24/1/08

McCain Criticizes Clinton’s ‘White Flag’ on Iraq
Washington Post – United States
Y.) today for suggesting during Monday’s Democratic debate that she would set a 60-day timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq if elected president. …
blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/01/24/mccain.html

The cost of the war in Iraq just keeps climbing.
By Les
WASHINGTON (CNN)—The White House is downplaying published reports of an estimated $50 billion to $60 billion price tag for a war with Iraq, saying it is “impossible” to estimate the cost at this time. White House Office of Management …
stupidevilbastard.com/index/seb/comments/the_
cost_of_the_war_in_iraq_just_keeps_climbing/

Iraq forced to hold ‘rolling elections’
Times Online – UK
Iraq will hold “rolling elections” around the country because the security situation is too poor for a nationwide poll to be policed properly, …
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/
economics/wef/article3245500.ece

FACTBOX: Security developments in Iraq
Reuters – USA
* MOSUL – A suicide bomber in police uniform killed a top police official in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul as he toured the site of a blast a day earlier …
www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSRAS46905620080124

Financial Squeeze for ‘Al Qaeda in Iraq’
By David Axe
Every organization needs financing to function, and insurgent group Al Qaeda in Iraq is no exception, according to Central Command spokesman Rear Admiral Greg Smith. He says the terrorist and insurgent group even keeps extensive …
blog.wired.com/defense/2008/01/al-qaeda-in-ira.html

Bomb kills Iraq police chief as he visits blast scene
Inquirer.net – Philippines
MOSUL, Iraq — A suicide bomber killed the chief of police of Iraq’s main northern city of Mosul and two other officers on Thursday as they were traveling …
newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20080124-1
14535/Bomb-kills-Iraq-police-chief-as-he-visits-blast-scene

Suicide Bomber Kills Police Chief At Blast Site in Northern Iraq
Wall Street Journal – USA
But Mosul — Iraq’s third-largest city some 225 miles northwest of the capital — continues to be a center for al Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgents, …
online.wsj.com/article/SB12011626529
4213115.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Bomber kills Iraq police chief as he visits blast scene
AFP –
MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) — A suicide bomber disguised as a policeman killed Mosul’s police chief and two other officers on Thursday as they visited the scene of an …
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gVMCHb2x9iUCGRmiG5ceCjqVbzqQ

Govt ordered to publish early draft of 2002 Iraq dossier
AFP –
LONDON (AFP) — The government has been ordered to publish an early draft of a controversial dossier on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction which helped …
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i59Xj6KRwkZgk7dsfvX655mvXrXg

Study: Bushies Lied 935 Times to Sell Iraq Invasion
AlterNet – San Francisco,CA,USA
Bush and his top officials waged a campaign of misinformation about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. President George W. Bush and seven of his …
www.alternet.org/waroniraq/74715/

Attacks Imperil Militiamen in Iraq Allied With US
New York Times – United States
Born nearly two years ago in Iraq’s western deserts, the Awakening movement has grown to an 80000-member nationwide force, four-fifths of whose members are …
www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/world/
middleeast/24sunni.html?ref=middleeast

News & Views 01/23/08
By dancewater(Cervantes)
A thunderous blast tore through a vacant apartment building in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing at least 17 civilians and wounding more than 130 in adjacent houses just minutes after the Iraqi army arrived to investigate tips about a …
warnewstoday.blogspot.com/2008/01/news-views-012308.html

US war costs in Iraq up-budget report
Reuters – USA
By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Iraq war may not dominate US news reports as the carnage drops, but a new report underscores the financial …
www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2365065420080124

Democrats Attack Iraq Security Proposal
Washington Post – United States
Barack Obama (Ill.) and other Democratic lawmakers who are focusing their fire on the administration’s plans for a long-term commitment to Iraq, …
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2008/01/23/AR2008012303473.html

Ministers told to publish draft of Iraq dossier
Independent – London,England,UK
The Government’s dossier on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction remains a hugely controversial episode in the run up to the invasion in 2003. …
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ministers-
told-to-publish-draft-of-iraq-dossier-773144.html

Explosion Kills 17 in Northern Iraq
The Associated Press –
BAGHDAD (AP) — A thunderous blast tore through a vacant apartment building in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing at least 17 civilians and wounding more …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gkx-3oYe
FwuWKCusr2jrojs98w8wD8UBRSH00

Democrats: Political Eunuchs On The Iraq War
By podcasts@redstate.com (Redstate Network)
In addition to guaranteeing a congressional role in any US-Iraq security accord, these policy targets range from tightening controls over private contractors to ensuring minimum amount of rest and readiness for deploying troops, …
www.redstate.com/stories/the_parties/democrats/
democrats_political_eunuchs_on_the_iraq_war

ANALYSIS: Who Was Telling Truth About Obama’s Iraq War Position …
During Monday night’s Democratic presidential debate, one of the sharp points of contention between Hillary Clinton (D) and Barack Obama (D) was whether there was an evolution of Obama’s position on the Iraq War over the years. …
www.politicalbase.com/profile/Mark
%20Nickolas/blog/&blogId=1044

23/1/08

Thirty ‘al Qaeda’ in Iraq killed in Diyala
Iraqi and Coalition forces continue to press the fight against ‘al Qaeda in Iraq’ in the northeastern province of Diyala, where the terror group maintains small pockets. In the latest series of raids as part of Operation Raider Harvest, …
www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2
008/01/thirty_al_qaeda_in_i.php

