Iraq

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US Forces Hunt Down Iraqi Rackets
US Forces
Hunt Down
Iraqi Rackets
Oct 26, 2007 8:32 PM CDT

US Forces Hunt Down Iraqi Rackets

Illegal schemes funnel key money to insurgents

(Newser) - Iraq's mafia-style rackets are funneling big money to insurgents, making them key targets for US commanders. Corruption and kickbacks in real estate, soft drinks, cement—even the extortion of US contractors—are fueling what Maliki calls a “second war” in Iraq. "We have got to attack the insurgency...

Feds Sought to Cover Up '05 Blackwater Killing

'We can't win this one,' wrote one official

(Newser) - State Department officials sought to conceal evidence of a 2005 Blackwater killing from an LA Times reporter, according to emails obtained by ABC News. Referring to a shooting that killed one Iraqi and led to two Blackwater dismissals, one official instructed another to give the Times "what we can...

Qaeda Backers Enraged by Al Jazeera's Osama Excerpts

Critics also seek praise from scolding leader

(Newser) - Supporters of Al Qaeda have attacked Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera for selectively airing critical remarks by Osama bin Laden this week in which he blasts Iraqi insurgent groups for being too splintered. Critics called for the broadcaster to air the entire tape, which also includes praise for the groups.

Turkey Demands US Action on Kurdish Rebels

PM reminds DC of help in Afghanistan; Iraqis urge nonmilitary action

(Newser) - As top Iraqis urged his country to quell Kurdish rebels with nonmilitary action, Turkish PM Recep Erdogan demanded that the US act to stop those rebels from threatening his country from northern Iraq, the New York Times reports. “We have a disturbance," Erdogan said. "What kind of...

Push to Put Private Guards Under Military

Congress wants military in charge, despite resistance from Condi

(Newser) - Despite reluctance from Condoleezza Rice, Congress is pushing to bring all private security guards operating in Iraq under US military control. The Senate included military oversight of private contractors in its 2008 defense bill, and the House is likely to follow, the AP reports. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Carl Levin,...

Blackwater Shield of Silence Crumbling Amid Probe

Deadly force went 'horribly' wrong: guard

(Newser) - A flood of federal investigators are beginning to pierce the armor of silence surrounding Blackwater guards at their Baghdad encampment, with some seriously questioning the justification of last month's shooting deaths of 17 Iraqis. “Some guys are thinking it was not a good shoot," one guard told the...

Turkish Sorties Into Iraq Kill 34 Kurdish Fighters

But army holds off, for now, on any large-scale invasion

(Newser) - Turkish incursions into northern Iraq have killed 34 Kurdish fighters over the past few days, and the Turks today targeted positions along the border with airstrikes, Reuters reports. Some 300 troops have crossed into Iraq by 6 miles, and planes have struck as far as 13 miles. So far, though,...

California Rep Sorry for White House War Jibe

Stark apologizes for saying Bush 'amused' by 'heads blown off'

(Newser) - Democratic Rep. Pete Stark apologized on the floor of the House yesterday for accusing Republicans of sending soldiers to Iraq "to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement." The 75-year-old lawmaker issued his regrets in a somber statement "to my colleagues, the president, his family,...

Rice Sets New Rules for Guards
Rice Sets New Rules for Guards
Oct 24, 2007 3:11 AM CDT

Rice Sets New Rules for Guards

But Blackwater may still get the ax

(Newser) - Private security contractors in Iraq will operate under tougher controls and tighter supervision, according to new State Department rules approved by Condoleezza Rice today, but they won't be supervised by the military, as Defense's Robert Gates had proposed. Measures include investigative "go teams"' that will respond quickly to...

Iraq Promises to Help Turkey Quell Kurd Militants

Foreign minister vows to limit PKK movements, cut funding

(Newser) - Urging diplomacy, Iraq today pledged to help Turkey resolve border violence by Kurdish militants based in northern Iraq. Turkey kept the diplomatic wheels turning but wouldn't rule out military action to quell the PKK and rejected its offer of a ceasefire. Iraq’s foreign minister vowed to “actively help...

