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By Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
$14.96
Sam Harris
$19.74
$20
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AP / Karim Kadim
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Anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has returned home to Iraq from his self-imposed exile in Iran, delivering a speech urging support for the new Maliki government and resistance against the U.S.—but not necessarily through armed struggle.
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U.S. Air Force / Staff Sgt. Jessica J. Wilkes
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Iraq’s recent election was supposed to remove Nouri al-Maliki from power, but the prime minister, sounding rather like a Bond villain, declared “the game is still very much on.” Now a governmental commission created to keep Baathists out of public life says that on the night before the election it banned six candidates who went on to win.
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U.S. Army / PFC Ali Hargis
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One of the most criticized decisions made by the U.S. back in 2003 when it stumbled into Iraq like a drunk Mel Gibson at a bar mitzvah was the disbanding of the Iraqi army. All these years later, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is reinstating 20,000 of Saddam Hussein’s officers. (continued)
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DoD
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While affirming the Dec. 31, 2011, date for the pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki did mention in a speech to a Washington think tank the possibility of extending that deadline if Iraqi forces still required “further training and further support.”
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USAF / Michael B. Keller
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By Scott Ritter — Iraq is not Vietnam, yet there are parallels between the two wars. The American military dominated the battlefield in both conflicts, and yet America the nation emerged the loser in each. A “decent interval” is now needed for American troops to withdraw.
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nytimes.com
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Although allegations of physical abuse against reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi, better known as the guy who chucked his shoes at the head of the guy who invaded his country, were widely reported in recent days, it took until today for an Iraqi judge to officially rule that al-Zaidi was beaten while in custody. The system works!
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news.bbc.co.uk
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Muntadar al-Zaidi’s shoe-throwing made him a hero in the Arab world, but his fate is uncertain. The reporter remains in custody, where, his brother says, he has been beaten and suffers from broken bones and internal bleeding. A Saudi man, meanwhile, has reportedly offered $10 million for the shoes that nearly struck President Bush.
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George W. Bush has always had a rocky relationship with the press, but he probably never saw this coming. During a news conference in Baghdad on Sunday, a reporter took off his shoes and hurled them at the president, who showed off his cat-like reflexes.
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AP photo / Henny Ray Abrams
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After weeks of embarrassing displays of political incompetence and general ignorance of current events, Sarah Palin participated in a daylong tour de force of international relations at the United Nations. Henry Kissinger, Hamid Karzai and Alvaro Uribe were among the officials she encountered on a day during which she “largely listened.”
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whitehouse.gov
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We tearfully regret to inform you that an agreement that would legally extend the U.S. imperial occupation of Iraq is at risk of falling apart, as Iraqi officials continue to make the audacious demand that U.S. soldiers and mercenaries be subject to Iraqi law for crimes committed outside the scope of military operations.
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DoD photo
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Speaking to tribal leaders in Iraq’s capital, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pledged not to sign a deal with the U.S. that didn’t include a withdrawal date. He also said he would not accept “absolute immunity for anybody, whether Iraqis or foreigners.” That’s a sticking point for the Bush administration, although a draft deal is said to include limited immunity for U.S. soldiers, along with a pullout date of 2011.
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topnews.in
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Where in the world is Condoleezza Rice? Well, as the ink was drying on the deal she signed to secure Poland’s cooperation in the United States’ controversial missile shield project, Secretary of State Rice turned up in Baghdad on Thursday for an unscheduled visit with Iraqi leaders. Surprise!
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commons.wikimedia.org
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Remember how Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki endorsed Obama’s plan for U.S. withdrawal from the country? And then remember how the endorsement suddenly became a question of “translation”? Well, it ends up that it wasn’t a botched translation at all, and that Maliki’s office personally reviewed the final interview before it was published.
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By Eugene Robinson — It’s not a “timetable” for extricating U.S troops from Iraq that George W. Bush is suddenly talking about, and heaven help anyone who accuses him of proposing a “timeline.” No, the Decider says he is now amenable to a “time horizon,” which apparently is a whole different kind of time thing.
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Flickr / James Gordon
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The U.S. Embassy has reported that Barack Obama arrived safely in Iraq, where he is expected to meet with Gen. David Petraeus and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The candidate is traveling with fellow Iraq war critics Sen. Jack Reed and Sen. Chuck Hagel.
