U.S. military invasion is the primary root of the violent differences among them, and see the departure of "occupying forces" as the key to national reconciliation, according to focus groups conducted for the U.S. military last month.'

BBC News, 20 Dec 07, by Mike Lanchin and Mona Mahmoud
Iraq government 'failing Falluja'
'Three years after the massive US assault on Falluja, the city's mayor has accused Iraq's central government of starving the city of resources.'

Christian Science Monitor, 11 Dec 07, by Sam Dagher
Iraq's Sadr uses lull to rebuild Army
'Moqtada al-Sadr's Shiite militia aims to return leaner, stronger. ... free of rogue elements accused of atrocities and crimes during the height of the sectarian war last year.'

Washington Post, 13 Dec 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
Iraq's Youthful Militiamen Build Power Through Fear
'The Mahdi Army of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is using a new generation of youths, some as young as 15, to expand and tighten its grip across Baghdad, but the ruthlessness of some of these young fighters is alienating Sunnis and Shiites alike.'

Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec 07, by Tina Susman
Some Iraqis returnees face uncertain lives
'Lured by relative calm and promises of aid, thousands who had fled the violence are returning from abroad and within the country. But trust will be harder to rebuild than homes.'

BBC News, 06 Dec 07
New rules for Iraq security firms
'The US Pentagon and state department have agreed on procedures which they say will improve oversight of private security contractors operating in Iraq.'

International Herald Tribune, 06 Dec 07, by Michael R. Gordon
Pushed out of Baghdad, insurgents move north
'Sunni insurgents pushed out of Baghdad and Anbar Province have migrated to the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and have been trying to turn it into a major hub for their operations, according to U.S. commanders.'

Christian Science Monitor, 06 Dec 07, by Howard LaFranchi
U.S. pushes Iraq to use calm to build unity
'In Baghdad Wednesday, Gates urged progress on a range of reconciliation issues, including jobs and services.'

International Herald Tribune, 28 Nov 07, by Cara Buckley
U.S. military to hire 10,000 Iraqi neighborhood guards, then cap program
'The American military expects to add roughly 10,000 people to its roster of unofficial security guards who act as paid neighborhood watchdogs here, and will then cap the program, a military official said on Wednesday.'

ABC News/AP, 30 Nov 07, by Kim Gamel, AP
Return of Iraqi Refugees Concerns US
'The U.S. military has expressed concern that Iraq's government is unprepared to deal with a mass return of refugees to Baghdad, a flow that could foster housing and employment tensions in a city that remains insecure despite declining violence.'

International Herald Tribune, 22 Nov 07, by Michael R. Gordon
Increased training role sought for U.S. troops in Iraq
'With violence in Iraq on the decline and a quarter of American combat brigades scheduled to leave by July, commanders plan to give the remaining brigades an expanded role in training and supporting Iraqi forces, according to officials involved in a confidential military review of the next phase of the American troop deployment.'

Asia Times, 21 Nov 07, by Jim Lobe
Fears grow of post-'surge' woes
'While the vast majority of analysts in the capital agree that sectarian violence in Iraq has declined sharply from pre-"surge" levels one year ago, a major debate has broken out as to whether the achievement of the strategic objective of the "surge" - national reconciliation - is closer or more distant than ever.'

New York Times, 20 Nov 07, by Damien Cave and Alissa J. Rubin
Baghdad Starts to Exhale as Security Improves
'... for the first time in nearly two years, people are moving with freedom around much of this city.'

Los Angeles Times, 20 Nov 07, by Tina Susman
Iraqis arrest 43 after convoy guards shoot woman
'The firm involved has contracts with the U.S., but no Americans were detained. The incident might show how far the government is willing to fight immunity for foreign security contractors.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 18 Nov 07
As violence in Iraq diminishes, Iran's role is debated
'In recent weeks, U.S. and Iraqi officials have said Tehran appears to have halted the flow of arms across its border into Iraq and reined in Shiite militias.'

International Herald Tribune, 11 Nov 07, by Eric Schmitt and Ginger Thompson
A broken supply chain leaked arms in Iraq
'The U.S. military lost track of some 190,000 pistols and automatic rifles supplied by the U.S. to Iraq's security forces in 2004 and 2005, as auditors discovered in the past year.'

Stars and Stripes, 13 Nov 07, by Joseph Giordono
U.S.: Indirect-fire attacks at lowest level in months
'According to the figures released by the U.S. military command, the number of mortar and rocket attacks reported in October 2007 throughout the country was half the number reported in October 2006. The overall figure was the lowest since February 2006, just before the bombing of a Shiite shrine unleashed a wave of sectarian violence throughout Iraq.'

Asia Times, 13 Nov 07, by Ali al-Fadhily
In Iraq, the silence of the lambs
'The separation of religious groups in the face of sectarian violence has brought some semblance of relative calm to Baghdad. But many Iraqis see this as the uncertain consequence of a divide and rule policy.'

International Herald Tribune, 08 Nov 07, by James Glanz
Iraq plans to confront security firms on guns
'The Iraqi interior minister said Wednesday that he would authorize raids by his security forces on Western security firms to ensure that they were complying with tightened licensing requirements on guns and other weaponry, setting up the possibility of violent confrontations between the Iraqis and heavily armed Western guards.'

International Herald Tribune, 12 Nov 07, by Sabrina Tavernise and Karim Hilmi
Baghdad's oasis of tolerance
'Bab al-Sheik ... has been spared the sectarian killing that has gutted other neighborhoods, and Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds and Christians live together here with unusual ease.'

New York Times, 07 Nov 07, by Richard A. Oppel Jr.
Turkish-Bred Prosperity Makes War Less Likely in Iraqi Kurdistan
'Viewed from the outside, Iraqi Kurdistan looks close to war. Tens of thousands of Turkish troops are amassed on the border. And thousands of Iraqi Kurdish pesh merga fighters have taken up positions in the Mateen Mountains, ready for a counterattack, their local commanders say, should any Turkish operation hit civilians. But wander the markets and byways here and a different reality comes into view ...'

International Herald Tribune, 04 Nov 07, by Helene Cooper and Richard A. Oppel Jr.
Turkey skeptical of Iraqi vows to stop Kurdish raids
'Turkey said on Saturday that two days of meetings with officials from Iraq and the United States on how to stop Kurdish militants who attack Turkey from northern Iraq had produced no new proposals.'

International Herald Tribune, 04 Nov 07, by Andrew E. Kramer
Iraq confirms cancellation of Russian oil contract
'Guided by U.S. legal advisers, the Iraqi government has canceled a controversial development contract with the Russian company Lukoil for a vast oil field in Iraq's southern desert, freeing it for potential international investment in the future.'

International Herald Tribune, 03 Nov 07, by Michael R. Gordon
Iraqi government hinders gains in Anbar, Sunnis say
'The Bush administration has singled out Anbar Province as an example of what can be accomplished in Iraq when local citizens join forces with the U.S. military to fight insurgents. ... But on Friday, a delegation of officials from Anbar talked about a lingering problem that is hampering efforts to build on the gains there: limited support for the predominantly Sunni region from the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad.'

International Herald Tribune, 31 Oct 07, by Alissa J. Rubin
Iraq fears border crises overtaking agenda
'Tensions in northern Iraq between Kurdish guerrillas and neighboring countries are threatening to dominate Iraq's diplomatic agenda, taking attention away from some of the country's most pressing needs ...'

International Herald Tribune, 28 Oct 07, by Sabrina Tavernise
In the rugged north of Iraq, Kurdish rebels flout Turkey
'The PKK's impunity is rooted in the complex web of relationships and ambitions that began with the American-led invasion of Iraq more than four years ago, and has frustrated others with an interest in resolving the crisis — the Turks, Iraqis and the Bush administration.'

International Herald Tribune, 29 Oct 07, by Alissa J. Rubin and James Glanz
General says U.S. seeking calm in northern Iraq
'With tensions on the border between Iraq and Turkey still running high, General David Petraeus, the American military's commander in Iraq, indicated Sunday that behind-the-scenes efforts were under way to calm the situation. But he would not talk about them publicly because the situation was volatile.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 30 Oct 07
Iraq approves draft legislation lifting immunity from contractors
'The question of immunity has been one of the most serious dispute between the U.S. and the Iraqi government since a Sept. 16 shooting incident involving Blackwater USA guards that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.'

International Herald Tribune, 28 Oct 07, by Michael R. Gordon
Integrating Sunnis into Iraqi police hits hurdle
'The American military's push to organize Sunni Arabs into local neighborhood watch groups has been one of the most important U.S. initiatives in Iraq - so much so that President George W. Bush flew to Anbar Province in September to highlight growing alliances with Sunni tribal leaders.'

Washington Post, 24 Oct 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
Maliki, Under Turkish Pressure, Vows to Curb Kurdish Rebels
'Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki vowed Tuesday to halt the activities of Kurdish separatists staging strikes into Turkey from northern Iraq, marking his government's strongest declaration yet that it would act to forestall a Turkish invasion.'

Reuters, 24 Oct 07, by David Clarke
End of road for Iraqis on Turkish border
'Washington and Iraq have urged Turkey to hold off, fearing an incursion will shatter the stability of Kurdistan, which has escaped the daily catalogue of bloodshed plaguing much of the country and is now enjoying an economic renaissance.'

Christian Science Monitor, 24 Oct 07, by Gordon Lubold
Increasingly, the U.S. sits down with Iraqi militants
'In talks with some groups, the US aims to convince Shiite militias that political reconciliation, not violence, is the way forward.'

Washington Post, 24 Oct 07, by Karen DeYoung
Security Firms in Iraq Face New Rules
'Private security contractors will continue to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq but will operate under closer supervision by U.S. Embassy officials and with clearer accountability for their actions, according to new rules approved yesterday by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.'

Christian Science Monitor, 24 Oct 07, by Dan Murphy
Bin Laden lambastes Iraqi insurgents
'Osama bin Laden's latest audio missive reveals that the US strategy of appealing to Sunni tribesmen may be working against Al Qaeda.'

Washington Post, 16 Oct 07, by Karen DeYoung and Walter Pincus
Corruption in Iraq 'Pernicious,' State Dept. Official Says
'Official corruption in Iraq is "real, endemic and pernicious," and remains a major challenge to building a functioning, stable democracy there, a senior State Department official said yesterday in response to congressional charges that the department is concealing the extent of the problem.'

Washington Post, 15 Oct 07, by Thomas E. Ricks and Karen DeYoung
Al-Qaeda In Iraq Reported Crippled
'The U.S. military believes it has dealt devastating and perhaps irreversible blows to al-Qaeda in Iraq in recent months, leading some generals to advocate a declaration of victory over the group ... At the same time, the intelligence community, and some in the military itself, worry about underestimating an enemy that has shown great resilience in the past.'

Washington Post, 15 Oct 07, by Amit R. Paley
Iraq Demands Expulsion Of Contractor Blackwater, Compensation for Killings
'The Iraqi government has demanded that Blackwater Worldwide, the private security firm that guards top U.S. diplomats in Iraq, be expelled from the country within six months and pay $8 million in compensation to the family of every civilian its employees are accused of killing last month, Iraqi officials said.'

Washington Post, 15 Oct 07, by Walter Pincus
A Contract to Find 'Trustworthy' Iraqi Workers
'In August, the U.S. military requested bids on a new biometric credential system to provide identification cards for three Iraqi government ministries.'

New York Times, 10 Oct 07, by Sebnem Arsu and Sabrina Tavernise
Turkey Says Its Troops Can Cross Iraq Border
'Turkey took a step toward a military operation in Iraq on Tuesday, as its top political and military leaders issued a statement authorizing troops to cross the Iraq border to eliminate separatist Kurdish rebel camps in the northern region.'

Reuters, 09 Oct 07
Iraq wants Blackwater to pay $136 mln compensation
'The Iraqi government wants U.S. security firm Blackwater to pay $8 million in compensation to each of the families of 17 people killed in a shooting last month, a senior government source said on Tuesday.'

International Herald Tribune, 08 Oct 07, by Sabrina Tavernise
In life of lies, Iraqis conceal work for U.S.
'For the tens of thousands of Iraqis who work for the United States in Iraq, daily life is an elaborate balancing act of small, memorized untruths. Desperate for work of any kind when jobs are extremely hard to come by in Iraq, they do what they must, even though affiliation with the Americans makes them targets.'

BBC News, 10 Oct 07
Doors closing on Iraqi displaced
'A growing number of Iraqi provinces are refusing entry to internal refugees, the UN refugee agency has warned.'

International Herald Tribune, 03 Oct 07, by Richard A. Oppel Jr.
Kurds in Iraq strike 4 new oil deals, angering Baghdad
'Worsening a deep divide with Iraqi leaders, the Kurdish regional government has struck four new oil exploration deals over the strong objections of the Baghdad central government. The deals are the latest effort by the Kurds to jump-start their oil industry as national oil legislation languishes in Parliament.'

International Herald Tribune, 01 Oct 07, by Paul Von Zielbauer
Iraqi violence ebbed in September, reports say
'The number of violent civilian deaths in Iraq dropped precipitously in September compared with the previous month, an Iraqi government official and an independent monitoring group said Monday.'

Christian Science Monitor, 02 Oct 07, by Gordon Lubold
U.S. takes Anbar model to Iraqi Shiites
'A variation on a successful effort appears to be curbing attacks south of Baghdad.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 30 Sep 07
Washington criticizes U.S. Senate call for separation in Iraq
'The U.S. Embassy on Sunday criticized a Senate resolution that could lead to a division of the country into sectarian or ethnic territories, agreeing with many Iraqi leaders who say the proposal out of Washington "would produce extraordinary suffering and bloodshed."'

International Herald Tribune, 01 Oct 07, by James Glanz
Money to rebuild is finding ways to flow in provinces of Iraq
'Because of security threats and a seemingly immovable bureaucracy, the federal ministries in Baghdad largely failed to spend billions of dollars of Iraqi oil revenues set aside last year to rebuild things like roads, schools, hospitals and power plants.'

Washington Post, 20 Sep 07, by Steve Fainaru
Where Military Rules Don't Apply
'Blackwater USA, the private security company involved in a Baghdad shootout last weekend, operated under State Department authority that exempted the company from U.S. military regulations governing other security firms, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials and industry representatives.'

Washington Post, 22 Sep 07, by Joshua Partlow and Sudarsan Raghavan
Iraq Probe of U.S. Security Firm Grows
'Iraq's probe into a deadly shooting by Blackwater USA in Baghdad last weekend has expanded to include allegations about the security firm's involvement in six other violent episodes this year that left at least 10 Iraqis dead.'

PRI/BBC 'The World', 27 Sep 07
Contractors in Iraq
[audio] 'The U.S. is sending special investigators to Iraq to examine how contractors operate there. The move was sparked by the Blackwater controversy earlier this month when 11 Iraqis died in a shooting incident involving the U.S. security firm.'

International Herald Tribune, 25 Sep 07, by Alissa J. Rubin
Iraq insurgents target Interior Ministry officials for assassination
'Extremists appear to have begun a systematic campaign to assassinate police chiefs, police officers and other Interior Ministry officials across Iraq, with at least 10 attacks in the last two days.'

Washington Post, 25 Sep 07, by Karen DeYoung
What Defines a Killing as Sectarian?
'U.S. military teams analyze and tally each civilian death.'

Washington Post, 18 Sep 07, by Joshua Partlow and Walter Pincus
Iraq Bans Security Contractor
'The Iraqi government on Monday said it had revoked the license of Blackwater USA, an American security company involved in a shootout in Baghdad that killed at least nine people, raising questions over which nation should regulate tens of thousands of civilian hired guns operating in Iraq.'

Asia Times, 18 Sep 07, by Daniel Luban
Blackwater pays price for Iraqi firefight
'The expulsion of Blackwater contractors could greatly hamper the US military effort in Iraq, which has come to rely on Blackwater to provide security for many leading officials, including Ambassador Ryan Crocker. But ... even if Blackwater were banned from operating in Iraq, most of its employees could transfer to similar private security firms and the overall security situation for the US would not change much.'

Washington Post, 18 Sep 07, by Ann Scott Tyson
Security Took 'Turn for Worse' In Southern Iraq, Report Says
'Security is deteriorating in southern Iraq as rival Shiite militias vying for power have stepped up their attacks after moving out of Baghdad to avoid U.S.-led military operations, according to the latest quarterly Pentagon report on Iraq released yesterday.'

Christian Science Monitor, 18 Sep 07, by Sam Dagher
'Shiite Taliban' rises as British depart Basra
'Many in the Iraqi port city say social freedoms are eroding as radical militias gain power.'

BBC News, 17 Sep 07
Iraq shootout firm loses licence
'Iraq has cancelled the licence of the private security contractor, Blackwater USA, after it was involved in a gunfight that killed eight civilians.'

Washington Post/AP, 13 Sep 07, by Hamza Hendawi
Sheik Led Sunni Fight Against Al-Qaida
'Desperate for a success story in an increasingly unpopular war, the U.S. military embraced Abu Risha. Iraq's government grudgingly followed suit, despite its fear of boosting another armed group that could turn against it. The result was a dramatic decrease in violence in Anbar.'

