15/1/08

Rice Hails Political Progress in Iraq
The Associated Press –
BAGHDAD (AP) — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brought Iraq’s leader a double-edged message Tuesday: praise for progress toward ending the nation’s …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gkx-3oYe
FwuWKCusr2jrojs98w8wD8U6HQ9G1

Ex-Colonel Opposes Iraq Vet for Congress
The Associated Press –
WASHINGTON (AP) — The father of a Marine killed in Iraq announced Tuesday he is running for the Pennsylvania House seat held by the only Iraq war veteran in …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hya26g_
FF4N7mx4ZUZos8c56lohAD8U6HMMG0

GAO Questions Report on Iraq
The Associated Press –
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration, in its last so-called Iraq“benchmark” report, used questionable financial data to assert that the Baghdad …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iV4qOe
Nneiv8-S1dya7NN_PLKDEwD8U6HL7O1

Iraq: 5 School Kids Killed by Convoy
The Associated Press –
Bosho Ibrahim, Iraq’s deputy justice minister, said the convoy carried Midhat al-Mahmoud, president of the Supreme Judicial council, the country’s top legal …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5haGqY65
LzT5mqCNYk-8j6FeNE9OwD8U6IANO0

Turkey bombs rebel targets in northern Iraq
Daily Times – Lahore,Pakistan
ANKARA/BAGHDAD: Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq on Tuesday, the latest in a series of cross border air strikes, …
www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=
2008%5C01%5C16%5Cstory_16-1-2008_pg7_2

McCain Supports Making Iraq the 51st State
By Larkin
Since the failure of nerve by the opposition last summer, the US has effectively decided to occupy Iraq for the rest of our lives. We had a choice: ten months or ten years, and by default we picked the latter – and, according to McCain, …
feeds.wizbangblog.com/~r/WizbangBlue/~3/2171989
44/mccain-supports-making-iraq-the-51st-state.php

Dem Bills Would Prevent Iraq-US Long-Term Pact without Congress Say-So
Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) will introduce the Iraq Strategic Agreement Review Act of 2008, which would require the administration to consult with Congress on the agreement and withhold funds for the agreement if it did not come in the form of …
www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/005078.php

Rice says more Iraq progress needed
Swissinfo – Switzerland
By Paul Tait BAGHDAD (Reuters) – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised Iraq on Tuesday for passing the first in a series of critical laws meant to …
www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/international/Rice_says_more_Iraq
_progress_needed.html?siteSect=143&sid=8624947&cKey=
1200418805000&ty=ti

Oversight for Iraq War Contracts Shifted
The Associated Press –
WASHINGTON (AP) — Oversight for nearly $4 billion in Iraq war contracts has been shifted from a troubled procurement office in Kuwait to an Army…
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jqI79n
j9rsRVp7o14wzSwnkCTMtQD8U6FJG00

Iraq Veterans for Congress
By rochester_veteran
Since the beginning of the war in Iraq, Democrats have cast veterans and active-duty military men and women as victims or villains. For John Kerry, veterans are the hapless pawns of the Bush administration, taken advantage of by the …
rochesterconservative.com/blog/?p=105

Rice hails ‘remarkable’ progress in Iraq
AFP –
BAGHDAD (AFP) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday praised“remarkable” political progress in Iraq, saying during a surprise visit to Baghdad …
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5giQAH4TOIgzgZ31J5bSOyvBYKhYA

Turkey bombs rebel targets in northern Iraq
AFP –
ARBIL, Iraq (AFP) — Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq on Tuesday in the latest in a series of cross-border air strikes, …
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gs
gpKz4K_mVNSBwSwvtTfWDH2XOg

In Baghdad, Rice praises law reintegrating former Baathists
Christian Science Monitor – Boston,MA,USA
The Associated Press reports the Bush administration has seen recent legislative steps in Iraq as encouraging. “President Bush and Secretary Rice decided …
www.csmonitor.com/2008/0115/p99s01-duts.html

Commander-in-Chief: McCain vs Clinton
Boston Globe – United States
I was surprised a few months back when President George W. “The Decider” Bush again changed his rhetoric about what lies ahead in Iraq.…
www.boston.com/news/politics/primaryvoices/
2008/01/commanderinchief_mccain_vs_cli.html

