Iraq war

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Prez Pushes Osama's Link to Insurgency

Commander-in-chief adamant al-Qaeda in Iraq is key branch of broader network

(Newser) - President Bush insisted again yesterday that a Sunni insurgent group in Iraq is an integral part of Osama bin Laden's worldwide al-Qaeda network—-rebuffing several experts' claims to the contrary. Recent reports have suggested that Sunnis fighting under the "al-Qaeda in Iraq" banner are local insurgents with a weak...

Bush Gets Personal with Iraqi PM
Bush Gets Personal
with Iraqi PM

Bush Gets Personal with Iraqi PM

Leaders' virtual meetings produce few concrete results

(Newser) - Across thousands of miles, President Bush remains a close adviser to Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki. At least every 2 weeks, the politicians confer over a satellite uplink, usually for more than an hour of discussion about the civil war, Iraq's future, and even their shared religious devotion. "They talk...

Sheehan Arrested in Impeachment Protest

Anti-war mom will run against Pelosi

(Newser) - Antiwar mom Cindy Sheehan was arrested yesterday after overstaying her welcome in Rep. John Conyer's office on Capitol Hill. She was there to urge Conyers to impeach President Bush over his conduct of the war in Iraq, and to announce that she will run for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San...

YouTube Asks, Dems Respond
YouTube Asks, Dems Respond

YouTube Asks, Dems Respond

Voters call the shots as candidates answer their questions directly

(Newser) - Voters put questions directly to the Democratic presidential candidates last night, thanks to 3,000 citizens who submitted questions to YouTube. CNN selected and played 39 of the homemade videos, in which regular Americans—including a lesbian couple, a singer, and a snowman—created an unprecedented debate format. The candidates...

Injured Veterans Sue US
Injured Veterans Sue US

Injured Veterans Sue US

Class action suit targets VA for 'shameful failures' in treatment

(Newser) - Two veterans groups representing troops who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan are suing the US government for "shameful failures" in medical treatment, Reuters reports. The Department of Veterans Affairs is swamped with a backlog of 600,000 health claims and is "abandoning" soldiers returning home, the class-action...

Ambassador Asks US to Issue Visas to Iraqi Workers

Baghdad envoy speaks up for imperiled locals

(Newser) - Fearing for the safety of locals employed by the American government in Iraq, the US ambassador wants the administration to issue them immigrant visas. Ryan Crocker's unusual request spotlights competing pressures, the Washington Post reports: the danger to Iraqis perceived as aiding the occupiers, the worsening refugee crisis, and Washington's...

Paul Challenges GOP Agenda on Campaign Trail

"Lone wolf''s" campaign gains traction with the young and wired

(Newser) - Most Americans know him—if at all— as the firebrand Texas congressman who’s always pushed to the end of the line during debates. Ron Paul flounders at the bottom of national polls, but he's is the most “friended” Republican on myspace.com. And he's the lone GOP presidential...

Olbermann to Prez: Stop Scapegoating, Start Fighting

Anchor irate at blame game on war failure

(Newser) - A war of words over the Iraq war that erupted this week nominally involves only a Pentagon underling and Hillary Clinton, but MSNBC's Keith Olbermann finds a message for President Bush in the back-and-forth. Accusing the administration of scapegoating both the senator and antiwar citizens, he calls for Bush to...

Fear Rules Iraq, Briefers Tell Congress

Benchmarks not likely to be met, say Crocker, Petraeus

(Newser) - Iraq is gripped by widespread fear and is unlikely to fulfill political and security goals by the pivotal September assessment, US officials told lawmakers yesterday in a briefing from Baghdad. "One word I would use to sum up the atmosphere in Iraq is 'fear,' " said ambassador Ryan...

Contractor Armies Thrive in Iraq
Contractor Armies Thrive in Iraq

Contractor Armies Thrive in Iraq

180,000 civilians working in legal limbo

(Newser) - A private army of occupation in Iraq—mechanics, construction workers, translators, bodyguards, and other civilian contractors—is increasing in numbers keeping pace with the troop surge, the Christian Science Monitor reports. As many as 180,000 private contractors in Iraq, most of them not US nationals, currently work in legal...

