A Prison Aims to Deprogram Young Jihadists

Heightens fears that attacks will increase now that US has withdrawn

(AP) - A wave of bombings targeting Shiites in Iraq killed 72 people today, deepening sectarian tensions that exploded just after the last American troops left the country in mid-December. The bombings began early in the morning when explosions struck two Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad, killing at least 27 people. A few hours later, a suicide attack hit Shiite pilgrims heading to the holy Shiite city of Karbala, killing 45; those explosions took place about 200 miles southeast of Baghdad. More»

Iraqi PM hasn't followed through on his end of agreement

(NEWSER) - The US is charging ahead with an $11 billion arms deal with Iraq, and has even delivered some of the promised fighter jets, tanks, and weapons—even though Nouri al-Maliki has blatantly failed to follow through on an agreement intended to ensure he would not marginalize his Sunni rivals. Indeed, Maliki has moved aggressively to cement his power since the US left Iraq, leading some diplomats to express concern about the sale, the New York Times reports. More»

Tariq al-Hashemi says Maliki forced his guards to confess

(NEWSER) - Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi vigorously denied the terrorism charges leveled against him yesterday , saying that Shiite-led security personnel had forced false confessions out of his personal guards. "I swear by God I didn’t do this disobedience against Iraqi blood, and I would never do this," he said in a televised news conference from the Kurdish capital of Erbil. "The goal is clear, it is not more than political slander." More»

Another 106 injured in suicide attack

(NEWSER) - At least 41 people were killed and another 106 injured when a woman blew herself up in a crowd of Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad today. The woman hid the explosives underneath her abaya, a long traditional black garment. Witnesses describe seeing a fireball, and then seeing pilgrims “on the ground, covered in blood and crying for help.” Some did indeed help, driving the injured to hospitals in cars, rather than waiting for ambulances. More»

(NEWSER) - Iraq was rocked by two deadly, possibly destabilizing bombings this weekend, but the proof is in the reprisals, Larry Kaplow writes in Newsweek—and there were none. “Iraq today is a different place than it was when ethnic conflict threatened to engulf the country in 2006,” Kaplow continues. “The powder here is wetter than it once was.” And that’s due mostly to Shiite military power and restraint in the face of Sunni attacks. More»