Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• For Obama, risks and rewards in knowing too much
• Iraq seeking new US aid after pushing out troops
• Stanford Law School Honors Windsor Attorneys Roberta Kaplan and Pamela Karlan, ACLU Attorney Jennifer Chang Newell with Public Service Awards
• Iraqi PM Maliki struggles to convince U.S. lawmakers to back more aid
• U.S. military dedicates first national monument to combat dogs
• Iraq seeking new US aid after pushes out troops
• US renews vow to help Iraq combat terror attacks
• Iraq’s Prime Minister Visits U.S. as Sectarian Violence Rocks His Nation
• In Iraq, Sunni attacks spark Shiite calls to arms
• Afghan War ally Janis Shinwari finally finds safety in America
• Iraqi forces behind attack on Iranian exiles
• Controversial bid to turn Venice 'rubbish island' into fun park
• Shooting, bombings in Iraq kill at least 24
• F-16 jet delivery to Iraq on track for next fall: U.S. official
• US senators accuse Iraq's Maliki of 'sectarian' agenda
• Suicide bombers hit Iraq security as attacks kill 35
• Iraqi PM faces criticism over sectarian violence in Washington visit
• US must put Mideast peace after Iran: Israeli minister
• Separate suicide attacks in Iraq kill at least 20
• Suicide bombers kill 11 military, police in Iraq dinner attack-police
• Double suicide attack in central Iraq kills 12

For Obama, risks and rewards in knowing too much Posted: 30 Oct 2013 04:04 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Confronted with missteps in his own administration, President Barack Obama has frequently pleaded ignorance — suggesting he could not be at fault about things he did not know.

Iraq seeking new US aid after pushing out troops Posted: 30 Oct 2013 03:18 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly two years after pushing out the U.S. military, Iraq is asking for more American weapons, training and manpower to help fight a bloody resurgence of al-Qaida that has unleashed a level of violence comparable to the darkest days of the nation's civil war.

Stanford Law School Honors Windsor Attorneys Roberta Kaplan and Pamela Karlan, ACLU Attorney Jennifer Chang Newell with Public Service Awards Posted: 30 Oct 2013 02:57 PM PDT STANFORD, Calif., Oct. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The John and Terry Levin Center for Public Service and Public Interest Law at Stanford Law School has announced three awards for remarkable achievement in public service. The joint recipients of the National Public Service Award are Roberta Kaplan, a partner at Paul, Weiss, and Pamela Karlan, Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law and Co-Director of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic at Stanford Law School. The recipient of the Miles L. Rubin Public Interest Award is Jennifer Chang Newell, JD '03, Senior Staff Attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) Immigrants' Rights Project.

Iraqi PM Maliki struggles to convince U.S. lawmakers to back more aid Posted: 30 Oct 2013 02:38 PM PDT By Patricia Zengerle and Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers had tough criticism for Iraq's government after meeting with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Wednesday, saying they were open to meeting his request for military assistance only if Baghdad made significant changes. Maliki is on his first visit to Washington in two years, urgently seeking U.S. Apache attack helicopters and other military supplies to fight militant groups such as al Qaeda in Iraq as sectarian violence spills over the border from Syria. But U.S. officials, particularly members of Congress who take a harder line on many foreign policy issues than the Obama administration, have watched in dismay as Maliki has ignored Washington's calls to give Iraq's Sunni and Kurdish minorities a greater role in his Shi'ite-led government, and moved closer to Iran since U.S. troops left Iraq two years ago.

U.S. military dedicates first national monument to combat dogs Posted: 30 Oct 2013 02:17 PM PDT By Jim Forsyth SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - The United States' first national monument to a soldier's best friend, recognizing the sacrifices of dogs in combat, was dedicated by the U.S. military on Monday. Inscribed with the words "Guardians of America's Freedom," the nine-foot tall bronze statue at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, features four dogs and a handler. "These dogs were patriots just as much as anybody else who served," said military dog handler John Baker of Fallon, Nevada, whose 212th Military Police Company Detachment A was known as "Hell on Paws." Lackland is home to the U.S. Armed Forces center that has trained dogs for all branches of the military since 1958.

