Embarrassed U.S. Starts to Disown Basra Operation
Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service (Mar 31, 2008)
As it became clear last week that the "Operation Knights Assault" in
Basra was in serious trouble, the George W. Bush administration began
to claim in off-the-record statements to journalists that Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki had launched the operation without consulting
Washington.
The struggle for Kirkuk
Oliver Poole, Institute for War and Peace Reporting (Mar 4, 2008)
You might have missed it as in most of the world it was not front page
news but a NATO member attacked a sovereign state last week. Troops
were amassed, as many as a 10,000 of them in some reports, and then
poured across the border supported by combat helicopters and fighter
jets.
Civilian deaths rise in February but still lower than in 2007
Report, IRIN (Mar 3, 2008)
Two major suicide attacks in February led to a
sharp increase in violence-related civilian deaths that month - up by
more than a third from the previous month, government figures show. The figures, released by the interior, defense and
health ministries, showed at least 633 civilians were killed or found
dead nationwide compared to 466 in January. At least 701 civilians were
wounded in February.
Bombs Away Over Iraq
Tom Engelhardt, Tomdispatch (Jan 31, 2008)
Let's focus, for a moment, on American air power in Iraq and
gather together a little basic information you're otherwise not likely
to find in one place. In these last years, the Pentagon has invested
billions of dollars in building up an air-power infrastructure in and
around Iraq. As a start, it constructed one of its largest foreign
bases anywhere on the planet about 80 kilometers north of Baghdad.
Balad Air Base has been described by Newsweek
as a "15-square-mile mini-city of thousands of trailers and vehicle
depots," whose air fields handle 27,500 takeoffs and landings every
month.
Baghdad liquor stores reopen
Hazim al-Shara, Institue for War and Peace Reporting (Jan 21, 2008)
Mazin George is busily bagging up bottles of whiskey and beer for his customers at his shop in central Baghdad. Just a few months ago, George and other shop owners in the capital
refused to sell alcohol for fear of attacks by Islamic militants. Now, the owners of shops selling alcohol - most of whom are Christians
- said they are trading openly as confidence in the capital's security
builds.
Iraq's scholars reluctant to return
Zaineb Naji, Institue for War and Peace Reporting (Jan 21, 2008)
Zahra, a doctoral candidate studying immune-system diseases, shook her
head in disappointment when she saw the list of professors who were
supposed to review her thesis. Three had fled the country. While one promised to attend her defense of
her thesis, another was unable to make it because of the security
situation. The continuing shortage of academics is damaging higher education throughout the country.
Baghdad Park Bridges Sectarian Divide
Bassim al-Shara, Institute for War and Peace Reporting (Jan 7, 2008)
Old friendships between Sunni and Shia friends are revived on neutral ground - a central park in the Iraqi capital. Mohammed Omar Ali sits on a bench under a tree in al-Zawra Park,
looking around impatiently for any sign of his friend. Ali, 31, has not
seen Ayad Murtadha for almost a year since he and his family, who are
Shia Muslims, were forced to leave the Baghdad neighborhood where the
two friends grew up together.
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