Yahoo! News: Iraq

U.S. soldier 'methodical' in Iraq clinic shooting spree: expert
Judge declines to drop death penalty for Fort Hood shooter
Turkey would support U.S.-led no-fly zone in Syria: NBC
Tunisian national is accused of seeking US visa to plot terror
Tunisian man denies NY terror cell plot claims
List: Some of the biggest bank heists in history
Soldier 'methodical' in Iraq stress clinic shooting spree: expert
U.S. charges man in Canadian train attack case with visa violations
Tunisian man charged in NY in terror cell plot
THE AMERICAN SOLDIER to open May 25 at the History Colorado Center
Column: On Syria, it's time for Obama to decide
Glint of a Mideast peace as Turkey-Kurd pact plays out
Philippine police: ex-Marine, murder weapon linked
Court for ex-Marine accused in Philippines murders
American Red Cross Names Seven New Members to Diversity Advisory Council
Turkey steps up chemical weapons tests on Syria casualties
Analysis: After months of deadlock, diplomacy gets another chance in Syria
Turkey testing Syrians for chemical weapon wounds
Five Best Thursday Columns
US and Russia team up to make fresh diplomatic push on Syria
Iraq rejects refuge for Turkey's Kurdish fighters
Turkey sends team to screen for chemical weapons on Syria border
Baghdad government says PKK not welcome in Iraq
Iraq rejects offering shelter to PKK fighters
Jihadi peril makes its way to Tunisia
Accused Fort Hood shooter seeks to avoid death penalty
Today in History
Iraq Vet Plans Armed Independence Day March on Washington

U.S. soldier 'methodical' in Iraq clinic shooting spree: expert

Posted: 09 May 2013 04:58 PM PDT

By Eric M. Johnson TACOMA, Washington (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier who killed five fellow servicemen in a shooting spree at a combat stress center in Iraq acted with the tactical precision of a trained soldier as he moved through the clinic, an Army crime scene expert testified on Thursday. U.S. Army Sergeant John Russell pleaded guilty last month to killing two medical staff officers and three soldiers at Camp Liberty in Baghdad in a 2009 shooting the military has said could have been triggered by combat stress. ...

Judge declines to drop death penalty for Fort Hood shooter

Posted: 09 May 2013 04:46 PM PDT

By Don Bolding and Jim Forsyth FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - A military judge on Thursday again denied a request from accused Fort Hood gunman Army Major Nidal Hasan to remove the death penalty as a punishment option in his forthcoming court-martial on charges of killing 13 people in a 2009 shooting rampage. At a pre-trial hearing, judge Colonel Tara Osborn also denied requests from the defense that Hasan's trial be pushed back until September 1 and that a media affairs expert be appointed at government expense to assist the defense in jury selection. ...

Turkey would support U.S.-led no-fly zone in Syria: NBC

Posted: 09 May 2013 04:39 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would support a U.S.-enforced no-fly zone in Syria and warned that Damascus crossed President Barack Obama's "red line" on chemical weapons use long ago, according to an NBC News interview released Thursday. A no-fly zone to prohibit Syrian military aircraft from hitting rebel targets has been mentioned by American lawmakers as one option the United States could use to put pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "Right from the beginning ... ...

Tunisian national is accused of seeking US visa to plot terror

Posted: 09 May 2013 04:04 PM PDT

A Tunisian national has been charged in New York City with fraudulently applying for a work visa so he could remain in the US to allegedly carry out terrorist operations on behalf of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

Tunisian man denies NY terror cell plot claims

Posted: 09 May 2013 04:01 PM PDT

NEW YORK (AP) — A Tunisian man accused of radicalizing a Canadian resident charged in a plot to derail a train has been charged with trying to stay in the United States illegally to build a terrorism cell for international acts of terror such as poisoning a water system with bacteria, authorities said Thursday.

List: Some of the biggest bank heists in history

Posted: 09 May 2013 03:41 PM PDT

Criminals working in cells around the world stole $45 million in December and February by hacking into a database of prepaid debit cards and making withdrawals from ATMs, federal prosecutors said Thursday, ...

