Photo of the Day: Sandstorm in Baghdad
Jeff Severns Guntzel, Electronic Iraq (Oct 17, 2008)
AP reports: A heavy sandstorm turned Iraq's capital into a pinkish haze Thursday,
sending dozens of people to the hospital with respiratory problems and
delaying a number of international flights.
Petraeus' not-exactly-ringing endorsement of "surge" success is part of a pattern
Jeff Severns Guntzel, Electronic Iraq (Oct 15, 2008)
If you missed it, Gen. David Petraeus last week gave a tentative appraisal of the success of the "surge" of U.S. troops he oversaw. "Fragile" was one word he used. "reversible" was another. Reporter Howard LaFranchi sees a pattern of "more cautious" appraisals of the situation in Iraq and highlights the current fragility in the country.
US troops will withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011, or they won't
Jeff Severns Guntzel, Electronic Iraq (Oct 15, 2008)
Perhaps the most important words in the description of the tentative withdrawal agreement are "unless Iraq asks them to stay longer." On its face, this sounds quite consensual. But consent is a tricky thing with an imbalance of power as acute as that between the United States and Iraq.
Islamic group demands end to violence against Christians in Iraq
Jeff Severns Guntzel, Electronic Iraq (Oct 15, 2008)
The 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference, based in Saudi Arabia, has publicly condemned the attacks that have driven thousands of Iraq Christians from the city of Mosul. Here's an excerpt from the AFP report.
Video of the day: Attacks force Iraqi Christians from their homes
Jeff Severns Guntzel, Electronic Iraq (Oct 15, 2008)
Here's Al Jazeera on the recent violence against Christians in Mosul,
Iraq's third largest city. At least 10,000 Iraqi Christians have fled
the area since the war. New violence has added to the displaced.
About that budget surplus in Iraq...
Jeff Severns Guntzel, Electronic Iraq (Oct 14, 2008)
We've heard a lot about Iraq's $79 billion budget surplus--which always
seems to raise eyebrows but never the question: how exactly has Iraq
found itself with a surplus? Iraq's Finance Minister explains.
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