Christian Science Monitor, 14 Sep 07, by Sam Dagher and Gordon Lubold
Sheikh's death threatens US success in Anbar Province
'Sheikh Abu Risha's death, which was the result of a roadside bomb explosion near his home in the provincial capital Ramadi, comes at a crucial time. The Sunni tribal forces he led were moving closer to creating a formidable block with sufficient weight to provide representation for the embittered community in the government and counter those Sunnis who still believe in using violence to achieve their aims.'

Washington Post, 13 Sep 07, by Joshua Partlow
Shelling Near Iranian Border Is Forcing Iraqi Kurds to Flee
'For four weeks now, Kurdish villagers in this far northeastern corner of Iraq have endured a punishing barrage of rockets and artillery shells from what they say are Iranian troops across the border.'

Christian Science Monitor, 12 Sep 07, by Gordon Lubold
Anbar streets illustrate Petraeus's testimony
'Marines say the strategy in Iraq's Sunni province works, but sheikhs say US support has an expiration date.'

Weekly Standard, 12 Sep 07, by Jeff Emanuel
On the Road in Samarra
'Another mission is accomplished north of Baghdad.'

International Herald Tribune, 11 Sep 07, by Alissa J. Rubin
For Iraqis, report to Congress offers bitter truth
'Iraqis reflecting on the report to Congress by General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker found themselves in a difficult spot: Although there is nothing they want more than to have American soldiers leave their country, there is nothing they can less afford.'

Christian Science Monitor, 10 Sep 07, by Howard LaFranchi
Is Iraq making political strides?
'General Petraeus will cite progress to Congress this week – but it's mostly military.'

International Herald Tribune, 10 Sep 07, by Damien Cave and Stephen Farrell
Iraq escalation has failed to achieve key goals
'Seven months after the American-led troop "surge" began, Baghdad has experienced modest security gains that have neither reversed the city's underlying sectarian dynamic nor created a unified and trusted national government.'

Gulf News, 11 Sep 07, by Basil Adas
Deep mistrust towards US security report
'... "The Petraeus-Crocker report probably means a lot more for Americans than Iraqis themselves, although it speaks about the political and security situation in Iraq."'

BBC News, 10 Sep 07
Iraqi PM positive on surge impact
'Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has told parliament that his government has stopped Iraq sliding into civil war. He also said violence had fallen 75% in the restive provinces of Baghdad and Anbar, and that 14,000 militants linked to al-Qaeda had renounced violence.'

BBC News, 08 Sep 07, by Magdi Abdelhadi
Iraq surge brings few political rewards
'As two top US officials prepare to report on the country's military strategy in Iraq, BBC Arab Affairs analyst Magdi Abdelhadi examines failed national reconciliation efforts on Iraq's political front.'

PBS 'NewsHour', 06 Sep 07, with Jim Lehrer et al
Panel Finds Progress, Problems with Iraqi Security
'A report from the Iraqi Security Forces Independent Assessment Commission found the Iraqi Army is improving but the national police are dysfunctional. Panel Chairman retired Marine Gen. James Jones and former Washington, D.C. police chief Charles Ramsey discuss their findings.'

Washington Post, 06 Sep 07, by Karen DeYoung
Experts Doubt Drop In Violence in Iraq
'The U.S. military's claim that violence has decreased sharply in Iraq in recent months has come under scrutiny from many experts within and outside the government, who contend that some of the underlying statistics are questionable and selectively ignore negative trends.'

Washington Post, 06 Sep 07, by Karen DeYoung
Iraqi Army Unable To Take Over Within A Year, Report Says
'Iraq's army, despite measurable progress, will be unable to take over internal security from U.S. forces in the next 12 to 18 months and "cannot yet meaningfully contribute to denying terrorists safe haven," according to a report on the Iraqi security forces published today.'

Christian Science Monitor, 07 Sep 07, by Gordon Lubold
Iraq's Maliki reaches out to Sunnis in Anbar Province
'The Shiite leader pledges $120 million in reconciliation move. Too little, too late?'

Christian Science Monitor, 06 Sep 07, by Gordon Lubold
A quieter Anbar Province rebuilds
'As security concerns recede, Iraqi tribal chiefs turn to US for more mundane community needs.'

Washington Post, 05 Sep 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
No Relief From Fear
'Despite U.S. buildup, families still fleeing Baghdad homes as violence, rivalries loom over paralyzed Iraqi government'

International Herald Tribune, 04 Sep 07, by David S. Cloud and Steven Lee Myers
Bush, in Iraq, says troop reduction is possible
'President George W. Bush made a surprise eight-hour visit to Iraq on Monday, emphasizing security gains, sectarian reconciliation and the possibility of a troop withdrawal, thus embracing and pre-empting this month's crucial congressional hearings on his Iraq strategy.'

Washington Post/Reuters, 03 Sep 07, by Aref Mohammed, Reuters
British troops quit Iraqi city of Basra
'The withdrawal from the besieged Basra Palace complex, under daily mortar and rocket fire by Shi'ite militias, is a step towards handing over Basra province to Iraqi control and an eventual British pullout from Iraq.'

International Herald Tribune, 03 Sep 07, by David E. Sanger
Bush hopes to reward Sunni areas in Iraq aligned with U.S.
'President George W. Bush, marshaling his arguments to maintain current troop levels in Iraq, has approved the acceleration of a new program to intensify economic assistance directly to Sunni Arab regions where former insurgents have joined U.S. forces in fighting extremist Sunni groups, senior U.S. officials say.'

International Herald Tribune, 02 Sep 07, by Michael R. Gordon
Laying enmity aside to combat Al Qaeda in Iraq
'Checkpoint 20 was the last piece of American-controlled terrain on the road to Hawr Rajab and our linkup point with Sheik Ali Majid al-Dulaimi. ... A dusty town on the southern outskirts of Baghdad, Hawr Rajab had a strategic importance that belied its humble appearance. It straddled the infiltration routes used by Sunni militants to circumvent Lion's Gate, the grandiloquently named system of checkpoints, canals and other obstacles designed to stop the suicide attacks that had brought havoc to the Iraqi capital.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 31 Aug 07
Violence in Iraq's south threatens to overshadow gains elsewhere
'Rivalries and violence between Shiite factions are threatening to overshadow progress U.S. forces have made against al-Qaida in Iraq and other extremists just weeks before the top American commander and diplomat in Iraq report to Congress.'

Washington Post, 02 Sep 07, by Mary Jordan
British Generals Criticize Rumsfeld on Iraq
'The general who headed the British army during the 2003 Iraq invasion said that former U.S. defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's handling of postwar Iraq was "intellectually bankrupt" and pointed to Rumsfeld as "one of those most responsible for the current situation in Iraq."'

Washington Post, 03 Sep 07, by Megan Greenwell
Talk About Field Trips!
'... The trip was the chance of a lifetime for [Wesley] Morgan, an ROTC cadet [at Princeton] who said he first became interested in military history and counterinsurgency at age 6. But Petraeus's invitation also highlights his desire to attract more people like Morgan to military service -- the guys with degrees from places like Princeton (where Petraeus himself earned a doctorate), the slightly nerdy ones who are as comfortable poring over treatises on counterinsurgency tactics as going out on patrol.'

Stratfor, 27 Aug 07, by George Friedmann
Endgame: American Options in Iraq
'... more than four years after the war began, the strategic goal has not been achieved -- and there is little evidence that it will be achieved. Security has not increased significantly in Iraq, despite some localized improvement. In other words, the NIE is saying that the United States has failed and there is no strong evidence that it will succeed in the future.'

International Herald Tribune, 29 Aug 07, by Stephen Farrell
Iraqi cleric Moktada al-Sadr orders 6-month halt to militia activities
'The radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr suspended all activities of his Mahdi army militia for six months ... The move is apparently intended to eliminate "rogue" elements of the Mahdi army that no longer respond to Sadr's orders. It follows repeated allegations in recent months by U.S. and British officials that Sadr has lost control over some factions, with some acting from criminal motives and others attacking coalition troops after receiving training and funding from Iran.'

Stars and Stripes, 31 Aug 07, by Les Neuhaus
U.S. troops skeptical of al-Sadr order
'Though the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr put his Mahdi Army on ice Wednesday, U.S. infantrymen patrolling the streets of eastern Baghdad, which are dominated by his followers, are maintaining a wary eye.'

Washington Post, 31 Aug 07, by Megan Greenwell
Sadr May Revoke 'Freeze' on Militia
'Aides say Iraqi Cleric is reconsidering after military raid on Karbala office.'

Washington Post, 30 Aug 07, by Karen DeYoung and Thomas E. Ricks
Report Finds Little Progress On Iraq Goals
'Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress, according to a draft of a Government Accountability Office report. The document questions whether some aspects of a more positive assessment by the White House last month adequately reflected the range of views the GAO found within the administration.'

International Herald Tribune, 31 Aug 07, by David S. Cloud
U.S. panel will urge broad overhaul of Iraqi police
'An independent commission established by Congress to assess Iraq's security forces will recommend remaking the 26,000-member national police force to purge it of corrupt officers and Shiite militants suspected of complicity in sectarian killings, administration and military officials said Thursday.'

International Herald Tribune, 31 Aug 07, by Damien Cave
Shiite's tale: How gulf with Sunnis widened
'For Shatha al-Musawi, a Shiite member of Parliament, the urge to reconcile is being blacked out by distrust, disappointment and visceral anger.'

Christian Science Monitor, 29 Aug 07, by Sam Dagher
As British leave Basra, militias dig in
'The last contingent of British soldiers based in the center of this southern city will leave by Friday, says a senior Iraqi security official, adding that a deal has been struck with leaders of Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army to ensure their safe departure.'

Christian Science Monitor, 29 Aug 07, by Gordon Lubold
Iraq now woos officers once spurned
'In need of leaders, the Army seeks officers from Saddam Hussein's corps.'

International Herald Tribune, 28 Aug 07, by James Glanz and Eric Schmitt
U.S. broadens fraud investigations in Iraq
'Several U.S. agencies are investigating a widening network of criminal cases involving the purchase and delivery of billions of dollars of weapons, supplies and other materiel to Iraqi and American forces, according to American officials. The officials said it amounted to the largest ring of fraud and kickbacks uncovered in the conflict here.'

Christian Science Monitor, 28 Aug 07, by Sam Dagher
As British leave Basra, militias dig in
'The last contingent of British soldiers based in the center of this southern city will leave by Friday, says a senior Iraqi security official, adding that a deal has been struck with leaders of Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army to ensure their safe departure.'

Washington Post, 28 Aug 07, by Megan Greenwell
Sporadic Raids South Of Baghdad Yield Little
'In Wasit and other parts of Iraq, U.S. commanders rely on quick air assaults to drive out insurgents. Though commanders said they are confident of the strategy, recent "disruption operations" southeast of the capital have yielded only modest results. All too often, suspected insurgents and their weapons have disappeared by the time Americans alight from their helicopters for a three- or four-hour assault.'

Washington Post, 27 Aug 07, by Megan Greenwell
Iraqi Leaders Reach Accord On Prisoners, Ex-Baathists
'Iraq's top five political leaders announced an agreement Sunday night to release thousands of prisoners being held without charge and to reform the law that has kept thousands of members of Saddam Hussein's political party out of government jobs.'

The Guardian/AP, 27 Aug 07, by Robert H. Reid, AP
Sunni Politicians Raise Doubts Over Deal
'Sunni politicians applauded goals set down in an agreement hammered out by the country's top leaders under intense American pressure but expressed doubt Monday that the U.S.-backed prime minister would actually see them through.'

Christian Science Monitor, 16 Aug 07, by Sam Dagher
Crisis summit aims to save Iraq's Maliki
'With a mid-September deadline looming for the Bush administration to deliver its Iraq progress report to Congress, American diplomats in Baghdad are working in overdrive to prevent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government from total collapse – something that could shatter all efforts to forge a long-elusive national reconciliation.'

Khaleej Times/AFP, 17 Aug 07
Iraqi leaders announce new alliance, no Sunnis
'Iraq's president and prime minister announced a new political alliance between mainstream Shiite and Kurdish parties on Thursday but, crucially, no Sunni leaders have yet signed up.'

International Herald Tribune, 19 Aug 07, by Stephen Farrell
French official's Iraq visit offers lift, U.S. says
'"This is one more example," [White House spokesman Gordon] Johndroe said, "along with the new UN mandate, the neighbors conference process and recent announcements by Saudi Arabia to open an embassy and forgive Saddam-era debt, of a growing international desire to help Iraq become a stable and secure country."'

Washington Post/Reuters, 14 Aug 07, by Peter Graff, Reuters
U.S. troops launch new Iraq offensive
'U.S. forces launched a big offensive in Iraq with an overnight airborne assault targeting al Qaeda guerrillas on Tuesday, part of a major new countrywide push.'

Washington Post, 14 Aug 07, by Megan Greenwell
Iraqi Summit Set to Begin
'Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will convene a political summit on Tuesday in hopes of ending Iraq's deepening governmental crisis, he announced Monday. Top representatives of the country's Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish political factions met Monday and agreed on the basic structure of the talls ...'

National Review 'The Tank', 14 Aug 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Why Soldiers Cry
'Al Mansour (Baghdad) ... This is where IEDs and small arms are still killing and wounding Americans. This is where Iraqi children live, try to play, and have been deliberately targeted by terrorists.'

Christian Science Monitor, 13 Aug 07, by Sam Dagher
Trouble grows in Iraq's Shiite south
'Assassinations and party rivalries roil economically vital southern Iraq as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki bids to solve a national political rift in talks this week.'

International Herald Tribune, 13 Aug 07, by Stephen Farrell
U.S. troops shelter an unlikely survivor in Baghdad
'Nine months old, underweight, malnourished, fatherless and half Sunni, half Shiite, she already had enough deadly handicaps growing up in Saydia, a battlefield suburb that has become one of the worst sectarian killing zones in Baghdad.'

Toronto Star/AFP, 10 Aug 07
Iraqi leader's Tehran talks put U.S. on edge
'Iran's leaders have told visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that American troops must leave his country, in talks that reinforced growing Iran-Iraq ties and sparked unease in Washington.'

Washington Post, 10 Aug 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
'In the Land of the Blood Feuds'
'On the unruly outer fringes of the Sunni area south of Baghdad known as the Triangle of Death, American soldiers navigate more than a dozen battle zones straddling the fault lines of sect and tribe. Al-Qaeda in Iraq -- identified by President Bush and his generals as the main U.S. enemy -- is just one of myriad armed groups competing here for influence and authority.'

Christian Science Monitor, 09 Aug 07, by Sam Dagher
Anti-Saudi tide rises in Iraq
'Iraq's leaders use a Shiite holiday to shift attention from Iran to its Sunni neighbors.'

Los Angeles Times, 06 Aug 07, by Tina Susman
South of Baghdad, a cautionary tale
'After heavy losses, U.S. troops in the 'triangle of death' say they're making progress, though slowly and subtly.'

Michael Totten's Middle East Journal, 07 Aug 07, by Michael J. Totten
An Iraqi Interpreter's Story
'Iraqis who are not American citizens and who work as interpreters for the American military cover their faces when they work outside the wire. Mahdi Army militiamen and Al Qaeda terrorists accuse of them of collaboration with the enemy. They and their families are targetted for destruction.'

International Herald Tribune, 06 Aug 07, by Stephen Farrell
5 ministers threaten to leave Iraq's cabinet
'Five ministers suspended their participation in meetings of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki's cabinet on Monday, sending a warning signal that they may pull out of his increasingly isolated government if their demands are not met. The five are members of the secular Iraqiya coalition led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a moderate group whose lawmakers are drawn from across sectarian lines.'

Christian Science Monitor, 06 Aug 07, by Sam Dagher
In Iraqi south, Shiites press for autonomy
'Momentum is building for a federation of southern provinces in a further challenge to Iraq's national unity.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 07 Aug 07
Turkey to warn Iraq's PM to act against Kurdish rebels or face Turkish incursion
'Kurdish guerrillas killed a Turkish lieutenant in the southeast on Tuesday, as the Iraqi prime minister arrived for a visit likely to be dominated by Turkish warnings to either crack down on rebel bases in northern Iraq or face a possible incursion.'

Christian Science Monitor, 06 Aug 07, by Gordon Lubold
To exit Iraq, how is as important as when
'Any troop withdrawal could take up to 18 months and would need careful planning, military experts say.'

International Herald Tribune, 01 Aug 07, by Mark Mazzetti
Iraq snapshots give 2 views
'In war, good news and bad news often coexist. But in Iraq, where battle lines are murky, the snapshots emerging from the American counterinsurgency campaign can seem particularly contradictory. ... "Compared with a conventional war, when we can say that we are exactly 50 miles from Berlin, it is extremely difficult in a conflict like this to find data that shows any meaningful trend," said Andrew Bacevich, a military historian and professor of international relations at Boston University.'

Washington Post, 03 Aug 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
Maliki's Impact Blunted By Own Party's Fears
'As the U.S. military attempts to pacify Iraq so its leaders can pursue political reconciliation, Iraqi and Western observers say Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his inner circle appear increasingly unable to pull the government out of its paralysis.'

