IRAQ: Government Fragments Further

As sectarian tensions escalate politically, a new fissure is appearing within the already fragmented Iraqi government.

POLITICS-MIDEAST: Why Annapolis Is About Iran

It was initially billed as a "peace conference" to decisively address the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. But as President George W. Bush's ambitious Annapolis gathering approached - his most intensive effort to restart peace talks in seven years - any prospect of a comprehensive breakthrough appeared as distant as ever, as Israeli and Palestinian leaders struggled to agree on a joint statement until the last minute.

IRAQ: A Tenuous &#39Peace&#39 in Al-Anbar

A semblance of calm belies an undercurrent of violence, detentions and fear across Iraq’s volatile al-Anbar province.

IRAQ: Detentions Escalate in Diwaniyah

Detentions have become commonplace in Iraq, but now more than ever before people are being detained after being accused of membership in "militias supported by Iran."

POLITICS: Soldiers of (Mis)Fortune

The United Nations is increasingly critical of the use of deadly force, including indiscriminate shooting of civilians, by private security guards in some of the world's battle zones.

POLITICS-US: Petraeus Sought to Prevent Release of Iranians

Recent statements by the U.S. military that Iran had pledged to stop supplying weapons to Shiite militias in Iraq and that this alleged flow of arms may have stopped in August were part of a behind-the-scenes struggle over whether the George W. Bush administration should make a gesture to Iran by releasing five Iranian prisoners held since January.

POLITICS-US: No Second Acts, Except in Iraq

Earlier this decade, Manuel Miranda spent a good deal of time figuring out how to pilfer documents related to the Democratic Party's strategy for dealing with President George W. Bush's judicial appointments.

Q&A: ‘U.S. Politics Turning Communities Against Each Other’

"As long as the U.S. troops stay in Iraq there will be violence," warns Gilbert Achcar, professor of development studies and international relations at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.

IRAQ: Executions Not Leading to Reconciliation

The executions of former regime officials are creating greater division, rather than reconciliation, among Iraqis.

IRAQ: Infighting Increases Instability

Increasing conflict and finger pointing between leading Shi'ite political blocs are heightening instability in war-torn Iraq.

IRAQ: Toward National Reconciliation or a Warlord State?

While the vast majority of analysts here agree that sectarian violence in Iraq has declined sharply from pre-"surge" levels one year ago, a major debate has broken out as to whether the achievement of the Surge's strategic objective - national reconciliation - is closer or more distant than ever.

POLITICS-EGYPT: Al Qaeda Faction Alters Course

The ideology al Qaeda rests on to justify its activities suffered a major blow this week.

IRAQ: Fallujah Now Under a Different Kind of Siege

Three years after a devastating U.S.-led siege of the city, residents of Fallujah continue to struggle with a shattered economy, infrastructure, and lack of mobility.

POLITICS-US: Seizure of Iranians Failed to Validate Bush Line

The George W. Bush administration's campaign to seize and detain Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials in Iraq, presented by Bush himself last January as a move to break up an alleged Iranian arms smuggling operation in Iraq, appears to have run its course without having been able to link a single Iranian to any such operation.

POLITICS: Canada Shuts Doors to U.S. War Resisters

Two U.S. Army deserters who fled to Canada and sought refugee status on grounds of their opposition to the war in Iraq have lost their bids to have the Supreme Court of Canada hear their cases.

IRAQ: Corruption Adds to Baquba&#39s Problems

Facing violence, unemployment and poverty, the capital city of Iraq's volatile Diyala province now finds itself confronting also corruption.

POLITICS-JAPAN: Compromise Possible on Role in Afghanistan, Iraq

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda cleared his first major test when the lower house of the parliament (Diet) passed a contentious bill, this week, allowing Japanese vessels to resume refuelling United States and coalition warships engaged in the war on terror.

POLAND: It’s Hard Saying Even Goodbye to Iraq

Leaving Iraq will prove harder than going in, especially as Warsaw's new government's decision comes amid deadly attacks against Polish interests in Iraq.

US-IRAQ: What Does the ‘Good News’ Really Mean?

More than seven weeks ago, U.S. media attention on Iraq peaked as Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador to Iraq Ray Crocker delivered their much anticipated evaluation of the George W. Bush administration's "surge strategy" before Congress.

POLITICS-US: Dems Put War Costs at 3.5 Trillion Through 2017

U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost U.S. taxpayers as much as 3.5 trillion dollars through 2017 if both direct and indirect, or "hidden", costs are taken into account, according to a new report released here Tuesday by Democrats in Congress.

POLITICS: Iraqi MPs Challenge Coalition Mandate

The United Nations Security Council has been warned by Iraqi parliamentarians of a potentially "serious" constitutional and political crisis if it decides to renew the mandate of the U.S.-led multinational force (MNF) beyond December 2007, without approval from lawmakers.