Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• U.S. veterans agency slashes claims backlog by a third since March
• MIDDLE EAST REMAINS UNSTABLE AFTER HOPEFUL 'ARAB SPRING'
• Philadelphia voters elect a Whig to public office
• VA lifts overtime requirement for claims workers
• US to lose vote at UNESCO, incurs debts
• U.S. military chiefs say spending cuts erode preparedness for war
• Military base bombings, attacks in Iraq kill 30
• Iraqi Kurdistan reiterates objection to BP's Kirkuk oil deal
• Suicide bombers kill at least 16 soldiers at Iraqi base
• Iraq attacks kill 30 ahead of Shiite pilgrimage
• Suicide bombings kill 19 at Iraq military base
• Syrian army breaks rebel hold on southern Damascus suburbs
• Amazon picks Donna Tartt's 'The Goldfinch' as book of the year
• Behavioral Health Forum Addresses Needs of 1.1 Million Veterans in PA
• Philadelphia, a Democratic bastion, elects a Whig
• Military joint chiefs warn about budget cuts
• Women heading to Navy Riverine combat jobs
• What Kind of Jobs Are Today's Veterans Coming Home To?
• Turkish riot police fire tear gas at Syria wall protesters
• The Whigs Are Partying Like It's 1856
• Kurds protest against wall along Turkey's border with Syria
• Country stars skewer Obamacare at CMAs
• Comics, Springsteen, Waters in benefit for wounded
• Iraq attacks kill 11 people ahead of Shiite pilgrimage
• Poppies still poignant as young back remembrance appeal
• Angola to license 11-15 new oil blocks every 2 years
• Turkish PM denies helping al Qaeda in Syria, criticizes Russia
• Drone Wars: Pilots Reveal Debilitating Stress Beyond Virtual Battlefield
• ABC says Elizabeth Vargas is in alcohol rehab
• Inspectors verify 22 of Syria's 23 chemical sites
• Inspectors: 1 Syrian chemical site was abandoned
• Obama’s Second Term: Worse Than George W. Bush’s?
• Today in History
• US Senate revives UN disability treaty, fate uncertain

U.S. veterans agency slashes claims backlog by a third since March Posted: 07 Nov 2013 04:11 PM PST By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After growing steadily for years, the backlog of U.S. military veterans' disability claims is falling sharply - dropping by more than a third since March, the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs said on Thursday. Eric Shinseki said the progress kept him on track to eliminate the claims backlog by sometime in 2015. It would also allow him to briefly halt mandatory overtime for claims processors, one of the reasons the backlog has fallen. This is: More work to be done." The disability claims pileup during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars exposed President Barack Obama's administration to ridicule, including from television satirist Jon Stewart.

MIDDLE EAST REMAINS UNSTABLE AFTER HOPEFUL 'ARAB SPRING' Posted: 07 Nov 2013 03:30 PM PST WASHINGTON -- For observers of the Middle East, both foreigners and Arabs, the winter of 2011 remains the "Arab Spring" that would free everyone and everything, from the fellaheen farming in the Nile Valley to the very waves on the great river. But now, two wearying years later, Egypt has seen the failure and imprisonment of its elected president, the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi, and the resurgence of yet another military government. Syria sounds more and more each day like some biblical apocalypse, and even more amazing, Saudi Arabia has been publicly excoriating the United States over its Middle East policy. "The 'Arab spring' has not become some sudden window to democratic reform," Anthony H. Cordesman, strategist at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, wrote recently.

Philadelphia voters elect a Whig to public office Posted: 07 Nov 2013 02:53 PM PST PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Voters in Philadelphia have elected a Whig to public office for what the victor believes may be the first time in nearly 160 years.

VA lifts overtime requirement for claims workers Posted: 07 Nov 2013 02:44 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Veterans Affairs will temporarily suspend a program that requires more than 10,000 disability claims processors to work at least 20 hours of overtime per month with VA Secretary Eric Shinseki saying Thursday he had to be careful not to burn out his workforce.

