Updated at 11:28 p.m. EDT, June 19, 2010
Violence in Iraq tapered off significantly today, but at least six Iraqis were killed and 16 more wounded in new attacks. Meanwhile, tensions at the Turkish border revved up after more PKK strikes. Also, Iraqiya leader Ayad Allawi said that Iraqi and U.S. sources warned him of assassination attempts. The Department of Defense reported on Thursday’s non-combat death of a U.S. soldier in Mosul as well.
Updated at 7:40 p.m. EDT, June 18, 2010 At least 46 Iraqis were killed and 114 were wounded in a series of significant attacks across the country. Most casualties were from two bombings north of Baghdad, but some smaller attacks were striking in their savagery. Meanwhile, the United Nations is investigating claims that Iraqi asylum seekers were mistreated before being deported back to Iraq, where the refugee problem remains discouraging.
At least nine Iraqis were killed and eight more were wounded in the latest violence. Hundreds of Kurds, however, have been forced to leave their homes because of shelling from Iranian troops. Also, dozens of people were accidentally poisoned in Baghdad.
At least eight Iraqis were killed and 39 more were wounded in attacks mostly within Mosul and Baghdad. Activity between Turkish troops and PKK rebels is increasing on the border with Turkey where at least eight have died there and four more were wounded in today’s attacks.
The sad truth is that if Iran wants a nuclear weapon, it will likely eventually get one. So the United States should quit wasting valuable political capital beseeching, threatening, and horse-trading with China, Russia, and other UN Security Council members to incrementally ratchet up likely futile multilateral economic sanctions against Iran. Economic sanctions rarely work …
Continue reading “Turkey’s Policy Toward Iran Is Worth Emulating”
When two widely divergent investigative panels launch their probes on the recent Israeli attack on a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, one of the disputed issues under scrutiny would be the legality of forcibly boarding a vessel in international waters. The two commissions of inquiry, one appointed by Israel and the other …
Continue reading “Israeli Attack May Violate International, Maritime Laws”
You know that something strange is happening when the usual crew of neocon critics takes out after Turkey – yes, Turkey! – a country that, as Inter Press Service’s Jim Lobe points out, they long cultivated and supported as a key ally and supposedly model democracy in the Islamic world. Of course, that was then. …
Continue reading “Pax Ottomanica?”
As the right-wing leadership of the organized U.S. Jewish community defends Israel against international condemnation for its deadly seizure of a flotilla bearing humanitarian supplies for Gaza, a familiar clutch of neoconservative hawks is going on the offensive against what they see as the flotilla’s chief defender, Turkey. Outraged by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip’s Erdogan’s …
Continue reading “Neoconservatives Lead Charge Against Turkey”
After several months of closed-door negotiations and shuttle diplomacy, the United States succeeded Wednesday in getting a new Security Council resolution — the fourth in a series — imposing a fresh set of sanctions penalizing Iran for its nuclear program But the most powerful political body at the United Nations refused to give the United …
Continue reading “Brazil, Turkey Defy US on Nuke Vote Against Iran”
Updated at 8:51 p.m. EDT, Across Iraq, at least 15 Iraqis were killed and 19 more were wounded during a series of attacks that mostly focused on Mosul. Meanwhile, the new parliament will convene its first session next Monday; however, the formation of the new government could take weeks or months. Also, Turkish artillery struck in the Zakho region, but no casualties were reported.
