Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• More than half U.S. diplomatic posts may not meet security rules
• Republicans block vote on Obama's defense nominee, Hagel
• Senate GOP blocks Hagel vote for now
• Don't Call It a Filibuster: Why Hagel Stalled in the Senate
• Experts: North Korea Years From a Bomb
• Key U.S. general backs keeping Afghan forces at peak strength
• Senate, White House struggle over Hagel impasse
• Leon Panetta's One-Liners Show He's Ready for Hagel Debate to End
• In Mali town, counter-insurgency task ties down French
• Iranian Guards commander killed in Syria
• Afghan troop cuts invite comparison to Iraq
• Britain warns of Syria jihadist threat to Europe
• Successor in limbo, defense chief pines for Pentagon exit
• American Humane Association Mourns the Passing of an American Hero
• Syria rebels seize oil field, town
• Senate's top Democrat hits GOP for blocking Hagel
• Iran mourns slain senior military commander
• Jordan terror plot suspects plead not guilty
• Syrian rebels capturing oil field in north
• Iraq's top judge removed over ties to Saddam party
• Water and the Slippery Slope to Conflict in the Middle East
• GOP senators may delay Hagel vote over Benghazi
• At Least 20 Prisoners Still Missing from CIA 'Black-Site' Prisons
• Hagel Not Withdrawing, Despite Renewed GOP Opposition
• Tunisians head abroad to perform jihad
• Webjobz.com Announces Launch of Miningjob.net to Provide Job Seekers with Global Employment Opportunities in Mining, Mineral Processing and Oil and Gas Industries
• Dismal Indeed: Why Dick Cheney Disdains The 'Second-Rate' Obama Team
• Panetta, a reluctant defense secretary, left Pentagon mark
• Today in History

More than half U.S. diplomatic posts may not meet security rules Posted: 14 Feb 2013 04:26 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than half the U.S. diplomatic posts overseas may not fully meet security standards, a senior U.S. official told a hearing on Thursday that follows an attack on the mission in Benghazi in which the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans died. Pat Kennedy, the under secretary of state for management at the State Department, told a House of Representatives appropriations subcommittee that the United States had a diplomatic presence at 283 locations around the world. He said 97 safe and secure facilities had been completed since the 1999 passage of a U.S. ...

Republicans block vote on Obama's defense nominee, Hagel Posted: 14 Feb 2013 04:07 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers succeeded on Thursday in delaying a Senate vote on confirming President Barack Obama's choice of Chuck Hagel as defense secretary, but another vote was planned for later in the month and Obama said he expected his nominee to be approved. The tally was 58-40, with almost every Republican voting no, falling short of the 60 needed to pass a motion to stop debate and allow a vote by the full Senate on confirming the former Republican senator. The result delayed, but did not end, Hagel's hopes of becoming the civilian chief at the Pentagon. ...

Senate GOP blocks Hagel vote for now Posted: 14 Feb 2013 04:04 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked the nomination of former GOP senator Chuck Hagel as the nation's next defense secretary over unrelated questions about President Barack Obama's actions in the aftermath of the deadly raid on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya. Obama accused Republicans of playing politics with national security during wartime, and Democrats vowed to revive the nomination after Congress' weeklong break.

Don't Call It a Filibuster: Why Hagel Stalled in the Senate Posted: 14 Feb 2013 03:21 PM PST Republican senators filibustered Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel on Thursday (though they'd rather you didn't call it that) for one reason, but they're hoping the delay gives them enough time to find another reason to block his nomination. The publicly cited reason for blocking a vote on Hagel is not anything about Hagel. Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte are blocking the vote to get leverage in their quest to get the White House to tell them more about how President Obama responded to the terror attacks in Benghazi last fall. ...

Experts: North Korea Years From a Bomb Posted: 14 Feb 2013 03:18 PM PST Following the third nuclear test conducted by North Korea, two natural questions are how long it will take the country to build a real nuclear weapon, and whether the U.S. could pull off a military strike before then to stop the program.

Key U.S. general backs keeping Afghan forces at peak strength Posted: 14 Feb 2013 02:43 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. general nominated to oversee a vast region that includes Afghanistan on Thursday backed keeping Afghan forces at a peak strength of 352,000, contrary to current plans to shrink them after NATO declares the war over next year. General Lloyd Austin, nominated to lead the U.S. military's Central Command, said at his Senate confirmation hearing that a more robust Afghan force, while more costly, would "hedge against any Taliban mischief" following America's longest war. ...

