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Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ___________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release August 14, 2009 Statement by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on the Appointment of Two Senior Officials Responsible for Iraqi Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons President Obama has long made clear that the United States is committed to working closely with the Iraqi government to aid Iraqis who have been displaced or are otherwise vulnerable as a result of the violence in Iraq. Since April, the United States has made available approximately $196 million in additional support for these...

Vice President Joseph Biden told ABC's George Stephanopoulos in an interview taped in Iraq on Saturday for "This Week" that the United States does not intend to slow its withdrawal plan in Iraq even if violence spikes after U.S. troops leave. Asked what happens "if the violence flares up again," the vice president replied, Well, that's going to be a tragic outcome for the Iraqi people. We made a commitment." Stephanopoulos then asked, "are we going to put our lives on the line again," if violence flares back up in Iraq, and Biden flatly said "no."

BAGHDAD -- Under the glare of a Humvee's headlights, Brad Blauser broke a sweat assembling a pediatric wheelchair as a small group of Iraqi soldiers observed quietly. The idea was to train the Iraqis so that when the time came to distribute the wheelchairs, Blauser and the 20 or so U.S. soldiers who coordinated the giveaway could fade into the background as Iraqi troops presented 32 fully assembled wheelchairs to disabled children. "We're trying to build rapport," said Staff Sgt. Craig Jackson, 34, of Pennsylvania, one of the squad leaders working with Blauser. "Show them that their government is trying...

RAMADI, Iraq – As the Marine Corps shrinks its footprint in Iraq's western desert, Iraqi community leaders here are publicly voicing worries about what will happen once the Americans are gone. They fear a wave of corruption and the return of the insurgency that once held sway over the area. Marines have begun divorcing themselves from the task of advising local leaders, the clearest signal that their role in Anbar province is quickly nearing its end. An Associated Press reporter embedded with the troops witnessed two cases in a single day of Iraqis — a headmistress and a party of...

BAGHDAD — Six years after the U.S. overthrew Saddam Hussein's government, tens of thousands of Iraqis gathered in the rain in Iraq's capital Thursday to mark the anniversary and renew calls for an American withdrawal. The demonstrators came in response to calls by Muqtada al Sadr, the influential Shiite cleric who's long decried the U.S. military's occupation, but there were also Sunni Muslims in the crowd. Draped in Iraqi flags and chanting, protesters packed Baghdad's Firdous Square, where six years ago a crowd cheered the destruction of a statue of Saddam. "No, no to America," demonstrators repeated Thursday. "No, no...

A Sullivan City man accused of smuggling three Iraqis into the United States was set to appear for a detention hearing Thursday. Prosecutors allege Juan De Dios Martinez Vela, 28, sneaked the men across the Rio Grande as part of a smuggling network with links to the Middle East.

The European Union says it is ready to accept up to 10,000 Iraqi refugees, many of whom are living in extreme hardship in Jordan and Syria. The agreement came at an EU meeting in Brussels on Thursday, where interior ministers received a new report on conditions at refugee camps. Germany said it would take in about 2,500 of the refugees. Priority will be given to those with medical needs, torture victims, single mothers and religious minorities. The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, welcomed the EU pledge as a "positive step", saying it had been pressing the EU for 18 months...

Short video of the good in Iraq

IN A LITTLE-NOTICED DECISION in a New York courtroom on September 25, 2003, a man described as Osama bin Laden's "best friend" got some good news. U.S. District Court Judge Deborah Batts ruled that Mahmdouh Mahmud Salim could not be sentenced to life in prison. Salim--who was present at the founding of al Qaeda in 1989 and who was for years one of bin Laden's most trusted confidants--had been captured in Germany in 1998 and extradited to the United States for prosecution related to his role in the grand conspiracy that resulted in the 1998 bombings at U.S. embassies in...

BAGHDAD - Under strong U.S. pressure, Iraq's presidential council signed off Wednesday on a measure paving the way for provincial elections by the fall, a major step toward easing sectarian rifts as the nation marks the fifth anniversary of the war. The decision by the council, made up of the country's president and two vice presidents, lays the groundwork for voters to choose new leaders of Iraq's 18 provinces. The elections open the door to greater Sunni representation in regional administrations. Many Sunnis boycotted the last election for provincial officials in January 2005, enabling Shiites and Kurds to win a...