Asia Times, 03 Aug 07, by Sami Moubayed
Maliki out on his feet
'Thirteen out of 37 ministers in Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's cabinet have walked out, and more are likely to follow soon. This leaves him with no Sunnis, and no representatives of "kingmaker" Muqtada al-Sadr. Maliki's days are clearly numbered, and already candidates are positioning themselves to take over the premiership, with secular Shi'ite Mahdi al-Hafez an early front-runner.'

Christian Science Monitor, 03 Aug 07, by Sam Dagher
In Iraq, death tolls often in dispute
'Disparities between official and eyewitness tallies lead some Iraqis to charge the government with downplaying attacks.'

Christian Science Monitor, 01 Aug 07, by Gordon Lubold
US troop fatalities in Iraq drop sharply
'US troop fatalities in Iraq have plummeted from near-historic highs just two months ago. The number of deaths attributed to improvised explosive devices is down by more than half. Violence is down in the four most dangerous provinces. The decrease is an apparent sign that, by at least one indicator, the surge of American forces is doing something it set out to do: tamp down the violence.'

International Herald Tribune, 27 Jul 07, by Stephen Farrell
U.S. special forces battle Mahdi Army in holy city of Karbala
'American special forces battled Mahdi army militiamen in Karbala on Friday, calling in a deadly helicopter airstrike during a rare operation in one of the country's holiest Shiite cities.'

New York Times, 30 Jul 07, by Michael R. Gordon
In Baghdad, Justice Behind the Barricades
'In a city plagued by suicide bombers and renegade militias, the Americans and the Iraqi government have turned to an unusual measure to help implant the rule of law: they have erected a legal Green Zone, a heavily fortified compound to shelter judges and their families and secure the trials of some of the most dangerous suspects.'

International Herald Tribune, 29 Jul 07, by Stephen Farrell
For U.S. and Britain, opposite directions in Iraq
'As U.S. troop levels are rising in Baghdad, British force levels are heading in the opposite direction, with the troops preparing to withdraw completely from the city center of Basra. ... The scaling down by America's largest coalition partner foreshadows many of the political and military challenges certain to face American commanders when their troops begin withdrawing.'

International Herald Tribune/Reuters/AP, 30 Jul 07
With key legislation pending, Iraqi Parliament breaks for summer
'The Iraqi Parliament on Monday went into summer recess for a month without agreeing on a series of laws that Washington sees as crucial to stabilizing the country.'

Stars and Stripes/AP, 31 Jul 07, by Qassim Abdul-Zahra,AP
Iraqi premier faces revolt within party
'Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki faces a revolt within his party by factions that want him out as Iraqi leader, according to officials in his office and the political party he leads.Ibrahim al-Jaafari, al-Maliki's predecessor, leads the challenge ... Al-Jaafari's campaign, the officials said, was based on his concerns that al-Maliki's policies had led Iraq into turmoil because the prime minister was doing too little to promote national reconciliation.'

Washington Post, 31 Jul 07, by Megan Greenwell
A Dismal Picture of Life in Iraq
'Living conditions in Iraq have deteriorated significantly since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, leaving nearly one-third of the population in need of emergency aid, a consortium of relief organizations said in a report released Monday.'

Christian Science Monitor, 25 Jul 07, by Sam Dagher
Iran's growing presence in Iraq
'The US, Iran, and Iraq agreed Tuesday to form a subcommittee on stability in Iraq.'

Christian Science Monitor, 27 Jul 07, by Sam Dagher
Iraqi government in deepest crisis
'US and Iraqi officials are trying to prevent complete disintegration.'

International Herald Tribune, 26 Jul 07, by James Glanz
Audit blames contractor and its U.S. overseers for Iraq rebuilding failures
'One of the largest U.S. contractors working in Iraq, Bechtel National, met its original objectives on fewer than half of the projects it received as part of a $1.8 billion reconstruction contract, while most of the rest were canceled, reduced in scope or never completed as designed, according to a new report by U.S. investigators.'

Washington Post, 27 Jul 07, by David Finkel
'Izzy? . . . Bring Your Daughter Here'
'An hour after a car bomb exploded in downtown Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 25 people, wounding at least 110 and destroying an apartment building, a phone call begging for help came to an Army officer in eastern Baghdad. ... How do moments of decency occur in a place such as Baghdad, in a war such as this war? Perhaps by what several officers on an Army base in eastern Baghdad decided to do next.'

Washington Post, 27 Jul 07, by William Branigin
Foreign Workers Abused at Embassy, Panel Told
'Two American civilian contractors who worked on a massive U.S. Embassy construction project in Baghdad told Congress yesterday that foreign laborers were deceptively recruited and trafficked to Iraq to toil at the site, where they experienced physical abuse and substandard working conditions.'

International Herald Tribune, 26 Jul 07, by Caroline Brothers
Iraqis turn to gangs to flee for safety
'A criminal matrix stretching from Poland to Guatemala is exploiting the vast wave of refugees who are fleeing the war in Iraq, Interpol says.'

International Herald Tribune, 23 Jul 07, by Michael R. Gordon
U.S. seen in Iraq until at least '09
'While Washington is mired in political debate over the future of Iraq, the American command here has prepared a detailed plan that foresees a significant American role for the next two years.'

Stars and Stripes, 24 Jul 07, by Franklin Fisher
Marines patrol to see and be seen
'Before their patrol set off Friday night, Marine Maj. Hezekiah Barge Jr. said his role would be less about the "science" of fighting a war and more about the "art" of reading people.'

Christian Science Monitor, 19 Jul 07, by Sam Dagher and Dan Murphy
US draws new Iraq-Al Qaeda link
'The US military says it caught the man who ties Osama bin Laden's network to Iraq.'

Washington Post, 20 Jul 07, by Megan Greenwell
Sunni Group to End Five-Week Boycott Of Iraqi Parliament
'Iraq's largest Sunni political group announced Thursday that it will end its boycott of parliament, returning the legislative body to full strength for the first time in five weeks.'

International Herald Tribune, 18 Jul 07, by Alissa J. Rubin
Iraqi cleric re-emerges, bolder than ever
'After months of lying low, the anti-American Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr has re-emerged with a shrewd two-tiered strategy that reaches out to Iraqis on the street and distances him from the increasingly unpopular government.'

NPR 'All Things Considered', 19 Jul 07
U.S. Envoy: Fear Must Turn to Trust in Iraq
[audio] 'In testimony Thursday from Baghdad, Ambassador Ryan Crocker said the troop buildup is showing some gains in reducing sectarian violence in the Iraqi capital.'

Houston Chronicle, 15 Jul 07, by Ned Parker, Los Angeles Times
Report: Saudis are primary Iraq jihadists
'Although Bush administration officials frequently have lashed out at Syria and Iran for helping the insurgents and militias who attack U.S. troops and civilians here, the largest number of foreign fighters and suicide bombers in Iraq come from a third next-door neighbor, Saudi Arabia, according to a senior U.S. military officer and Iraqi lawmakers.'

Washington Post, 20 Jul 07, by Thomas E. Ricks
Deals in Iraq Make Friends of Enemies
'U.S. forces in Iraq are striking a variety of "handshake agreements" with Iraqi insurgents and militia groups, sometimes resulting in the release of fighters detained for attacking coalition forces, U.S. military officials said in several recent interviews.'

Washington Post, 17 Jul 07, by Karen DeYoung and Thomas E. Ricks
Exit Strategies
'Would Iran take over Iraq? Would Al-Qaeda? The debate about how and when to leave centers on what might happen after the U.S. goes.'

San Fransisco Chronicle, 17 Jul 07, by Stephanie Gaskell
Bombs put Kirkuk in line as next hotbed
'The oil-rich northern region of Iraq has enjoyed comparative calm since the toppling of Saddam's Hussein's government. But Kirkuk province, which had been viewed by many as a model for the rest of the country, may be turning into the next hotbed of sectarian slaughter.'

Christian Science Monitor, 17 Jul 07, by Sam Dagher
Risky US alliances in Iraq
'Frustrated with the Iraqi Army, US forces cultivate ties to ex-insurgents.'

International Herald Tribune, 17 Jul 07, by John M. Broder
Contractors in Iraq often pay high price
'This is the face of battle in a new war and a new century - a 46-year-old Pakistani-American woman, sent to the war zone as part of a rented army of 130,000 civilians supporting 150,000 U.S. soldiers and marines. ... doing work that junior enlisted troops would have done in every American army before this one. ... About 1,000 contractors have been killed in Iraq since the war began; nearly 13,000 have been wounded.'

Washington Post, 13 Jul 07, by Karen DeYoung
Iraqi Military's Readiness Slips
'Despite stepped-up training, the readiness of the Iraqi military to operate independently of U.S. forces has decreased since President Bush's new strategy was launched in January, according to the White House progress report released yesterday.'

Washington Post, 13 Jul 07, by Joshua Partlow and Sudarsan Raghavan
Deadlocked Sunni, Shiite Factions Block Political Progress, Iraqis Say
'Iraqi politicians on Thursday struck a more pessimistic tone about Iraq than did the White House assessment, and said the deadlock between warring Sunni and Shiite factions makes major political progress unlikely in coming months.'

Christian Science Monitor, 10 Jul 07, by Sam Dagher
US faced with Iraqi Army turncoats
'Foot soldiers and US commanders say Iraq's security forces include officers working with insurgents.'

Washington Post, 10 Jul 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
Iraqi Politicians Warn Against Pullout
'Politicians from Iraq's major parties and ethnic groups said Monday that Iraq's government could collapse, plunging the nation into full-blown civil war and sparking regional conflict, if the United States were to begin withdrawing troops too quickly. The warnings were issued as Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari also asserted that Turkey has massed 140,000 troops along its border with Iraq to stage a possible cross-border assault against Kurdish separatists.'

Stars and Stripes, 08 Jul 07, by Drew Brown
Stopping insurgents before they hit Baghdad
'A group of about 20 soldiers moves quietly under a starry sky toward a house about 500 meters from this small outpost less than 10 miles southeast of Baghdad. As they file up the road, an imam begins a solemn song over a loudspeaker somewhere nearby, calling the faithful to the evening's final prayers.'

International Herald Tribune, 09 Jul 07, by Stephen Farrell
Around 150, death toll in Iraq attack among war's worst
'The death toll from a suicide truck bombing in a remote village in northern Iraq rose to around 150 on Sunday, making it one of the deadliest single bombings, if not the deadliest, since the 2003 invasion.'

International Herald Tribune, 10 Jul 07, by John F. Burns and Alissa J. Rubin
U.S. envoy offers grim prediction on Iraq pullout
'As the U.S. Senate begins a new debate this week on proposals for a withdrawal from Iraq, the U.S. ambassador and the Iraqi foreign minister are warning that the departure of American troops could lead to sharply increased violence, the deaths of thousands of people and a regional conflict that could draw in Iraq's neighbors.'

News and Observer, 08 Jul 07, by Joseph Neff
Blackwater manager blamed for 2004 massacre in Fallujah
'Military contractors write that a site manager sent four Americans on an ill-advised, fatal mission.'

Christian Science Monitor, 05 Jul 07, by Scott Peterson and Nicholas Blanford
A gauge of Iran's hand in Iraq
'Iran on Wednesday denounced as "false and ridiculous claims" new US accusations that a Lebanese Hizbullah special operations chief arrested in Iraq was working against US troops on behalf of Iran's elite Qods Force.'

ABC News, 04 Jul 07, by Luis Martinez
Downed U.S. Pilots in Daring Hostile Fire Escape
'In a dramatic rescue worthy of any action movie, two Army helicopter pilots shot down south of Baghdad Monday evaded capture by their attackers and then flew to safety, one of them strapped to the side of an Apache helicopter not designed to take additional passengers.'

Washington Post, 01 Jul 07, by Steve Fainaru and Alec Klein
In Iraq, a Private Realm of Intelligence-Gathering
'The deepening and largely hidden involvement of security companies in the war has drawn the attention of Congress, which is seeking to regulate the industry. The House intelligence committee stated in a recent report that it is "concerned that the Intelligence Community does not have a clear definition of what functions are 'inherently governmental' and, as a result, whether there are contractors performing inherently governmental functions."'

ABC News/AP, 02 Jul 07, by Lee Keath, AP
General: Iranian Forces Killed U.S. Soldiers
'Iran's elite Quds force helped militants carry out a January attack in Karbala that killed five Americans, a U.S. general said Monday. U.S. military spokesman Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner also accused Tehran of using the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah as a "proxy" to arm Shiite militants in Iraq.'

International Herald Tribune, 02 Jul 07, by Alissa J. Rubin
Civilian casualties in Iraq reported to decline
'U.S. and Iraqi officials said they saw a decline in the monthly civilian casualty count in June, a development that occurred as the U.S. troop increase reached full strength. However, the size of the decline was hard to gauge because death counts in Iraq are highly inaccurate.'

The Economist, 04 Jul 07
Oil on troubled waters
'Until Iraq's economy recovers fully is there any chance of tackling its other woes? The prospects seem dim.'

International Herald Tribune, 03 Jul 07, by Alissa J. Rubin
Iraqis make progress on crucial oil law
'The Iraqi government took a step closer on Tuesday to completing work on an oil law that is one of several pieces of legislation on which the U.S. Congress has demanded progress before it authorizes additional expenditures for the war.'

Washington Post, 05 Jul 07, by Glenn Kessler
Construction Woes Add to Fears at Embassy in Iraq
'U.S. diplomats in Iraq, increasingly fearful over their personal safety after recent mortar attacks inside the Green Zone, are pointing to new delays and mistakes in the U.S. Embassy construction project in Baghdad as signs that their vulnerability could grow in the months ahead.'

Stars and Stripes, 29 Jun 07, by Drew Brown
Baqouba operation moves to next phase
'U.S., Iraqi troops have 60 days to win over locals and restart economy'

Military.com/AP, 26 Jun 07
U.S. Troops Target Bomb Networks
'Newly arrived U.S. troops southeast of Baghdad are destroying boats on the Tigris River and targeting networks bringing powerful roadside bombs from Iran as the military cracks down on Sunni and Shiite extremists from all directions. But a top U.S. commander warned on Monday that three or four times more Iraqi security forces are needed to sustain the progress in clearing the area and stanching the flow of arms and makeshift bombs into the capital.'

NPR 'Morning Edition', 28 Jun 07
Slow Going for U.S. Forces South of Baghdad
[audio] 'U.S. troops in the region south of Baghdad are slowly clearing insurgents from strongholds along the Tigris River. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch says the mission is hampered by insufficient numbers of Iraqi security forces.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 27 Jun 07, by
Turkey's military seeks guidelines to attack Kurdish rebels
'Reaffirming his view that an operation in northern Iraq is needed to combat Kurdish rebels, the head of the Turkish military asked the government on Wednesday to set political guidelines for such an incursion.'

Washington Post, 29 Jun 07, by John Ward Anderson
Residents Say 17 Killed by U.S. Were Not Insurgents
'A U.S. military spokesman, Lt. Col. Christopher C. Garver, said the June 22 incident in Khalis, about 30 miles north of Baghdad, was under investigation "because of discussions with locals who say it didn't happen as we reported it."'

DefenseNews.com/AFP, 27 Jun 07
Talabani: China to Arm Iraqi Police
'Iraqi President Jalal Talbani said on June 27 that Beijing has agreed to sell weapons to the country's fledgling police force.'

Los Angeles Times, 26 Jun 07, by Ned Parker
Blast could derail a key Iraqi alliance
'Sunni and Shiite tribal leaders who had hoped to overcome sectarian warfare are killed in the Baghdad hotel bombing.'

Christian Science Monitor, 26 Jun 07, by Howard LaFranchi and Sam Dagher
'Anbar model' under fire
'The US military says that its strategy of building ties with the tribes has been effective in reducing attacks. But the approach is facing growing criticism from both Iraqi politicians and military experts.'

Washington Post, 26 Jun 07, by Ann Scott Tyson
General: Iraqi Forces Far From Self-Sufficiency
'Brig. Gen. Dana J.H. Pittard, commander of the Iraq Assistance Group, said "it'll take years" for Iraqi security forces to become self-reliant in protecting the country from internal and foreign threats. He suggested that it will be at least two years before the forces, which number 348,000, can "fully take control" of the situation in Iraq.'

BBC News, 24 Jun 07
US troops 'tighten' Baquba grip
'US troops fighting al-Qaeda militants in the Iraqi city of Baquba now control about 60% of the city's western side, their commander says.'

International Herald Tribune, 23 Jun 07, by John F. Burns
Top targets fled before U.S. push, commander says
'The operational commander of troops battling to drive fighters with Al Qaeda from Baquba said Friday that 80 percent of the top Qaeda leaders in the city fled before the American-led offensive began earlier this week. He compared their flight with the escape of Qaeda leaders from Falluja ahead of an American offensive that recaptured that city in 2004.'

International Herald Tribune, 22 Jun 07, by Michael R. Gordon
Iraqi units face delicate task in U.S. offensive
'After clawing their way toward insurgent strongholds in western Baquba, U.S. troops have begun one of the most delicate phases of the operation: reintroducing the city's residents to their own army.'

