Monday: 8 Iraqis Killed, 32 Wounded

Updated at 8:50 p.m. EST, Dec. 14, 2009 At least eight Iraqis were killed and 32 more were wounded in the latest violence. One small attack took place last week, but the delayed account highlights the difficulties in reporting casualties in the war-torn country. Meanwhile, female servicemembers who have returned home to the United States report having difficulties transitioning back into society. Also, Iran says it will try three American hikers who crossed into the country from Iraq, and new details arose from an investigation into the Bloody Tuesday bombings.
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The Dust Bowl of Babylon

[This report appears in the winter 2009/10 issue of World Policy Journal and is posted here with the kind permission of the editors of that magazine.] BAGHDAD - From his mud brick home on the edge of the Garden of Eden, Awda Khasaf has twice seen his country's...

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Prussia in Palestine

A short historical quiz: Which state: Arose after a holocaust in which a third of its people were destroyed? Drew from that holocaust the conclusion that only superior military forces could ensure its survival? Accorded the army a central role in its life, making it...

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The Af-Pak Train Wreck

When President Barack Obama laid out his plan for winning the war in Afghanistan, behind him stood an army of ghosts: Greeks, Mongols, Buddhists, British, and Russians, all whom had almost the same illusions as the current resident of the Oval Office about Central...

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The Taxi Driver Who Drove Us to War

Over on the other side of the pond, the British are doing something we would never ever do – aside, that is, from spreading Marmite on a tea biscuit and actually consuming it. They are investigating the origins of the Iraq war. They want to know how did they get lured...

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Sunday: 1 US Soldier, 8 Iraqis Killed; 43 Iraqis Wounded

Updated at 8:30 p.m. EST, Dec. 13, 2009 At least eight Iraqis were killed and 43 more were wounded as fallout from Bloody Tuesday continues to vex security officials and perhaps perpetrators in Baghdad. In the United Kingdom, sources revealed that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will give his Chilcot Inquiry testimony in secret, perhaps undermining the authority of the inquiry. A separate investigation, this one in the United States, ended in favor of the military defendant. Also, one U.S. soldier died from non-combat injuries.
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Saturday: 1 US Soldier, 6 Iraqis Killed; 10 Iraqis Wounded

Updated at 9:15 p.m. EST, Dec. 12, 2009 At least six Iraqis were killed and 10 more were wounded in the lastest violence. Also, a U.S. soldier has died from non-combat injuries at Camp Speicher, and three American soldiers were wounded by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. Meanwhile, a Turkish court has banned a Kurdish political party for alleged ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party.
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Soldiers Forced to Go AWOL for PTSD Care

With a military health care system over-stretched by two ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, more soldiers are deciding to go absent without leave (AWOL) in order to find treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Eric Jasinski enlisted in the military in...

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