http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/iraqi/ en-us Sat, 11 Oct 2008 17:47:39 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2103201/posts “I first began to fathom the extent of Nadhmi Auchi's reach and corrupting influence when I was given responsibility for monitoring illegal transfers of technology and munitions to Iraq as well as overseeing all coalition transportation and communications reconstruction in Iraq." ### Barack Obama has been appropriately strident in his condemnation of the mortgage-based financial corruption which nearly led to the collapse of the investment banking system in the United States. But there are some strong smelling financial skeletons in his own closet. Obama has his own personal housing crisis that is tied not into Fanny Mae, but into a... Wikileaks http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2103201/posts#comment Sat, 11 Oct 2008 17:47:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2128441/posts BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi security forces supported by U.S. firepower killed a senior al Qaeda leader who made car bombs and ran Islamist militant cells throughout northern Iraq, the U.S. military said on Friday. A statement said the Iraqi army and members of a U.S.- backed Sunni Arab neighborhood patrol shot Abu Ghazwan as he hid in the grass near a house they were searching on Thursday in Tarmiya, north of Baghdad. The patrol had been attacked with guns and a bomb in the house. "While further searching the area, a (neighborhood patrol) member discovered a trail booby-trapped with grenades... Reuters on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2128441/posts#comment Sat, 8 Nov 2008 04:08:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2107748/posts HAWIJAH, Iraq, Oct. 16, 2008 – The first graduation of a pilot literacy program was held yesterday at the soccer stadium here in Iraq’s Kirkuk province. The program, which began June 15 as a pilot program for the National Literary Campaign, graduated nearly 500 students. The four-month course covered basic reading, writing and math skills for employment marketability, officials said. Students attended classes four hours a day, five days a week, for completion of the National Literary Campaign's requirements. "I have worked closely with the local government leaders and watched them develop this program, through the execution of the program,... American Forces Press Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2107748/posts#comment Fri, 17 Oct 2008 04:16:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2106376/posts BAGHDAD – American troops could face trial before Iraqi courts for major crimes committed off base and when not on missions, under a draft security pact hammered out in months of tortuous negotiations, Iraqi officials familiar with the accord said Wednesday. The draft also calls for U.S. troops to leave Iraqi cities by the end of June and withdraw from the country entirely by Dec. 31, 2011, unless the Baghdad government asks some of them to stay for training or security support, the officials said. It would also give the Iraqis a greater role in U.S. military operations and full... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2106376/posts#comment Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:33:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2098730/posts I can’t let this one go by. Welcome to the future if we let Islamic fundamentalists/extremists win the War on Terror. ... Mosul (AsiaNews) - A new attack against the Christians in Mosul: yesterday afternoon, an armed group assassinated Hazim Thomaso Youssif, age 40.The ambush took place in front of his clothing store in Bab Sarray; it is not yet known who ordered the killing, but it is suspected that it is the work of Islamic fundamentalists, in a city that has long been the theater of deadly attacks on the Christian community. Asia News, Weasel Zippers http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2098730/posts#comment Mon, 6 Oct 2008 16:21:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2075002/posts WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2008 – The enemy’s use of improvised explosive devices continues to decline in northern Iraq’s Salahuddin province, a senior U.S. officer posted there said today. Consequently, “the situation here continues to improve from a security standpoint,” Army Col. Scott McBride, commander of the 101st Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, told Pentagon reporters during a satellite-carried news conference. McBride’s unit is based in Tikrit, northwest of Baghdad in Salahuddin province. The 4,000-member brigade is a component of Multinational Division North, and it has been in Iraq for about a year. The enemy is still active in Salahuddin... American Forces Press Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2075002/posts#comment Fri, 5 Sep 2008 00:37:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2058811/posts BALAD, Iraq , Aug. 8, 2008 – Air Force Airman 1st Class Murad Mohiadeen's story crosses two continents and spans more than 7,500 miles. It begins with his birth in Iraq 20 years ago and continues today as the story of an American airman who is part of the coalition's efforts to win the peace in Iraq. Air Force Airman 1st Class Murad Mohiadeen defends an entry control point near the Air Force Theater Hospital at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, Aug. 2, 2008. Mohiadeen, a native of Baghdad, was raised in the United States when his family emigrated from... Face of Defence http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2058811/posts#comment Fri, 8 Aug 2008 23:06:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2055443/posts Short video of the good in Iraq Floppingaces.net http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2055443/posts#comment Sat, 2 Aug 2008 18:54:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050310/posts Yesterday I had an interesting conference call with Royal Navy Captain Paul Abraham. He is the Director of Maritime Strategic Transition Team in Iraq. The call focused on the development of the Iraqi Navy (no, it's not a joke. They DO have a Navy); specifically: " his experiences working with Iraqi partners in building and developing the Iraqi Navy, which led to their recent operational success in seizing control of their own territorial port of Umm Qasr, protecting 90 percent of all of Iraq's imports and exports." Currently, the Iraqi Navy consists of about a dozen hard-used small patrol boats... Flopping Aces