Iraq seeking new US aid after pushes out troops Posted: 30 Oct 2013 01:53 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly two years after the U.S. military left the country, Iraq is now asking for more American weapons, training and manpower to fight a bloody resurgence of al-Qaida.

US renews vow to help Iraq combat terror attacks Posted: 30 Oct 2013 01:47 PM PDT The United States vowed Wednesday to help Iraq combat terror groups as mounting attacks claimed more lives ahead of talks between Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and President Barack Obama. Maliki's visit to Washington comes as his country is wracked by the worst unrest since 2008, and just a few weeks before the two-year anniversary of the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. Only hours before he met with Vice President Joe Biden for talks focusing heavily on security, three suicide bombings killed 14 Iraqi security forces, the deadliest in a series of attacks which have left 35 dead in two days. "Vice President Biden reiterated the US commitment to equip Iraqis to fight Al-Qaeda, and Prime Minister Maliki made clear that he views the United States as Iraq's security partner of choice," the White House said in a statement, calling the talks "friendly" and "constructive."

Iraq’s Prime Minister Visits U.S. as Sectarian Violence Rocks His Nation Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:56 PM PDT TIME's former Baghdad bureau chief, now our International Editor Bobby Ghosh, perfectly captured Iraq in 2006 in his essay, Life in Hell. Iraq is once again descending into dark times. But he also came to a disheartening conclusion: "Iraq today looks tragically similar to the Iraq of 2006," he wrote, but with the addition of the civil war in Syria, "the situation in Iraq looks even more complicated than it was in 2006 and thus even more worrisome — especially given the absence American combat forces." It is heartening, thus, to know that some of the veterans of the surge, American as well as Iraqi, are engaged in the effort to help Iraq determine and then pursue the initiatives needed to address the terrible increase in violence in that country."

In Iraq, Sunni attacks spark Shiite calls to arms Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:41 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — The wave of attacks by al-Qaida-led Sunni extremists that has killed thousands of Iraqis this year, most of them Shiites, is provoking ominous calls from Shiite leaders to take up arms in self-defense.

Afghan War ally Janis Shinwari finally finds safety in America Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:27 AM PDT Afghan War ally Janis Shinwari's well-publicized effort to find refuge in America came to a successful conclusion late Tuesday when the translator and his family walked off a plane in Washington, D.C.

Iraqi forces behind attack on Iranian exiles Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:08 AM PDT Human rights activists accused Iraqi forces Wednesday of carrying out a bloody attack on a camp of Iranian exiles in which 52 people were shot dead. Calling for a UN investigation into the attack, the Aachen-based Rights for Migrants group said interviews with the 42 survivors of the attack on Camp Ashraf, in central Diyala province, "unequivocally puts Iraqi forces at the scene." It alleged Iraqi police moved blockades guarding the camp to allow access to about 120 armed attackers, who were dressed in uniforms identical to those worn by a special Iraqi forces division and spoke with Iraqi accents. It maintained that due to the close proximity of about 1,200 Iraqi military and police forces stationed nearby it was "impossible that any rogue group of attackers could have entered Camp Ashraf without the knowledge, blessing or direct authorization of the Iraqi government."

Controversial bid to turn Venice 'rubbish island' into fun park Posted: 30 Oct 2013 10:45 AM PDT A top maker of amusement park rides unveiled a controversial project Wednesday to transform a "rubbish island" in Venice into a cultural attraction, insisting the floating city would not be blemished by a fun park. The 80 million euro ($110 million) leisure centre "will not be an amusement park" with rides only, Alberto Zamperla of Zamperla told AFP as he explained the plan to transform the artificial island of San Biagio, an old dump site, into a theme park with a cultural slant. "We're talking about the history of Venice -- one of my passions -- but done my way," Zamperla said. Zamperla, who among others boasts turning Germany's Kalkar nuclear power plant into an amusement park and creating Denmark's popular Tivoli Gardens, has teamed up with Venice's Ca' Foscari University Foundation for this latest project.

Shooting, bombings in Iraq kill at least 24 Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:47 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Shooting and bombings, including two separate overnight suicide attacks targeting Iraqi government forces and an allied militia, killed at least 24 people, officials said on Wednesday.