BAGHDAD — After almost five years of war, many young people in Iraq, exhausted by constant firsthand exposure to the violence of religious extremism, say they have grown disillusioned with religious leaders and skeptical of the faith that they preach. In two months of interviews with 40 young people in five Iraqi cities, a pattern of disenchantment emerged, in which young Iraqis, both poor and middle class, blamed clerics for the violence and the restrictions that have narrowed their lives. “I hate Islam and all the clerics because they limit our freedom every day and their instruction became heavy over...

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...

Iraqi children eat candy canes and play together during a humanitarian aid drop in Mansuriyah, Jan. 13, conducted by the Iraqi Army and Soldiers of Troop G, 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis, Wash. Photo by Spc. John Crosby, 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment. MANSURIYAH — Operation Raider Harvest, a large scale operation in the Northern Diyala River Valley involving more than 4,000 troops from 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis, Wash., is shifting focus from a clearing operation to a rebuilding operation. The...

BAGHDAD – Pilgrims traveling from Iraq to Mecca in the annual observance of the Hajj experienced a peaceful travel period this year with no reported violent incidents. At the conclusion of the Hajj travel period, more than 30,000 Iraqi pilgrims will have traveled to and from Mecca by air and ground. Iraqis traveled through six ports of entry during the annual pilgrimage from Dec. 11 through Jan. 7. The pilgrims traveled by air transportation from Baghdad, Irbil, Mosul and Basra while others moved by ground transportation from Safwan and Ara’r. In preparation for Hajj travel, the Mosul airport reopened after...

WASHINGTON - U.S. admissions of Iraqi refugees are nose-diving amid bureaucratic in-fighting despite the Bush administration's pledge to boost them to roughly 1,000 per month, according to State Department statistics obtained by The Associated Press. For the third straight month since the United States said it would improve processing and resettle 12,000 Iraqis by the end of the current budget year on Sept. 30., the number admitted has actually slid, the figures show. The steady decline -- from 450 in October to 362 in November and 245 in December -- means the administration will have to allow in 10,943 Iraqis...

PATROL BASE CORREGIDOR, Iraq — When a platoon of soldiers returned to this small Army outpost in Iraqi farmland Thursday afternoon, the group’s leader had 30 requests for business grants. Sitting in a meeting room of Sheik Hatim Mehow’s house, 1st Lt. Wyatt Ottmar had a number of local residents lined up to be questioned why their micro-grant should be approved. Initially expecting 15 applicants, people kept arriving with grant forms filled in until double the number of applicants anticipated arrived, as Ottmar and his senior noncommissioned officer Sgt. 1st Class William Genthner took turns going through the forms and...

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq, Dec. 19, 2007 – There must be a “full and complete” partnership between coalition and Iraqi security forces for success in the country, the coalition’s day-to-day commander of ground operations in Iraq said here today. Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, spoke as the 1st Cavalry Division – commanded by Army Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil – transferred authority for Multinational Division Baghdad to the 4th Infantry Division – under Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Hammond – during a ceremony here. Odierno said that when the 1st Cavalry took command of the Multinational...

BAGHDAD — Iraqi citizens are taking back their streets from extremists by taking security into their own hands. The Iraqi Security Volunteer program, an Iraqi project funded by the government of Iraq, allows volunteers from local communities to protect their own neighborhoods. The ISVs receive a three-day training program at Coalition Outpost War Eagle where they learn some basic vehicle checks and how to conduct themselves on the streets, as well as weapons training with an AK-47. “When you have local citizens patrolling their own streets, they have a sincere interest in keeping it safe,” said 1st Lt. John Suh,...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, Oct. 31, 2007 – A signing ceremony at the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office here yesterday marked the start of a Multinational Force Iraq initiative to improve the living standards of area citizens through increased employment opportunities. (Left to right) Navy Capts. John Moore and Lynn Brantley, Army Brig. Gen. Steve Anderson and Army Lt. Col. Danny Tilzey discuss the importance of the I-BIZ initiative during a signing ceremony at the Camp Victory, Iraq, Defense Reutilization Management Office, Oct. 30, 2007. Photo by Lt. Frank Solorzano, USN  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Iraqi Business,...

I received a press release from Baghdad today, which I know the mainstream media will not pass on to you all. Here is an example of Iraqi charity and gratitude which touched my soul. Imagine how incredibly generous these soldiers are. They have little to support their own families. It’s not enough that they are fighting daily to bring peace to their country. They are actually reaching out to help unfortunate Americans. ...Iraqi Army at Besmaya Installation Support San Diego Fire Victims By U.S. Army Sgt 1st Class Charlene Sipperly Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq Public Affairs BAGHDAD, Iraq...