Washington Post, 26 Jun 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
Iraqi Youth Face Lasting Scars of War
'Conflict's psychological impact on children is immense, experts say'

Washington Post, 26 Jun 07, by Philip Kennicott
Insurgents Muster Their Forces Online
'Radio Free Europe report describes Iraq fighters' new media versatility'

International Herald Tribune, 21 Jun 07, by Michael Gordon and Alissa J. Rubin
Heavy fighting as U.S. troops squeeze insurgents in Iraq city
'Fighting was heavy in parts of Baquba on Wednesday as American troops continued to squeeze a large section of the city in an effort to rid it of insurgents believed to be part of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.'

National Review Online - The Tank, 19 Jun 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Arrowhead Ripper
'The operation yesterday and today launched into Diyala Province is arguably "one of the largest" -- if not the largest -- of the Iraq war since the close of the invasion phase in 2003: Some 10,000 coalition soldiers (primarily U.S. and Iraqi) supported by helicopters, jets, Strykers, Bradleys, you name it, have essentially shifted from security crackdown mode to full-attack mode. Many Americans may view this as just another push against the bad guys in Iraq. But this is very big.'

Stars and Stripes, 20 Jun 07, by Teri Weaver
Some soldiers in Iraq prefer walking
'Normally, Company C walks much, much farther, and for one simple reason: "Walking is much safer," says Capt. Stewart Lindsay, 27, of Freeport, Pa., the company's commander. Since deploying to the Babil area late last fall, the company has developed a basic security plan. Roadside bombs target trucks, so they have largely gotten off the roads, left the trucks behind, and saved lives.'

National Defense Magazine, Jun 07, by Stew Magnuson
Bomb Making Skills Spread Globally
'Improvised explosive devices have caused 70 percent of U.S. casualties in Iraq, where troops now employ a variety of jamming technologies to thwart attacks. But bomb makers have been innovating against these sophisticated countermeasure systems. A case in point is triggering devices, which have progressed rapidly since the war began in 2003, experts say.'

Washington Post, 21 Jun 07, by Joshua Partlow and Robin Wright
Top Iraqi Officials Growing Restless
'raqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi, a senior Shiite politician often mentioned as a potential prime minister, tendered his resignation last week in a move that reflects deepening frustration inside the Iraqi government with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Other senior Iraqi officials have considered resigning in recent weeks over the failures of their government to make progress after more than a year in power, according to Iraqi and U.S. officials.'

International Herald Tribune, 20 Jun 07, by Alissa J. Rubin
Unrest overtakes Shiite heartland
'The unrest in Diwaniya, which is mirrored in neighboring Nasiriya, suggests the emergence of a poisonous political landscape in which competing Shiite groups no longer look to the political system to allocate power.'

BBC News, 19 Jun 07
Iraq rises up failed states index
'Iraq ranks as the world's second most unstable country, according to an annual index of failed states.'

BBC News, 19 Jun 07
US launches major Iraq offensive
'The US military in Iraq has said 10,000 US and Iraqi troops are taking part in an operation against al-Qaeda networks north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.'

Washington Post, 16 Jun 07, by Steve Fainaru
Iraq Contractors Face Growing Parallel War
'Private security companies, funded by billions of dollars in U.S. military and State Department contracts, are fighting insurgents on a widening scale in Iraq, enduring daily attacks, returning fire and taking hundreds of casualties that have been underreported and sometimes concealed, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials and company representatives.'

NPR 'All Things Considered', 14 Jun 07, by Rachel Martin
Sunni, U.S. Leaders Unite Against Al-Qaida in Anbar
[audio] 'A senior U.S. diplomat visits Ramadi, capital of Anbar province, once the most dangerous place in Iraq for U.S. troops but now the scene of an alliance with Sunni tribal leaders bent on destroying al-Qaida in Iraq.'

Washington Post, 19 Jun 07, by Glenn Kessler
Embassy Staff In Baghdad Inadequate, Rice Is Told
'Ryan C. Crocker, the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq, bluntly told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a cable dated May 31 that the embassy in Baghdad -- the largest and most expensive U.S. embassy -- lacks enough well-qualified staff members and that its security rules are too restrictive for Foreign Service officers to do their jobs.'

Washington Post, 19 Jun 07, by Robin Wright
Iraq, 'Sinking Fast,' Is Ranked No. 2 on List of Unstable States
'Iraq now ranks as the world's second most unstable country, ahead of war-ravaged or poverty-stricken nations such as Somalia, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Congo, Afghanistan, Haiti and North Korea, according to the 2007 Failed States Index, issued yesterday by the Fund for Peace and Foreign Policy magazine.'

International Herald Tribune, 18 Jun 07, by Nicholas Kulish
UN weapons inspection team for Iraq, Unmovic, nears its end
'The search for Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction appears close to an official conclusion, several years after their absence became a foregone one.'

The New Yorker, 26 Mar 07, by George Packer
Working with the Americans
[audio] 'An Iraqi interpreter's story, from invasion to exile.'

Washington Post, 14 Jun 07, by John Ward Anderson and Joshua Partlow
Shiite Shrine in Samarra Is Hit Again
'The Iraqi government imposed a curfew across Baghdad on Wednesday after insurgents used explosives to demolish two minarets at a revered Shiite shrine whose partial destruction last year sparked a devastating increase in sectarian bloodshed. The attack raised concerns among U.S. and Iraqi leaders about a resurgence of such violence. President Bush said in a statement Wednesday evening that the bombing "was clearly aimed at inflaming sectarian tensions" and called on "all Iraqis to refrain from acts of vengeance."'

Christian Science Monitor, 14 Jun 07, by Dan Murphy
Samarra shrine attack: less incendiary now?
'Wednesday's attack on the Askariya shrine mirrored a 2006 bombing at the Shiite holy site, but this strike may not spark the same sectarian bloodshed.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 15 Jun 07
Iraqi Kurds cope with Turkish threat
'Turkey has massed thousands of troops along the border and has shelled Iraqi territory as part of its campaign against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which stages cross-border attacks from sanctuaries here.'

Washington Post, 14 Jun 07, by Ann Scott Tyson
No Drop in Iraq Violence Seen Since Troop Buildup
'Three months into the new U.S. military strategy that has sent tens of thousands of additional troops into Iraq, overall levels of violence in the country have not decreased, as attacks have shifted away from Baghdad and Anbar, where American forces are concentrated, only to rise in most other provinces, according to a Pentagon report released yesterday.'

Christian Science Monitor, 12 Jun 07, by Howard LaFranchi
US civilians drive Iraq's other surge
'Teams of US experts in law and management are trying to develop governance by the rule of law in northern Iraq.'

International Herald Tribune, 12 Jun 07, by Charles J. Hanley, AP
Discreetly (but loudly), ordinance experts get rid of old Iraqi munitions
'Explosion by meticulously planned explosion, a little-known U.S. Army outfit has not so quietly notched one success here in Iraq, a country known more for failure these days.'

Washington Post, 09 Jun 07, by Joshua Partlow
For U.S. Unit in Baghdad, An Alliance of Last Resort
'The American soldiers in Amiriyah have allied themselves with dozens of Sunni militiamen who call themselves the Baghdad Patriots -- a group that American soldiers believe includes insurgents who have attacked them in the past -- in an attempt to drive out al-Qaeda in Iraq. The Americans have granted these gunmen the power of arrest, allowed the Iraqi army to supply them with ammunition, and fought alongside them in chaotic street battles.'

Washington Post, 07 Jun 07, by John Ward Anderson
Baghdad's Green Zone Is a Haven Under Siege
'Mortar and rocket attacks on the Green Zone are nothing new, but people who live and work in the complex -- a walled compound of about five square miles on the banks of the Tigris River that is headquarters to the Iraqi government and U.S. forces -- say that the strikes are becoming more frequent, accurate and deadly.'

Washington Post, 07 Jun 07, by John Ward Anderson
Insurgent Group Announces Truce with Al-Qaeda in Iraq
'A Sunni insurgent group that waged a deadly street battle last week against the rival group al-Qaeda in Iraq in a Sunni neighborhood of west Baghdad announced Wednesday that the two forces had declared a cease-fire.'

NewsHour, 06 Jun 07
Zarqawi Legacy Divides Sunni Opposition in Iraq
'In the year since an American missile ended the reign of al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the movement he helped foster has continued to use Iraq as a rallying cry even as Sunni opposition to the militant group has increased.'

Washington Post, 04 Jun 07, by Joshua Partlow
Attacks Kill 17 U.S. Soldiers in Iraq
'A car bomb attack outside a major U.S. military base in Iraq discharged a gaseous cloud that sickened dozens of people Sunday, punctuating a flurry of violence that left 16 American soldiers dead during the first three days of June.'

International Herald Tribune, 04 Jun 07, by David S. Cloud and Damien Cave
Commanders say push in Baghdad is short of goal
'Three months after the start of the Baghdad security plan that has added thousands of American and Iraqi troops to the capital, they control fewer than one-third of the city's neighborhoods, far short of the initial goal for the operation, according to some commanders and an internal military assessment.'

Washington Post, 04 Jun 07, by Ann Scott Tyson and John Ward Anderson
Attacks on U.S. Troops in Iraq Grow in Lethality, Complexity
'As U.S. troops push more deeply into Baghdad and its volatile outskirts, Iraqi insurgents are using increasingly sophisticated and lethal means of attack, including bigger roadside bombs that are resulting in greater numbers of American fatalities relative to the number of wounded.'

International Herald Tribune, 01 Jun 07, by Thom Shanker
Makeshift bombs are biggest killers in Iraq
'Attacks with makeshift bombs killed 80 percent of all U.S. forces who died in combat in Iraq over the last three months, despite the billions of dollars spent to defend the troops with armored vehicles, to detect or disrupt the weapons, or to attack the bomb-making cells and those who finance them.'

International Herald Tribune, 02 Jun 07, by Damien Cave
Bombs damage bridge linking Baghdad and Kirkuk
'Bombs severely damaged a bridge linking a highway from Baghdad with the northern city of Kirkuk on Saturday, the police and witnesses said, heightening tensions between Arabs and Kurds and forcing traffic to re-route through some of the most dangerous areas of Diyala Province.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 01 Jun 07, by
Plans for new U.S. embassy in Baghdad turn up online in security breach
'Detailed plans for the new U.S. Embassy now under construction in Baghdad appeared online in a major breach of the tight security surrounding the sensitive project that will be America's largest diplomatic mission abroad.'

Washington Post, 02 Jun 07, by Colum Lynch
U.N. Team Still Looking for Iraq's Arsenal
'More than four years after the fall of Baghdad, the United Nations is spending millions of dollars in Iraqi oil money to continue the hunt for Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction.'

Washington Post, 01 Jun 07, by Ann Scott Tyson
Gates, U.S. General Back Long Iraq Stay
'Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and a senior U.S. commander said yesterday that they favor a protracted U.S. troop presence in Iraq along the lines of the military stabilization force in South Korea. ... that he is thinking of "a mutual agreement" with Iraq in which "some force of Americans . . . is present for a protracted period of time, but in ways that are protective of the sovereignty of the host government."'

Washington Post, 01 Jun 07, by John Ward Anderson
Sunni Insurgents Battle in Baghdad
'Sunni residents of a west Baghdad neighborhood used assault rifles and a roadside bomb to battle the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq this week, leaving at least 28 people dead and six injured, residents said Thursday.'

International Herald Tribune, 31 May 07, by Damien Cave
U.S. conducts Iraq raids to find 5 kidnapped Britons
'The search for five British civilians kidnapped from an Iraqi government building intensified Thursday with American troops conducting raids in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad and the Iraqi government pledging its support for an investigation.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 31 May 07
Turkish military ready to cross into Iraq, general says
'Turkey's top general said Thursday his army — which has been massing troops on the border with Iraq — was prepared to attack separatist Kurdish guerrillas in a cross-border offensive and accused Turkey's allies of supporting the rebels.'

NPR 'Morning Edition', 31 May 07, with Renee Montagne
Bloody Summer Projected for Iraq War
[audio] 'The U.S. troop surge in Iraq has put more soldiers in outposts where they are vulnerable to attack. May has been one of the bloodiest months for U.S. troops since the start of the war, and retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey anticipates more violence during the summer.'

NPR 'Talk of the Nation', 29 May 07, with Loren Jenkins and General Robert Scales [US Army ret.]
Planning an Exit Strategy for Iraq
[audio] 'For months, Congress and the White House have been talking about setting a timetable for a withdrawal from Iraq. But with nearly 160,000 troops currently dispersed throughout Iraq, what would a departure look like? Guests discuss the "how" of an Iraq exit plan.'

Stars and Stripes, 31 May 07, by Drew Brown
Medical supplies delivery aims to ease tensions
'U.S. team hopes effort fosters good will between hospital, Iraqi army'

Christian Science Monitor, 01 Jun 07, by Gordon Lubold
America's Iraq strategy boosts US combat losses
'May's spike in the American death toll in Iraq is the result of the administration's new approach in Iraq – as much as it is the enemy's own "surge" of attacks against US forces. In strategic terms, it's called taking it to the enemy. But analysts warn that if the number of US casualties continues at their current high level through the summer, that could raise questions about whether the strategy is actually working.'

International Herald Tribune, 28 May 07, by Thom Shanker
U.S. commander closely watches elite forces
'Every night in Iraq, American Special Operations forces carry out as many as a dozen raids aimed at terrorist leaders allied with Al Qaeda, other insurgent fighters and militia targets. Their after-action reports are the first thing that General David Petraeus, the senior American commander in Baghdad, reads the next day.'

International Herald Tribune, 26 May 07, by Kirk Semple
Coalition clashes with Sadr militia in Baghdad and Basra
'U.S., British and Iraqi forces battled fighters from the Mahdi militia in Baghdad and the southern port city of Basra on Saturday, a day after the militia's leader, the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, came out of hiding and reiterated his calls for the withdrawal of foreign troops.'

Washington Post, 28 May 07, by John Ward Anderson
U.S. Forces Free Al-Qaeda in Iraq Captives
'U.S. forces raided an al-Qaeda in Iraq hide-out northeast of Baghdad on Sunday and rescued 41 people who had been kidnapped by the insurgent group, some as long as four months ago, a U.S. military spokesman said.'

New York Times, 28 May 07, by Michael Moss and Souad Mekhennet
Militants Widen Reach as Terror Seeps Out of Iraq
'The Iraq war, which for years has drawn militants from around the world, is beginning to export fighters and the tactics they have honed in the insurgency to neighboring countries and beyond, according to American, European and Middle Eastern government officials and interviews with militant leaders in Lebanon, Jordan and London.'

New York Times, 28 May 07, by Michael Kamber
As Allies Turn Foe, Disillusion Rises in Some G.I.'s
'... in interviews with more than a dozen soldiers in this 83-man unit over a one-week period, most said they were disillusioned by repeated deployments, by what they saw as the abysmal performance of Iraqi security forces and by a conflict that they considered a civil war, one they had no ability to stop.'

Washington Post, 25 May 07, by Thomas E. Ricks and Sudarsan Raghavan
Sadr Back in Iraq, U.S. Generals Say
'Moqtada al-Sadr, the influential Shiite cleric and militia leader who went into hiding before the launch of a U.S.-Iraqi security offensive in February, is in the southern city of Kufa, senior U.S. military commanders said Thursday.'

U.S. Defense Department, 23 May 07
DoD News Briefing with Brig. Gen. Walsh from Iraq
'Every day in Iraq, we see the fruits of our labor. Many of these successes are things in America that we take for granted. One of them is access to local medical facilities throughout the country.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 24 May 07
Turkish government says it would back military in any offensive in northern Iraq
'Turkey's government has said it would back the military if the generals seek to stage an incursion into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish rebels.'

Washington Post, 24 May 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
Morgue Data Show Increase In Sectarian Killings in Iraq
'More than three months into a U.S.-Iraqi security offensive designed to curtail sectarian violence in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq, Health Ministry statistics show that such killings are rising again.'

Washington Post, 24 May 07, by Karen DeYoung
Taste of Home Runs Low in Iraq
'... mouths turned dry Monday when an internal embassy e-mail announced a "Theater-Wide Delay in Food Deliveries." Due to an unspecified convoy problem, it said, "it may not be possible to offer the dishes you are used to seeing at each meal. Fresh fruits or salad bar items will also be severely limited or unavailable."'

Washington Post, 21 May 07, by Ann Scott Tyson
Edging Their Way Into Sadr City
'The U.S. military is engaged in delicate negotiations inside Sadr City to clear the way for a gradual push in coming weeks by more American and Iraqi forces into the volatile Shiite enclave of more than 2 million people, one of the most daunting challenges of the campaign to stabilize Baghdad.'

Stars and Stripes, 21 May 07, by Zeke Minaya
Baghdad tribes close to fighting al-Qaida
'Mirroring a nationwide trend, tribes near Baghdad are on the verge of banding together against al-Qaida and have met with U.S. military officials seeking aid and guidance in fighting the terrorist network.'

San Francisco Chronicle, 21 May 07, by John Ward Anderson and Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post
U.S. death toll rising in Baghdad
'Military deaths have been rising since fall, and the first half of this year has already been deadlier than any six-month period since the war began more than four years ago.'