US to lose vote at UNESCO, incurs debts Posted: 07 Nov 2013 02:32 PM PST PARIS (AP) — American influence in culture, science and education around the world is facing a high-profile blow Friday as the U.S. is stripped of its voting rights at the world's cultural agency, UNESCO. And it would cost the U.S. hundreds of millions of dollars to win this voice back.

U.S. military chiefs say spending cuts erode preparedness for war Posted: 07 Nov 2013 02:10 PM PST To quickly achieve the abrupt cuts that went into force in March, U.S. military chiefs slashed big-unit training for soldiers, curbed flying time for pilots and canceled regularly scheduled maintenance for ships. "This is the lowest readiness level I've seen within our army since I've been serving for the last 37 years," General Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff, told a Senate hearing. Even those in Afghanistan have undergone training just to advise and assist local forces, rather than training for combined forces combat they might face elsewhere, he said. With the Iraq war over and the Afghanistan conflict winding down, the Pentagon has been told to pare its spending plans by $487 billion over a decade.

Military base bombings, attacks in Iraq kill 30 Posted: 07 Nov 2013 02:06 PM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — A series of attacks in Iraq, including a double suicide car bombing targeting a military base, killed 30 people across the country Thursday, officials said.

Iraqi Kurdistan reiterates objection to BP's Kirkuk oil deal Posted: 07 Nov 2013 01:53 PM PST Iraq's Kurdistan region reiterated its objection to a deal between BP and the central government to develop the northern Kirkuk oilfield, a day after the local governor, a Kurd, voiced full support for the British company's plans. Kirkuk lies on the disputed boundary between the autonomous Kurdish region and the rest of Iraq, and is at the heart of a dispute between Baghdad and the region over territory and resources. The Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) difference with the Kirkuk governor's stance on the BP deal also points to tensions within the autonomous region over how to manage resources.

Suicide bombers kill at least 16 soldiers at Iraqi base Posted: 07 Nov 2013 01:51 PM PST Two suicide bombers blew themselves up minutes apart at an Iraqi army base late on Thursday, killing at least 16 soldiers, police and medics said. Security forces are a prime target for Sunni Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda who have been regaining momentum in an insurgency against Iraq's Shi'ite-led government this year. The first suicide bomber detonated his charge at the main gate of the military base in Tarmiya, north of Baghdad, and the second struck a group of soldiers who had gathered to evacuate the wounded. Violence in Iraq, which had eased since a peak in 2006-07, is rising again, with more than 7,000 civilians killed this year, according to monitoring group Iraq Body Count.

Iraq attacks kill 30 ahead of Shiite pilgrimage Posted: 07 Nov 2013 01:21 PM PST Attacks in Iraq -- including twin suicide blasts against an army base and a car bomb targeting Shiite Muslims -- killed 30 people Thursday, a week ahead of a major Shiite pilgrimage. The bloodshed follows the start of the Islamic new year just days earlier and as Shiite Muslims converge on the shrine city of Karbala, south of Baghdad, for commemoration ceremonies, a period during which Sunni militants often try to target Shiites and the security forces. Thursday's deadliest violence saw 16 people killed just north of Baghdad. A suicide bomber blew up a vehicle rigged with explosives at the entrance of an army base just north of Baghdad during the evening, before another suicide car bomber managed to enter the compound and blow himself up.

Suicide bombings kill 19 at Iraq military base Posted: 07 Nov 2013 01:12 PM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Authorities in Iraq say at least 19 soldiers have been killed in a dual suicide car bombing at a military base just north of the capital, Baghdad.

