21/12/07

Democrats Tell Leaders to Change Focus on Iraq
The Politico reports that rank and file Congressional Democrats recognize that a relentless focus on retreat in Iraq hasn’t helped the party in 2007, and would hurt them more if it continues in 2008: …
www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/
2007/12/democrats_tell_leaders_to_chan.asp

US troops could soon begin partial Iraq pullout: Gates
AFP –
WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Defense Secretary Robert Gates Friday voiced hope that US troops will soon start returning home from Iraq, saying improved security …
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hm75IOufAxnROtjJIBz3TNxDrsUw

Australian PM visits troops in Iraq
CNN – USA
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Australian Prime Minister Paul Rudd paid a surprise visit to Baghdad Friday, and vowed again that his country’s troops in Iraq will …
www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/12/21/australia.troops/

Salvadoran Lawmakers OK Iraq Troop Aid
The Associated Press –
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The national legislature has given Salvadoran President Tony Saca the go ahead to extend troop deployments to Iraq until …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hZJiOc
Or4b0uSFw7t3Gh25EWejcgD8TM20M02

Shiite Lauds, Warns ‘Awakening Councils’
The Associated Press –
But the Sunni militiamen are demanding something in return: permanent jobs and influence in Iraq’s security forces. The Shiite-led government has been slow …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gkx-3o
YeFwuWKCusr2jrojs98w8wD8TM343O0

Democrats to stop head banging on Iraq in 2008
Baltimore Sun – United States
REPORTER: Senator Reid, could you talk a little bit about what you plan to do in the new year on the Iraq issue? Are you going to try to change your focus a …
weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog
/2007/12/democrats_to_stop_head_banging.html

Iraq: Kirkuk Referendum Delayed By Six Months
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty – Prague,Czech Republic
By Kathleen Ridolfo Iraq’s Kurdish officials reluctantly accepted a UN proposal calling for a six-month extension to implement Article 140 of the Iraqi …
www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/12/43
A4F894-4431-47CF-A120-0573F7412542.html

Gates Offers Hope of Iraq Withdrawals
The Associated Press –
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Robert Gates held out hope Friday that US forces in Iraq could continue a steady decline next year if security keeps …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gnPpw
RiOsjgI0z57NytZve0-sHMgD8TLVOR82

Shiite leader in Iraq says neighborhood patrols should be reined in
International Herald Tribune – France
By Damien Cave BAGHDAD: The leader of Iraq’s largest Shiite political party said Friday that the neighborhood patrols credited with calming many Sunni areas …
www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/21/africa/iraq.php

Rudd makes surprise visit to Iraq
BBC News – UK
Mr Rudd’s predecessor, John Howard, was a key ally in US-led Iraq operations and deployed about 550 combat troops. In a joint news conference with Mr Rudd, …
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7155982.stm

Turkey: Iraq Operation May Continue
The Associated Press –
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s military may stage more cross-border operations into northern Iraq to hunt down separatist Kurdish rebels, …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gbFNzL
CHX_s7l2KuUDMuYdWYAWSAD8TL5UAO0

Iraq War: Streamlined attack
Seattle Post Intelligencer – USA
We’ve just angered the Kurds, who occupy the only safe zone (well, unless you count the Turkish bombs dropping) in Iraq. We’re dropping the ball on…
seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/344384_kurded21.html

Iraq: Shiite Cautions on ‘Awakening’
The Associated Press –
BAGHDAD (AP) — The leader of the largest Shiite political party in Iraq told about 5000 faithful who gathered for Islamic holy day prayers that US-backed …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gkx-3oY
eFwuWKCusr2jrojs98w8wD8TLQK4O1

Truth, Lies, Errors and Bullshit About Iraq and Iran by Walter C …
By dandelionsalad
And so are the neoconservatives, whose ideological obsession with using US military power, in order to extend liberty and democracy around the world, reeks with “indifference to how things really are” in such places as Iraq, …
dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2007/12/21/truth-lies-
errors-and-bullshit-about-iraq-and-iran-by-walter-c-uhler/

20 Hidden Ways the Iraq War is Affecting the US Dollar
By junjung
The Iraq war has affected the personal and political lives of many people around the world, but its influence doesn’t stop there. The Iraq war has had a profound effect on the dollar, too. Here, we’ll take a look at 20 reasons why. …
junjungpurba.blogspot.com/2007/12/20
-hidden-ways-iraq-war-is-affecting-us.html

Suicide bomber kills 14 in Iraq
Reuters UK – UK
BAQUBA, Iraq (Reuters) – A suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives killed 13 neighbourhood patrol volunteers and a US soldier in a volatile …
uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKL2035452720071221

Richardson Criticizes Clinton as Flip Flopper On Iraq
By Stephen Cassidy
To do this, the new president must first end the Iraq war. We need to withdraw all our troops and embrace a decisive new political strategy that engages all the nations of the region, as well as the international donor community. …
www.mydd.com/story/2007/12/21/41533/364

Torture Chamber, Mass Graves Found by US Soldiers in Iraq
Bloomberg – USA
21 (Bloomberg) — US soldiers in Iraq discovered a torture chamber used by suspected al-Qaeda-linked insurgents and the remains of 26 people buried in mass …
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=2
0601087&sid=andQucecxT5A&refer=home

Iraq ‘torture chamber’ discovered
Aljazeera.net – Qatar
A number of groups fighting al-Qaeda known as As-Sahwa (Awakening) have mushroomed across Iraq ‘s Sunni regions. In another incident in Diyala, …
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9979E02
C-1E53-42AB-9A38-5AF6ABE0462D.htm