Iraq blames coalition helicopter for refinery fire
Guardian Unlimited – UK
By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD, Jan 15 (Reuters) – Iraq said a helicopter from the US-led coalition caused a blaze on Tuesday that shut the major Shuaiba refinery …
www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7226633

War News for Tuesday, January 15, 2008
By whisker(Cervantes)
Iraq’s southern Shuaiba oil refinery has been shut down “until further notice” after a mortar attack sparked a huge fire that damaged its gas and fuel production units, a source at the Southern Oil Company said on Tuesday. …
warnewstoday.blogspot.com/2008/01/
war-news-for-tuesday-january-15-2008.html

Iraq Forever
Can’t say it’s much of a surprise that despite all the Friedman Units and talk of victory and how Iraq won’t really play in the 2008 campaign that four years after the 2008 campaign there’ll be the 2012 campaign. …
matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/
archives/2008/01/iraq_forever_2.php

Rice Praises Iraq Progress
The Associated Press –
BAGHDAD (AP) — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said during a surprise trip to Iraq Tuesday that national reconciliation has moved along “quite…
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gkx-3o
YeFwuWKCusr2jrojs98w8wD8U6AH080

Violence reduced in Iraq, security prospect remains ambiguous
Xinhua – China
15 (Xinhua) — Continued violence in Iraq in 2008 reminds the world that stability remains elusive in the war-shattered country despite the fact that some …
news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/15/content_7427877.htm

Turkish jets bomb Kurdish area in northern Iraq
USA Today – USA
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish rebel hideouts in northern Iraq on Tuesday, the military announced. It was the fourth aerial attack …
www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-01-15-turkey-iraq_N.htm

Oil and the looming threat to Iraq
By Big Gav(Big Gav)
It also offered the best guarantee of achieving two of Washington’s important goals in Iraq: access to Iraqi oil and an ‘enduring’ relationship with Iraq that gave Washington, through an Iraqi national oil law, the access and control it …
peakenergy.blogspot.com/2008/01/
oil-and-looming-threat-to-iraq.html

Rice in Iraq to press for reforms
AFP –
BAGHDAD (AFP) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Baghdad on Tuesday to press Iraq’s leaders for further reforms after …
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gZrbeiHhQAF-5MkU4ji_vj7Dg0LQ

In Iraq, A Sunni-Shi’ite Detente?
TIME – USA
On Saturday afternoon in central Baghdad, Iraq’s often raucous Parliament did something out of character. It voted to pass an actual piece of legislation. …
www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1703365,00.html

Iraq vets need help returning home
Seattle Post Intelligencer – USA
On Sunday, The New York Times outlined 121 cases in which war vets either killed or were charged with killing after returning from Iraq or Afghanistan. …
seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/347380_robert15x.html

Rice travels to Iraq pushing political reconciliation
CNN – USA
(CNN) — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Iraq on Tuesday on a previously unannounced visit, the White House said. …
www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/01/15/iraq.main/

Judge and US-Linked Sunni Fighters Are Killed in Iraq
New York Times – United States
Mr. Araji described him as a one-man “legal reference for Iraq.” He said the judge was from a well-known tribe in Ramadi, and moved to Baghdad many years …
www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/world
/middleeast/15iraq.html?ref=middleeast

Iraq Defense Minister Sees Need for US Security Help Until 2018
New York Times – United States
Those comments from the minister, Abdul Qadir, were among the most specific public projections of a timeline for the American commitment in Iraq by…
www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/world/
middleeast/15military.html?ref=middleeast

In Search of Answers
New York Times – United States
The Iraqi Parliament has finally done something that the Bush administration, and many others, considered essential to political progress in Iraq: it passed …
www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/opinion/15tue1.html?hp

News & Views 01/14/08
By dancewater(Cervantes)
A genocidal campaign under Saddam Hussein against Iraq ‘s Kurds must never be forgottten, officials said on Monday at a ceremony for 371 victims, whose grieving relatives demanded those responsible be put to death. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari …
warnewstoday.blogspot.com/2008/01/news-views-011408.html