Syrian army breaks rebel hold on southern Damascus suburbs Posted: 07 Nov 2013 12:30 PM PST By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - The Syrian army and loyalist fighters on Thursday captured a strategic southern suburb of Damascus, threatening rebel control of the wider area and cutting off a supply route for insurgents around the capital, opposition activists said. The town of Sbeineh is the third rebel neighborhood to fall to government forces since the army, aided by Shi'ite militias from Iraq, Iran and Lebanon, launched an offensive last month aimed at breaking resistance to President Bashar al-Assad around Damascus, the sources said. The Free Syrian Army pulled out after fierce battles over the past nine days," the Sham News Network, an opposition monitoring group, said in a statement. Syria's 2-1/2-year-old conflict began as peaceful protests against four decades of Assad family rule, but it has transformed into a civil war with sectarian dimensions.

Amazon picks Donna Tartt's 'The Goldfinch' as book of the year Posted: 07 Nov 2013 12:17 PM PST By Patricia Reaney NEW YORK (Reuters) - Author Donna Tartt's "The Goldfinch," a novel about a 14-year-old boy surviving in Manhattan after the death of his mother, topped Amazon.com Inc's list of 100 best books of 2013. The top choices include fiction and non-fiction works, a collection of short stories, a young adult novel and an account of being held captive in Somalia. "The Goldfinch" is Tartt's first book since "The Little Friend" in 2002, which followed her 1992 debut novel "The Secret History." "Our top choice, 'The Goldfinch,' is an emotionally trenchant masterpiece and was hands down our team's favorite book of the year," said Sara Nelson, editorial director of books and Kindle at Amazon. "And the Mountains Echoed," by Afghan-American novelist Khaled Hosseini, author of "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns," came in second.

Behavioral Health Forum Addresses Needs of 1.1 Million Veterans in PA Posted: 07 Nov 2013 12:15 PM PST HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Public Welfare today hosted a Behavioral Health Forum that focused on addressing the needs and improving access to care for more than 1.1 million veterans, service members and their families in Pennsylvania. Veterans and service men and women often have higher behavioral health risk factors attributed from combat trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, drug and alcohol use, readjustment difficulties and a fear for seeking help. "Governor Corbett is committed to ensuring that our veterans and their families can effectively reintegrate into their communities and are able to enjoy a quality of life that embraces their dedication and sacrifices to our country," said Public Welfare Secretary Beverly D. Mackereth. The Department of Public Welfare is working collaboratively with the Departments of Military and Veterans Affairs, Drug and Alcohol Programs, and Corrections to educate, raise awareness, and provide hands-on suicide prevention training and cultural sensitivity training for providers.

Philadelphia, a Democratic bastion, elects a Whig Posted: 07 Nov 2013 12:04 PM PST PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Democratic bastion of Philadelphia has elected a Whig to public office.

Military joint chiefs warn about budget cuts Posted: 07 Nov 2013 10:37 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The country's top military officers warned Congress Thursday that continued automatic cuts in the armed services' budgets will force reductions in manpower, training and weapons purchases that reduce the nation's ability to defend itself and could cause higher U.S. casualties.

Women heading to Navy Riverine combat jobs Posted: 07 Nov 2013 09:54 AM PST CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — Anna Schnatzmeyer's face is taut with concentration as she slowly maneuvers the Riverine assault boat away from the dock, using the complex controls to try and inch the 34-foot craft straight back without sliding sideways.

What Kind of Jobs Are Today's Veterans Coming Home To? Posted: 07 Nov 2013 09:31 AM PST New Report Hails Security Industry's "Underpaid Heroes," Highlights Gains Vets are Making through Unions WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As America thanks those who have worn our country's uniform this Veterans Day, the Service Employees International Union's Stand for Security—the nation's largest security officers union—is releasing a report on working conditions for 230,000 veterans in the mostly low-wage security industry. "I live with friends and eat at a soup kitchen," says Mark Reeves, a veteran of the U.S. Army employed by Cambridge Security in New Jersey.