http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050310/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:13:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048138/posts BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's main Sunni Arab bloc rejoined the Shi'ite-led government on Saturday in a breakthrough for national reconciliation after parliament approved its candidates for several vacant ministerial posts. Getting the Accordance Front to return after it quit a year ago in a row over power sharing has been seen as key to healing divisions between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs. Sunni Arabs have little voice in the current cabinet, which is dominated by Shi'ites and ethnic Kurds. "Today, parliament voted to accept our candidates ... This means the Accordance Front has officially returned to the government," a... Reuters on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048138/posts#comment Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:53:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041016/posts Several members of the Iraqi parliament called on President Jalal Talabani on Friday to apologize for shaking hands with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak at Socialist International Conference in Greece on Tuesday. Al Sadr Front MP Ahmad Al Massoudi accused President Talabani of violating the Iraqi law saying the handshake was a slap in the face for the Iraqi people. Ali A Adeeb, Al Dawa party, said the handshake was unacceptable calling on President Talabani to apologize. Iraqi Satellite TV Network http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041016/posts#comment Sat, 5 Jul 2008 09:17:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037348/posts Some 300 rare and valuable books confiscated from Iraq's Jewish community by Saddam Hussein's regime have been secretly spirited into Israel, an Israeli newspaper reported on Friday. The books include a 1487 commentary on the biblical Book of Job and another volume of biblical prophets printed in Venice in 1617, the Haaretz daily said. The volumes are part of a massive collection of books confiscated by the secret police of the executed Iraqi dictator and stored in security installations in the Iraqi capital until the US-led invasion of 2003. Many volumes were damaged during the bombing of government buildings in... breitbart.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037348/posts#comment Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:00:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031903/posts BAGHDAD - Signs are emerging that Iraq has reached a turning point. Violence is down, armed extremists are in disarray, government confidence is rising and sectarian communities are gearing up for a battle at the polls rather than slaughter in the streets. Those positive signs are attracting little attention in the United States, where the war-weary public is focused on the American presidential contest and skeptical of talk of success after so many years of unfounded optimism by the war's supporters. Unquestionably, the security and political situation in Iraq is fragile. U.S. commanders warn repeatedly that security gains are reversible.... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031903/posts#comment Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:43:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2020742/posts BAGHDAD - Lawmakers loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr accused the Iraqi government of trying to crush the movement and warned Saturday of "black clouds" on the horizon for truces that have eased fighting between al-Sadr's militia and security forces. The Sadrist Movement has heightened its rhetoric against the government in recent days, raising concerns over the cease-fires in the southern city of Basra and Baghdad's Sadr City district, the stronghold of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. Still, the lawmakers and other al-Sadr officials said they are adhering to the truces. The cease-fires are crucial to Iraqi security forces' sweeps in... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2020742/posts#comment Sat, 24 May 2008 16:28:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2015981/posts BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki took personal charge Wednesday of a military operation to rout al-Qaida in Iraq in what the U.S. has described as the terror group's last major stronghold, even as a tenuous cease-fire took hold over Baghdad's Sadr City slum. The campaign in the northern city of Mosul was the third by al-Maliki in two months as he attempts to stamp out Shiite militants and Sunni extremists across the country. Also Wednesday, a suicide bomber killed 22 people and wounded 40 in an attack on a funeral tent in a village west of Baghdad, Iraqi police... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2015981/posts#comment Wed, 14 May 2008 20:48:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997377/posts BAGHDAD - A parliamentary committee is working on a pair of oil-related draft bills, one to re-establish the state-run oil company and another to fight oil smuggling, a senior lawmaker said Saturday. Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani, deputy chairman of the committee on oil, gas and natural resources, said legislation to re-establish the Iraqi National Oil Co., was likely to be presented to parliament on Tuesday. The measure is part of a package which also includes legislation to regulate the country's oil sector, reorganize the Oil Ministry and distribute revenues among Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish regions. Al-Hassani said he was uncertain when the... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997377/posts#comment Sun, 6 Apr 2008 00:23:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1991408/posts BAGHDAD (AFP) - Moqtada al-Sadr's militiamen Tuesday battled troops in four Iraqi cities on Tuesday, including the capital, as the hardline Shiite cleric threatened a countrywide campaign of civil revolt. Heavy clashes broke out between Sadr's Mahdi Army fighters in the southern oil city of Basra, killing at least seven people and wounding 48, and in Kut and Hilla, both south of Baghdad, officials said. As evening fell, Mahdi Army fighters fought with Iraqi and US forces in their Sadr City bastion in eastern Baghdad for the first time since last October, a security official and witnesses told AFP. Troops... AFP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1991408/posts#comment Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:36:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1984545/posts BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi