Iraq

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Iraq Officials Busted in Coup Plot

Generals, old regime members arrested in Ministry of Interior sweep

(Newser) - Iraq has arrested up to 35 Ministry of the Interior officials over the last three days for their part in a plot to revive Saddam Hussein's Baath party, the New York Times reports. Some being held were in the early stages of planning a coup, say officials. Four generals were...

Fire Blackwater: State Dept. Panel

Security firm's contract should not be renewed, advisory group says

(Newser) - The US military should stop using contractors from Blackwater Worldwide, concludes a report by a State Department advisory panel, obtained by the AP. In light of numerous allegations of violent misconduct, Blackwater’s contract to defend American diplomats should not be renewed when it expires next year, the panel recommends....

Brown Announces July Withdrawal in Baghdad

Brown says troops home by July in surprise Baghdad visit

(Newser) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a surprise visit to Baghdad today and announced that all but a handful of British troops will leave Iraq by July 2009. About 4,000 British service members remain in Iraq, mostly around Basra, though at the height of the war 100,000 were...

Perino Back&mdash;With Shiner
 Perino Back—With Shiner 

Perino Back—With Shiner

Press secretary takes a hit during shoe melee

(Newser) - White House Press Secretary Dana Perino took a hit for her boss during the Iraq shoe fiasco, Gawker reports. The unsung victim came home with collateral damage—a black eye she's dubbed her "shoe-venir." Perino was hit by a microphone pole sent flying by Bush's lead agent as...

Shoe-Throwing Journo Beaten, Brother Alleges

Iraqi military denies claim and says man is healthy

(Newser) - The journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush during a news conference 2 days ago has been beaten in custody, his brother told the BBC. The brother alleges that Muntadar al-Zaidi, 28, has a broken arm, broken ribs and internal bleeding, but the Iraqi military says the journalist is...

Cheney: I OK'd Waterboarding
 Cheney: I OK'd Waterboarding 

Cheney: I OK'd Waterboarding

VP gave go ahead for 'remarkably successful' tactic

(Newser) - Vice President Dick Cheney personally approved using waterboarding to interrogate 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, he reveals in a wide-ranging interview on ABC News. "I was  involved in helping get the process cleared. The agency came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn't do," said...

Critics Lace Into Secret Service Over Shoe Attack

But agents hail quick thinking, and president's speedy reflexes

(Newser) - Weighty questions are being lobbed at the Secret Service in the wake of the recent Iraq shoe-tossing incident involving President Bush, reports the Los Angeles Times. Some experts wonder how an assailant was able to throw not one, but two shoes at Bush before agents intervened. "I thought they...

Shoe-Throw Is Arab World's Heartiest Insult
Shoe-Throw Is Arab World's Heartiest Insult
ANALYSIS

Shoe-Throw Is Arab World's Heartiest Insult

Journo's sole assault on Bush would likely have meant death under Saddam

(Newser) - Throwing a shoe at someone is hardly a positive gesture anywhere, but in Arab and Islamic countries, footwear is viewed as ritually unclean: Even mentioning your shoes while insulting someone carries vile significance, the BBC reports. Accidentally displaying an exposed sole is also considered insulting, so yesterday’s loafer-launching aimed...

Shoe-Thrower Is Instant Hit on Arab Street

Demonstrators want journalist who took aim at Bush set free

(Newser) - Thousands marched across Iraq today to demand the release of Muntazer al-Zaidi, the little-known Shiite journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush yesterday. Though Bush spent last night making shoe puns—I have my assailant’s “sole,” he quipped—Iraq’s government was less amused, charging al-Zaidi...

Iraqi Hurls Shoes at Bush
 Iraqi Hurls Shoes at Bush 

Iraqi Hurls Shoes at Bush

Shoe-throwing a signal of intense contempt in Arab world

(Newser) - President Bush never quite got the book thrown at him for invading Iraq, but the next closest thing happened today, CBS News reports. A correspondent for a Cairo-based Iraqi TV station hurled a pair of shoes at the outgoing president during a press conference in Baghdad, shouting, “This is...

