Updated at 10:53 p.m. EDT, July 25, 2010
Security has been tightened ahead of Shi’ite religious holiday, but at least 15 Iraqis were killed and 36 more were wounded in unrelated violence. Meanwhile, a State of Law M.P. complained that the delay in forming the government has shaken the international community’s trust in Iraq. Despite that fear, Iraq’s political blocs postponed the parliamentary session by one day to pick a speaker, among other issues plaguing the new parliament. The government, however, was able to make a decision on changing Iraq’s state logo and stamp. Mirroring parliament, the Iraqi Football Association has postponed board elections until further notice.
read moreSaturday: 3 Iraqis Killed, 22 Wounded
Three Iraqis were killed and 22 more were wounded in attacks in Mosul and Basra. Meanwhile, the INA’s rejection of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for a second term as prime minister could serve as the impetus to help a new coalition of 220 lawmakers resolve the impasse preventing the formation of the next government.
read moreThe Great Myth: Counterinsurgency
There are moments that define a war. Just such a one occurred on June 21, when Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry helicoptered into Marjah for a photo op with the locals. It was to be a capstone event, the fruit of a...
Israel Gets Brutal With Media
NABI SALAH, West Bank - Palestinian activists are being jailed, Israeli activists are under surveillance, and the Israeli military is increasingly targeting journalists who cover West Bank protests. The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Israel issued a statement...
Terror’s Self-Licking Ice Cream Cone
A recent exposé in the Washington Post shows that if you have a security clearance and are comfortable being part of a lucrative "self-licking ice cream cone" -- a process that offers few if any benefits while perpetuating its own existence -- then the...
Friday: 1 Iraqi Killed, 33 Wounded
Updated at 5:32 p.m. EDT, July 23, 2010
Only one Iraqi death was reported today, but 33 Iraqis were wounded in new attacks. Three U.S. soldiers who were wounded at their base in Nasariya as well. Meanwhile, Iraq trudged on another day without a new government, but the United States continued pressure on the leading contenders for prime minister.
read moreHaters Go After the ‘Ground Zero Mosque’
Nothing illustrates the utter craziness of our society in the post-9/11 era than the controversy over the "Ground Zero mosque." To begin with, the proposed Islamic center – not a mosque, but the Muslim equivalent of the YMCA – a nonprofit foundation wants to...
Cry Havoc
Palestinians Remain Split, US Doesn’t Adjust
Last summer, a tight consensus formed in Washington around Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's plans to build up state-like institutions in the West Bank and revive the territory's sagging economy from the lingering effects of the Second Intifada....