Senate, White House struggle over Hagel impasse Posted: 14 Feb 2013 01:22 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Struggling to break an impasse, Senate Democrats set a test vote Thursday on whether to advance Chuck Hagel's nomination as defense secretary after Republicans blocked speedy confirmation of their former colleague and Vietnam combat veteran.

Leon Panetta's One-Liners Show He's Ready for Hagel Debate to End Posted: 14 Feb 2013 12:27 PM PST Defense Secretary Leon Panetta used humor Thursday to express his frustration with the Senate's delay in confirming Chuck Hagel to succeed him, delivering a string of one-liners indicating he is itching to leave his post. Panetta's zingers at a Pentagon event to honor former Secretary...

In Mali town, counter-insurgency task ties down French Posted: 14 Feb 2013 12:25 PM PST GAO, Mali (Reuters) - By the slow-moving Niger River at Gao, the north Malian town retaken by French troops from Islamist rebels last month, men repair fishing nets beside beached pirogues, women wash pots and children splash naked in the muddy water. The scene looks tranquil enough but the French soldiers and their allied troops from Niger on the riverbank are alert, fingering their weapons and squinting southwest across the water to the village of Kadji, shrouded by eucalyptus trees. ...

Iranian Guards commander killed in Syria Posted: 14 Feb 2013 12:19 PM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - An Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander has been killed inside Syria by rebels battling Iran's close ally President Bashar al-Assad, Iranian officials and a rebel leader said on Thursday . Syrian rebels have repeatedly accused Tehran of sending fighters to help Assad crush the 22-month-old uprising, a charge Iran has denied. The Iranian embassy in Lebanon said the dead man, Hessam Khoshnevis, was in charge of Tehran's reconstruction assistance in Lebanon. ...

Afghan troop cuts invite comparison to Iraq Posted: 14 Feb 2013 12:15 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — As the U.S. looks to reduce American and Afghan forces in Afghanistan after 2014, Congress members are making comparisons to Iraq and predicting a sharp decline in troops will quickly lead to increased violence and instability.

Britain warns of Syria jihadist threat to Europe Posted: 14 Feb 2013 11:29 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - The longer Syria's conflict goes on, the greater the risk it will breed a new generation of battle-hardened militants who will pose a threat to Britain and other countries in Europe, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Thursday. Hague aimed his comments at Russia, which has had its own problems with attacks by Islamist militants, and has along with China repeatedly blocked U.N. Security Council action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. ...

Successor in limbo, defense chief pines for Pentagon exit Posted: 14 Feb 2013 11:09 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With his successor's fate unclear, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta publicly pined for retirement on Thursday, saying he was packed up and ready to take his wife, Sylvia, home for Valentine's Day and "get the hell out of here." But the man nominated to replace the 74-year-old Panetta, former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, faces stiff opposition from Senate Republicans who are threatening to hold up his confirmation vote - potentially delaying Panetta's retirement plans. ...

American Humane Association Mourns the Passing of an American Hero Posted: 14 Feb 2013 10:41 AM PST 2012 American Hero Dog Gabe Fights Last BattleWASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With great sadness, American Humane Association today announced that 2012 American Hero Dog Gabe fought his last battle after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. He was ten years old.  (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101108/DC97343LOGO)A true hero, Gabe was a life-saving Specialized Search Dog who served our country by completing more than 210 combat missions with 26 explosive and weapons finds in Iraq, saving countless American soldiers' lives on the battlefield. ...

Syria rebels seize oil field, town Posted: 14 Feb 2013 10:36 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels captured most of an eastern oil field and stormed a military base in the south, anti-regime activists said Thursday, further chipping away at President Bashar Assad's hold on the country's hinterlands.

Senate's top Democrat hits GOP for blocking Hagel Posted: 14 Feb 2013 10:26 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate's top Democrat attacked Republican senators Thursday for blocking Chuck Hagel's nomination to be President Barack Obama's next secretary of defense, saying it was "shocking" and "tragic" that the GOP would attempt such a move at a time when the U.S. military is engaged in so many places around the world.

Iran mourns slain senior military commander Posted: 14 Feb 2013 08:46 AM PST TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Prominent Iranian politicians and clerics led mourners at a funeral Thursday for a senior commander of the country's powerful Revolutionary Guards who was killed this week while traveling from Syria to Lebanon, local media said.