Stars and Stripes, 22 May 07
More outposts being built to accomodate troops for 'surge'
'American troops continue to build small, neighborhood outposts to support the troop "surge" in and around Baghdad, while the final extra Army brigade is poised to arrive in Iraq next month.'

International Herald Tribune, 20 May 07, by John M. Broder and James Risen
Iraq's hidden casualties: 13,000 working for contractors
'Casualties among private contractors in Iraq have soared to record levels this year, setting a pace that seems certain to turn 2007 into the bloodiest year yet for the civilians who work alongside the U.S. military in the war zone, according to new government numbers.'

BBC News, 19 May 07
Hopes rise for missing US troops
'The commander of US forces in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, has said he knows who captured three US soldiers, who have been missing since last Saturday.'

Washington Post, 18 May 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
For Searchers in Iraq, a Peerless Mission
'Tradition, Duty, Character Converge in Manhunt'

Washington Post, 17 May 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
Many Tips, Few Answers in Hunt for GIs
'Effort involves 6,000 troops; hundreds of Iraqis detained for questioning'

International Herald Tribune, 17 May 07, by Kirk Semple
Street battles in Iraqi cities point to dire security status
'Sprawling street battles between militia gunmen and Iraqi security forces erupted in three cities on Wednesday on a day of wide-ranging violence that underscored the grave security situation across much of Iraq.'

BBC News, 17 May 07
War-torn Iraq 'facing collapse'
'Iraq faces the distinct possibility of collapse and fragmentation, UK foreign policy think tank Chatham House says. Its report says the Iraqi government is now largely powerless and irrelevant in many parts of the country. It warns there is not one war but many local civil wars, and urges a major change in US and British strategy ...'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 15 May 07
Iraq has become new epicenter for 'holy war,' ex-chief of MI6 says.
'Al-Qaida is changing its tactics and so should governments, the former head of Britain's spy agency said Tuesday, warning that the group's cells were making new inroads in Europe, Algeria, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.'

International Herald Tribune, 16 May 07, by James Glanz
U.S. 'surge' in Iraq not significantly reducing attacks
'Newly declassified U.S. data show that as additional American troops began streaming into Iraq in March and April, the number of attacks on civilians and security forces there stayed relatively steady or at most declined slightly, in the clearest indication yet that the troop increase could take months to have a widespread effect on security.'

Christian Science Monitor, 18 May 07, by Howard LaFranchi
Iraqi lawmakers argue for caution in shaping oil law
'The White House envisions passage this month of the law to share revenue among Iraq's sectarian populations and regulate foreign investment in oil. Congress wants quick approval as a sign of Iraq's seriousness about national reconciliation.'

Christian Science Monitor, 18 May 07, by Gail Russell Chaddock
How will Iraq share the oil?
'In the US, the demand that Iraq pass an oil law is a 'benchmark' that is becoming a flashpoint.'

Washington Post, 14 May 07, by Joshua Partlow
Iraq Insurgents Boast of Ambush
'The insurgent coalition that includes al-Qaeda in Iraq asserted responsibility on Sunday for the ambush south of Baghdad that left four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter dead and three other American soldiers missing.'

International Herald Tribune, 13 May 07, by Kirk Semple
U.S. intensifies search for 3 missing soldiers
'About 4,000 American ground troops supported by surveillance aircraft, attack helicopters and spy satellites swept towns and farmland south of Baghdad on Sunday searching for three American soldiers who disappeared Saturday after their patrol was ambushed, military officials said.'

Christian Science Monitor, 14 May 07, by Howard LaFranchi
Iraq's Al Qaeda attacks higher-impact targets
'The fate of three missing American soldiers, apparently captured after a weekend Al Qaeda ambush, remained uncertain Sunday, but the mission to find them demonstrated a new reality for US forces: They are facing a deadlier Iraq as their numbers rise.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 14 May 07
Iraq "has become new epicenter for 'holy war' against West," says terror expert
'Iraq has become the new epicenter for al-Qaida cells waging "holy war" against the West, one of the world's pre-eminent terror experts said Tuesday. If the U.S.-led coalition forces pulled out of Iraq now, attacks in Europe would increase and troops would have to go back in two to three years, said Rohan Gunaratna, the head of the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.'

Washington Post, 15 May 07, by Joshua Partlow
New Detainees Strain Iraq's Jails
'The capture of thousands of new suspects under the three-month-old Baghdad security plan has overwhelmed the Iraqi government's detention system, forcing hundreds of people into overcrowded facilities, according to Iraqi and Western officials.'

International Herald Tribune, 13 May 07, by James Glanz
100,000 to 300,000 barrels of oil a day unaccounted for in Iraq
'Between 100,000 and 300,000 barrels a day of Iraq's declared oil production over the past four years is unaccounted for and could have been siphoned off through corruption or smuggling, according to a draft U.S. government report.'

San Francisco Chronicle/AP, 10 May 07, by Tom Raum, AP
Cheney Defends Extended Deployments
'Vice President Dick Cheney told U.S. troops in Iraq on Thursday that he knows they're suffering hardships from extended deployments but the longer stays are "vital to the mission."'

Bloomberg, 10 May 07, by Ken Fireman
Cheney Tells Troops in Iraq the U.S. Will Continue the Fight
'The commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq, Army Major General Randy Mixon, told reporters that "this budget battle has been particularly frustrating" to him and his troops. "It is not appropriate to tie the funding of troops to other issues," he said. "Congress has the responsibility to fund the soldiers. To wrap that up in politics is not appropriate."'

Washington Post, 09 May 07, by Joshua Partlow
Cheney Pushes Iraqis for Quick Action
'Sectarian Reconciliation, Legislative Issues Stressed in Baghdad Visit'

Washington Post, 11 May 07, by Joshua Partlow
Iraqi Lawmakers Back Bill on U.S. Withdrawal
'A majority of members of Iraq's parliament have signed a draft bill that would require a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Iraq and freeze current troop levels. The development was a sign of a growing division between Iraq's legislators and prime minister that mirrors the widening gulf between the Bush administration and its critics in Congress.'

Washington Post, 10 May 07, by Robin Wright
Iraq Seeks Time to Take Steps, but Levin Notes 'Disconnect'
'In a sign of growing tensions between Washington and Baghdad, Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie said yesterday that the United States needs to give Iraq more "time and space" to take pivotal military and political steps and to stop making plans based on "the Washington clock."'

International Herald Tribune, 09 May 07, by Michael R. Gordon
Iraqi official takes case to U.S., but skeptics don't budge
'Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the national security adviser to Iraq's prime minister, undertook on Tuesday what may have been his most challenging mission yet: trying to persuade American lawmakers who have all but run out of patience that still more patience is required.'

International Herald Tribune, 07 May 07, by Kirk Semple
Alliance built on a commandeered house in Iraq
'Nearly every day, the sheik stops by the villa that was once his home, but is now an American garrison. Sometimes he comes with tips about the insurgency, or with news of political developments in this rural village near the Euphrates River. But mostly he comes to ask for his house back.'

CBS News.com, 07
The Battle for Iraq
'New Leaders, The Insurgents, Postwar Attacks ... '

National Review Online, 07 May 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
"One hand can't clap"
'Around midnight, I stood on a three-story rooftop in Baghdad, watching orange and yellow flashes from a distant artillery barrage far to the west. Earlier there had been a spirited firefight about a block from my position -- crackling automatic-weapons fire, arcing tracers, and single shots between the two forces, with one side (the insurgents) eventually silenced by the rapid, heavy "boom, boom, boom, boom" of an American .50-caliber machine gun.'

Christian Science Monitor, 07 May 07, by Gordon Lubold
US benchmarks for Iraq may be hazy
'While Congress presses for clarity, the White House and Pentagon opt for ambiguity.'

Washington Post, 08 May 07, by Ann Scott Tyson
Troops at Baghdad Outposts Seek Safety in Fortifications
'Nearly three months after the U.S. military launched a new strategy to safeguard Baghdad's population by pushing American and Iraqi forces deeper into the city's neighborhoods, defending their small outposts is increasingly requiring heavy bulwarks reminiscent of the fortresslike bases that the U.S. troops left behind.'

International Herald Tribune, 04 May 07, by Alissa J. Rubin
To stem Iraq bomb attacks, U.S. troops detain presumed smugglers
'U.S. soldiers detained 16 people Friday who they said had smuggled components of armor-piercing bombs and other weapons from Iran, the military said. ... A military spokesman noted that they did not know when the bombs, which are imported in parts, were smuggled into the country and assembled. Although the Americans say they are certain that most parts originate in Iran, they have no intelligence linking the Iranian government to the bombs export into Iraq.'

Washington Post, 05 May 07, by Karin Brulliard
For Iraqi Soldiers, A Medical Morass
'As the U.S. military prepares for an eventual handover of security duties to Iraqi forces, more of Iraq's 120,000 soldiers are advancing to the front lines of the war, and more are being wounded. But because there are no Iraqi military hospitals, thousands have been left to the mercy of overtaxed and corrupt civilian hospitals and a military compensation system paralyzed by red tape and disorganization ...'

Christian Science Monitor, 07 May 07, by Peter Grier
Iraq's oil production falls short of goals
'Despite years of rebuilding, petroleum production continues to fall short of targets, due to insurgency vandalism, poor field management, and corruption.'

Christian Science Monitor, 04 May 07, by Sam Dagher
Can US sustain Anbar success?
'While Al Qaeda in Iraq has been largely driven out of Ramadi, the US is hoping to build on the gains by fixing basic services and mediating tribal hostilities.'

Washington Post, 04 May 07, by Ann Scott Tyson
Projectile Bomb Attacks Hit Record High in Iraq
'Attacks in Iraq involving lethal weapons that U.S. officials say are made in Iran hit a record high last month, despite efforts to crack down on networks supplying the armor-piercing weapons known as explosively formed projectiles, according to a senior U.S. commander.'

Voice of America, 02 May 07
New US Brigade Arrives in Baghdad to Bolster Security
'The U.S. military says another group of 3700 American troops has arrived in the Iraqi capital, joining U.S. combat units deployed in the city to support the security crackdown launched in mid-February.'

Washington Post, 04 May 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
U.S. Identifies Dead Insurgent as Group's Propaganda Chief
'U.S. troops killed a senior al-Qaeda in Iraq leader who military officials said helped orchestrate the kidnappings of Westerners, including American journalist Jill Carroll and slain Virginia peace activist Tom Fox, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq said Thursday.'

Financial Times, 03 May 07, by Steve Negus
Iraq creditors agree $30bn waiver
'United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday that creditor nations including Britain, Saudi Arabia and China had pledged to waive $30bn of Iraqi debt, approximately 60 per cent of what Baghdad estimates it owes other countries. ... Some countries, however, appear to be holding out on a final pledge in order to maintain leverage over the Iraqi government.'

Seattle Post-Intelligencer/AP, 03 May 07
A look at what Iraq owes
'Most of Iraq's debt was run up during its war with Iran in the 1980s. Iraq's finance minister puts the country's total remaining debt at $50 billion. But estimates vary and numbers from individual countries could put the total at higher than $60 billion ...'

Asia Times, 04 May 07, by Pepe Escobar
The man who might save Iraq
'Sheikh Abdul Satter Abu Risha doesn't mince his words. Al-Qaeda in Iraq, now his bitter enemy, "has abused our traditions and generosity" and, he alleges, they even "take drugs". The Sunni leader tells ... about the powerful coalition of tribes in al-Anbar province he heads, with visions even of a Sunni coalition fighting alongside a predominantly Shi'ite Iraqi government against Salafi jihadi terror.'

Washington Post, 02 May 07, by Joshua Partlow
In Baghdad, Survival Depends on Simpler Ways
'By now they're used to Humvees clogging the highways and blast walls blocking the alleys. Some barely flinch when trucks detonate or mortar shells crash down on the pavement. But when the bridges start falling into the water, determined Baghdad commuters are forced to improvise.'

Washington Post, 01 May 07, by Glenn Kessler
U.S. Cites 91 Percent Rise In Terrorist Acts in Iraq
'The number of terrorism incidents in Iraq -- and resulting deaths, injuries and kidnappings -- skyrocketed from 2005 to 2006, according to statistics released by U.S. counterterrorism officials yesterday.'

Washington Post, 01 May 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan and Karin Brulliard
April Toll Is Highest Of '07 for U.S. Troops
'The deaths of more than 100 American troops in April made it the deadliest month so far this year for U.S. forces in Iraq, underscoring the growing exposure of Americans as thousands of reinforcements arrive for an 11-week-old offensive to tame sectarian violence.'

Washington Post, 01 May 07, by Joshua Partlow
Maliki's Office Is Seen Behind Purge in Forces
'A department of the Iraqi prime minister's office is playing a leading role in the arrest and removal of senior Iraqi army and national police officers, some of whom had apparently worked too aggressively to combat violent Shiite militias, according to U.S. military officials in Baghdad.'

BBC News, 30 Apr 07
Iraq reconstruction 'not working'
'Six out of eight Iraqi reconstruction projects hailed as successes by the US government are in fact failures, a US federal investigation has found.'

International Herald Tribune, 29 Apr 07, by David E. Sanger
U.S. expects limited gains in Iraq
'The Bush administration will not try to assess whether a planned troop increase in Iraq is producing signs of political progress or greater security until September, and many of President George W. Bush's top advisers anticipate that any gains by then will be limited, senior administration officials say.'

International Herald Tribune, 30 Apr 07, by Alissa J. Rubin
Sunni ministers threaten to quit cabinet in Iraq
'The largest bloc of Sunni Arabs in the Iraqi Parliament threatened to withdraw its ministers from the Shiite-dominated cabinet on Monday in frustration over the government's failure to deal with Sunni concerns.'

Washington Post/AP, 30 Apr 07, by Robert Burns, AP
Fight Yields ID Cards for Green Zone
'Documents captured in recent fighting in Baghdad included two identity cards for access to the fortified Green Zone, which contains Iraqi government headquarters, and an ID card for access to the U.S. Embassy, the Pentagon says.'

Asia Times, 01 May 07, by Pepe Escobar
Baghdad up close and personal
'In the deadly daily embrace of the Red Zone, the surreal overlaps Hollywood-style special effects while ethnic cleansing proceeds neighborhood by neighborhood and the bereaved are advised to visit the market to try to match the missing limbs of their dead.'

BBC News, 27 Apr 07
Iraq criticises US pull-out vote
'The Iraqi government has criticised the US Senate's approval of a bill requiring US troops to leave Iraq.'

Washington Post, 26 Apr 07, by William Branigin
Petraeus: Iraq Situation Is 'Exceedingly Challenging'
'A surge of U.S. troops into Iraq has achieved "some notable successes" in recent months, but the situation remains "exceedingly challenging" as Americans battle a resilient al-Qaeda network capable of spectacular attacks and deal with a fractious Iraqi government composed of political leaders with "narrow agendas," the top U.S. commander in Iraq said today.'

U.S. Department of Defense, 18 Apr 07
The Iraqi Army: Taking the Lead
'The goal of U.S. security strategy in Iraq is to develop the Iraqis' capacity to security their country while carrying out a campaign to defeat the terrorists and neutralize the insurgency.'

Washington Post, 26 Apr 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
Baghdad's Fissures and Mistrust Keep Political Goals Out of Reach
'U.S. military commanders say a key goal of the ongoing security offensive is to buy time for Iraq's leaders to reach political benchmarks that can unite its fractured coalition government and persuade insurgents to stop fighting. But in pressuring the Iraqis to speed up, U.S. officials are encountering a variety of hurdles ...'

International Herald Tribune, 25 Apr 07, by Kirk Semple
UN report criticizes Iraq on detainees' treatment
'The United Nations accused the Iraqi government on Wednesday of failing to "seriously address" problems of detainee abuse, including torture, and to ensure the timely and fair prosecution of detainees.'

Washington Post, 23 Apr 07, by Karin Brulliard
'Gated Communities' For the War-Ravaged
'The U.S. military is walling off at least 10 of Baghdad's most violent neighborhoods and using biometric technology to track some of their residents, creating what officers call "gated communities" in an attempt to carve out oases of safety in this war-ravaged city.'

New York Times, 23 Apr 07, by Alissa J. Rubin
Outcry Over Wall Shows Depth of Iraqi Resentment
'American and Iraqi officials appeared today to be moving away from a plan to build a wall around a mostly Sunni neighborhood here.'

Christian Science Monitor, 24 Apr 07, by Sam Dagher
Baghdad security plan puts US forces, civilians perilously close
'The US killed three Iraqi civilians earlier this month, highlighting the risks of American troops taking the fight into neighborhoods.'

Christian Science Monitor, 23 Apr 07, by Sam Dagher
US revs up reversal of Iraq's Baath purge
'Members of Saddam Hussein's party were ousted from Iraq's ministries and military in 2003. Now the US wants to reintegrate many disenfranchised former Baathists.'

Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr 07, by Edmund Sanders
Maliki's political survival tied to security effort
'Amid growing signs that the government of national unity is beginning to fracture, experts say Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has increasingly gambled his political survival on the ambitious, 2-month-old security campaign. After a promising start, which led to a noticeable decline in certain types of sectarian attacks, violence is once more increasing.'