Turkish riot police fire tear gas at Syria wall protesters Posted: 07 Nov 2013 09:24 AM PST Turkish riot police fired tear gas and water cannon at thousands of demonstrators who were protesting Thursday over the building of a controversial wall on the border with Syria, witnesses said. Construction of what has been dubbed a "wall of shame" between Nusaybin and the northern Syrian town of Qamishli has inflamed local tensions. The demonstration was staged the same day as the town's Kurdish mayor ended a nine-day hunger strike in a show of protest against the development. The mayor, who had been staging her hunger strike in a border minefield since October 30, has described the barrier as a "wall of shame" that would divide Kurdish people.

The Whigs Are Partying Like It's 1856 Posted: 07 Nov 2013 08:31 AM PST The Whigs are making a comeback. On Tuesday, 36 Philadelphia voters elected Whig candidate Robert Bucholz as the judge of election for the Fifth Division of the 56th Ward. He beat Democratic opponent Loretta Probasco, who secured 24 votes. The Whigs produced four U.S. presidents in their brief history—William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Millard Fillmore—and had several national leaders among its members, including Henry Clay and Daniel Webster.

Kurds protest against wall along Turkey's border with Syria Posted: 07 Nov 2013 08:12 AM PST By Daren Butler NUSAYBIN, Turkey (Reuters) - Thousands of Kurds protested on Thursday against Turkish plans to build a wall along the Syrian border, calling it a move to stop Kurdish communities strengthening cross-frontier ties as Syria splinters from civil war. The rally underscored the sectarian strains spilling over from Syria's war, which grew out of a 2011 uprising against President Bashar al-Assad and has fragmented into a patchwork of antagonistic ethnic and sectarian pockets that risk destabilizing neighboring Middle Eastern countries. Riot police tolerated the protests, organized by Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), for much of the day but fired tear gas to disperse groups of demonstrators as a sit-down protest began following the main speeches. Crowds of mostly young men, many waving red, yellow and green Kurdish flags, gathered in the Turkish town of Nusaybin, separated from the Syrian town of Qamishli by a strip of no-man's land and barbed wire fencing.

Country stars skewer Obamacare at CMAs Posted: 07 Nov 2013 08:04 AM PST Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood mocked President Obama's Affordable Care Act during their opening act as hosts of the Country Music Awards.

Comics, Springsteen, Waters in benefit for wounded Posted: 07 Nov 2013 07:31 AM PST Bruce Springsteen auctioned off the guitar around his shoulder for $250,000 to benefit wounded servicemen and women, the climax of Wednesday's seventh annual "Stand Up for Heroes" benefit run ...

Iraq attacks kill 11 people ahead of Shiite pilgrimage Posted: 07 Nov 2013 06:25 AM PST Attacks in Iraq, including a car bomb targeting Shiite Muslims, killed 11 people on Thursday, officials said, just a week ahead of a major annual Shiite pilgrimage. The violence follows the start of the Islamic new year and as Shiite Muslims converge on the shrine city of Karbala, south of Baghdad, for commemoration ceremonies. A car bomb in the predominantly-Shiite neighbourhood of Baghdad Jadida, in the capital's east, killed at least three people and wounded nine others, police and medical officials said. The blast comes as pilgrims take part in Ashura commemorations, due on November 14 to mark the death of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed who was killed in 680 AD by the armies of the caliph Yazid.

Poppies still poignant as young back remembrance appeal Posted: 07 Nov 2013 05:54 AM PST The red poppy, a symbol of remembrance for the wartime dead, is being taken up by younger generations in Britain, a century on from its World War I origins. For at least two weeks a year in the build-up to November 11 -- Armistice Day in 1918 -- poppies are seen on television, jacket lapels, car bumpers and newspaper mastheads. The original Poppy Factory, founded in 1922 to provide work for sick, injured or disabled veterans, still produces half a million paper poppies by hand each year. "A lot more younger people are wearing poppies now, whereas before there was a generation that wasn't bothered," he said.

