Pros and Cons (Free subscription) | yesterday
This story - DEBKAfile - Secret US-Iranian Dialogue Brings Oil Prices down, Shakes up Mid East Alliances - sounds absolutely batty, but, if true, it would explain a lot. Color me highly skeptical. 1. The American side was willing to refrain from military action against Iran before the end of the Bush presidency in January 2009, [...]
The Real Barack Obama (Free subscription) | 07/22/2008
The consistently insightful, and incrediby well-informed, Pundita welcomes Andrea Mitchell—and those few in mainstream media who may be willing to take heed—to the real world that is Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) Dear BR: Would you get a grip because if you don’t Barack Obama and his media flunkies are going to drive you crazy. For the [...]
Pundita (Free subscription) | 07/22/2008
Dear BR: Would you get a grip because if you don't Barack Obama and his media flunkies are going to drive you crazy. For the last time: Nothing has changed on the ground with regard to the issue of U.S. withdrawal troops from Iraq since my Ping Pong post on July 8. In fact nothing had changed about the issue since even before the report I cited. Things have been the same since General
OTB News (Free subscription) | 07/18/2008
TEHRAN, July 18 (UPI) — The Sadrist Movement of cleric Moqtada Sadr said it wants no connection with the Iraqi government and has no plans to return to Parliament, a spokesman said.
Environmental Republican (Free subscription) | 07/21/2008
I can see it now, Obama meets with Nouri al-Maliki and an agreement is reached to remove troops according to a timetable. The media will trumpet it as an Obama accomplishment and al-Maliki is hedging his bets that Obama wins. Get ready for it folks. John McCain was a champion of the surge that led to the Anbar Awakening, al-Maliki having the political clout to challenge Moqtada al-Sadr and the
One Utah (Free subscription) | 07/21/2008
Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri, Saddam’s successor, now claims the title, “leader of Resistance and Liberation, general secretary of the Socialist Baath Party.” Al-Douri’s latest statement reiterates what the Iraqi resistance is fighting for: national self-determination. Despite a one-time alliance of convenience, he now regards the al-Qaeda agenda as a disastrous diversion. The Mahdi [...]
The Hill's Pundit Blog (Free subscription) | 07/21/2008
I remember the exact moment I had my first serious doubts about whether I was 100 percent right that the U.S. preemptive invasion of Iraq and the take-out of Saddam Hussein was a serious mistake. I had been strongly opposed to the U.S. intervention from the start. I felt this way even though I believed (as [...]
The Post Chronicle (Free subscription) | 07/19/2008
Two Soldiers Die In Iraq Car Bombing The incident happened in the mainly Kurdish city of Mosul, al-Sumaria Iraqi Satellite TV reported....
Net News Publisher (Free subscription) | 07/19/2008
The Pentagon says it has no indication that Iran has reduced what a spokesman calls its “meddling” in Iraq, even though attacks by Iranian-backed militias are down significantly. VOA’s Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon. Press Secretary Geoff Morrell says the recent 70 percent reduction in roadside bomb attacks resulted from efforts by Iraqi and U.S. [...]
Deutsche Welle: DW-WORLD.DE (Free subscription) | 07/19/2008
The Iraqi parliament has voted for the return of six Sunni ministers to the cabinet of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Getting the Accordance Front to return after it quit the cabinet a year ago in a row over power sharing has been seen as vital to healing deep divisions between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs. Parliament also approved four independent candidates as ministers to replace...
Investor's Iraq Forum (Free subscription) | 07/16/2008
The Sadrists, or Iraqis loyal to Shiite Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, will not vote on candidates for vacant ministerial portfolios if they are chosen on partisan basis, a Sadrist parliamentarian said on Tuesday. Read the entire article at IraqiUpdates.com...
Daily Pundit (Free subscription) | 07/19/2008
abu muqawama: What Maliki Said . . . And What it Means The confusion reflects the dilemma facing Iraqi government leaders. On the one hand, many of them - particularly among the Shia factions - face a public which regards the US presence as a problem rather than a solution. With provincial elections coming up soon, they could [...]
small dead animals (Free subscription) | 07/18/2008
Nineteen months ago, ... when President Bush announced his new strategy for Iraq, very few people predicted that General Petraeus and our military would prevent what appeared to be a certain civil war, or guessed that our Marines and GIs...
The Two Malcontents (Free subscription) | 07/18/2008
Editorial of The New York Sun Surveying the Iraq debate here, it’s understandable if the average voter is confused. Heck, it seems as if even the presidential candidates are confused. Just as Senator Obama appeared to be walking back his primary season embrace of retreat, he gives a speech this week affirming his old 16-month [...]
Investor's Iraq Forum (Free subscription) | 07/17/2008
*This will take several posts, but I enjoyed it so much I really wanted to share it, so its worth the effort...* Photo Essay: Playground Baghdad Iraqi summers have been a time of dread lately. But in this Baghdad amusement park, at least, summer is becoming fun again.