Jordan terror plot suspects plead not guilty Posted: 14 Feb 2013 08:24 AM PST AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Eleven men suspected of links to al-Qaida pleaded not guilty on Thursday to terrorism charges related to an alleged plot to attack the U.S. Embassy and shopping malls in Jordan.

Syrian rebels capturing oil field in north Posted: 14 Feb 2013 06:54 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels captured most of an oil field in the energy-rich northeast on Thursday, the latest in a string of strategic conquests this week that also included a dam and the defenses around a major airport.

Iraq's top judge removed over ties to Saddam party Posted: 14 Feb 2013 06:53 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — The Iraqi panel tasked with purging government ranks of former members of Saddam Hussein's party said on Thursday that it has removed the country's top judge from his post because of alleged ties to the now-dissolved Baath party.

Water and the Slippery Slope to Conflict in the Middle East Posted: 14 Feb 2013 06:25 AM PST Experts are drawing a connection between an important natural resource and tensions in the Middle East. In this case, it's water, not oil.

GOP senators may delay Hagel vote over Benghazi Posted: 14 Feb 2013 05:53 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans have questioned Chuck Hagel's truthfulness and they've challenged his patriotism.

At Least 20 Prisoners Still Missing from CIA 'Black-Site' Prisons Posted: 14 Feb 2013 05:27 AM PST In one of President Barack Obama first acts in the White House, he ordered the closure of the CIA's so-called "black-site" prisons, where terror suspects had been held and, sometimes, tortured. The CIA says it is "out of the detention business," as John Brennan, Obama's pick to head the agency, recently put it.

Hagel Not Withdrawing, Despite Renewed GOP Opposition Posted: 14 Feb 2013 05:19 AM PST Chuck Hagel, known for his unswerving relentlessness both as a senator and as a soldier, plans to stand fast as President Obama's nominee to head the Pentagon despite a growing GOP effort to defeat him with a rare filibuster, aides said. "He's not withdrawing," says Aaron Dowd, a spokesman for the former Nebraska senator. "He could be defeated, but he's not withdrawing. It's not something anyone is discussing." White House spokesman Tommy Vietor, in a brief interview Thursday, endorsed that view. "He's our guy," Vietor said.

Tunisians head abroad to perform jihad Posted: 14 Feb 2013 05:11 AM PST TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — The cradle of the Arab Spring is increasingly looking like the birthplace of jihadists.

Webjobz.com Announces Launch of Miningjob.net to Provide Job Seekers with Global Employment Opportunities in Mining, Mineral Processing and Oil and Gas Industries Posted: 14 Feb 2013 12:22 AM PST Business Review Applauds Webjobz.com's Commitment to Extending Career Services into one of the most Globalised of all Employment Markets.New York, New York (PRWEB) February 14, 2013 Business Review applauds Australian based job board, webjobz.com on the recent launch of miningjob.net as an extension of global career opportunities available to job seekers searching for employment in the oil and gas market. Since February 1st 2013, miningjob.net has advertised 2,500 jobs in the United States, 1,500 in Australia, 49 in Canada, 42 in the Middle East and 82 in Europe. ...

Dismal Indeed: Why Dick Cheney Disdains The 'Second-Rate' Obama Team Posted: 14 Feb 2013 12:00 AM PST No doubt President Obama was deeply stung over the weekend to hear Dick Cheney criticize his new national security team. At a Wyoming Republican Party dinner, the former vice president briskly dismissed Obama's choices as "dismal," saying that America needs "good people" rather than the "second-rate" figures selected by the president, particularly Vietnam veteran and long-time U.S. senator Chuck Hagel, nominated by the president as Secretary of Defense.

Panetta, a reluctant defense secretary, left Pentagon mark Posted: 13 Feb 2013 10:05 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On his last trip abroad as U.S. defense secretary, Leon Panetta was asked what he thought of "Zero Dark Thirty," the movie about the intense manhunt and daring raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. "You know what," chuckled Panetta, who as CIA director oversaw the raid two years ago. "I lived it. It's a great movie, but I lived it. ...

Today in History Posted: 13 Feb 2013 09:00 PM PST Today is Thursday, Feb. 14, the 45th day of 2013. There are 320 days left in the year. This is Valentine's Day.

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