International Herald Tribune, 22 Apr 07, by Alissa J. Rubin
Iraqis' disregard for rules awkward for U.S. allies
'As American and Iraqi troops set up these outposts in dangerous neighborhoods to take on the insurgents block by block, they find themselves continually facing lethal attacks. In practice, the Americans and Iraqis seem to have different answers about what tactics are acceptable in response.'

International Herald Tribune, 22 Apr 07, by Edward Wong
Sadr's murky vision for Iraq
'The gap between Mr. Sadr's public oratory and his actions shows that he, as much as any American or Iraqi official, is captive to the fact that there is no easy path to securing Iraq's future. He does have a starkly plain vision — a centralized Islamist Iraq ruled by nationalist Shiites who are distanced from, if not openly hostile to, the United States. But he also has a problem all too familiar to the Bush administration: he does not know exactly how to realize his vision, given the complexities of the conflict.'

Washington Post, 23 Apr 07, by Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Kurds Cultivating Their Own Bonds With U.S.
'With Sunni and Shiite Arabs locked in a bloody sectarian war, Iraq's Kurds are promoting their interests through an influence-buying campaign in the United States that includes airing nationwide television advertisements, hiring powerful Washington lobbyists and playing parts of the U.S. government against each other.'

The Fourth Rail, 17 Apr 07, by Bill Roggio
Reinforcing Baghdad's Outer Belts
'A crucial element of the Baghdad Security Plan is the establishment of security both inside the Baghdad neighborhoods and in Baghdad's outer belts – the regions about 30 miles outside of the city, where over 80 percent of the violence in Iraq occurs.'

Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr 07, by Julian E. Barnes
U.S. signals impatience with Iraq's pace
'Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived in Iraq on Thursday with a message that American patience with the slow pace of political reconciliation measures is limited. Gates is expected to ... urge progress on laws designed to ease tensions among the groups and divvy up government revenue and oil wealth. Those compromises are among the benchmarks the Bush administration has said have to be met before any U.S. troop withdrawal.'

New York Times, 20 Apr 07, by Michael Kamber
Car Bombs, and Pain, Define a War With No Place to Hide
'Car bombs have become a near daily occurrence here and one of the defining features in this phase of the Iraq war. They claim the majority of civilian deaths and injuries, and they have become the most intractable challenge to the United States forces as they seek to turn Baghdad into a safe zone where normal life can be resumed.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 19 Apr 07
Maliki sees 'open battle' for control of Iraq
'Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq said Thursday that an "open battle" was being waged for control of his nation, after a suicide bomber killed 12 people in Baghdad. ... Maliki said that militants had "proven their spite by targeting humanity."'

Christian Science Monitor, 20 Apr 07, by Sam Dagher
Aftermath of a Baghdad bombing: a reporter's view
'One day after a bombing killed 135 people in Baghdad's predominantly Shiite Sadriya market, correspondent Sam Dagher visited the market.'

National Review Online, 16 Apr 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
The Roads Are Hell
'The terrorists and insurgent leaders train their recruits on the art of setting up IEDs and blowing up Coalition vehicles on Route Tampa south of Baghdad. The more experienced guerrillas set up IEDs on Tampa north of Baghdad. Either way, Coalition forces get hit regularly on Tampa, and not only with IEDs.'

National Review Online, 14 Apr 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
The Perseverance of the Iraqi People
'Al Qaeda's leadership has suffered huge losses. They are having far more trouble recruiting young men into their ranks than the Iraqi army and police. (There never seems to be a dearth of those who will stand in line and brave suicide bombers and threats against their families to serve in the Iraqi Security Forces.) Al Qaeda is strapped for cash, and as one U.S. Army General told me in recent weeks, "I don't see how they can hang on for much longer."'

Washington Post, 17 Apr 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
Six Sadr Loyalists Quit Cabinet in Challenge to Iraqi Premier
'In the first major shake-up of Iraq's fragile coalition government, six ministers loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr pulled out of the cabinet on Monday over Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's refusal to set a timetable for an American troop withdrawal from Iraq.'

Asia Times, 18 Apr 07, by Sami Moubayed
Muqtada and Maliki as united as ever
'The relationship between Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki appeared to have taken a major downturn on Monday when Muqtada withdrew his six ministers from the cabinet. Appearances, though, especially in Byzantine Iraqi politics, can be deceptive.'

New York Times, 16 Apr 07, by Richard A. Oppel Jr.
Attacks Surge as Iraq Militants Overshadow City
'The Sunni guerrillas and extremists who now overshadow [Baquba] demonstrate a sophistication and lethality born of years of confronting American military tactics. While the "surge" plays out in Baghdad just 35 miles to the south, Baquba has emerged as a magnet for insurgents from around the country and, perhaps, the next major headache for the American military.'

Asia Times, 18 Apr 07, by Dahr Jamail
The city where al-Qaeda reigns
'Refugees from Baquba city who have found shelter in Damascus describe their hometown as a "dead city" where armed men roam the streets and al-Qaeda reigns.'

Washington Post/AP, 17 Apr 07, by Maamoun Youssef and Bassem Mroue, AP
Al-Qaida-Linked Group Making Own Rockets
'A top Iraqi insurgent leader claimed in an audiotape posted online Tuesday that his al-Qaida-linked group had begun manufacturing its own rockets.'

BBC News, 17 Apr 07
UN highlights Iraq refugee crisis
'The UN is holding a major conference to highlight the Iraqi refugee crisis, which it says has been largely ignored by the international community. The UN refugee agency estimates 50,000 people are fleeing the violence in Iraq each month and that up to four million Iraqis are now living away from home.'

BBC News, 11 Apr 07
US says Iran arming Sunni groups
'The US military has for the first time accused Iran of arming Sunni militants fighting in Iraq.'

International Herald Tribune, 11 Apr 07, by Alissa J. Rubin
Fierce daylong battle in Iraq
'Sunni militants and residents of the Baghdad neighborhood of Fadhil fought a fierce daylong battle with the Iraqi Army and American soldiers on Tuesday in what appeared to be the most sustained confrontation since the start of the security plan to calm violence in the capital.'

The Guardian, 11 Apr 07, by Ian Black
Red Cross details 'unbearable suffering' of Iraqi civilians
'Iraqi civilians are experiencing "immense suffering" because of a "disastrous" security situation, deepening poverty and a worsening humanitarian crisis, according to a report by the International Committee of the Red Cross.'

Christian Science Monitor, 10 Apr 07, by Sam Dagher
From hiding, Sadr rallies against the US
'The radical Shiite cleric shows his strength with large anti-US rallies in the cities of Kufa and Najaf.'

Stars and Stripes, 10 Apr 07, by Joseph Giordono
British unit gives Basra base back to Iraqis
'The British military has formally handed over to the fledgling Iraqi security forces one of the largest British bases in southern Iraq, officials said Monday.'

Washington Post, 10 Apr 07, by Karin Brulliard
Learning to Live with the Mahdi Army
'As part of a nearly eight-week-old plan to temper violence in Baghdad, U.S. forces last month set up a permanent base and resumed security sweeps in the enclave for the first time in three years. Sadr's black-clad fighters -- who battled U.S. forces in the past -- have appeared to stand down, even as Sadr publicly condemns the U.S. presence.'

Christian Science Monitor, 06 Apr 07, by Gordon Lubold
US priority: managing captives in Iraq
'To deal with more detentions, the US is building facilities and adding military police.'

Washington Post, 06 Apr 07, by R. Jeffrey Smith
Hussein's Prewar Ties To Al-Qaeda Discounted
'Captured Iraqi documents and intelligence interrogations of Saddam Hussein and two former aides "all confirmed" that Hussein's regime was not directly cooperating with al-Qaeda before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, according to a declassified Defense Department report released yesterday.'

International Herald Tribune, 03 Apr 07, by Kirk Semple
Baghdad merchants dispute McCain on security
'A day after members of an American congressional delegation led by Senator John McCain pointed to their brief visit to Baghdad's central market as evidence that the new security plan for the city was working, the merchants there were incredulous about the conclusions.'

BBC News, 01 Apr 07
Iraq's Shia militia 'stood down'
'Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says the Shia militia known as the Mehdi Army has stopped its activities on the orders of its leader, Moqtada Sadr. The president described this as a positive response to the six-week-old Iraqi-US security push in Baghdad.'

BBC News, 01 Apr 07, by Jim Muir
Relocation plan for Kirkuk Arabs
'The Iraqi government is to encourage Arab settlers in the city of Kirkuk in the north of the country to return to their original homes further south.'

New York Times, 03 Apr 07, by Edward Wong
Shiite Cleric Opposes U.S. Plan to Permit Former Baath Party Members to Join Government
'The most powerful Shiite cleric in Iraq has rejected an American-backed proposal to allow thousands of former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to return to government service, an aide to the cleric said Monday.'

New York Times, 03 Apr 07, by Kirk Semple
Iraq Town Struggles to Recover After Most Residents Fled
'The demise of Saba al Bor is a lesson in how quickly things can change for the worse in Iraq and how difficult it has been to make things better.'

BBC News, 01 Apr 07
Iraqi civilian deaths up in March
'Iraqi figures estimate civilian deaths in violence across the country rose by 13% last month, despite the security crackdown in Baghdad.'

International Herald Tribune, 27 Mar 07, by Alissa J. Rubin
Plan aims to ease Sunni-Shiite tensions in Iraq
'Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani of Iraq plan to introduce a proposal that would allow thousands more former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to serve in the government. The plan, if it were approved, would be an important step toward reconciling Iraq's Shiites, who now lead the government, and its Sunnis, who dominated Saddam's government.'

International Herald Tribune, 28 Mar 07, by Kirk Semple and Alissa J. Rubin
Hundreds of Iraqis are crammed into two detention centers
'The numbers suggested that the security plan's emphasis on aggressive block-by-block sweeps of troubled neighborhoods in the capital had flooded Iraq's frail detention system. And it appeared to confirm the fears of some human rights advocates who have been predicting that the new plan would aggravate already-poor conditions for the detainees.'

International Herald Tribune, 25 Mar 07, by Edward Wong
U.S. envoy says he met with Iraq rebels
'The senior American envoy in Iraq, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, held talks last year with men he believed represented major insurgent groups in a drive to bring militant Sunni Arabs into politics.'

BBC News, 24 Mar 07
US pullout 'would undermine Iraq'
'Iraq's vice-president has warned that a quick withdrawal of US troops could worsen the security situation in Iraq.'

Asia Times, 27 Mar 07, by Sami Moubayed
Iraq's good terrorists, bad terrorists
'Zalmay Khalilzad, the outgoing US ambassador, has been widely praised in the West for his efforts to stabilize Iraq, while Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has staked his future on his and Khalilzad's security plan for Baghdad. At the same time, thousands of Kurdish militants are allowed to operate from northern Iraq, threatening to bring Turkey into the Iraqi fray, with disastrous consequences.'

International Herald Tribune, 26 Mar 07, by Alissa J. Rubin
Sunni Baghdad becomes land of silent ruins
'The cityscape of Iraq's capital tells a stark story of the toll the past four years have taken on Iraq's once powerful Sunni Arabs. Theirs is a world of ruined buildings, damaged mosques, streets pitted by mortar shells, uncollected trash and so little electricity that many people have abandoned using refrigerators altogether.'

Christian Science Monitor, 22 Mar 07, by Sam Dagher
Baghdad's outposts bring new perils
'The troop surge brought new tactics that have soldiers patrolling urban areas more frequently, away from bases.'

International Herald Tribune, 22 Mar 07, by Edward Wong
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis fleeing to Kurdish region
'About 160,000 Iraqis from outside the mountainous Kurdish north have moved there to flee a growing civil war, according to a draft of a report by an international group that tracks refugees and displaced people. That number is the first comprehensive figure for internal flight to Iraqi Kurdistan that has been released by any organization. It is also far higher than partial estimates previously disclosed by Kurdish officials.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 22 Mar 07
Iraqi police say children used as decoys in car bombing
'Iraqi police support U.S. general's report : Major General Michael Barbero, deputy director for regional operations on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the vehicle used in the attack was waved through a U.S. military checkpoint because two children were visible in the back seat. He said it was the first reported use of children in a car bombing in Baghdad.'

National Review Online/The Tank, 20 Mar 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Mobile Helicopter Killers in Iraq
'The tactic known as "flak trapping" is simple: Trucks patrol or are pre-positioned near areas known to be frequented by U.S. military helicopters and those flown by civilian contractors. When the helos approach, the tarps are tossed back and the guns open up.'

BBC News, 20 Mar 07
World 'ignoring Iraqi refugees'
'The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says there has been an "abject denial" around the world of the humanitarian impact of invading Iraq.'

BBC News, 18 Mar 07
US general upbeat on Iraq 'surge'
'The US military commander in Iraq says there are grounds for optimism over the latest security drive. Gen David Petraeus told the BBC that with two out of the five extra brigades now on the ground in Iraq, there had been fewer sectarian attacks.'

Washington Post, 19 Mar 07, by Karen DeYoung
Iraq War's Statistics Prove Fleeting
'In the fog of modern counterinsurgency warfare, statistics have replaced conquered territory as measures of success.'

BBC News, 19 Mar 07
Pessimism 'growing among Iraqis'
'A new survey carried out in Iraq suggests people are becoming increasingly pessimistic about the future and unhappy about their lives.'

International Herald Tribune, 18 Mar 07, by Michael R. Gordon
Sunnis prove to be most dangerous foe
'In January, when President George W. Bush announced his plans to reinforce American troops in Baghdad, Shiite militias were seen as the main worry. ... Instead, during the early weeks of the operation, deadly bombings by Sunni Arab militants have emerged as a greater danger.'

Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar 07, by Tina Susman
Time of Shiite militias in Baghdad 'is over,' U.S. general says
'The general commanding American troops in Baghdad said today that the time of Shiite militias in the city "is over" and gave tacit credit to an anti-U.S. cleric, Muqtada Sadr, for American forces' ability to operate in once-hostile Shiite areas.'

International Herald Tribune, 18 Mar 07, by Damien Cave
For many Iraqis, hunt for missing is never-ending
'Nearly 3,000 Iraqis visited the American-run National Iraqi Assistance Center in the Green Zone last month to look for missing relatives, roughly triple the monthly traffic of last spring, and an increase of 50 percent since December, according to military figures.'

International Herald Tribune, 15 Mar 07, by Helene Cooper and David W. Sanger
Iraqis' progress lags behind pace set by Bush plan
'The Bush administration, which six months ago issued a series of political goals for the Iraqi government to meet by this month, is now tacitly acknowledging that the goals will take significantly longer to achieve.'

New York Times, 15 Mar 07, by Damien Cave
Baghdad Violence Declines in Security Push, Iraq Says
'With the first full month of the Baghdad security plan completed, the Iraqi military announced Wednesday that the level of violence in the capital had decreased substantially. But the degree of improvement was unclear, partly because of the continued confusion over casualty counts here, and an American general cautioned against reading too much into optimistic reports, given that January and February were two of the worst months for car bombings since the invasion.'

Washington Post, 15 Mar 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
Maliki, Petraeus Visit Insurgent Hotbed in Iraq
'The visits Tuesday illustrated the multi-pronged approach -- melding military, political and economic measures -- that U.S. military leaders say is vital for the success of a four-week-old security plan to tame Baghdad and other parts of Iraq. But the visits to this Sunni insurgent stronghold also displayed some of the challenges confronting the strategy, such as intra-sectarian rivalries and deep-rooted insecurity.'

Christian Science Monitor, 12 Mar 07, by Howard LaFranchi and Scott Peterson
Iraq's neighbors take first small steps toward working together
'The weekend's regional conference in Baghdad was modest, but it nevertheless accomplished two things: It promoted the legitimacy of Iraq's new government among reluctant neighbors, and it heralded the Bush administration's evolving conversion from unilateralism to hard-nosed diplomacy under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.'

New York Times, 15 Mar 07, by Alissa J. Rubin
Sunni Who Gave Comfort in Dark Night of War Pays the Price
'Most areas of Baghdad are battlegrounds, but none are worse than Sunni Arab neighborhoods, where anyone trying to help fellow residents, even Sunnis helping fellow Sunnis, is viewed as a traitor to the insurgent cause.'

The Guardian, 15 Mar 07
Attack on al-Qaida
[video] 'GuardianFilms penetrates Iraq's most dangerous province to report on how the Iraqis themselves have turned on al-Qaida.'

International Herald Tribune, 14 Mar 07, by Edward Wong
Iraq leans on longtime enemy Iran for trade
'The economies of Iraq and Iran, the largest Shiite countries in the world, are becoming closely intertwined, with Iranian goods flooding Iraqi markets and Iraqi cities looking to Iran for basic services.'

Washington Post, 12 Mar 07, by Ernesto Londoño
Insurgents Burn Homes in Shiite Area
'The armed men who entered a village in Diyala province Saturday after sunset seized the residents' weapons and made a request that turned out to be an ultimatum. "They asked us to join the Islamic State of Iraq," Sameer Muhammad, who lives in the village, said Sunday. "After that, they burned the houses of those who work with the army or police."'

