Updated at 12:30 p.m. EDT, May 11, 2010
At least 154 Iraqis were killed and 620 more were wounded in a staggering series of attacks across the country. Some of the attacks likely were coordinated, such as those on checkpoints in Baghdad. Others seemed completely random. Security officials were quick to blame al-Qaeda or foreign nations, but the attacks crossed the sectarian lines, striking Shi’ite, Sunni and Kurd targets. In an unusual switch, the worst attacks occurred south of the capital in Hilla, Suwayra and Basra, where such attacks after tapered off. Conflicting casualty figures often follow such large and wide-ranging attacks.
read moreDeclassified GAO Report Exposes Fatally Flawed Israel Investigations
The 2010 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is underway at UN Headquarters in New York. A working paper calls for a nuclear-free Middle East. It would require member states of the NPT to "disclose in their national reports on...
Has Faisal Shahzad Started a War?
The Obama administration is determined to link the Times Square Fizzler, Faisal Shahzad, to the Pakistani Taliban, and isn't about to let logic, reality, or anything remotely related to the facts get in its way. With the complicity of the Obama-stricken media, they...
From Two States to One
Last week in Tel Aviv, a judge imposed a $25,000 fine on three tenants who extended their balcony illegally by annexing 23 sq. meters (250 sq. ft.). Well, that's not really a scoop. Illegal construction is a punishable offense everywhere, even if there are no...
Sunday: 3 Iraqis Killed, 6 Wounded
Even as the Independent Election Commission of Iraq is conducting a ballot recount in Baghdad, they are also preparing to deliver final vote tallies to the Supreme Court for ratification. Meanwhile, at least three Iraqis were killed and six more were wounded in unusually light violence. Also, the U.S. embassy has hired attorneys for indigent Iraqis held in prison; however, Iraqi detainees held by U.S. forces should have long ago been handed over to the Iraqis.
read moreSaturday: 14 Iraqis Killed, 24 Wounded
In the latest violence, at least 14 Iraqis were killed and 24 more were wounded. Turkish warplanes chasing Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels across the border bombed suspected hideouts in northern Iraq, after an attack that left two soldiers dead in Turkey; rebels denied any loses on their side. Mea
read moreLiving with Risk is the Cost of Freedom
US Business Groups Fault Rush to Sanctions on Iran
The U.S. Congress is moving forward with a bill to sanction companies that do business in Iran despite the White House's efforts to build international support for U.N. sanctions against the Islamic Republic. U.S. business organizations and a number of experts here in...
North Korea and Israel: A Lot in Common
Friday: 13 Iraqis Killed, 24 Wounded
Updated at 8:02 p.m. EDT, May 7, 2010
At least 13 Iraqis were killed and 24 were wounded in violent attacks. Meanwhile, Ayad Allawi, the former prime minister whose Iraqiya list won the most seats in parliamentary elections, insisted his party has the right to form the next government. Should Iraqiya, which was favored by Sunni Iraqis, be squeezed out, it could signal a return to sectarian violence.
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