IRAQ: From Those Who Swear by Freedom

Journalists covering Iraq have run into some sort of balance of troubles.

IRAQ: Destruction Easier Than Reconstruction

While politicians deliberate over Iraq's future, Iraqis are dealing with the reality of the present. They are looking at the debris of a country where reconstruction has come to a standstill.

IRAQ: A Town Becomes a Prison

People of Siniyah town 200 km north of Baghdad are angry over a six-mile long sand wall constructed by the U.S. military to check attacks by rebels.

RIGHTS: Iraq Tops Nations With Minorities at Grave Risk

Iraq tops a list of countries whose minorities find themselves most at risk of persecution and even mass killing at the start of 2006, according to a new threat index released Thursday by the London-based Minority Rights Group International (MRG).

POLITICS-US: Activists Vow to Shut Down Army Recruiting Sites

A leading coalition of peace groups in the United States is planning to stage nationwide protests against the U.S. war in Iraq on Mar. 19, the day when U.S.-led military forces invaded that country three years ago.

POLITICS: Women’s Anti-War Petition Circles the Globe

Eminent female writers, artists, lawmakers and social activists in the United States are reaching out to women leaders across the world in an attempt to forge a global alliance against the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

POLITICS-US: Bush Seeks His Enemies’ Help in Iraq

To avoid failure of its mission in Iraq, the George W. Bush administration has been driven to seek the help of two major enemies - the Sunni insurgents and the government of Iran - but both initiatives have failed to make progress because officials were not given any real negotiating authority.

IRAQ: Fear Overshadows Eid Festival

What should have been a joyous four-day Islamic holiday for Eid al-Adha which Iraqis began to celebrate Jan. 10, has only highlighted the suffering under U.S. occupation.

DEVELOPMENT-US/IRAQ: Bush’s New Multilateralism

With the billions of dollars appropriated by the United States for Iraqi reconstruction almost spent, Japan, Australia and other nations in U.S. President George W. Bush's "coalition of the willing" are likely to be asked to shoulder much of the burden for funding the large number of unfinished projects.

IRAQ: Another Raid Brings Further Alienation

The Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni organisation that was created in the aftermath of the Iraq invasion, was again targeted by the United States military last Sunday. The raid on its mosque served only to alienate Sunnis further.

AFGHANISTAN: Broad Support Found for Govt, Foreign Troops

If U.S. President George W. Bush is looking for good news, he should be talking less about Iraq and more about Afghanistan, according to the latest survey results from that country.

IRAQ: Because Kidnapping Is News

More than 400 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since the occupation began in March 2003. Many more Iraqis have been kidnapped, but it is the abduction of foreigners that makes news, and makes them particular targets.

MEDIA-US: Iraq, Natural Disasters Dominated TV News in 2005

Led by Hurricane Katrina, natural disasters and Iraq dominated the U.S. television news during 2005, accounting for almost half of the content of the three major network news shows over the course of the year, according to the latest annual round-up of the weekday evening news by the New York-based Tyndall Report.

IRAQ: ‘Democracy’ Brings Bleak Days

Many Iraqis see dismal days ahead in the face of rising violence and the decision by the U.S. administration not to seek any further funds for reconstruction.

IRAQ: Shiites Escalate Conflict with US Over Sunni Strategy

In escalating their conflict with the United States over its efforts to weaken the Iraqi insurgency by coopting Sunni political figures, Shiite party leaders may have delivered a fatal blow to that strategy.

CHALLENGES 2005-2006: Schism Grows Between Religious Right and Left

The news stories chosen as the Top 10 of 2005 by members of the "righteous-wing" of the Republican Party offer significant insight into what U.S. religious conservatives consider most important.

POLITICS-US: Bush Bypasses Senate on Two Crony Appointments

Resorting once more to controversial "recess" appointments, U.S. President George W. Bush has named two political cronies to key administration positions without Senate approval.

IRAQ: Quarrels Overshadow Talk of Consensus

Clasping his hands together in a sign of unity, a cheerful Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, head of the Shia-dominated United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) entered the hall in this Kurdish city amidst applause. Al-Hakim was here to bring Shia groups from the south and Kurds from the north together in government.

POLITICS-US: Military Confidence in Bush Hits New Low

Although morale among members of the professional corps of the U.S. military remains generally high, their confidence in U.S. President George W. Bush and other civilian government leaders slipped substantially during 2005, according to major new survey released Monday by the "Military Times".

IRAQ: Election Despair Spreads to Expatriates

Despair over the Iraq election has spread to a large number of expatriates who voted in the Dec. 15 election.

CHALLENGES 2005-2006: For Bush, January May Be the Cruellest Month

If U.S. President George W. Bush had high hopes of resuscitating his second term in office this month, he is likely to be disappointed by growing bipartisan opposition to many of his policy initiatives and the challenges of completing the leftover work of the last session of Congress.