McCain runs on Iraq in Michigan
Salon – USA
On the stump in Michigan, John McCain campaigns on victory in Iraq. It’s a risky strategy, as the recent surge in violence shows. By Juan Cole Sen.…
www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/01/15/mccain/

Clinton Would Pull Troops From Iraq 60 Days After Entering Oval Office
FOXNews – USA
I will engage in a full diplomatic effort to work with the countries in the region and others who have an interest in the stability of Iraq,” she said on …
youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/01/14/clinton-would
-pull-troops-from-iraq-60-days-after-entering-oval-office/

Ignoring Iraq: Why Has it Become the Forgotten Issue of the ‘08 Race?
Huffington Post – New York,NY,USA
And Time is running a story this week asking: “Will Iraq Return as a Campaign Issue?” Bush’s escalation of troops is now one year old. When it was launched, …
www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffi
ngton/ignoring-iraq-why-has-it_b_81494.html

14/1/08

The Clintons Iraq Fairy Tale
Yahoo! News – USA
The Nation — It’s fascinating to see Hillary Clinton attack Barack Obama for things that she herself voted for, like funding for the war in Iraq.…
news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20080114/cm_thenation/45270194

The Wacko-Vet Myth
The Weekly Standard – USA
The Times “found 121 cases in which veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan committed a killing in this country, or were charged with one, after their return from …
www.weeklystandard.com/Check.asp?idArticle=14592&r=buqao

Father of Marine killed in Iraq to run against Patrick Murphy
By thecrypt@politico.com (Josh Kraushaar)
Blog: Freshman Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), the only Iraq war veteran serving in Congress, could be running for re-election against a Marine Corps Reserve.
www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0108/Father_of_slain
_Iraq_war_veteran_to_run_against_Patrick_Murphy.html

Kurtz misrepresented Obama’s 2004 remark on Iraq war stance
Barack Obama (D-IL) “said there wasn’t much difference between his position and George Bush’s position on the [Iraq] war.” But Kurtz left out three key words from Obama’s quote in the Tribune — “at this stage” — as well as the context …
mediamatters.org/items/200801140002

Clinton Calls Obama Out on Iraq
Russert questions Clinton in a semi-automatic round of “Meet the Press,” drawing distinctions on Obama’s record on Iraq that actually make a difference but all this guy can come up with is this? …
www.taylormarsh.com/archives_view.php?id=26823

The Clinton – Obama Iraq Feud
By Pamela Leavey
Barack Obama came to the Senate in as a candidate who opposed the war in Iraq. Yet, given the opportunity to oppose the war on many occassions once in the Senate, he did not. A look at his Senate and campaign websites show clearly that …
thedemocraticdaily.com/2008/01/14/the-clinton-obama-iraq-feud/

Six killed in Iraq booby-trapped house blast
AFP –
BAQUBA, Iraq (AFP) — Six people were killed in a massive blast in an explosives-rigged house in central Iraq on Monday during an operation by US and Iraqi …
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gXt6SVyZlVSqjCzUh9qVtLK9b3Yg

US troops kill 60 in Iraq Qaeda offensive
Reuters – USA
By Ross Colvin BAGHDAD, Jan 14 (Reuters) – The US military said on Monday it had killed 60 militants during a week-long, US-led offensive in northern Iraq …
www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL14356347

Iraq: Snow in Baghdad
By Salam Adil
There is a certain impression of peace and goodwill settling in city that has taken the brunt of the violence that beset Iraq in the past years. I wish I could say the same for Iraq’s second city, Mosul. Sunshine writes about her …
www.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/01/14/iraq-snow-in-baghdad/

Seven police killed in Iraq house blast-police
Reuters – USA
BAGHDAD, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Seven Iraqi policemen were killed when a house apparently rigged with explosives blew up north of Baghdad on Monday, …
www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSL14227667

Turkish PM can’t predict end of Iraq offensive
AFP –
In October Turkey’s parliament voted overwhelmingly to authorise the country’s military to send troops into the mountainous terrain of northern Iraq to …
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h
V6HClRcBoDSLBhBH2J-QC51mJOw

FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Jan 14
Reuters – USA
BAGHDAD – Gunmen killed a member of Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, Appeals Court Judge Amir Jawdat al-Naeib, as he drove to work in Baghdad’s western …
www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSANW423593