6 AWB Execs Face Court Over Iraq Bribes
The Associated Press –
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Six former executives of wheat exporter AWB Ltd. are facing civil trial over millions of dollars in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i3gayv
QummIsBHp-MycamvJrCpKQD8TLJOVG0

US Military Deaths in Iraq at 3896
The Associated Press –
20, 2007, at least 3896 members of the US military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gqgQCcv
26kB1dkgZRZNHmbn_1J8gD8TLGPC00

News & Views 12/20/07
By dancewater(Cervantes)
“Police squad managed to set free a kidnapped woman from the abductors Tuesday night in Jezair neighbourhood, downtown Basra “, a responsible sources in Basrah police told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). …
warnewstoday.blogspot.com/2007/12/news-views-122007.html

Torture Chamber Found in Iraq
The Associated Press –
Graffiti on the building proclaimed “Long Live the Islamic State” — a reference to the Islamic governance, or caliphate, sought in Iraq by Sunni extremist …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jlCCQFn
YdggZfoffNxX6Zl-_zYNAD8TLE5080

Pentagon to boost US personnel in understaffed Iraq
Times of India – India
The nearly 1000 per cent increase in staff – from six people to almost 70– includes a two-star general, who arrived in Iraq two weeks ago to manage the …
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/The_United_States/
Pentagon_to_boost_US_personnel_in_understaffed_Iraq/
articleshow/2639454.cms

Bush ‘not satisfied’ with slow progress in Iraq
Scotsman – United Kingdom
By MARGARET NEIGHBOUR GEORGE Bush is not satisfied with political progress in Iraq, but insists that its government is advancing. …
news.scotsman.com/world/Bush-39
not-satisfied39-with-slow.3611594.jp

US, Turkey coordinate after bombing
Taipei Times – Taiwan
US and Turkish military officials were working to streamline procedures for any future attacks against rebels in northern Iraq after top US officials in …
www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/
archives/2007/12/21/2003393488

Fox’s McNaught omitted reported US role in Turkey’s northern Iraq …
On the December 18 edition of Fox News’ Special Report with Brit Hume, correspondent Anita McNaught aired Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s claim that Turkey’s December 16 bombing of Kurdish areas in northern Iraq was “a Turkish …
mediamatters.org/items/rss/200712200006

Iraq snapshot
By Common Ills(Common Ills)
This despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of Catholic moral theologians agree with these deserters: the Iraq war is unjust; destertion, in a situation where there are no other alternatives, is preferable to participation in …
thecommonills.blogspot.com/2007/12/iraq-snapshot_20.html

20/12/07

Bush voices concern over Iraq, Afghanistan
Melbourne Herald Sun – Australia
… Congress which took over in January for taking its time as it haggled over the legislation while weighing timelines for a withdrawal from Iraq.…
www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/
0,21985,22958017-5005961,00.html

Volunteers to fight al-Qaeda targeted in Iraq blast
Times Online – UK
Thirteen people were killed today when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest at a recruitment post for volunteers wanting to fight extremists in Iraq …
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article3078672.ece

Most Poles support Iraq troop pullout: survey
Reuters – USA
WARSAW (Reuters) – Eighty-five percent of Poles support the withdrawal of Poland’s troops from Iraq next year, as recommended by the centre-right government …
www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL2088798620071220

Bush says more political improvements needed in Iraq
International Herald Tribune – France
AP WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush said Thursday more work remains to be done in Iraq, especially in terms of political improvements in the country. …
www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/20/
america/NA-GEN-US-Bush-Iraq.php

Iraq – Let’s Review
By Cernig(Cernig)
I can’t be the only one who is hearfelt sick of wingnut crowing that, because violence is dramatically down in Iraq, they have won the war with liberal “Defeatocrats” as well as the war with Al Qaeda, all from the safety of their …
cernigsnewshog.blogspot.com/2007/12/iraq-lets-review.html

US commander in N. Iraq says al-Qaida still able to stage attacks
By vjolly
Hertling said al-Qaida in Iraq was being pushed north by the increased numbers of US troops that surged into Baghdad over the summer and fall. The insurgents are also being flushed out of Anbar province by “awakening councils” — groups …
ocworld.freedomblogging.com/2007/12/20/us-commander
-in-n-iraq-says-al-qaida-still-able-to-stage-attacks/

Iraq’s Refugees
A small fraction of the millions of refugees who fled Iraq have come back. While the government trumpeted their return as proof of newfound security, migration experts said most of them were forced back by expired visas and depleted …
matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/
archives/2007/12/iraqs_refugees_1.php

US House Passes Budget Bill with Funding for Iraq, Afghanistan
Voice of America – USA
Congressional Democrats lost their bid to link funding for the Iraq war with a timetable for withdrawal. Mr. Bush had threatened to veto any bill that …
www.voanews.com/english/2007-12-20-voa20.cfm

US forces find Iraq torture chamber
The Australian – Sydney,Australia
The torture centre, which the US military says was run by al-Qa’ida in Iraq, was found after tips from locals. Graves containing 26 bodies were nearby. …
www.theaustralian.news.com.au/
story/0,25197,22957856-2703,00.html

Crude prices slip amid falling US energy reserves
AFP –
This week, prices were also pressured by geopolitical concerns in crude producer Iraq. Prices sank on Tuesday, reversing an earlier spike, …
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i_QrL_2UX75oD1kqrNpTRjPfWXYw

Bush touts progress in Iraq, Afghanistan
Xinhua – China
20 (Xinhua) — US President George W. Bush touted progress in Iraq and Afghanistan Thursday morning, while summing up his job in 2007 at an year-end press …
news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/21/content_7286509.htm