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AP photo / Hadi Mizban
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In what The New York Times is calling a “significant concession,” President Bush allowed the topic of U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq to enter a discussion about America’s long-term strategy in the region. This occurred Thursday during a video conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
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President Bush had hoped to shape America’s military presence in Iraq for years after his departure from the White House by negotiating a long-term status-of-forces agreement, but a number of sticking points indicate there will be a much shorter time frame. U.S. negotiators have agreed to a kind of timetable for withdrawal, as demanded by the Iraqis, but are holding out over legal immunity for American forces.
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Flickr / soldiersmediacenter
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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, eager to sell his colleagues on a status-of-forces agreement with the U.S., has suggested the possibility of a built-in troop withdrawal timetable. The Pentagon isn’t impressed. “Timelines tend to be artificial in nature,” cautioned a U.S. military spokesman.
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DoD / Sgt. Luis R. Agostini
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President Bush is trying to wrap up a new status-of-forces agreement with the Iraqi government before the U.N. resolution under which the U.S. operates its occupation runs out. Team Bush has made some concessions to the Maliki government, but there’s one sticking point that threatens an agreement: veto power over military operations.
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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has a bit of a problem on his hands. While he’s dependent on U.S. forces to protect his regime, his friends in Iran are concerned about the presence of so many American troops on their doorstep. The U.S. and Iraq are trying to bang out the details of America’s military mission, but just so there are no surprises, Maliki let his Iranian allies know, “We will not allow Iraq to become a platform for harming the security of Iran and neighbors.” Updated.
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AP photo / Karim Kadim
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April was the cruelest month in seven months in terms of the numbers of both civilians and U.S. troops who lost their lives in Iraq. A spate of deadly bombings on Wednesday killed four U.S. soldiers, bringing the monthlong total of American dead to 50, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s crackdown on Shiite followers of Moqtada al-Sadr made for more intense violence, particularly in Basra and Sadr City, which contributed to a reported 969 Iraqi civilian deaths.
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commons.wikimedia.org
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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has asked his neighbors to forgive his nation’s debts: “Iraq cannot alone shoulder the debt arising from the military adventures of (Saddam Hussein’s) regime.” Hey, he might be onto something there. Maybe the U.S. should take the same approach with China after Bush is gone.
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AP photo/ Karim Kadim
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Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr issued a strong warning to the Iraqi government Saturday, claiming that he and his supporters will “declare a war until liberation” if a crackdown against his Mahdi Army continues.
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commons.wikimedia.org
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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, just a day after some tough talk, has caved on his promise to disarm militant Iraqis. The news that the Iraqi government would no longer pursue “people who carry weapons” comes on the heels of an Iran-backed truce with rival Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr.
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Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki faced a crisis last week when 1,000 to 1,500 of his troops, including from several dozen to more than 100 officers, refused to fight in the battle against Shiite militia members in Basra, raising questions about Iraqi security force readiness.
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By Eugene Robinson — Quite a “defining moment” in Iraq, wasn’t it? At this rate, John McCain is going to be proved right: The war will last a century.
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Moqtada al-Sadr, after reaching an agreement with several Iraqi officials, has ordered his followers to stop fighting. Basra has reportedly quieted, but fighting continued in Baghdad despite the announcement. Underscoring Iran’s influence over the affairs of its neighbor, the deal was apparently brokered by the head of Iran’s Quds force, which the U.S. Congress has branded a terrorist organization.
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This week’s Mosaic Intelligence Report from Link TV takes a look at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Iraq, where he was greeted with smiles and red carpets, and explains how Ahmadinejad has “outmaneuvered” President Bush everywhere in the Middle East (except Israel).
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By Marie Cocco — George W. Bush has little, if any, credibility left, but he should be taken seriously as he commits the United States to the long-term occupation of Iraq.
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news.bbc.co.uk
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For the first time in George W. Bush’s political life, a Bush government is trying not to have someone executed, or so it seems. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has accused the U.S. of stalling the executions of three prominent prisoners, one of whom might have been in cahoots with the CIA during Saddam Hussein’s reign.
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Asked to what extent the State Department had covered up corruption in the government of Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the department’s top Mideast official told the House Oversight Committee that information that could “damage” the U.S. relationship with Iraq is considered “confidential.” That didn’t go over well with committee Chairman Henry Waxman, who then threw down the gauntlet.
