[Previous] dust bunny hostage: Open Mic Monday at Hostage Central...

 [Next] Iraq says extremist Shiite group accused in deaths of 5 US tro...

Some related posts from Technorati and Google.

[WAVY TV] Iraq: Gen. disputes early pullout memo: Odierno argued that U.S. troops should stay mainly to train and advise Iraqis to avoid a resurgence of major violence that would squander more than six years of enormous U.S. sacrifices. He cautioned that many obstacles remain, particularly Kurdish-Arab tensions that could stoke violence in northern Iraq.

[Breaking News] AP Interview: Top US commander in Iraq says American role is ...: Obama says Americans love all things FrenchPARIS ”” President Barack Obama said Tuesday the American people love all things French and acknowledged his own penchant for Gallic food and wines. In his first interview with a French television channel, Obama heaped praise on the country in an apparent attempted to stamp out any lingering tensions sparked by France's opposition to the United State's 2003 invasion of Iraq.

[JustOneMinute] JustOneMinute: Sticking In Iraq: That's because agreements leave combatants, especially weaker combatants, vulnerable to exploitation once they disarm, demobilize and prepare for peace. In the absence of third-party enforcement, the weaker side is better off trying to fight for full control of the state now, rather than accepting an agreement that would leave it open to abuse in the future.

[NO QUARTER] Iraq Says Yes to Iran : NO QUARTER: The memo offers a look at tensions that emerged between Iraqi and American military officers at a sensitive moment when American combat troops met a June 30 deadline to withdraw from Iraq’s cities, the first step toward an advisory role. The Iraqi government’s forceful moves to assert authority have concerned some American officers, though senior American officials insisted that cooperation had improved.

[Investor's Iraq Forum - Iraq Dinar Forum, Iraq Investments, Iraq Stock Exchange, Iraq Bank, Iraq News, Iraqi Dinar] Asiyaspalamirkipaljdidphyal Iraq .. Compatibility between the ...: Here was the quota system such as poor imaging of Iraqi politics, which put the return of exiled Iraqis, and Paul Bremer in 2003, which is the root cause since then, has grown as a major problem, which prevented the professionals and savvy of a foothold in the Iraqi state, but at the time the observers praised the Americans on Iraqi intellectuals layer ( and many of them Shiites) who warned of the growing authoritarian regime in the Iraqi state and also the growing influence of Iran, they are nomads - U.S. observers - they turn the eye to Atbesr when the direction of these professionals have criticized the concept of quotas.

[Breaking News] 'Coalition of the willing' comes to end in Iraq, leaving just one ...: Australia's Iraq mission to formally end July 31SYDNEY ”” Australia will formally end its military mission in Iraq at the end of July, the armed forces chief announced Monday, bringing the country's involvement in one war to a close even as it prepares to send more troops to Afghanistan. Australia, one of the United States' earliest and staunchest allies in the Iraq war, has already withdrawn its combat troops but several dozen Australian soldiers remain at coalition headquarters in non-front line roles.

[Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: General Publications and Events] Iraq Prepares for Upcoming Provincial Elections - Carnegie ...: While the distribution of power between the Shiite and Sunni will not change, there is the possibility that elections may redistribute power among Shiite and Sunni organizations: There is an evolving breakdown in the Shiite coalition, and many of the Sunni parties in power may not fair well, offering the best prospect for change before the national elections at the end of the year.

[The Best Defense] Iraq, the unraveling (XX): "Time to declare victory and go home ...: Wahabism is the official state religion in Arabia, backed by a vicious national security state, which is operating in Iraq as surely as they covered for the Khobar bombing. The draconian suppression of all things secular or shiite in the 'Kingdom' bleeds over into 'moderate' Gulf kleptocracies that are taking the oil money while 'governing' largely Shiite populations.

[Breaking News] Iraq says extremist Shiite group accused in deaths of 5 US troops ...: BBC: 2 of 3 UK hostages in Iraq likely deadLONDON ”” The families of five British hostages captured in a bold raid in Baghdad in 2007 agonized Wednesday over a report that two of those detained have died in captivity, begging the kidnappers to free the men. The fresh appeal came after Britain's Foreign Office officials told relatives of Alan McMenemy and Alec MacLachlan that the two security guards were "very likely" to be dead, the BBC reported.

[Lens] Behind the Scenes: In a Holy City - Lens Blog - NYTimes.com: It is the largest center of Shia scholarship and, as the capital of the Iranian clergy, it is home to as many as 100,000 scholars, or mullahs. Although the Qum of today is an establishment bastion, it was where Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini gathered support against the shah during the 1970s.

[SWJ Blog] 4 August SWJ Roundup (SWJ Blog): British troops are fighting in Afghanistan to prevent Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda from using it as a base to plot terror strikes against Britain, a defence minister said yesterday. Responding to criticism that the Government had failed to explain its strategy in the Afghan campaign, Bill Rammell, the Armed Forces Minister, said British troops were battling against an insurgency that, if it were to succeed, “would provide free rein to the terrorist capacity that inspired, planned and provided support for attacks like those of 9/11, of 7/7, and many more besides”.

[Breaking News] Iraq's Shiites seek to revive coalition ahead of January elections ...: WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama called for greater reconciliation between Iraq's ethnic groups during a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki at the White House Wednesday. Coming to agreements on contentious issues is essential to a unified Iraq and its stability in the future as US forces increasingly turn responsibility for security over to the Iraqis, Obama said.

[The Flash Point Blog] The Flash Point Blog » Blog Archive » Important Stories from Iraq ...: The last part of that is significant.  There is absolutely no reason to believe that the  Iraqi government is currently vulnerable to being overthrown by radical groups ”” indeed, the notion that al Qaeda or a similar group could seize power in Iraq was always fanciful.  More than ever, the difference between the best case and the worst case in Iraq is small, and the strategic costs of our presence unquestionably exceed any likely benefits.

Reflected tags on Technorati: Blog, Shiite, Iran Reviews