Bush Makes Surprise Farewell Stop in Baghdad

Will meet leaders, thank troops in mission's 'endgame'

(Newser) - President Bush has arrived in Baghdad on a surprise farewell trip, the BBC reports. A day after Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the US mission in Iraq is in its “endgame,” Bush met with President Jalal Talabani; he’ll meet with other "leaders, thank the troops, and...

US Troops to Stay in Iraqi Cities Past Deadline

Odierno says troops to stay past June, remain in 'close partnership' with Iraqis

(Newser) - Not all American troops will be leaving Iraqi cities in June, despite a new security agreement with the Iraqi government requiring them to do so, Gen. Ray Odierno said today. A number of troops still to be negotiated with the Iraqi government will remain in city security posts to support...

Bush Helps Shield Iraq From Gulf War Legal Claims

Compensation could bankrupt country, it says; Americans hurt by Saddam differ

(Newser) - President Bush has wedged himself between Americans and Iraq by supporting a UN measure that stops financial claims against the fledgling democracy. Iraq faces bankruptcy if claims are added to $26 billion it already owes companies and individuals who suffered in the first Gulf war. But the temporary plug keeps...

Suicide Bomber Kills 55 in Iraqi Restaurant

ALL ART IS FILE STUFF. NOTHING FROM AP YET

(Newser) - A suicide bomber killed 55 people and wounded 120 in a crowded restaurant in northern Iraq today, as Kurdish officials were meeting there with Arab tribal leaders to discuss long-standing ethnic tensions, the AP reports. It appeared to be the deadliest attack in Iraq in nearly 6 months.The blast...

73% of Americans Back Obama
 73% of Americans Back Obama 

73% of Americans Back Obama

Poll reveals reservoir of national goodwill for prez-elect

(Newser) - President-elect Barack Obama will begin his term of office with an enormous reservoir of goodwill among American voters, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. The poll found 73% of adults approve of his preparations to take over, with even 29% of John McCain voters now viewing Barack Obama...

Britain to Withdraw Troops From Iraq by June

(Newser) - British troops will begin withdrawing their 4,000 troops from Iraq in March and will have all but a few hundred out by the end of June, the Guardian reports. They will be replaced at their base in Basra not by Iraqis but by Americans, who are worried about keeping...

Guard: Blackwater Baghdad Massacre Was Unprovoked

Chilling details emerge in indictments of five guards in deaths of 17 Iraqis

(Newser) - Five guards working for the Blackwater security company in Baghdad opened fire without provocation and massacred Iraqi civilians on a busy Baghdad intersection in 2007, according to chilling indictments filed against the men. The guards, protecting a convoy, used automatic weapons and grenade launchers to fire on cars, houses, a...

Blackwater Guards Charged With Manslaughter

(Newser) - Five former Blackwater guards involved in a 2007 shooting that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead turned themselves in today and were charged with voluntary manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, and using firearms in the commission of a crime, CNN reports. The men, all in their 20s, were arraigned in Salt Lake City...

Obama to Tap Shinseki for Veterans Affairs

Ex-general was fired for saying US had to increase troop levels

(Newser) - Democratic officials say President-elect Barack Obama has selected retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki to be the next Veterans Affairs secretary, the AP reports. Shinseki is the former Army chief of staff who upset his civilian bosses in 2003 when he testified to Congress that it might take several hundred thousand...

5 Blackwater Guards Charged in Shooting

(Newser) - Five Blackwater Worldwide security guards have been indicted and a sixth was negotiating a plea with prosecutors for a 2007 shooting that left 17 Iraqis dead and became an anti-American rallying cry for insurgents, people close to the case said today. Prosecutors obtained the indictment late yesterday and had it...

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