Iraq’s Superbombs, Still Home Made
By David Hambling
There’s no deadlier weapon in Iraq than explosively-formed projectiles, or EFPs. The number of these so-called “superbomb” attacks has reportedly fallen off recently (see David Axe’s earlier, related post) but the story is still muddied …
blog.wired.com/defense/2008/01/superbombs---mo.html

Bush Administration Lied 935 Times About Iraq Before Invasion: Study
MTV.com – USA
By Gil Kaufman For years, the Bush administration has faced charges that it bent the truth or flat-out misled the public about Iraq’s stockpile of weapons …
www.mtv.com/news/articles/1580119/20080123/index.jhtml

Blast in Iraq’s Mosul kills 15, wounds 132
National Post – Toronto,Ontario,Canada
“There are still people trapped inside the blast site and under rubble,” Major-General Mark Hertling, commander of US forces in northern Iraq, told Reuters …
www.nationalpost.com/news/world/story.html?id
=d0e713b8-f92c-4337-8dd3-28dc6b562986&k=74461

Ahmadinejad Accepts Invitation to Visit Iraq
FOXNews – USA
AP BAGHDAD — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accepted an invitation to visit Iraq, but no date has been set, the Foreign Ministry announced here …
www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,324906,00.html

Goverment ordered to release Iraq WMD paper
Times Online – UK
The Government was yesterday ordered to make public a secret document about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction which was drawn up by the head of information …
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/global/article3240548.ece

Oil and the Looming Threat to Iraq
By dzarkhan
The Bush administration has denied that the Iraq war was for oil, and proclaimed its commitment to the preservation of Iraq’s sovereignty and Iraq’s territorial integrity. Recent events, however, indicate that oil is playing a role in …
dzarkhan.wordpress.com/2008/01/24/
oil-and-the-looming-threat-to-iraq/

Reporters count Bush team’s falsities before Iraq
By Frank James
The Center for Public Integrity has a new report out this morning which it says chronicles at least 935 falsities that President Bush and his team made in the runup to the Iraq War in order to win over public opinion in the US and …
www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/
2008/01/reporters_chronicle_bush_teams.html

Truth was first US casualty in Iraq war: study
AFP –
WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President George W. Bush and his top officials ran roughshod over the truth in the run-up to the Iraq war lying a total of 935 times, …
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hY
M8h8wNn4ccjLCLy7N8cyPwUcUA

Iraq’s flag redesign erases one of the last symbols of Hussein regime
Christian Science Monitor – Boston,MA,USA
Iraq has had numerous flags since the country’s 1921 inception by British mandate. White, black, green, and red appeared on most of the flags, …
www.csmonitor.com/2008/0123/p99s01-duts.html

Bush to sign defense bill addressing Iraq concern
Reuters – USA
Bush last month had vetoed an earlier version of the bill that had prompted complaints from the Iraq government. Baghdad objected to the legislation because …
www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2339638420080123

Blasts and bullets kill 16 in Iraq: police
AFP –
MOSUL (AFP) — Blasts and bullets killed at least 16 people in Iraq on Wednesday, among them seven who died when munitions blew up and three Iraqi soldiers …
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iEyXBGLAF_M9SV1t1y9HdwC3QEoQ

General Dynamics Net Jumps 42% on Sales for Iraq War (Update1)
Bloomberg – USA
The Iraq war has boosted demand for the company’s Abrams tank and Stryker troop transport, as well as repairs and upgrades for vehicles used in combat. …
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20
601103&sid=a9jyUuOK6RpM&refer=news

US military says kills 20 in al Qaeda Iraq raids
Reuters – USA
US and Iraqi forces have launched a series of offensives against al Qaeda in Iraq’s northern provinces, including Diyala. US soldiers in the Hamrin…
www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSHAR34698620080123

Iraq: the politics of the local, Charles Tripp
By david.hayes@opendemocracy.net
Charles Tripp is professor of middle east politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (Soas), University of London. among his books are A History of Iraq (Cambridge University Press, new edition, 2007), and Islam and the …
www.opendemocracy.net/article/middle
_east/iraq_the_politics_of_the_local

Bush admin’s 935 Iraq War lies
By Jon
“Nearly five years after the US invasion of Iraq, an exhaustive examination of the record shows that the statements were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to …
www.p2pnet.net/story/14746

Study: 935 False statements preceded Iraq War
By Off the Grid Girls
WASHINGTON – A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the …
offthegridgirls.wordpress.com/2008/01/23/
study-935-false-statements-preceded-iraq-war/

Allawi discusses future of Iraq on NPR’s Fresh Air
By Yale University Press
As part of the series “Iraq: What Next for the US?,” Terry Gross of NPR’s Fresh Air recently talked with Ali A. Allawi, author of The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace. Their conversation about the future of Iraq can …
yalepress.typepad.com/yalepresslog
/2008/01/allawi-discusse.html

First US soldier in Iraq dies in new mine-resistant vehicle
USA Today – USA
… SC, remains committed to the $22 billion program, Morrell said. About 12000 of the trucks have been ordered, and more than 2200 have been shipped to Iraq.
www.usatoday.com/news/military/2008-01-22-iraq-mrap_N.htm

Bombs strike at schools in Iraq
Detroit Free Press – United States
BY CHRISTOPHER CHESTER AP BAGHDAD, Iraq — A suicide bomber pushing an electric heater atop a cart packed with hidden explosives attacked a high school …
www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?
AID=/20080123/NEWS07/801230329/1009