IRAQ: Kurdish Leader Voices Indirect Support for Mutlak

The president of Iraq's Kurdistan region, Massoud Barzani, has expressed indirect support for the removal of Salih al-Mutlak and possibly other Sunni Arab politicians from a list of candidates banned from running in the March parliamentary elections.

POLITICS: Iraqi Body Softens Stance on Banned Candidates

A decision by Iraq's controversial Accountability and Justice Commission (AJC) Monday to remove 59 candidates from a list of over 500 candidates banned from running in the March parliamentary elections appears to be a sign that the AJC is softening its stance following widespread domestic opposition and a visit by U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden to Baghdad last week.

U.S.: Suicide Rate Surged Among Veterans

Suicides among United States military veterans ballooned by 26 percent from 2005 to 2007, according to new statistics released by the Veterans Affairs (VA) department.

IRAQ: Will Elections Bring Stability, or More Turmoil?

Iraq's upcoming parliamentary elections are widely considered a barometre of the country's progress and march toward stability, but they could also have a serious destabilising impact, as the U.S. prepares for a major reduction of its troops by August.

US: Whistleblower Psychiatrist Warns of Soldier on Soldier Violence

Kernan Manion, a psychiatrist who was hired last January to treat Marines returning from war who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other acute mental health problems borne from their deployments, fears more soldier-on-soldier violence without radical changes in the current soldier health care system.

CORRUPTION: Afghanistan, Iraq Near Bottom of Transparency Index

Despite billions of dollars spent by the U.S. and other countries to improve governance in Afghanistan and Iraq, the two countries remain among the world's most corrupt nations, according to the latest edition of Transparency International's (TI) Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).

U.S.: Army Underreporting Suicides, Says GI Advocacy Group

According to a soldiers' advocacy group at Fort Hood, the U.S. base where an army psychiatrist has been charged with killing 13 people and wounding 30 in a Nov. 5 rampage, the official suicide figures provided by the Army are "definitely" too low.

RIGHTS: Iraqi Minorities Dying Over Turf War

Iraqi minority groups are caught up in a power struggle between the country's Arab-dominated central government and the Kurdish-controlled regional government over the oil-rich Nineveh province - and they are paying with their lives, according Human Rights Watch.

U.S.: “War Comes Home” with Ft. Hood Shootings

While investigators probe for a motive behind the mass shooting at the Fort Hood military base in Texas Thursday, in which an army psychiatrist is suspected of killing 13 people, military personnel at the base are in shock as the incident "brings the war home".

RIGHTS-US: Lawsuit Probes Role of Psychologists in Terror War

The state board responsible for licensing - and disciplining - psychologists in Louisiana is accused of turning a blind eye to serious allegations of abuse against one of its members, including complicity in beatings, religious and sexual humiliation, rape threats and painful body positions during his service as a senior advisor on interrogations for the U.S. military in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.

IRAQ: U.S. Diplomatic Adviser’s Troubling Role in Oil Politics

In 2003, U.S. diplomatist Peter Galbraith resigned at the end of a distinguished, 24-year government career. Over the years that followed, he worked as a contract-based adviser to leaders in Iraq's Kurdish community, while also arguing passionately in public media that Iraq's Kurds should be given maximum independence from Baghdad - including full control over any new sources of oil.

IRAQ: Stormy Times as U.S. Withdraws

Political violence in Iraq killed 456 Iraqis in August, the highest monthly death toll since July 2008. And with the U.S. showing no sign it plans to reverse the troop withdrawal that is now well underway, numerous struggles for power are shaping up inside Iraq.

RIGHTS-US: CIA Probe Should Go Farther, Groups Say

Attorney General Eric Holder's decision Monday to investigate whether interrogators from the Central Intelligence Agency or its contractors violated any federal laws in applying "enhanced interrogation techniques" to detainees in U.S. custody overseas triggered immediate criticism from human rights advocates and appeared to widen the partisan divide between Republicans and Democrats.

RIGHTS-US: Justice to Probe Detainee Abuses

The issue of detainee interrogation and abuse – lately eclipsed by the debate over U.S. health care reform – bubbled back to the surface Monday in a number of headline-making developments.

BOOKS-US: Soldiers Who Just Say No

Six months into Barack Obama's presidency, the U.S. public's display of antiwar sentiment has faded to barely a whisper.

IRAQ: Shi’a Unity Deal Explodes U.S. Proxy War Myth

The agreement announced Monday between Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and a Shi’a resistance group called the "League of the Righteous" (Asa'ib al-Haq) formally ended the group’s armed opposition to the regime in return for the release of its leader and eight other Shi’a detainees. This deals a final blow to the U.S. military’s narrative of an Iranian "proxy war" in Iraq.

IRAQ: Chance of a Breakthrough With the Kurds?

A recent meeting between Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Kurdish President Massoud Barzani appears to be a crucial step in lowering tensions in the country, but it has also prompted questions as to whether the two leaders can put an end to their differences.

MIDEAST: As U.S. Winds Down, Iraq Tilts Toward Iran

A raid by Iraqi security forces on a camp of Iranian dissidents is widely seen as a sign that Iraqi authorities are establishing their independence as the U.S. occupation winds down – and tilting instead towards Iran.

US-IRAQ: Al-Maliki Dons Mantle of Seasoned Statesman

His visit to the U.S. this week was meant to be a show of statesmanship, much different than when he was in Washington last time.

MIDEAST: Turkey Gets Boost from Pipeline Politics

The political geography of the modern Middle East has been affected for one hundred years by the appetite of westerners and other outsiders for the region's hydrocarbons.

MIGRATION: U.S. to Admit Palestinian Refugees from Iraq

Approximately 1,350 Palestinian refugees from Iraq are being considered for resettlement in the U.S. after being referred to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Programme by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).