International Herald Tribune, 11 Mar 07, by Brian Knowlton and Alissa J. Rubin
U.S. and Iran call Iraqi conference a 'first step'
'Both U.S. and Iranian diplomats Sunday cautiously welcomed as an important "first step" the results of the regional meeting in Baghdad that brought a rare face-to-face encounter between the two sides.'

International Herald Tribune, 10 Mar 07, by Alissa J. Rubin
Iraqi leader requests regional aid to curb violence
'Addressing representatives of 13 nations and three international groups, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki opened a much-anticipated regional conference here with a plea to Iraq's neighbors to back his efforts to control the violence engulfing the country by refusing to finance attacks or allow foreign fighters to cross their borders.'

Stars and Stripes, 04 Mar 07, by Steve Mraz
Marines in Haditha: Locals not focused on alleged '05 massacre
'When average Americans hear the word "Haditha," they are likely to think of the much-publicized 2005 incident involving Marines allegedly murdering 24 Iraqi civilians. For locals in Haditha, the incident is memorable but not the hot-button issue it is in America, Marines deployed here said.'

BBC News, 08 Mar 07
General says Iraq talks critical
'The top US general in Iraq says the military alone cannot provide a solution to the country's conflict.'

International Herald Tribune, 07 Mar 07, by David S. Cloud and Michael R. Gordon
Buildup in Iraq needed into '08, U.S. general says
'The day-to-day commander of American forces in Iraq has recommended that the heightened American troop levels there be maintained through February 2008, military officials said Wednesday.'

Washington Post/AP, 08 Mar 07, by Lauren Frayer, AP
U.S.: Iraqi Insurgent Attacks Intensifying
'Insurgents have sought to intensify attacks during a Baghdad security crackdown and additional U.S. forces will be sent to areas outside the capital where militant groups are regrouping, the new commander of U.S. forces in Iraq said Thursday.'

International Herald Tribune, 07 Mar 07, by Damien Cave
Brutal boundaries divide Baghdad
'After centuries of vibrant interaction, of marrying, sharing and selling across sects and classes, Baghdad has become a capital of corrosive, violent borderlines. Streets never crossed. Conversations never broached. Doors never entered. Sunnis and Shiites in many professions now interact almost exclusively with colleagues of the same sect.'

Kathimerini, 05 Mar 07
Embassy of Iraq 'hid explosives'
'A joint operation by Greek and US secret service officers in March 2003 led to the seizure of a large cache of explosives from the basement of the Iraqi Embassy in Athens, Kathimerini has learned.'

International Herald Tribune, 05 Mar 07, by Kirk Semple
Basra raid finds dozens detained by Iraq spy unit
'The raid appeared to catch Iraq's central government by surprise and raised new questions about the rule of law in the Shiite-dominated south, where less than two weeks ago Britain announced plans for a significant reduction in its forces because of improved stability.'

Christian Science Monitor, 05 Mar 07, by Tom Regan
Tensions rise between Iraqi prime minister and coalition forces after Basra raid
'Maliki calls raid on intelligence center by Iraqi and British forces "illegal."'

Boston Globe/Washington Post, 05 Mar 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post
US, Iraqi forces push into Shi'ite stronghold in Baghdad
'More than 1,100 US and Iraqi troops pushed into the Shi'ite militia haven of Sadr City yesterday, the largest operation in nearly three years in the sprawling, turbulent slum. Control of the area is viewed as pivotal to stabilizing the capital and preventing Iraq's slide toward civil war.'

Washington Post, 03 Mar 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
Sunni Insurgents Ascendant in Iraq's Caldron of Violence
'More than two weeks into a new Baghdad security plan, Sunni insurgents are asserting responsibility for an increasing number of violent attacks against U.S. and Iraqi security forces and civilian targets, while Shiite militias are lowering their profile.'

Washington Post, 05 Mar 07, by Karen DeYoung and Thomas E. Ricks
No U.S. Backup Strategy For Iraq
'During a White House meeting last week, a group of governors asked President Bush and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about their backup plan for Iraq. What would the administration do if its new strategy didn't work? The conclusion they took away, the governors later said, was that there is no Plan B. "I'm a Marine," Pace told them, "and Marines don't talk about failure. They talk about victory."'

Christian Science Monitor, 01 Mar 07, by Dan Murphy
America's new path on Iraq: talk to Iran
'In a shift, the US plans to talk to Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria, about the region. What do key players hope to get?'

Washington Post, 01 Mar 07, by Joshua Partlow
Soldiers Shift to Baghdad Outposts
'American soldiers are leaving their sprawling fortress-cities and establishing many small outposts in the capital's most violent neighborhoods in a major tactical shift under the two-week-old Baghdad security plan.'

International Herald Tribune, 28 Feb 07, by Kirk Semple
Troops clamp down on Sadr City
'American and Iraqi troops stormed several buildings in Sadr City, Baghdad's main bastion of Shiite militancy, and detained at least 16 people suspected of participating in militia violence including killings, kidnappings and torture, the U.S. military and local officials said.'

BBC News, 28 Feb 07, by Mohammed A Salih
Kurdish view: Baghdad deployments
'In the first of a series of diary entries from Irbil in northern Iraq, Kurdish journalist Mohammed A Salih records concerns about local troops being sent to Baghdad.'

Washington Post, 01 Mar 07, by Ernesto Londono and Naseer Mehdawi
Local Sheik In Ramadi Adds Detail On Attack
'A community leader in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi provided additional information Wednesday about a deadly car bombing earlier this week that U.S. officials said did not occur.'

International Herald Tribune, 26 Feb 07, by James Glanz and Richard A. Oppel Jr.
U.S. says raid in Iraq supports claim on Iran
'A raid on a Shiite weapons cache in the southern city of Hilla one week ago is providing what American officials call the best evidence yet that the deadliest roadside bombs in Iraq are manufactured in Iran, but critics contend that the forensic case remains circumstantial and inferential.'

New York Times, 26 Feb 07, by Damien Cave and Wisam A. Habeeb
Militant Iraqi Shiite Cleric Denounces Security Push
'Iraq's most powerful Shiite militant cleric publicly repudiated the new Baghdad security plan for the first time on Sunday, according to a statement distributed by his aides that said the push to quell violence was doomed to fail as long as it was directed by the American military.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 26 Feb 07
Iraqi VP says Baghdad security plan so far fails to protect human rights
'Iraq's Sunni vice president said Monday the Baghdad security plan has so far failed to respect human rights and treat all groups equally, which he described as flaws that doomed the two major crackdowns in the capital last year.'

Washington Post, 21 Feb 07, by Joshua Partlow
Beyond Baghdad, Grass-Roots Security
'The security plan for Baghdad is a fight not only in the teeming streets of the capital but also in places like this, a Sunni-dominated village on the northern outskirts, where U.S. commanders say the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq is terrorizing Shiite residents, planning attacks on Americans and funneling explosives into Baghdad along a network of country roads ...'

Washington Post, 21 Feb 07, by Ann Scott Tyson
Copter Attacks In Iraq May Indicate New Battle Strategy
'The Army's senior aviation officer in Iraq said yesterday that Sunni fighters probably used a sophisticated SA-14 or SA-16 shoulder-fired missile to shoot down a Marine helicopter on Feb. 7, killing all seven people on board. If confirmed by an ongoing Marine Corps investigation, it would mark the first time since last summer that insurgents in Iraq struck U.S. aircraft with such an anti-aircraft missile, and it would provide fresh evidence of a new strategy of targeting helicopters, according to Maj. Gen. James E. Simmons, deputy U.S. commander in Iraq.'

International Herald Tribune, 18 Feb 07, by Michael R. Gordon and David S. Cloud
Planning seen in insurgents' attacks on U.S. helicopters
'Documents captured from Iraqi insurgents indicate that some of the recent fatal attacks against U.S. helicopters are the result of a carefully planned strategy to focus on downing coalition aircraft, one that U.S. officials say has been carried out by mounting coordinated assaults with machine guns, rockets and surface-to-air missiles.'

The New York Times, 21 Feb 07, by Damien Cave and Ahmad Fadam
Militants Using Chemical Bombs in Iraq
'For the third time in a month, insurgents deployed a new and deadly tactic against Iraqi civilians today: A chemical bomb combining explosives with poisonous chlorine gas.'

DefenseTech.org, 20 Feb 07, by Ward Carroll
Low Tech Dirty Bombs Back in the Limelight
'In the wake of the chlorine tanker truck bombing in Taji, Iraq today, domestic government agencies are taking another look at how easy it might be for terrorists to wreak stateside havoc.'

New York Times, 20 Feb 07, by Marc Santora
Iraqi Militants Launch Attack on U.S. Outpost
'In a rare coordinated assault on an American combat outpost north of Baghdad, suicide bombers drove one or more cars laden with explosives into the compound on Monday, while other insurgents opened fire in the ensuing chaos, according to witnesses and the American military. Two American soldiers were killed and at least 17 were wounded.'

Christian Science Monitor, 20 Feb 07, by Scott Peterson
Mixed welcome for Baghdad surge
'Though many Iraqis say they have seen positive steps, the security plan is being judged along sectarian lines.'

International Herald Tribune, 19 Feb 07, by James Glanz
New oil find in Iraq gives hope to Sunni areas
'The development is likely to have significant political effects: the lack of natural resources in the central and western regions where Sunnis hold sway has fed their disenchantment with the nation they once ruled. And it has driven their insistence on a strong central government, one that would collect oil revenues and spread them equitably among the country's factions, rather than any division of the country along sectarian regional boundaries.'

Reuters, 15 Feb 07
Iraq shuts borders, clamps down in Baghdad
'Iraq closed its borders with Iran and Syria as U.S. and Iraqi troops tightened their grip on Baghdad on Thursday, setting up more checkpoints that stopped and searched even official convoys for weapons.'

International Herald Tribune, 14 Feb 07, by Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Damien Cave
GIs conduct Baghdad sweep, with Iraqis in minor role
'Thousands of American troops in armored Stryker vehicles swarmed three mostly Shiite neighborhoods of northeastern Baghdad on Wednesday, encountering little resistance during what commanders described as the first major sweep of the new security plan for the capital.'

Daily Telegraph, 15 Feb 07, by Thomas Harding
Iraqi insurgents using Austrian rifles from Iran
'Austrian sniper rifles that were exported to Iran have been discovered in the hands of Iraqi terrorists.'

International Herald Tribune, 15 Feb 07, by Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Marc Santora
Bush declares Iran's arms role in Iraq is certain
'President George W. Bush said Wednesday that he was certain that factions within the Iranian government had supplied Shiite militants in Iraq with deadly roadside bombs that had killed American troops. But he said he did not know whether Iran's highest officials had directed the attacks.'

San Jose Mercury News, 13 Feb 07, by Richard Mauer
Baghdad security plan to restrict weapons, close borders
'The Iraqi government announced new measures Tuesday to retake the country from terrorists and outlaws, including those in uniform, by ordering the army and police to submit to checkpoints, sharply curtailing weapons in public and temporarily closing the borders with Syria and Iran.'

PRI's The World, 12 Feb 07, with Lisa Mullins
Weapons interview
[audio] 'Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with Matt Schroeder, Manager of the Arms Sales Monitoring Project of the Federation of American Scientists, about US charges that Iran is supplying weapons to Iraq.'

Daily Telegraph, 15 Feb 07, by Aqeel Hussein
Google Earth, the survival tool of war-torn Iraq
'Iraqis are using maps adapted from Google Earth satellite images to help navigate the sectarian neighbourhoods of Baghdad.'

International Herald Tribune, 12 Feb 07, by James Glanz
U.S. officials in Iraq display weapons traced to Iran
'After weeks of internal debate, senior U.S. military officials displayed their first public evidence of the contentious assertion that Iran supplies Shiite extremist groups in Iraq with some of the most lethal weapons in the war. They said those weapons had been used to kill more than 170 Americans in the past three years.'

International Herald Tribune, 12 Feb 07, by Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Damien Cave
U.S. troops begin sweep into eastern Baghdad
'American troops have locked down a large industrialized area of eastern Baghdad while Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, without indicating how he would do it, vowed to speed the deployment of Iraqi forces throughout the war-ravaged capital.'

BBC News, 10 Feb 07
US Iraq forces under new command
'The new commander of US forces in Iraq, Lt Gen David Petraeus, has assumed control ahead of a fresh push to quell violence in Baghdad.'

BBC News, 07 Feb 07, by Rob Watson
Questions mount over US helicopter losses
'... But whatever the reason, five helicopters have now been lost already this year with the US admitting at the weekend that the other four had been shot down. ... a US military spokesman in Iraq Major General William Caldwell said it was premature to conclude that the threat posed to aircraft by insurgents had dramatically increased over the last few weeks.'

Asia Times, 13 Feb 07, by Iason Athanasiadis
Black Hawks down in Iraqi quagmire
'US helicopters in Iraq are being shot out of the sky with unusual regularity recently as Iraqi insurgents take their fight against the US occupation to a new level of lethality. The US military has been forced to revise its tactics and techniques, reminiscent of the Soviets' losing battle against Stinger missiles in Afghanistan.'

Washington Post/Reuters, 08 Feb 07, by Mariam Karouny, Reuters
U.S. and Iraqi forces detain deputy minister
'U.S. and Iraqi forces detained the deputy health minister during a raid on the Health Ministry building in central Baghdad on Thursday, a ministry spokesman and witnesses said. Hakim Zamili, the deputy minister, is a senior member of the political group loyal to anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The raid comes a day after the U.S. military said a U.S.-Iraqi security plan to stabilize Baghdad was under way.'

Washington Post, 08 Feb 07, by Ernesto Londoño and Joshua Partlow
Iraq Security Plan Underway; Crash of Marine Copter Kills 7
'On the day the U.S. military announced that American and Iraqi forces had begun implementing their long-awaited security plan, a U.S. Marine transport helicopter crashed northwest of Baghdad, the fifth deadly loss of an American helicopter in Iraq in less than three weeks.'

International Herald Tribune, 07 Feb 07, by Richard A. Oppel Jr. and James Glanz
Iraqi insurgents may have new focus on attacking aircraft
'With two more helicopter crashes near Baghdad, including a Marine transport crash on Wednesday that killed seven people, the number of helicopters that have gone down over the past three weeks rose to six. American officials say the streak strongly suggests that insurgents have adapted their tactics and are now putting more effort into shooting down the aircraft.'

Washington Post, 08 Feb 07, by Joshua Partlow
U.S. Unit Walks 'A Fine Line' In Iraqi Capital
'The American and Iraqi plan to pacify the capital rests on the assumption that U.S. troops can win the trust of a wary population by protecting civilians trapped amid sectarian warfare. Each day, U.S. soldiers go door-to-door in the city, searching bedrooms and bathrooms, cabinets and closets, for unauthorized weapons. The operations also offer a chance to cultivate Iraqis as sources of information about the violence entangling their neighborhoods.'

Washington Post, 08 Feb 07, by Joshua Partlow
Security Crackdown In Capital Takes Shape As Attacks Kill Dozens
'Iraqi forces in the capital will be led by Lt. Gen. Abboud Gambar, a former naval commander in the military of deposed president Saddam Hussein. Gambar was taken prisoner by U.S. forces during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.'

NewsBlaze, 04 Feb 07
Corpsmen, Marines Save Lives in Anbar
'When Sgt. Nathaniel Tatum heard a loud "Boom" while on a security patrol through the windswept streets of this Euphrates River city, he didn't think about how to react to the improvised explosive device (IED) blast - he simply "let the training take over."'

Washington Post/AP, 04 Feb 07, by Sameer N. Yacoub, AP
U.S.: 4 Copter Losses Due to Ground Fire
'The four U.S. helicopters that have crashed in Iraq since Jan. 20 were apparently shot down, the chief American military spokesman said Sunday _ the first time the U.S. command has publicly acknowledged that the aircraft were lost to enemy fire.'

Reuters/IRIN, 04 Feb 07
IRAQ: Southern Iraq in danger of slipping into chaos
'A former major general in the Iraq army has warned that the bloody battle that took place in the holy Shi'ite Muslim city of Najaf, some 200km south of Baghdad, in late January could mark a turning point for the relative peace the southern provinces have had since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.'

Christian Science Monitor, 05 Feb 07, by Dan Murphy
Iraq's Sunni-Shiite anguish grows
'As sectarian violence continues, the US military cautions that results of its Baghdad troop 'surge' will take time.'

Washington Post, 04 Feb 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
War in Iraq Propelling A Massive Migration
'As the fourth year of war nears its end, the Middle East's largest refugee crisis since the Palestinian exodus from Israel in 1948 is unfolding in a climate of fear, persecution and tragedy.'

International Herald Tribune, 31 Jan 07, by Farah Stockman and Bryan Bender, The Boston Globe
Battle shows strength of splintering militias in Iraq
'The messianic Soldiers of Heaven militia that fought U.S. and Iraqi troops this week in one of the fiercest battles of the war is among more than two dozen extremist militias operating across Iraq that are fast becoming a powerful, and hidden, new enemy.'