Soldier 'methodical' in Iraq stress clinic shooting spree: expert

Posted: 09 May 2013 03:27 PM PDT

By Eric M. Johnson TACOMA, Washington (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier who pleaded guilty to killing five fellow servicemen in a shooting spree at a combat stress center in Iraq acted with the tactical precision of a trained soldier as he moved through the clinic, an Army crime scene expert testified on Thursday. U.S. Army Sergeant John Russell pleaded guilty last month to killing two medical staff officers and three soldiers at Camp Liberty, adjacent to the Baghdad airport, in a 2009 shooting the military has said could have been triggered by combat stress. ...

U.S. charges man in Canadian train attack case with visa violations

Posted: 09 May 2013 03:20 PM PDT

By Mark Hosenball and Bernard Vaughan WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. authorities on Thursday announced visa fraud charges against a Tunisian man who prosecutors said had met with a key figure in an alleged plot to blow up a railroad line in Canada that carries Amtrak trains between Toronto and New York. In a letter filed in federal court in New York, prosecutors said the man, Ahmed Abassi, 26, who had lived in Canada, was recorded by a U.S. undercover agent discussing various "proposed terrorist plots" with Chiheb Esseghaier, another Tunisian suspect. ...

Tunisian man charged in NY in terror cell plot

Posted: 09 May 2013 02:19 PM PDT

THE AMERICAN SOLDIER to open May 25 at the History Colorado Center

Posted: 09 May 2013 01:42 PM PDT

DENVER, May 9, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- History Colorado kicks off a summer of exploration of local and national military history at the History Colorado Center with the opening of THE AMERICAN SOLDIER: A PHOTOGRAPHIC TRIBUTE on May 25, 2013. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130509/DC11335)On view through Sept. ...

Column: On Syria, it's time for Obama to decide

Posted: 09 May 2013 01:41 PM PDT

By Ian Bremmer (Reuters) - Through two years of Syrian crisis, the Obama administration has cautiously dragged its feet as the United States is further enmeshed in the conflict. That's a sensible platform at home, with opinion polls showing that Americans don't think the country has a responsibility to intervene. It has strategic merit, too, given that intervention against Bashar al-Assad is an implicit endorsement of a largely unknown opposition force with radical, sectarian factions. ...

Glint of a Mideast peace as Turkey-Kurd pact plays out

Posted: 09 May 2013 01:29 PM PDT

Small triumphs for peace in the Middle East are always worth noting, especially ones driven by idealism. On Wednesday a 39-year violent conflict between Turkey and its minority Kurds saw a welcome turn of events. About 2,000 Kurdish guerrillas began a withdrawal from Turkey as the first step in implementing a historic peace agreement.

Philippine police: ex-Marine, murder weapon linked

Posted: 09 May 2013 12:46 PM PDT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — More than 20 months after the bodies of a retired Northern Ireland police officer and his girlfriend were found in a Philippines bedroom littered with bullet casings, authorities seeking the extradition of a former U.S. Marine say they have linked him to guns used in the killings and recovered blood-splattered jeans he tried to have burned.

Court for ex-Marine accused in Philippines murders

Posted: 09 May 2013 12:26 PM PDT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — More than 20 months after the bodies of a retired Irish police officer and his girlfriend were found in a Philippines bedroom littered with bullet casings, authorities seeking the extradition of a former U.S. Marine say they have linked him to guns used in the killings and recovered blood-splattered jeans he tried to have burned.

American Red Cross Names Seven New Members to Diversity Advisory Council

Posted: 09 May 2013 10:00 AM PDT

Entrepreneur Lamell McMorris appointed as new Council ChairWASHINGTON, May 9, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Red Cross today announced the appointment of a new chair and 14 other members to its National Diversity Advisory Council, a panel of community and thought leaders that helps inform the organization's diversity efforts. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090108/RedCrossLOGO)Lamell McMorris, the founder & CEO, Perennial Strategy Group, Perennial Sports & Entertainment, and Perennial Law Group in Washington, D.C., has been selected as the new council chair. ...