US claims success in new Iraq offensive
Guardian Unlimited – UK
American and Iraqi forces killed 60 militants in the first week of a major new offensive against al-Qaida in northern Iraq, the US military said today. …
www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2240679,00.html

ThreatsWatch.Org – RapidRecon: Iraq and al-Qaeda, Victory and Caution
By Steve Schippert
There is an understandable temptation to declare victory over al-Qaeda in Iraq. And while Iraqi and American forces have teamed to drive them from every sanctuary al-Qaeda had carved – including now the “Triangle of Death” south of …
threatswatch.org/rapidrecon/2008/01/
iraq-and-alqaeda-victory-and-c/

Morning Update: Skirmishing on Iraq
By Campaign2008
Barack Obama (D-IL) for what she says are inconsistencies in his Iraq record. “When he became a senator, he didn’t go to the floor of the Senate to condemn the war in Iraq for 18 months. He didn’t introduce legislation against the war …
blogs.cfr.org/campaign2008/2008/01
/14/morning-update-skirmishing-on-iraq/

Clinton Attacks on Iraq
To add to what Ezra Klein says about the new round of Iraq-related attacks Hillary Clinton is making on Barack Obama, my issue here is that I don’t understand what point her campaign is trying to make. …
matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/ar
chives/2008/01/clinton_attacks_on_iraq.php

Poll: Economy As Important As Iraq
KELOLAND TV – Sioux Falls,SD,USA
The last time the United States was involved in Iraq and there was a hotly contested election, the winner of that election did so by reminding us:‘It’s the …
www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6371.cfm?Id=0,65241

Obama said ‘no’ to Iraq money in theory, ‘yes’ in reality
Chicago Sun-Times – United States
Clinton and former President Bill Clinton are now pushing the Obama Iraq funding votes, because, I surmise, they think it will hurt Obama if more people …
www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/
739563,CST-NWS-sweet14.article

US must stay, says Iraq tribe fighting Al-Qaeda
Africasia – London,UK
An early pullout of US troops would spark a return of savage sectarian violence and be “disastrous” for Iraq, a tribal leader fighting Al-Qaeda in a …
www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?
area=mideast&item=080114092518.q2f268ma.php

Another War Election
New York Times – United States
In the Iowa Republican Caucus entrance poll, more voters chose the economy as the most important issue (26 percent) than the Iraq war (17 percent).…
campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/
2008/01/13/another-war-election/

Iraq In Focus
For the first time since the Iraq war began in 2003, this year’s duPont Awards significantly recognize journalism emerging from that conflict. “I think the jury would say in their conversations that the reporting on …
www.tvweek.com/news/2008/01/iraq_in_focus.php

Iraq Numerology
By Siun
At the same time 80 Bahraini environmentalists demonstrated against George’s visit to their country, lighting “candles to remember victims of the Iraq war, which they identified as children, women, men, civilization, air, water, soil, …
firedoglake.com/2008/01/13/iraq-numerology/

Bush Hails Legislative Action in Iraq
No description.
www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/
news/iraq/2008/01/iraq-080113-voa01.htm

Remember Iraq?
By Jim Baker
As the presidential campaign increasingly focuses on the worsening economy and other domestic issues, the war in Iraq has faded into the background. Just this week, President Bush said we could be there for 10 more years and Senator …
www.davidmixner.com/2008/01/remember-iraq.html

US works to integrate Sunnis in Iraq
Los Angeles Times – CA,USA
The day-to-day commander in Iraq, Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, believes that the Iraqi government’s reconciliation with onetime Sunni fighters …
www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-
usiraq14jan14,1,3634658.story?coll=la-headlines-world

Poll: Americans Think US On Wrong Track
CBS News – New York,NY,USA
For the first time in over two years the economy and jobs is the most important problem facing the country today – edging out the war in Iraq.…
www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/13/
opinion/polls/main3706504.shtml

Examine why many White House hopefuls have quieted down about the …
CNN – USA
HENRY: The president knows his alternate vision of spreading democracy in the Mideast faces skepticism because the model for his “freedom agenda,” the Iraq …
www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/studentnews/01/13/transcript.mon/