International Herald Tribune, 01 Feb 07, by James Glanz
U.S. finds waste and fraud in Iraqi reconstruction projects
'Even as the flow of reconstruction money from the United States is coming to an end, the litany of major American contractors that are suspected of having wasted large amounts of the money has lengthened, new investigations by the inspector general have found.'

International Herald Tribune, 28 Jan 07, by Sabrina Tavernise
News Analysis: Violence has changed Iraq into a land with no moderates
'... a new U.S. plan is unfolding in the capital. It feels as if we have come back to the beginning. Boots are on the ground again. Boxy Humvees move in the streets. Baghdad fell in 2003 and we are still trying to pick it back up. But Iraq is a different country now.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 28 Jan 07, by John Heilprin, AP
U.S. Army investigates widespread contractor fraud in Iraq
'From high-dollar fraud to bribery conspiracy and bid-rigging, the U.S. Army has opened 50 criminal investigations involving battlefield contractors in the war in Iraq and anti-terrorism efforts. Senior contracting officials, government employees, residents of other countries and, in some cases, U.S. military personnel have been implicated in millions of dollars of fraud allegations.'

Washington Post, 28 Jan 07, by Lally Weymouth
A Conversation with Adel Abdul Mahdi
'... Lally Weymouth sat down with Iraq's Shiite vice president, Adel Abdul Mahdi, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. They discussed the "surge" and the prospects for restoring order in Baghdad and beyond.'

NewsHour, 26 Jan 07, with Ray Saurez et al
New Iraq Military Team Faces Increasing Opposition
'Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday that a congressional resolution opposing President Bush's Iraq strategy will be detrimental to Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, the new chief military commander in Iraq. Two reporters discuss Gates' role in implementing the new Iraq plan.'

BBC News, 23 Jan 07, by Andrew North
Baghdad diary: Technology at war
'With the announcement of the new plan to secure Baghdad, it is not just the Americans and Iraqi government gearing up for a last big push. The insurgents and militias are too. Many seem to be starting their offensive early.'

BBC News, 23 Jan 07, by Mike Wooldridge
Northern Ireland's lessons for Iraq
'It is not decommissioning of arms that is the crucial issue but decommissioning of mindsets, Andrew Sens like to say, quoting what he calls a wise man involved in the Northern Ireland peace process.'

Washington Post, 25 Jan 07, by Ernesto Londoño and Joshua Partlow
Troops Battle Insurgents in Central Baghdad
'With attack helicopters circling overhead, U.S. and Iraqi forces waged an intense battle Wednesday to clear armed men from high-rise buildings in a strategic Baghdad neighborhood that had been the scene of a similar day of combat two weeks ago.'

International Herald Tribune, 25 Jan 07, by Damien Cave and James Glanz
In a new joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol, Americans go first
'In the battle for Baghdad, Haifa Street has changed hands so often that it has taken on the feel of a no man's land, the deadly space between opposing trenches. On Wednesday, as American and Iraqi troops poured in, the street showed why it is such a sensitive gauge of an urban conflict marked by front lines that melt into confusion, enemies with no clear identity and allies who disappear or do not show up at all.'

New York Times, 25 Jan 07, by Sabrina Tavernise
Iraqi Official Offers Terms From Militia to Avoid Fight
'An Iraqi official authorized to speak on behalf of field commanders for the country’s most powerful militia has approached Western military officials and laid out a plan to avoid armed confrontation, senior Iraqi and American officials said this week.'

Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan 07, by Borzou Daragahi
U.S. troops' deadly weekend
'Two Marines killed in Al Anbar province bring the toll to at least 27. The cause of a Black Hawk copter crash is still under investigation.'

Washington Post, 22 Jan 07, by Ernesto Londoño
Disguises Used in Attack on Troops
'The armored sport-utility vehicles whisked into a government compound in the city of Karbala with speed and urgency, the way most Americans and foreign dignitaries travel along Iraq's treacherous roads these days.'

US News and World Report, 18 Jan 07, by Anna Mulrine
U.S. Launches Armed Force to Block Iranian Influence in Iraq
'The U.S. military has launched a special operations task force to break up Iranian influence in Iraq, according to U.S. News sources. The special operations mission, known as Task Force 16, was created late last year to target Iranians trafficking arms and training Shiite militia forces. The operation is modeled on Task Force 15, a clandestine cadre of Navy SEALs, Army Delta Force soldiers, and CIA operatives with a mission to capture or kill al Qaeda operatives and Baathist insurgents in Iraq.'

Christian Science Monitor, 22 Jan 07, by Peter Grier
Counterinsurgency takes center stage in Iraq
'As part of the "surge," US and Iraqi troops are likely to be spread among 30 or 40 "miniforts" within Baghdad.'

International Herald Tribune, 19 Jan 07, by Michael R. Gordon
The U.S. commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General David Petraeus, has a numbers problem
'When Lieutenant General David Petraeus assumes his duties as the new U.S. commander in Iraq, he will be guided by a new military doctrine on counterinsurgency that makes the security of the population a chief objective. But a pressing question that is likely to emerge when the U.S. Senate takes up his confirmation next week is whether the administration's new Iraq strategy will draw on enough forces to assure security, as measured against the general's own guidelines.'

BBC News, 12 Jan 07, by Andrew North
Quick results needed from Bush Iraq plan
'The new US and Iraqi strategy has about two to three months to start showing results - in terms of real improvements in security for people in Baghdad.'

Washington Post, 18 Jan 07, by Joshua Partlow
Maliki Stresses Urgency in Arming Iraqi Forces
'The Iraqi government's need for American troops would "dramatically go down" in three to six months if the United States accelerated the process of equipping and arming Iraq's security forces, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Wednesday.'

International Herald Tribune, 17 Jan 07, by Damien Cave
Iraqi leaders highlight efforts to fix problems
'Iraqi political leaders stepped up efforts to persuade the world that they were tackling the country's thorniest problems on Wednesday, highlighting crackdowns on militias, progress on a national oil law, and new examples of reconciliation with former Baathists.'

Christian Science Monitor, 17 Jan 07, by Arthur Bright
Kurdish troops prepare for deployment in Baghdad
'A Kurdish battalion is in preparation for deployment to Baghdad as part of the Iraqi government's security operation, in coordination with President Bush's troop surge strategy, to quell sectarian violence in the Iraqi capital.'

International Herald Tribune, 16 Jan 07, by Sabrina Tavernise
Iraqi death toll exceeded 34,000 in '06, UN Says
'The United Nations reported on Tuesday that more than 34,000 Iraqis were killed in violence last year, a figure that represents the first comprehensive annual count of civilian deaths and a vivid measure of the failure of the Iraqi government and American military to provide security.'

Christian Science Monitor, 12 Jan 07, by Brad Knickerbocker
For US troops, new duties, more danger
'The new strategy, though it anticipates a leading role for Iraqi forces, raises difficult and in some ways profound questions for the US military and its capabilities in the 21st century. After five years of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, does it have the resources and leadership to sustain an effort some experts say could take years, not months? And what's likely to be the long-range impact of this "surge" on the way the US military trains, equips, and plans for future conflicts?'

New York Times, 15 Jan 07, by James Glanz
Rebuilding Teams Would Swell Under Bush's New Iraq Plan
'As part of its latest plan to stabilize Iraq, the United States intends to more than double the number of regional reconstruction teams and to add nearly 400 specialists for existing and new teams, in fields from politics and the rule of law to agribusiness and veterinary care, according to an official outline of the plan.'

International Herald Tribune, 15 Jan 07, by John F. Burns
U.S. and Iraqis are wrangling over plan for more troops
'American military officials have spent days huddled in meetings with Iraqi officers in a race to turn blueprints drawn up in Washington into a plan that will work on the ground in Baghdad.'

New York Times, 15 Jan 07, by David E. Sanger
Opening a New Front in the War, Against Iranians in Iraq
'Administration officials say the goal is limited to preventing Iranians from aiding in attacks on American and Iraqi forces inside Iraq. But in recent interviews and public statements, senior members of the Bush administration have made it clear that their agenda goes significantly further, toward foiling Iran's dream of emerging as the greatest power in the Middle East.'

Washington Post, 15 Jan 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
Officers Look Back For Clues To Future
'... the failure of the ongoing Baghdad security plan, Operation Together Forward, provides valuable lessons for the future. Yet it also raises questions about whether a temporary increase in U.S. troops can be effective in a war that is becoming more complex and unpredictable.'

Reuters, 15 Jan 07, by Mariam Karouny
Baghdad plan to last at least 6 months
'A major new U.S.-backed security plan for Baghdad should last for at least six months, senior Iraqi political sources said, adding that if it failed to curb militia violence they feared the government would collapse.'

Washington Post, 12 Jan 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
U.S. Unit Patrolling Baghdad Sees Flaws in Bush Strategy
'Iraqi army commanders say their soldiers lack training and equipment, while some U.S. officials worry that Iraq's troops are too dependent on their American counterparts and will become even more so with the expected surge.'

Christian Science Monitor, 12 Jan 07, by Howard LaFranchi
Bush's Iraq plan: Is it enough?
'Doubts rise over the impact of a modest increase in US troops and whether the Iraqi government is up to the task.'

Christian Science Monitor, 12 Jan 07, by Peter Grier
Bush's Iraq plan races against two clocks
'A troop "surge" in Baghdad could falter if Congress balks or Iraqis don't meet their security commitments on time.'

Washington Post, 11 Jan 07, by Michael Abramowitz and Robin Wright
Bush to Add 20,000 Troops In an Effort to Stabilize Iraq
'President Bush appealed directly to the American people last night to support a renewed campaign to pacify Iraq, saying it is necessary to add new troops so that the beleaguered Iraqi government can regain control of the streets of Baghdad and revive the process of political reconciliation and economic rebuilding.'

International Herald Tribune, 11 Jan 07, by Michael R. Gordon
Military Analysis: Bid to secure Baghdad relies on troops and Iraqi leaders
'With his new plan to secure Iraq, President George W. Bush is in effect betting that Iraqi leaders are committed to building a multisectarian state, and his strategy will stand or fall on that assumption.'

Washington Post, 11 Jan 07, by Thomas E. Ricks and Ann Scott Tyson
Intensified Combat on Streets Likely
'President Bush's plan to send tens of thousands of U.S. and Iraqi reinforcements to Baghdad to jointly confront Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias is likely to touch off a more dangerous phase of the war, featuring months of fighting in the streets of the Iraqi capital, current and former military officials warned.'

New York Times, 11 Jan 07, by Sabrina Tavernise and John F. Burns
Promising Troops Where They Aren't Really Wanted
'As President Bush challenges public opinion at home by committing more American troops, he is confronted by a paradox: an Iraqi government that does not really want them.'

New York Times, 11 Jan 07, by Helene Cooper and Mark Mazzetti
To Counter Iran's Role in Iraq, Bush Moves Beyond Diplomacy
'In promising to stop Iran from meddling in Iraq, President Bush returned Wednesday night to a strategy of confrontation in dealing with Tehran, casting aside what had been a limited flirtation with a more diplomatic approach toward it.'

Washington Post, 10 Jan 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan and Joshua Partlow
U.S. Airstrikes Back Troops in Baghdad Clash
'With F-15 fighter jets and Apache helicopter gunships providing cover, U.S. and Iraqi troops on Tuesday battled hundreds of Sunni Arab insurgents firing from apartment buildings and houses in downtown Baghdad in one of the fiercest clashes in the capital in recent memory.'

Stars and Stripes, 10 Jan 07
Army battalion is brought into Anbar to reinforce Marines
'A U.S. Army battalion has been brought into Anbar province to help reinforce the U.S. Marines and Iraqi troops in the area near Fallujah, U.S. military officials said Tuesday. The 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment (Airborne) now falls under the command of Marine Regimental Combat Team 5 and will be assigned to the Karmah region, just northeast of Fallujah.'

Asia Times, 12 Jan 07, by Sumedha Senanayake
Opening shots fired in battle for Baghdad
'On January 6, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced a new plan to bring security to Baghdad and wrest control of the capital from the armed groups blamed for much of the sectarian violence. Although details remain sketchy, the plan has been attacked as being risky and likely to exacerbate sectarian tensions.'

Washington Post, 08 Jan 07, by Rick Atkinson
Iraq Will Be Petraeus's Knot to Untie
'Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, who is President Bush's choice to become the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, posed a riddle during the initial march to Baghdad four years ago that now becomes his own conundrum to solve: "Tell me how this ends." That query, uttered repeatedly to a reporter then embedded in Petraeus's 101st Airborne Division, revealed a flinty skepticism about prospects in Iraq -- and the man now asked to forestall a military debacle.'

New York Times, 08 Jan 07, by John F. Burns
War Could Last Years, Commander Says
'The new American operational commander in Iraq said Sunday that even with the additional American troops likely to be deployed in Baghdad under President Bush's new war strategy it might take another "two or three years" for American and Iraqi forces to gain the upper hand in the war.'

Washington Post, 08 Jan 07, by Michael Abramowitz, Robin Wright and Ann Scott Tyson
Critics Say 'Surge' Is More of the Same
'Although officials said the president has yet to settle on an exact figure of new troops, senior military leaders and commanders are deeply worried that a "surge" of as many as five brigades, or 20,000 troops, in Iraq and Kuwait would tax U.S. ground forces already stretched to the breaking point -- and may still prove inadequate to quell sectarian violence and the Sunni insurgency. Some senior U.S. officials think it could even backfire.'

Sydney Morning Herald, 09 Jan 07, by Joshua Partlow
New plan to rein in Iraq death squads
'A top US commander in Iraq says attempts to halt sectarian killings in Baghdad have failed in part because of a lack of Iraqi troops and a tight focus on Sunni neighbourhoods. Those lessons will be taken into account in a new strategy to reduce violence in the capital, he says.'

Reuters, 07 Jan 07, by Claudia Parsons
U.S. general urges balance in Baghdad crackdown
'The Iraqi government plans to bring in troop reinforcements to take part in a major security plan for Baghdad but a U.S. general said on Sunday the key to success would be a balanced approach rather than sheer force.'

New York Times, 08 Jan 07, by Michael R. Gordon and Jeff Zeleny
Plan Sets Series of Goals for Iraq Leaders
'President Bush's new Iraq policy will establish a series of goals that the Iraqi government will be expected to meet to try to ease sectarian tensions and stabilize the country politically and economically, senior administration officials said Sunday.'

Washington Post, 08 Jan 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
War's Toll on Iraqis Put at 22,950 in '06
'In the first six months of last year, 5,640 Iraqi civilians and police officers were killed, but that number more than tripled to 17,310 in the latter half of the year, according to data provided by a Health Ministry official with direct knowledge of the statistics. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, said those numbers remained incomplete, suggesting the final tally of violent deaths could be higher.'

BBC News, 08 Jan 07, by John Simpson
Divisions deepened by Saddam's death
'A week after Saddam Hussein stood on the scaffold at Camp Justice in Baghdad and was taunted during his final moments on Earth by followers of the militant Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, none of the emotions that were aroused have faded.'

International Herald Tribune, 05 Jan 07, by Michael R. Gordon and Thom Shanker
U.S. team in charge of Iraq is reshuffled
'President George W. Bush has revamped the team leading U.S. military and diplomatic efforts in Iraq while still mulling over changes in actual policy promised for next week.'

Christian Science Monitor, 05 Jan 07, by Peter Grier
If Iraq fragments, what's Plan B?
'A partitioned Iraq, which could preempt violent ethnic cleansing, looks ever more likely to many experts.'

Christian Science Monitor, 02 Jan 07, by Brad Knickerbocker
Relentless toll to US troops of roadside bombs
'The IED has caused over a third of the 3,000 American GI deaths in Iraq.'

Washington Post, 02 Jan 07, by Sudarsan Raghavan
For Iraq's Shiites, a Dream Deferred Breeds Mistrust of U.S.
'Iraq's Shiites are at a crossroads in their rise from oppression to power and in their relationship with the United States. In a nation riven by violence and competing visions, they feel as if they have been handed the keys to their house but never allowed to settle down. Bitter personality rifts have undermined their ability to govern.'

Christian Science Monitor, 02 Jan 07, by Nicholas Blanford
A dictator's Mideast legacy
'Mr. Hussein may be gone, but his legacy lives on in the ethnic and religious conflict undermining a nation that he held together through fear. His attacks on nearby countries - Iran, Kuwait, and Israel - won widespread condemnation and, ultimately, little reward.'

New York Times, 01 Jan 07, by John F. Burns and Marc Santora
U.S. Questioned Iraq on the Rush to Hang Hussein
'Iraqi and American officials who have discussed the intrigue and confusion that preceded the decision late on Friday to rush Mr. Hussein to the gallows have said that it was the Americans who questioned the political wisdom — and justice — of expediting the execution, in ways that required Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to override constitutional and religious precepts that might have assured Mr. Hussein a more dignified passage to his end.'

"Hunt for the Somali Pirates" airs soon on the National Geographic Channel.
When Somali pirates hijack the Maersk Alabama -- and international headlines -- Navy SEALs launch a sneak attack to rescue the ship's American captain. Pirate Hunters recounts the harrowing five days from hijack to final fatal shots, and reveals sophisticated Navy SEAL training methods that prepare the world's most elite reconnaissance teams for daring missions with no second chances.