Angola to license 11-15 new oil blocks every 2 years Posted: 07 Nov 2013 05:21 AM PST By Shrikesh Laxmidas LUANDA (Reuters) - Angola plans to speed up oil exploration from 2014 by licensing up to 15 new blocks every two years, testing more wells in the promising pre-salt layer and developing its operations in Iraq, the country's oil minister told Reuters on Thursday. Jose Botelho de Vasconcelos added in an interview that Angola, which is Africa's No. 2 oil producer, will stick to a goal of reaching oil output of 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2015 despite a downward revision for next year's production. He added that Angola, which will average output of 1. ...

Turkish PM denies helping al Qaeda in Syria, criticizes Russia Posted: 07 Nov 2013 05:19 AM PST By Johan Sennero and Humeyra Pamuk STOCKHOLM/ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey is not providing shelter or backing to al Qaeda-linked groups in Syria and will continue to exclude them from its broader support for the Syrian opposition, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday. Turkey has long championed more robust backing for Syria's fractious armed opposition, but the rise of al Qaeda-linked groups among their ranks has left it open to accusations that it is lending support to radical Islamists. "It is out of the question that groups like al Nusra and al Qaeda can take shelter in our country," Erdogan told a news conference in Stockholm during an official visit. Al Qaeda-linked groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have captured territory in parts of northern Syria near the border in recent months, raising alarm among the opposition's Western backers.

Drone Wars: Pilots Reveal Debilitating Stress Beyond Virtual Battlefield Posted: 07 Nov 2013 04:24 AM PST But war is rarely so simple, and distance does nothing to numb the emotional impact of taking a life, said Slim (who is referred to here by his Air Force call sign in order to protect his identity). "People think we're sitting here with joysticks playing a video game, but that's simply not true," Slim, who retired from the Air Force in 2011, told LiveScience. In video games, players rarely make a human connection with the characters on their screen, but Predator drone operators often monitor their targets for weeks or months before ever firing a weapon, he added. Arguably, the first weapon to give humans standoff distance in battle was the bow and arrow, said Missy Cummings, an associate professor of aeronautics and engineering systems at MIT in Cambridge, Mass., and director of the school's Humans and Automation Laboratory.

ABC says Elizabeth Vargas is in alcohol rehab Posted: 07 Nov 2013 04:11 AM PST Veteran ABC News reporter and "20/20" anchor Elizabeth Vargas is in treatment for alcohol dependency, the network said Wednesday. Vargas, who is 51 and married to singer-songwriter Marc Cohn, ...

Inspectors verify 22 of Syria's 23 chemical sites Posted: 07 Nov 2013 04:06 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — International experts have verified all but one of Syria's 23 declared chemical weapons sites after receiving video and photographic evidence that shows a facility near the contested northern city of Aleppo has been dismantled and abandoned, the inspectors said Thursday.

Inspectors: 1 Syrian chemical site was abandoned Posted: 07 Nov 2013 03:13 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — Syria has given international experts video and photographic evidence that shows a chemical weapons site near the contested northern city of Aleppo has been dismantled and abandoned by the government, inspectors said Thursday.

Obama’s Second Term: Worse Than George W. Bush’s? Posted: 06 Nov 2013 11:15 PM PST It was one year ago today that President Obama won a second term in office and, in his victory speech, set forth a vision of the work that lay ahead. "Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual," Obama said.

Today in History Posted: 06 Nov 2013 09:03 PM PST Today is Thursday, Nov. 7, the 311th day of 2013. There are 54 days left in the year.

US Senate revives UN disability treaty, fate uncertain Posted: 06 Nov 2013 04:54 PM PST The United States has lagged behind other nations in ratifying a global disability-rights treaty, but the Senate may yet approve the international measure this year, defying conservative opponents. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), adopted in 2006 by the United Nations, was signed by President Barack Obama in 2009. The CRPD fell six votes short in the 100-member Senate, where a two-thirds majority is required for passage of international treaties. Senator Orrin Hatch went so far as to warn on the Senate floor in July that ratifying CRPD "would endorse an official ongoing role for the United Nations in evaluating virtually every aspect of American life."

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