Iraq – News Stories About Iraq - Page 87

Out-of-Date Passports Strand Iraqi Expats

Jul 24, 2007 4:23 PM CDT

Out-of-Date Passports Strand Iraqi Expats

New requirements catch innocent victims in snare for terrorists

(Newser) - In an unintended consequence of regulations meant to hinder terrorists, Iraqi expats are stuck with out-of-date passports and no way to replace them. Iraq now issues documents that meet international standards, the Wall Street Journal reports, but emigres and refugees stuck with Saddam-era passports or handwritten documents that date to...

New Woes Beset Iraq Embassy

Jul 24, 2007 11:59 AM CDT

New Woes Beset Iraq Embassy

Size and security worry pundits already concerned about construction

(Newser) - Slated for a September opening, the new $592 million U.S. embassy in Baghdad may not be big enough—though it's the size of the Vatican—or safe enough—though tens of millions are going into security—the LA Times reports. The controversial complex can accommodate 1000 people, but analysts...

Report: US in Iraq 2 More Years

Jul 24, 2007 7:57 AM CDT

Report: US in Iraq 2 More Years

New plan envisions military role until at least 2009

(Newser) - US troops could remain in Iraq for at least 2 more years, despite a raging national debate about continued occupation, the New York Times reports. The top commander and American ambassador have detailed a strategy that envisions "localized security" in Baghdad within a year and a military role in...

Injured Veterans Sue US

Jul 24, 2007 4:53 AM CDT

Injured Veterans Sue US

Class action suit targets VA for 'shameful failures' in treatment

(Newser) - Two veterans groups representing troops who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan are suing the US government for "shameful failures" in medical treatment, Reuters reports. The Department of Veterans Affairs is swamped with a backlog of 600,000 health claims and is "abandoning" soldiers returning home, the class-action...

US Envoy Won't Raise Fate of Imprisoned Americans

Jul 24, 2007 4:15 AM CDT

US Envoy Won't Raise Fate of Imprisoned Americans

Issue shadows sensitive meeting with Iran

(Newser) - The fate of four Iranian-Americans imprisoned in Tehran won't come up in today's talks between the US and Iran for fear of scuttling the negotiations, Bloomberg reports. US ambassador Ryan Crocker will focus on Iraq and Iran's nuclear program in the Baghdad meeting, only the second direct talks between the...

Pentagon Destroys
Surplus Goods

Jul 23, 2007 2:21 PM CDT

Pentagon Destroys Surplus Goods

Surplus dealers angry at scope of gear purge

(Newser) - The Pentagon is scrapping millions of dollars of gear it has traditionally resold to surplus dealers, Time reports. The army claims that sorting passels of helmets, boots, and sleeping bags is too onerous, while suppliers are concerned the move is the vestige of an effort to keep old jet parts...

The Politics Behind GOP Defections

Jul 21, 2007 12:31 PM CDT

The Politics Behind GOP Defections

Republicans calculate rifts over Iraq carefully, Journal says

(Newser) - Republican senators were playing electoral politics in deserting Bush on Iraq, and they were at it again when they voted against the Democratic withdrawal plan this week, says the Journal’s Kimberly A. Strassel. Enduring “a summer-long blitz” from liberal groups, Lugar, Domenici and others voiced Iraq fatigue, but...

Olbermann to Prez: Stop Scapegoating, Start Fighting

Jul 20, 2007 11:12 AM CDT

Olbermann to Prez: Stop Scapegoating, Start Fighting

Anchor irate at blame game on war failure

(Newser) - A war of words over the Iraq war that erupted this week nominally involves only a Pentagon underling and Hillary Clinton, but MSNBC's Keith Olbermann finds a message for President Bush in the back-and-forth. Accusing the administration of scapegoating both the senator and antiwar citizens, he calls for Bush to...

Fear Rules Iraq, Briefers Tell Congress

Jul 20, 2007 7:20 AM CDT

Fear Rules Iraq, Briefers Tell Congress

Benchmarks not likely to be met, say Crocker, Petraeus

(Newser) - Iraq is gripped by widespread fear and is unlikely to fulfill political and security goals by the pivotal September assessment, US officials told lawmakers yesterday in a briefing from Baghdad. "One word I would use to sum up the atmosphere in Iraq is 'fear,' " said ambassador Ryan...

Democrats Lose Withdrawal Vote

Jul 18, 2007 1:04 PM CDT

Democrats Lose Withdrawal Vote

Republicans hold out against Iraq exit measure

(Newser) - Senate Democrats failed to collect enough votes this morning to pass a bill that would force President Bush to begin pulling troops out of Iraq within 120 days. After a spirited all-night debate, 52 voted in favor of the measure and 47 against, but rules require 60 "yes" votes...

