Iraqi Religious Violence Spiking, State Dept Says

Despite the addition of 30,000 US troops to enhance security in the country, the freedom of average Iraqis to practice their religions deteriorated sharply during the past year, according to a report released Friday by the US State Department. The ninth "Annual...

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Beginning-Ending Enduring Relationships

President Bush wants to establish an "enduring relationship" with Iraq, similar – he has reportedly said – to the one we have with South Korea. Weird, because only last week the South Koreans again signaled they would like very much to end their...

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Back to School, Back to Horror

BAGHDAD - As another school year begins in Iraq, parents approach it with dread, fearing for the safety of their children. With the security situation grimmer than ever all over the country, just stepping out of one's house means a serious threat to life. "God...

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Shock and Horror

It's sensible to be afraid of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. These people are killers who will murder women and children and not bat an eye. I predicted we'd be hit by terrorism in a column I wrote in August 2001. I had no idea, of course, that the attack would come so...

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The War Empire Forgot

The September morning six years ago that saw three hijacked jetliners slam into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon has often been called "the day everything changed." What really changed was Americans’ skepticism of their own government – a...

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Sheikh’s Killing a Blow to Bush

In what was at least a symbolic blow to George W. Bush, a prominent Iraqi tribal sheikh and self-styled leader of the "Sunni Awakening" movement against al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) was assassinated just hours before the US president was to make his latest appeal...

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No Refuge Within or Outside the Country

BAGHDAD - US occupation authorities and successive US-backed Iraqi governments have done little to stem the flow of Iraqis fleeing their war-torn country since the beginning of the occupation. Syria, Jordan and Egypt have accepted millions of Iraqis to stay under...

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Stopping the Next War

President Bush has won the Battle of September. When he turns over the presidency on Jan. 20, 2009, there will likely be as many U.S. troops in Iraq as there were when Congress was elected to bring them home in November 2006. That is the meaning of Gen....

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