Audits Rip Fed Oversight of Security Firms, Costs

Lax controls, slopping accounting

(Newser) - A State Department internal review of its own security practices in Iraq is sharply critical of the lack of oversight of private contractors Blackwater, DynCorp International and Triple Canopy. A second report due today says officials can't say what the government got for $1.2B paid to DynCorp since 2004,...

Bin Laden to Insurgents: Become 'One' With Al Qaeda

Taped plea emerges amid US military gains

(Newser) - Terror mastermind Osama bin Laden has issued a taped plea calling on his "brother fighters" in Iraq to unite with Al Qaeda—on the heels of US military reports of major gains against the network in Iraq, the Telegraph writes. Some Sunnis have even formed coalitions against  Al Qaeda....

'Antiquated' VA Ill Equipped to Care for Vets

Bush pledges massive overhaul, which requires major funding

(Newser) - Some 700,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are eligible for VA benefits, and overhauling the overburdened system is firmly in the sights of  President Bush and a bipartisan commission. Citing "fundamental system weaknesses," a GAO report last week outlined a huge bureaucracy rife with staffing and training shortfalls,...

Wary Iraqis Probe US Raid on Sadr City

Civilian casualties in firefight stir charges of excessive force

(Newser) - Iraqi officials are sorting through conflicting reports of an American raid in the Baghdad Shiite enclave of Sadr City yesterday that the US military said killed 49 "criminals" and Iraqis said left 17 people dead, including an elderly woman and several babies, and many wounded. The civilian casualties provoked...

Turkish Troops Said Missing
Turkish Troops Said Missing
Oct 22, 2007 7:28 AM CDT

Turkish Troops Said Missing

Troops and trucks mass on northern Iraqi border after Kurdish ambush; incursion looms

(Newser) - A Turkish convoy with dozens of military vehicles joined tens of thousands of troops massed on the Iraqi border today, as the military announced that eight soldiers were missing, in addition to 12 killed, in an ambush by Kurdish militants early yesterday morning. The Turks shelled Kurdish camps over the...

Congressman Draws Fire for Sniping at Bush

Calif. lawmaker refuses to back off jab about 'president's amusement'

(Newser) - Rep. Pete Stark introduced President Bush's foreign policy into yesterday's SCHIP debate, setting off a raging controversy. The California Democrat’s reference to "kids" going to war to "get their heads blown off for the president's amusement" enraged some and inspired others. House Republicans called the speech “...

US Troops Get Look at Film on Insurgency

Documentary 'Meeting Resistance' explores motives of Iraqi fighters

(Newser) - A new documentary features interviews with Iraqi insurgents, all of whom stress the humiliation of US occupation. “Meeting Resistance” will be released this week, but CNN sat in on a preview in Baghdad, where US troops heard tales of citizens turning to violence. "It tells us a lot...

Turkey OKs Strikes in Iraq
Turkey OKs Strikes in Iraq
Oct 17, 2007 10:40 AM CDT

Turkey OKs Strikes in Iraq

526-19 vote gives year-long permission to respond to Kurdish attacks

(Newser) - The Turkish Parliament today authorized its prime minister to send the country's military into Iraq to combat Kurdish separatists who have been accused of raids on Turkish soil. The 526-19 vote gives year-long permission for military strikes across the border, CNN reports. With 60,000 Turkish troops amassed in the...

Armenian Genocide Vote Withering in Turkish Heat

Pols backing off to avoid angering key ally

(Newser) - Members of Congress are backing off a resolution that would classify Turkish purges of Armenians as genocide. The bill's approval by a committee last week infuriated the Turks, who called home their ambassador and have threatened to forbid US military use of Turkish airspace and bases to support Iraqi operations...

Iraqi Doc: Blackwater Murdered my Wife and Son

Mercs 'sprayed bullets' as she cried for help

(Newser) - An Iraqi doctor whose wife and 20-year-old son were the first of 17 civilians killed by Blackwater guards on Sept. 16 talks to CNN about his loss, saying a storm of bullets blew apart his loved ones—his wife, a doctor, and his son, a medical student. They were going...

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