Stories related to: Iraq

Iceland is the world's most peaceful nation, says a new ranking of 140 countries, Reuters reports. Other findings of the Global Peace Index: The US ranked 97th, below Libya, Cuba, Chile, and Belarus. Iraq finished last, edging out Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Israel. More »

The US military's swift disciplining of an Army sniper who used a Koran for target practice reflects growing awareness of the need to forge bonds with the Sunni Arabs, whose cooperation is crucial to peace in Iraq, the LA Times reports. But apologies and discipline aren't enough for an influential political party that today called for "the severest of punishments," CNN reports. More »

A US commander has apologized to Iraqi tribal leaders after an American soldier used a Koran for target practice in Iraq, CNN reports. “The actions of one soldier were nothing more than criminal behavior,” said Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Hammond, head of US troops in Baghdad. "Please forgive me and my soldiers." The soldier, who has been sent back to the US, shot up a copy of the Muslim holy book earlier this month. More »

Iraqi forces have detained over 1,000 suspected militants in a massive push to drive al-Qaeda out of northern Iraq, Reuters reports. The crackdown centers on Mosul, al-Qaeda’s last major urban foothold. “This operation will last until we finish off all the terrorist remnants and outlaws,” said the Iraqi general leading the charge. More »

Nancy Pelosi visited Iraq today, and the staunch war critic said she liked what she heard. After meeting with several top Iraqi and US officials, including Nouri al-Maliki and David Petraeus, Pelosi emerged optimistic about the upcoming provincial elections. She also praised Baghdad for passing a budget and oil legislation, the AP reports. More »

The House today shot down a $162.5 billion bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan into next year after a surprise tactic by angry Republicans, the Washington Post reports. The bill failed by a vote of 148-141 after 132 members of the GOP abstained. By doing so, they formed an unusual coalition with a group of anti-war Democrats. The vote doesn't mean the wars won't be funded, however—the bill will be revived in the Senate next week. More »

John McCain thinks he can end the Iraq war and bring most troops home within his first term as president, he says in the text of a speech, obtained by the Los Angeles Times , to be delivered this morning. McCain’s doesn't acknowledge a policy change, but includes a list of what he expects to accomplish in his first term: “By January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly." More »

A withdrawal from Iraq next year would be a disaster that would likely trigger another 9/11, President Bush warns in an interview with Politico. "It would shake everybody's nerves. It would embolden the very same people we're trying to defeat" and "would eventually lead to another attack on the United States," he said. More »

The Iraqi father who suffocated and stabbed his 17-year-old daughter has only one regret over her honor killing: That he didn't murder her "the instant her mother delivered her." "Speaking with a foreign solider, she lost what is the most precious thing for any woman," Abdel-Qader Ali tells the Guardian . More »

Shiite militants have agreed to a cease-fire in Baghdad’s Sadr City, said an aide to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose militia is concentrated there, the AP reports. Sadrists “will stop fighting in Sadr City and will stop displaying arms in public,” the aide said. “In return, the government will stop random raids against al-Sadr followers and open all closed roads that lead to Sadr City.” More »

Iraqi officials jumped the gun yesterday when they announced the capture of the top commander of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the US military said today. It turns out the man they captured isn’t Abu Ayyub al-Masri; he just has a similar name. The hunt for the real al-Masri, who has a $5 million bounty on his head, is still going on. More »

The Iraqi army has arrested the leader of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the AP reports today. Defense officials said they took Abu Ayyub al-Masri into custody in Mosul. He has led the group—which last month called for stepped-up attacks against US forces—since 2006. Masri helped set up the first al-Qaeda cell in Baghdad after the US invasion in 2003. More »

The US has sent more than 43,000 troops deemed medically unfit for combat to war in Iraq and Afghanistan, USA Today reports. Since 2003 soldiers deemed non-deployable by medical officers have shipped anyway, according to Pentagon documents, with unit commanders overruling doctors. “It is a consequence of the consistent churning of our troops,” says one veterans advocate. Among National Guard and reserve troops, 5%-7% were deemed unfit. More »

In the last few weeks, two giants of center-left politics—Hillary Clinton in America and Gordon Brown in Britain—have seen their electoral chances reduced to near impossibility. Both have struggled as uncharismatic politicians in a media age. But for one columnist in London's Times , their trajectories have more important parallels: not least, their support for the war in Iraq, the unspoken element in both of their downfalls. More »

Saddam Hussein worried about catching AIDS and other venereal diseases during his US captivity, the Daily Mail reports. He even told guards not to dry their clothes on his laundry line. "I explained to them that they are young and they could have young people's diseases," Saddam wrote in prison diaries that were published today by a pan-Arab newspaper. More »

Hezbollah is helping to train Iraqi militants in Iran, the US claims in a report to Iraq’s government. The information, obtained during US questioning of captured Shiite fighters, suggests Iran is quietly aiding the militia, despite repeated claims it’s not interfering in internal Iraqi matters, the New York Times reports. More »

The wife of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani escaped injury after a roadside bomb hit her motorcade in Baghdad this morning. Hiro Ahmed Ibrahim was on her way to a cultural festival when the blast hit, injuring four of the first lady's bodyguards. It is unclear whether the attack was random or she was targeted, AP reports. More »

At least 28 people were wounded when US rockets struck near a Sadr City hospital today, destroying a fleet of ambulances, Reuters reports. The US says the attack was targeting a nearby militia “command and control” center. Hospital windows were shattered, but no patients were injured. The attack came amid a new outbreak of Sadr City fighting that saw 14 gunman killed overnight. More »

As US forces engaged in heavy fighting in the Mahdi Army's Sadr City today, bombings in Baghdad and Diyala province took the lives of as many as 45 Iraqis and one US soldier, the AP reports. The Diyala bombing, in Balad Ruz, was carried out by two suicide bombers—one of them a woman—during a wedding celebration. More »

A delegation of Shiite Iraqi officials is heading to Iran to discuss its role in supporting anti-government activity in Iraq, the New York Times reports. The trip marks the first time Iraqi leaders have visited Tehran over the issue. The officials, selected by PM al-Maliki, all have links to Iran, whose support of Shiite militias has long drawn US criticism. More »