Turkey steps up chemical weapons tests on Syria casualties

Posted: 09 May 2013 09:33 AM PDT

By Jonathon Burch ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey is stepping up chemical weapons tests on casualties arriving from Syria's civil war to help ensure the perpetrators of any such attacks are held accountable, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday. The United States has said it views any use of chemical weapons in Syria as a "red line", hinting this could lead to some form of foreign intervention. But chastened by the false intelligence that was used to justify the 2003 war in Iraq, Washington says it wants proof before taking any action. ...

Analysis: After months of deadlock, diplomacy gets another chance in Syria

Posted: 09 May 2013 09:31 AM PDT

By Arshad Mohammed and Timothy Heritage ROME/MOSCOW (Reuters) - If Russia has decided to make a new diplomatic push to drag Syria's warring parties into peace talks, it may be because of signs that the United States could slowly get sucked into the conflict. The two major powers' joint announcement that they would try to bring together representatives of President Bashar al-Assad's government and the rebel forces fighting to oust him represents their first serious diplomatic initiative in nearly a year. ...

Turkey testing Syrians for chemical weapon wounds

Posted: 09 May 2013 09:10 AM PDT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey is testing injured Syrians seeking treatment across the border for chemical weapon wounds, the foreign minister said Thursday.

Five Best Thursday Columns

Posted: 09 May 2013 08:25 AM PDT

Amy Davidson at The New Yorker on sexual assault in the military Amy Davidson appraises the U.S. military's efforts to combat sexual assault within its ranks, which led to a shocking annual report on its progress this week. "Why was the new report so dismaying?" she asks. ...

US and Russia team up to make fresh diplomatic push on Syria

Posted: 09 May 2013 06:38 AM PDT

After more than two years of escalating violence in Syria – including reports of chemical weapons use and the loss of an estimated 80,000 lives – the international community is spearheading a renewed diplomatic push to bring the conflict to an end.

Iraq rejects refuge for Turkey's Kurdish fighters

Posted: 09 May 2013 06:25 AM PDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq on Thursday rejected a key element of an accord to bring an end to a long Kurdish uprising in Turkey — offering refuge to rebel fighters in country's north.

Turkey sends team to screen for chemical weapons on Syria border

Posted: 09 May 2013 06:04 AM PDT

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey has sent a team of eight experts to the border with Syria to test wounded victims of the country's civil war for traces of chemical and biological weapons, the state-run Anatolian news agency said on Thursday. Turkey started testing blood samples last week from Syrian casualties brought over the border for treatment to determine whether they were victims of a chemical weapons attack. ...

Baghdad government says PKK not welcome in Iraq

Posted: 09 May 2013 06:02 AM PDT

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's central government said on Thursday it would not accept armed groups entering its territory as Kurdish militants began withdrawing from Turkey under a peace deal, but Baghdad has no control over its northern border which is run by Iraqi Kurds. Under the nascent peace deal, Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters should cross from Turkey, where they have been fighting for Kurdish rights for three decades, into Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region where they have their headquarters. ...

Iraq rejects offering shelter to PKK fighters

Posted: 09 May 2013 04:15 AM PDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq is rejecting a key element in an accord to bring an end to a long Kurdish rebellion in Turkey — offering refuge to Kurdish fighters.

Jihadi peril makes its way to Tunisia

Posted: 09 May 2013 03:06 AM PDT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — The hunt for al-Qaida-linked militants in a mountainous region near Tunisia's borders with Algeria in recent days has raised alarm that the birthplace of the Arab Spring has become the latest battleground for violent jihadis.

Accused Fort Hood shooter seeks to avoid death penalty

Posted: 09 May 2013 03:02 AM PDT

By Jim Forsyth SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Accused Fort Hood gunman Army Major Nidal Hasan is expected to ask a court on Thursday to remove the death penalty as a punishment option in his forthcoming court-martial on charges of killing 13 people in a 2009 shooting rampage. At a pre-trial hearing, judge Colonel Tara Osborn is likely to consider a request from the defense that Hasan's trial be pushed back until September 1. Selection of the panel of officers who will act as the jury is set to begin on May 29. ...