police raided strongholds of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army in the southern city of Kut on Wednesday after the militia broke a ceasefire and clashed with security forces a day earlier. The city's police chief said at least 11 people were killed in Tuesday's gunbattles in which U.S. special forces called in air strikes after Iraqi authorities asked them for help. With U.S. forces already stretched by an upsurge in violence in Iraq since January, such ceasefire violations are a worrying development. U.S. commanders have credited the ceasefire with sharply reducing sectarian bloodshed that threatened... Reuters on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1984545/posts#comment Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:43:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1983144/posts TROY — The Sanctuary for Independent Media will host a controversial exhibit in which an artist portrays himself as a suicide bomber on a mission to kill the president starting at 6 p.m. Monday. The exhibit, created by Wafaa Bilal, is described as a “Virtual Jihadi” and was recently suspended by officials at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute because of concerns about its intent and al-Qaida content. “Like many others, I did not have a chance to see Wafaa’s exhibit in its original form and hope the community will take advantage of this chance to appreciate it,” said Steve Pierce, an adjunct... Troy Record http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1983144/posts#comment Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:13:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1981152/posts BAGHDAD - Iraq's cabinet has given the green light to the Oil Ministry to sign agreements with international oil companies to help increase the nation's crude output, a ministry official said Wednesday. The two-year deals, known as technical support agreements, or TSAs, are designed to develop five producing fields to add 500,000 barrels per day to the country's 2.4 million barrels per day output. Last December, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, BP PLC, ExxonMobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. submitted technical and financial proposals for the five fields and received counterproposals from the Iraqi side. In January, representatives from the companies and... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1981152/posts#comment Thu, 6 Mar 2008 04:55:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1976782/posts Zainab Najy holds her daughter, Noor, at the Forward Operating Base Delta medical facility before the infant had a procedure to rectify her prolapsed rectum. The 8-month-old was born with eight inches of her rectum outside of her body and with bladder exstrophy. Noor received the first of three treatments to repair her rectum, Feb. 8. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Stacy Niles, Multi-National Division-Central. FOB DELTA — U.S. military doctors recently began the process of treating a potentially life-threatening condition for Noor, an 8-month-old Iraqi baby girl. Doctors from the 948th Forward Surgical Team (FST), from Shelbyville, Ind., performed... Multi-National Force - Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1976782/posts#comment Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:44:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1976183/posts WASHINGTON, Feb. 25, 2008 – While much progress has been achieved against insurgents in Iraq in recent months, the terrorist bombing that killed dozens of religious pilgrims yesterday illustrates that much work remains, a senior U.S. military officer posted in Iraq said today.  Video Anti-insurgent efforts by coalition and Iraqi security forces and the contributions of concerned local citizens’ groups have achieved “operational momentum” against the terrorists, Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner told reporters at a news conference in Baghdad. “Their collective efforts have certainly improved security for the Iraqi people in Baghdad and across Iraq, but there is... American Forces Press Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1976183/posts#comment Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:24:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1961920/posts Further survey work undertaken by ORB, in association with its research partner IIACSS, confirms our earlier estimate that over 1,000,000 Iraqi citizens have died as a result of the conflict which started in 2003. Following responses to ORB’s earlier work, which was based on survey work undertaken in primarily urban locations, we have conducted almost 600 additional interviews in rural communities. By and large the results are in line with the ‘urban results’ and we now estimate that the death toll between March 2003 and August 2007 is likely to have been of the order of 1,033,000. If one takes... Opinion Business Research http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1961920/posts#comment Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:48:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1957356/posts Captain Brian Von Kraus, the commander of Headquarters and Support Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6, communicates through email to various school officials who have been helping him with “Operation Pen Pal,” which is a letter exchange program bridging the gap between the young students of the local Iraqi schools here, and students of Boston and Maine public schools in the United States. The table in front of Von Kraus is covered in letters and mail from the various schools participating in his program. Operation Iraqi Pen Pal recently completed its first transfer of over... Marine Corps News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1957356/posts#comment Tue, 22 Jan 2008 01:25:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1955479/posts TAJI, Iraq, Jan. 17, 2008 – A ceremony here today marked the beginning of a program to refurbish and transfer more than 4,200 up-armored Humvees over the next 13 months. Some 627 vehicles now are staged in the holding yard ready to undergo a maintenance overhaul of brakes, belts and fluids before the appropriate paint scheme is applied. Once this process is completed, including quality assurance checks, the vehicles will be transferred to the government of Iraq for further distribution to the Iraqi security forces, U.S. officials said. “These vehicles are very important to the Iraqi National Police as well... American Forces Press Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1955479/posts#comment Fri, 18 Jan 2008 01:08:02 GMT