Legal headaches are growing exponentially for the security firm formerly known as Blackwater once the darling of the military-industrial community. In separate developments, two former employees of the company charged that the security firm committed...
Read the IAEA Reports on Iran
On Feb. 19, New York Times reporters David Sanger and William Broad filed a story about the International Atomic Energy Agency's latest report [.pdf] on its inspection and monitoring work in Iran. The lead of story, "Inspectors Say Iran Worked on Warhead,"...
The Road to Dictatorship
That 56 percent of all Americans "think the federal government's become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens" isn't really all that surprising. After all, ever since the 9/11 terrorist...
Defying US, Pakistan Keeps Custody of Baradar
The refusal of Pakistani intelligence to turn over Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and as many as six other top Taliban figures to the United States or the Afghan government has dealt a serious blow to the Barack Obama administration's hopes for Pakistani...
Sunrise or Sunset for Iraq?
Operation New Dawn. That is the name the U.S. military will give its operations in Iraq when U.S. military operations in that country end this September. Wait, what? Okay, once more, a little more slowly. The United States has nearly 100,000 military personnel in Iraq...
Sunday: 8 Iraqis Killed, 18 Wounded
Saturday: 1 Iraqi Killed, 8 Wounded
Light violence left at least one dead and eight wounded across Iraq. In one case the number of wounded is unknown, but at least three casualties were counted. U.S. forces also accidentally killed a tribal leader’s son. Meanwhile, voters are heavily divided ahead of the elections, but some Iraqis can still find humor in the colorful campaigns styles of some candidates. Also, the Accountability and Justice Commission will release evidence they used to bar candidates.
In Arbil, gunmen attacked election campaign offices, beating up several guards and an employee. The political contests are particularly heated in Iraqi Kurdistan, but detailed reports of casualties have been hard to come by. Ten arrest warrants were issued. At least one of the injured is a political activist.
U.S. forces killed a tribal chief’s son and wounded his wife in Kanaan. Villagers were responding to unknown intruders in the night, and the troops fired back.
In Baghdad, an I.E.D. wounded four people.
Gunmen targeted the home of a political candidate in Qaim, but they left no casualties.
Four suspects were arrested over involvement in recent bombings across Anbar province. Police will employ strict security measures ahead of the election.
Karbala police will deploy 1,000 policewomen along with another 15,000 male security personnel during an operation to protect polling centers.
Iraqi families struggle with the high rents and small supply of adequate housing.