Bush's Failures Are Kristol Clear

Jul 18, 2007 9:22 AM CDT

Bush's Failures Are Kristol Clear

Corn fires back at neocon columnist's revisionist view of the last seven years

(Newser) - Nation editor David Corn does a double take in today's WaPo at neocon infantryman Bill Kristol's Sunday column there, which predicted the Bush presidency would go down as a success. In a blazing review of the scandals, misadventures and outright failures that have plagued the White House for the last...

Contractor Armies Thrive in Iraq

Jul 18, 2007 5:49 AM CDT

Contractor Armies Thrive in Iraq

180,000 civilians working in legal limbo

(Newser) - A private army of occupation in Iraq—mechanics, construction workers, translators, bodyguards, and other civilian contractors—is increasing in numbers keeping pace with the troop surge, the Christian Science Monitor reports. As many as 180,000 private contractors in Iraq, most of them not US nationals, currently work in legal...

Head of Veterans Affairs Quits

Jul 17, 2007 3:47 PM CDT

Head of Veterans Affairs Quits

Secretary's short tenure long on scandals and other woes

(Newser) - The secretary of Veterans Affairs, the head of the second-biggest federal department, is stepping down and will be replaced by October 1, reports the Washington Post. For 2½ turbulent years, Jim Nicholson, a decorated Vietnam vet and former RNC chair, presided over a department beset by criticism and overwhelmed by...

Times Staffer Slain in Baghdad

Jul 13, 2007 6:15 PM CDT

Times Staffer Slain in Baghdad

Reporter-interpreter becomes 110th journalist killed since 2003 US invasion

(Newser) - An Iraqi reporter in the New York Times Baghdad bureau was shot and killed today on his way to work. Khalid Hassan, 23, is the second Iraqi Times employee and the 110th journalist killed in Iraq since 2003. Bureau chief John F. Burns described Hassan, a 4-year Times veteran, as...

Iraqis Go on Alert as Mammoth Badgers Stalk City

Jul 13, 2007 7:02 AM CDT

Iraqis Go on Alert as Mammoth Badgers Stalk City

Locals blame British troops for badger invasion

(Newser) - Badgers have invaded Basra, Iraq, spurring fears of a man-eating monster on the loose in the port city. Despite Iraqi scientists' assurances that the creatures are not dangerous to humans, locals demonize the oversized carnivores and blame British troops for for unleashing them. The badgers "don't stalk humans and...

Bush Satisfied With Iraq Progress

Jul 12, 2007 4:56 PM CDT

Bush Satisfied With Iraq Progress

Acknowledging 'war fatigue,' president warns against hasty withdrawal

(Newser) - President Bush used today's interim report on the Iraq war to renew his call for Congress to withhold judgment on the troop surge until a September update, saying the military will "be in a better position to adjust" in 2 months. The report notes positive movement in eight out...

White House Iraq Report:
Mixed Progress

Jul 12, 2007 5:57 AM CDT

White House Iraq Report: Mixed Progress

Cites gains on military benchmarks, lack of progress on political goals

(Newser) - The White House's interim report on its progress in Iraq, to be released today, will cite "satisfactory" work on eight of 18 benchmarks set by Congress, insufficient improvement on eight more, and mixed results on the final two. Most of the positive movement has been on the military front,...

Senate Nixes Limits on Iraq Deployments

Jul 11, 2007 4:23 PM CDT

Senate Nixes Limits on Iraq Deployments

Webb's proposal tests congress's support for pullout plans

(Newser) - The Senate failed to push through an amendment to a military appropriations bill that would have drastically cut troop deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, effectively slicing the number of troops on the ground. The measure, cosponsored by Virginia Democrat Jim Webb and increasingly fractious Republican Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, fell...

Hagel, Snowe Jump Ship

Jul 11, 2007 4:14 PM CDT

Hagel, Snowe Jump Ship

Number of GOP defectors backing withdrawal plan climbs to 3

(Newser) - Two more Republican senators crossed party lines today to back legislation that calls for the US to start pulling out of Iraq within 4 months and withdraw by April. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Maine's Olympia Snowe of Maine signed on on as co-sponsors of the measure, along with Oregon's...

Iraq Gov't Fails Progress Report

Jul 10, 2007 11:26 AM CDT

Iraq Gov't Fails Progress Report

US-backed regime lags on all economic and political targets

(Newser) - The Iraqi government has failed to meet any of the benchmarks for reforms mandated when Congress funded the troop surge, according to a progress report due out this week. An unnamed official tells the AP that the disappointing outcome will accelerate the administration's decision-making process on Iraq, but another anonymous...