POLITICS-US: Bush’s Iraq-Korea Analogy Sparks New Debate

While President George W. Bush appears, however belatedly, to be embracing recommendations by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group (ISG) to begin withdrawing U.S. combat troops by early 2008, he has implicitly rejected the ISG's call to renounce any intention to establish permanent military bases in Iraq.

POLITICS-IRAQ: Sick of Their Government

Reports of the poor health among high-ranking Iraqi politicians are being seen as symbolic of the popular mood here about the U.S.-backed government.

IRAQ: Anxiety in Wake of U.S.-Iran Talks

U.S.-Iranian talks about Iraq have been received with scepticism and some foreboding here, with some calling for limitations on the extent of issues that the two countries can negotiate regarding Iraq.

POLITICS-US: Surge Dirge

Despite President George W. Bush's victory last week in his protracted battle with Congressional Democrats for unconditional funding for the Iraq war at least through September, his administration appears to have given up hope that it can maintain his "surge" strategy well into next year and even beyond.

IRAQ: From Worse to Worst?

More than four months after the launch of the U.S. government's new Iraq strategy aimed at curbing violence in this war-torn country, the situation here shows no clear signs of improvement. Indeed, a recent report by a British think tank warns that Iraq is a "failure" on the verge of "collapse and fragmentation."

IRAQ: Kurds and Shia Fight for Power in Baghdad

A massacre by members of Shia Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi army on Sunni worshippers earlier this month sparked clashes between patrolling Kurdish militiamen in southwest Baghdad and the Mehdi army, raising tensions that fighting between the groups could spread.

POLITICS-US: Intel Agencies Warned of Post-War Risks

Two major studies prepared by the U.S. intelligence community and distributed to senior officials in every relevant agency two months before Washington's invasion of Iraq warned of many of the problems that have turned the U.S. occupation there into the worst foreign policy crisis since at least the Vietnam War.

HEALTH-US: For Some Vets, No Way Out of the War Zone

The widow of an Afghanistan war veteran who was shot and killed by the Maryland State Police is talking to a lawyer after a state attorney's report released this month found the troopers' behaviour was "flawed," "assaultive" and "militaristic".

POLITICS-US: Public, Republicans Disown Iraq War

Even as Congress moved to approve President George W. Bush's request for continued funding of the Iraq war through the end of this fiscal 2007, a major new poll released Thursday found that public disillusionment with the war has reached record highs.

POLITICS-US: Better Oversight of Post-9/11 Military Aid Urged

Aided by Washington lobbyists, foreign countries regarded as strategic allies in the ‘war on terror' have received billions of dollars in new military and security assistance since 9/11, much of it with little Congressional or civilian oversight, according to the findings of a major investigative project by the Centre for Public Integrity (CPI).

POLITICS-US: Democrats Concede Deadline on Iraq Pullout

Congress gave in this week to the George W. Bush administration and finalised an emergency supplemental war spending bill that does not include a timeline for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

IRAQ: Sunni Resistance Receptive to Sadr Alliance

Nationalist Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's bid to unite Sunnis and Shiites on the basis of a common demand for withdrawal of U.S. occupation forces, reported last weekend by the Washington Post's Sudarsan Raghavan, seems likely to get a positive response from Sunni armed resistance.

U.S./IRAN: Scholars Bear Brunt of Anti-Diplomacy Backlash

With only a few days left until the United States and Iran are expected to hold much anticipated talks, several factors point to the potential for a real diplomatic breakthrough.

IRAQ: Curfew Begins to Choke Samarra

At least 10 residents have died as the result of a curfew imposed by the U.S.-backed Iraqi government, local doctors say.

POLITICS: Departing Wolfowitz Names New Iraq Director

The World Bank has just appointed a new country head for Iraq despite security and corruption concerns, according to a leaked document.

IRAQ: Where Nobody Is Accountable

Killings, crime, lack of medical care, collapse of education... the list goes on. But with the occupation by U.S.-led forces now into a fifth year, and a supposedly democratic government in place, no one knows who to hold accountable for all that is going wrong.

MEDIA-IRAQ: Journalists Face Repression on All Sides

The working environment for Iraq's journalists is becoming increasingly dangerous and difficult, with 31 killed just since the start of this year, according to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

IRAN: Nuclear Parleys Run Parallel to Iraq Talks

While the Iranian regime has been categorical that negotiations with the European Union over its controversial nuclear programme are isolated from planned talks with the United States over security in Iraq, the timing of the parleys are such that overlap may be hard to avoid.

POLITICS-US: Latino Soldiers Who Refused Iraq Speak Out

A U.S. Army medic who refused to load his gun in Iraq and then escaped through a base window in Germany rather than be deployed a second time returned home to Los Angeles this week after serving six months in a U.S. military prison.

POLITICS-US: Surge Strategy Shows Weaknesses

More than three months into the implementation of U.S. President George W. Bush's "surge" strategy, scepticism over the likelihood of its success is still running high here.

POLITICS-US: Halliburton Looks to Greener Pastures

As Halliburton held its annual meeting Wednesday in Houston, Texas, the Washington-based Corpwatch released its own "Alternative Annual Report" which details the alleged wrongdoings of the company and its former subsidiary, Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), and questions the motivation behind Halliburton's planned move to the United Arab Emirates.