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unitedcats.wordpress.com
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Any lingering question as to whether Blackwater USA security contractors were to blame in the Sept. 16 shootout in Baghdad that left 11 Iraqis dead and 12 wounded may be cleared up by a videotape of the incident, which was reportedly filmed from a nearby police station.
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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other officials have condemned the actions of security contractors who were guarding a State Department convoy that came under fire in downtown Baghdad on Sunday. The unnamed contractors are accused of firing indiscriminately and escalating the violence, which killed nine civilians. Update: The security firm in question was Blackwater USA.
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By Eugene Robinson — The next six months in Iraq are crucial—and always will be. That noise you heard Monday on Capitol Hill was the can being kicked further down the road leading to January 2009, when George W. Bush gets to hand off his Iraq fiasco to somebody else.
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AP Photo / Charles Dharapak
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The “What, me worry?” president paid a cheerful visit to U.S. troops in Iraq’s Anbar province, an auspiciously timed trip (his third since the war began in 2003) that falls mere days before Congress is scheduled to hear Army Gen. David Petraeus’ Iraq “progress” report. For another status report (read: reality check), follow this link.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — Maybe the Iraqi prime minister should just enter our primaries next year and Americans could vote up or down on whether he should remain in office.
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clinton.senate.gov
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Hillary Clinton has added her voice to a growing chorus blaming the lack of progress in Iraq on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Uninspired by President Bush’s expression of renewed confidence in the embattled PM, Clinton said she hopes the Iraqi parliament will oust Maliki when it returns from its vacation.
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Just as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced a renewed effort to restore unity to his government, the leader of the largest Sunni political group, Adnan al-Dulaimi, accused him of working with Iran to support sectarian violence against Sunnis.
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Asked for clear examples of his “commitment” to accountability, President Bush first cites “Scooter” Libby as someone who has been held accountable (sure, before he got pardoned) and then flies into a tailspin over the presumptive innocence of Alberto “Al” Gonzales, dropping doozies like this along the way: “I haven’t seen Congress say he’s done anything wrong.”
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news.bbc.co.uk
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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s “unity government” has lost its last Sunni representatives, as five ministers announced a boycott in protest of sectarian favoritism. Nearly half of the Cabinet has walked this year.
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news.bbc.co.uk
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A devastating explosion near a Shiite mosque in the center of Baghdad has killed at least 78 people and injured more than 200. The mosque’s imam said the attack was carried out by “sick souls” who targeted worshipers as they left the prayer hall. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that such attacks have “scarred the beautiful face of Baghdad by destroying the religious landmarks it has known over the centuries.”
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Last week U.S. forces began building a controversial wall around a Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad, ostensibly to protect its residents from sectarian violence. On Sunday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said he opposed the construction and had ordered it stopped.
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Despite a week of horrific violence in Iraq, President Bush reaffirmed on Friday his belief that the surge was working, while Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki insisted two days later that his country was not in a state of civil war. In the latest round of attacks Sunday, 70 people were killed, including 23 members of a religious minority.
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Updated: Wednesday brought further tragic evidence that the surge isn’t working to secure Iraq: As many as 200 people were killed in a series of explosions in Baghdad. The worst of the bombings took place at a crowded market in the Sadriya district that was being reconstructed after a blast in February that claimed 130 lives.
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Grim reports from Iraq continue despite the PR campaign to understate the deadliness of the mix of American military presence, civil war and improvised explosives ravaging the country. Today at least 42 people died in a car bombing in a town 50 miles west of Baghdad. Earlier today, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki issued a statement touting a recent crackdown, citing a reduction in violence in Baghdad, but on Saturday in the capital alone at least seven people were killed and more than 30 injured, according to the BBC.
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Lt. Gen. Aboud Qanbar, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s point man for military operations in Baghdad, announced sweeping new military powers on Tuesday as part of a large-scale crackdown on sectarian violence. Qanbar said he is in absolute control of the effort and answers only to Maliki, signaling an expansion of the prime minister’s authority.
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John McCain may be a little miffed that the president is sending only 21,500 additional troops to Iraq, but he still supports a surge—even, aparently, if it’s unlikely to succeed. Chuck Hagel, on the other hand, thinks sending any troops into a civil war is a mistake, particularly if the prime minister of Iraq doesn’t even want them around.
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