Head of Veterans Affairs Quits
Head of Veterans Affairs Quits

Head of Veterans Affairs Quits

Secretary's short tenure long on scandals and other woes

(Newser) - The secretary of Veterans Affairs, the head of the second-biggest federal department, is stepping down and will be replaced by October 1, reports the Washington Post. For 2½ turbulent years, Jim Nicholson, a decorated Vietnam vet and former RNC chair, presided over a department beset by criticism and overwhelmed by...

Resurgent Al-Qaeda Poised to Strike US

New report says terror group poses 'persistent and evolving threat'

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda’s mounting presence in Iraq may lead to an attack on US soil within the next three years, a new intelligence report finds. The group’s Iraqi affiliate is building resources, animating Sunni extremists, and recruiting new members. The document also says that Hezbollah and non-Muslim radical groups pose...

Senate to Pull Iraq All-Nighter
Senate to Pull Iraq All-Nighter

Senate to Pull Iraq All-Nighter

Democrats maneuver to force up-down vote on president's war policy

(Newser) - Democrats will plunge the Senate into a rare overnight debate tonight, hoping to pressure Republicans uneasy about the president’s Iraq war strategy by forcing a simple majority vote. The session will conclude in a vote on troop withdrawal tomorrow morning. Republicans responded to yesterday's announcement by accusing Democrats of...

Moore Ready to Rumble
Moore Ready
to Rumble

Moore Ready to Rumble

Promises to be CNN's 'worst nightmare' unless he gets an apology on Sicko

(Newser) - In an open letter to CNN, Michael Moore takes issue with what he considers to be a biased report on his movie Sicko. He demands an apology and promises to become CNN's "worst nightmare" unless one is forthcoming promptly.

GOP Senate Bigwigs Push for Iraq Shift

Lugar, Warner seek redeployment, want specifics by October

(Newser) - Two of the GOP's most respected foreign policy experts want troop realignment in Iraq, and they proposed Senate legislation yesterday that calls for the White House to have a plan in place by mid-October. The move by Richard Lugar and John Warner was the latest sign of disintegrating Republican support...

Times Staffer Slain in Baghdad
Times Staffer Slain in Baghdad

Times Staffer Slain in Baghdad

Reporter-interpreter becomes 110th journalist killed since 2003 US invasion

(Newser) - An Iraqi reporter in the New York Times Baghdad bureau was shot and killed today on his way to work. Khalid Hassan, 23, is the second Iraqi Times employee and the 110th journalist killed in Iraq since 2003. Bureau chief John F. Burns described Hassan, a  4-year Times veteran, as...

Iraqis Go on Alert as Mammoth Badgers Stalk City

Locals blame British troops for badger invasion

(Newser) - Badgers have invaded Basra, Iraq, spurring fears of a man-eating monster on the loose in the port city. Despite Iraqi scientists' assurances that the creatures are not dangerous to humans, locals demonize the oversized carnivores and blame British troops for for unleashing them. The badgers "don't stalk humans and...

House OKs Withdrawal Timetable
House OKs Withdrawal Timetable

House OKs Withdrawal Timetable

Mandatory timetable giving Pentagon 120 days to start redeployment and setting April deadline passes 223-201

(Newser) - The House voted late today to require the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq to begin within 120 days as part of legislation that sets an April 1 deadline for complete redeployment. The 223-201 vote, a largely symbolic move given that Senate support isn't sufficient to override a filibuster, went...

Bush Satisfied With Iraq Progress
Bush Satisfied With Iraq Progress

Bush Satisfied With Iraq Progress

Acknowledging 'war fatigue,' president warns against hasty withdrawal

(Newser) - President Bush used today's interim report on the Iraq war to renew his call for Congress to withhold judgment on the troop surge until a September update, saying the military will "be in a better position to adjust" in 2 months. The report notes positive movement in eight out...

White House Iraq Report: Mixed Progress

Cites gains on military benchmarks, lack of progress on political goals

(Newser) - The White House's interim report on its progress in Iraq, to be released today, will cite "satisfactory" work on eight of 18  benchmarks set by Congress, insufficient improvement on eight more, and mixed results on the final two. Most of the positive movement  has been on the military front,...

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