Gates: Troops May Leave Iraq Early

(NEWSER) - Tension between Arabs and Kurds, rather than the usual friction between Sunnis and Shia, has become the greatest threat to Iraqi security, says the top US general in the country. The oil-rich Kurdish region has become "the No. 1 driver of instability," Ray Odierno told reporters yesterday, and "many insurgent groups are trying to exploit the tensions." The Kurds are battling Baghdad over who has control of oil reserves, and support for an independent Kurdistan is rising. More»

(NEWSER) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has landed in Iraq for a surprise visit, the AP reports. He'll meet with troops stationed at a command post in southern Iraq who are largely serving as advisers. He's also expected to see Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and visit the restive Kurdish region. More»

Further delay of Iraq government's decision could jeopardize smooth transition

(AP) - Iraq's indecision on whether to ask American forces to stay beyond the end of the year is pushing the US close to the point where a smooth, safe troop withdrawal will be jeopardized, the top US military officer said today upon arriving in the country. Adm. Mike Mullen said that American and Iraqi operations over the last several weeks have tamped down a recent surge in violence there, but he's not sure how long that will last. "Now is the time. We have to know," Mullen told reporters just before landing in Mosul. More»

Galbraith's policy push won him $100M

(NEWSER) - An influential American advocate for Iraqi Kurds, who helped successfully secure Kurdish control over new oil finds in northern Iraq in the country's constitution, stands to reap more than $100 million from the policy he shaped. Peter Galbraith, it turns out, received rights to an enormous oil stake in Kurdistan in 2004, after negotiating permission for a Norwegian oil company to drill there, the New York Times reports. More»

Dispute over Kirkuk holds up passage of new election law

(NEWSER) - A dispute over the oil-rich province of Kirkuk is threatening to delay the Iraqi elections scheduled for January and push Arab-Kurd tensions past the breaking point. Kurdish lawmakers in the Iraqi parliament have vowed to block a vote on a new election law unless authorities agree to use voter records from 2009 in the election, instead of records from 2004 when the population was more heavily Arabic. More»