BOOKS-IRAQ: "We Blew Her to Pieces"

Aside from the Iraqi people, nobody knows what the U.S. military is doing in Iraq better than the soldiers themselves. A new book gives readers vivid and detailed accounts of the devastation the U.S. occupation has brought to Iraq, in the soldiers' own words.

POLITICS: Slow Sunni Integration Could Derail Iraq Successes

Amid reports that the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has launched a campaign to disband the so-called Awakening Movement, or Sahwa, concerns among analysts and policy makers here is growing that such an effort could result in a resumption of sectarian violence, if not civil war.

BOOKS-US: Revelations of an Abu Ghraib Interrogator

Few people have thought as much about the morality of the U.S. occupation of Iraq than Joshua Casteel, a former U.S. Army interrogator who served at Abu Ghraib prison in the wake of the detainee abuse scandal there.

POLITICS: Why Its Iraqi “Client” Blocked U.S. Long-Term Presence

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki signaled last week that that all U.S. troops - including those with non-combat functions - must be out of the country by the end of 2011 under the agreement he is negotiating with the George W. Bush administration.

IRAQ: Kidnappings Now Become ‘Unofficial’

Residents of Baquba deny police claims that kidnappings are now a matter of the past.

POLITICS-US: Election Stirs Hopes and Fears Among Iraqis in U.S.

As the November election nears, Iraqis in the United States appear divided over their preferences for the next U.S. president, according to a series of interviews carried out by IPS.

RIGHTS: Accused Terrorist Sues Norway

The co-founder of a suspected al-Qaeda linked militant group in Iraq who lived a double life as a refugee in Norway's capital Oslo is suing Norway for violating his rights.

IRAQ: Sectarian Clashes Flare Up Again

A military operation said to target al-Qaeda has ended up targeting Sunni Muslims instead, creating new sectarian tensions.

POLITICS-US: McCain’s Plan to Privatise Veterans’ Health Care

If John McCain is elected the next U.S. president, wounded veterans could be in for a world of hurt.

IRAQ: U.S. Officials Admit Worry over a ‘Difficult’ al-Maliki

U.S. officials privately admit being concerned that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki has become "overconfident" about his government’s ability to manage without U.S. combat troops, according to an Iraq analyst who just returned from a trip to Iraq arranged by U.S. commander General David Petraeus.

POLITICS-US: One-Fifth of Iraq Funding Paid to Contractors

As a new report forecasts that the 190,000 private contractors in Iraq and neighbouring countries will cost U.S. taxpayers more than 100 billion dollars by the end of 2008, an under-the-radar Florida court case suggests that U.S. President George W. Bush - a staunch contractor supporter - is preparing to throw security contractors such as Blackwater under the political bus.

IRAQ: ‘Provincial Saddam’ Goes, Finally

The surprise removal of the Diyala police chief has brought new hope of a more secure future.

US/IRAN: Nothing Behind U.S. Allegations?

While the United States has repeatedly accused Iran of providing lethal weapons to Shiite militias, last week, U.S. officials once again failed to provide solid evidence for this charge, raising questions about the actual level of Iran’s meddling in Iraq.

IRAQ: U.S. Blamed for Increasing Iranian Influence

Haider returned from Iran recently, with enough money to pay for his wedding and a new car. He was trained to join Badr, the armed wing of the Dawa Party of U.S.-backed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

POLITICS-US: How Tenet Betrayed the CIA on WMD in Iraq

Journalist Ron Suskind’s revelation that Saddam Hussein’s intelligence chief was a prewar intelligence source reporting to the British that Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction (WMD) adds yet another dimension to the systematic effort by then Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director George Tenet to quash any evidence - no matter how credible - that conflicted with the George W. Bush administration’s propaganda line that Saddam was actively pursuing a nuclear weapons programme.

IRAQ: Students Fail, Like So Much Else

Living from one crisis to another, without electricity or freedom to move under a collapse of security, massive numbers of Iraqi students are failing their exams.

IRAQ: Iran Gains From Power Cuts

The crisis over electricity failure grows as summer temperatures climb and a drought plagues Iraq. It is a crisis Iran is using to help Iraqis where the U.S. has failed.

IRAQ: New Operation Gets Surprise Support

A massive military operation in Diyala province has underscored the military and political gains by the Sahwa militia, despite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's earlier attempts to thwart them. Maliki has now apparently come around to involving the Sahwa rather than opposing them.

POLITICS-US: No Traction in the Middle East

More than five years after invading Iraq as a first step towards "transforming" the Middle East, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush seems to have lost its footing - let alone its unquestioned domination - throughout the region.

POLITICS-US: Faith in a Time of War

From Republican contender John McCain's Jul. 25 meeting with the Dalai Lama in Aspen, Colorado to Democratic candidate Barack Obama's visit to Jerusalem's Western Wall the same day, the intersection of religion, politics and the "war on terror" has been a recurrent theme in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

POLITICS-US: Gates Strategy Stresses Unconventional Warfare

U.S. defence strategy should be focused primarily in the short to medium term on unconventional threats, particularly "violent extremist movements such as al Qaeda and its associates", while it "hedge(s)" against the growing military power of "rogue states such as Iran and North Korea" and potential rivals, notably China and Russia, according to major policy guidance released here Thursday by Pentagon chief Robert Gates.