F-16 jet delivery to Iraq on track for next fall: U.S. official Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:09 AM PDT The delivery of F-16 fighters to Iraq is on track for next fall, a senior U.S. administration official said on Wednesday, with Iraq recently depositing an installment of roughly $650 million for the jets. Iraq last year signed a new contract to buy its second set of 18 F-16 fighters from the United States, part of a deal to purchase 36 of the jets to rebuild its air force.

US senators accuse Iraq's Maliki of 'sectarian' agenda Posted: 30 Oct 2013 08:46 AM PDT Several US senators have accused Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of promoting "a sectarian and authoritarian agenda" just as the political leader pays a visit to Washington this week. In a letter sent Tuesday to President Barack Obama, six senators expressed alarm at the "deteriorating situation in Iraq" and urged Obama to expand counterterrorism assistance while pressing the Shiite prime minister to reconcile with Sunni and Kurdish leaders. "Unfortunately, Prime Minister Maliki's mismanagement of Iraqi politics is contributing to the recent surge of violence" in Iraq, where 7,000 civilians have been killed this year, wrote the four Republican and two Democratic lawmakers. "By too often pursuing a sectarian and authoritarian agenda, Prime Minister Maliki and his allies are disenfranchising Sunni Iraqis, marginalizing Kurdish Iraqis, and alienating the many Shia Iraqis who have a democratic, inclusive and pluralistic vision for their country."

Suicide bombers hit Iraq security as attacks kill 35 Posted: 30 Oct 2013 08:42 AM PDT Three suicide bombings killed 14 Iraqi security force members overnight, officials said Wednesday, the deadliest in a series of attacks that left 35 people dead in two days. The attacks come as Iraq witnesses its worst violence since 2008, a surge in unrest that has killed more than 5,400 people this year that has persisted despite authorities having carried out a swathe of operations and implemented tightened security measures. Since the beginning of 2013, AFP has recorded just 16 days in which there were no deaths from violence in Iraq, the most recent of which was May 24. On Wednesday, attacks in Sunni-majority areas of Baghdad and outside the capital left nine people dead and more than 20 others wounded, according to security and medical officials.

Iraqi PM faces criticism over sectarian violence in Washington visit Posted: 30 Oct 2013 08:22 AM PDT By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was due to meet with members of Congress on Wednesday as he seeks increased military aid to fight sectarian violence amid criticism from U.S. lawmakers that his government has contributed to the divisions. As he traveled to Washington on Tuesday, six influential U.S. senators took a hard line against Maliki in a letter to President Barack Obama. "By nearly every indicator, security conditions in Iraq have dramatically worsened over the past two years. Al Qaeda in Iraq has returned with a vengeance," wrote Democrats Carl Levin and Robert Menendez and Republicans John McCain, James Inhofe, Bob Corker and Lindsey Graham.

US must put Mideast peace after Iran: Israeli minister Posted: 30 Oct 2013 04:23 AM PDT Israel's deputy defence minister on Wednesday urged the United States to sideline Middle East peace talks in favour of dealing with the Iran nuclear issue as a priority. Danny Danon, a hardline member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, said that a peace agreement with the Palestinians was "wishful thinking" in the time frame set aside by the US administration. "If I could speak to President Obama today, I would tell him, let's change the calendar," Danon told journalists in Jerusalem. "I would say, let's finish with the threat coming from Iran by May 2014, and then go to the negotiation table... with the Palestinians."

Separate suicide attacks in Iraq kill at least 20 Posted: 30 Oct 2013 01:38 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Two separate overnight suicide attacks targeting Iraqi government forces and an allied militia killed at least 20 people, officials said on Wednesday.

Suicide bombers kill 11 military, police in Iraq dinner attack-police Posted: 30 Oct 2013 01:16 AM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers killed at least 11 military and police officers and wounded 19 late on Tuesday by blowing themselves up outside a Sunni militia leader's house in northern Baghdad as he was hosting dinner. Police in the Sunni neighborhood said the leader of the Sunni "Sahwa" militia, Saeed Jassim, was not hurt, but the commander of the military battalion deployed in the region and his deputy were among those who were killed. ...

Double suicide attack in central Iraq kills 12 Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:46 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Officials say a twin suicide attack targeting soldiers and anti-al-Qaida militiamen in central Iraq has killed 12 people.

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