Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Afghanistan rejects U.S. call for quick security deal
• Afghan spokesman rebuffs US troop deal deadline
• Lockheed Martin Gift Funds New TeleHealth Suite, Enhanced Recovery Area For UCLA's Operation Mend
• Islamists forge Syria's biggest rebel alliance
• 20 killed as Iraq Sunni mosques close over unrest
• Afghanistan rebuffs US demand on signing security deal
• Feds Seize Korean Royal Seals Taken During Wartime
• Bombings, shootings kill at least 23 across Iraq
• Exclusive: Enter America's Repository of Pain, 100,000 Weapons of War
• Jihadists cut down 150-year-old oak in Syria
• Bassam Tibi: "'Arab Spring' a Catastrophe for Religious Minorities in the Middle East."
• Syrian Muslim rebel groups say they have unified
• Bombings, militant attacks kill 23 across Iraq
• Syria Islamists unite as faction-fighting goes on
• Syria rebels take key town from army: watchdog
• National Geographic Traveler's picks for 2014 span Iraq to Laos
• Breadwinners return empty-handed to Yemen, Arab world's poorest country
• Iraqi floods provide Internet fodder for frustrated residents
• New attacks across Iraq kill at least 16
• Q&A: Iran's Arak reactor is growing nuclear concern for West
• Battle for Syrian army base kills 24 rebels
• New attacks across Iraq kill at least 11
• Earthquake strikes western Iran, no casualties reported
• Earthquake measuring 5.4 in magnitude strikes western Iran: reports
• Will Obamacare Be the Death of Liberalism?
• Brent slips below $110, but on track for second weekly gain
• Women in the Marines: You've come a long way baby...kinda
• Al Qaeda affiliate captures Syrian town on border with Turkey: activists
• Kenya snubs envoys of ICC backers in tit-for-tat diplomacy
• Foes of an Iran nuclear deal refocus on containing the damage

Afghanistan rejects U.S. call for quick security deal Posted: 22 Nov 2013 04:09 PM PST By Jessica Donati and Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - The future of U.S. troops in Afghanistan remained in doubt on Friday after a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai rejected Washington's call to sign a security pact by the end of the year rather than after next year's presidential election. The United States has repeatedly said it will not wait until after the April 2014 vote to seal the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) and rejected Karzai's suggestion for the signing to take place next year "properly and with dignity". Without an accord, the United States could pull out most of its troops by the end of 2014, as it did two years ago when it failed to negotiate a deal with Iraq. "We do not recognize any deadline from the U.S. side," said Aimal Faizi, a spokesman for Karzai, as Afghan tribal elders considered the pact for a second day.

Afghan spokesman rebuffs US troop deal deadline Posted: 22 Nov 2013 01:37 PM PST KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's president on Friday rebuffed American demands that he sign a security pact allowing U.S. forces to stay in the country for another decade, while the U.S. defense secretary warned that planning for a post-2014 military presence may be jeopardized if the deal isn't finalized by the end of the year.

Lockheed Martin Gift Funds New TeleHealth Suite, Enhanced Recovery Area For UCLA's Operation Mend Posted: 22 Nov 2013 01:17 PM PST LOS ANGELES, Nov. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Thanks to a $4 million gift from Lockheed Martin, UCLA Health System's Operation Mend now has a state-of-the-art telehealth suite, which will enable improved communication between the program's personnel, patients and partners, and a renovated recovery area for the wounded warriors who undergo surgery at the Westwood facility. The new Lockheed Martin UCLA TeleHealth Suite and Lockheed Martin Outpatient Recovery Suites for the Wounded Warriors of Operation Mend were officially dedicated at a ceremony on Nov. 18. The Operation Mend program provides reconstructive surgeries and other health care services to U.S. military personnel severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Lockheed Martin is honored to partner with UCLA and Operation Mend to make sure that our wounded warriors receive the best medical care possible," said Bob Stevens, Lockheed Martin's executive chairman.

Islamists forge Syria's biggest rebel alliance Posted: 22 Nov 2013 12:27 PM PST Islamists fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad forged Syria's largest rebel alliance Friday and pledged to work towards an Islamic state, as rebels seized a town on the Lebanese border. The merger of the six groups comes after repeated calls for unity from opposition fighters and their foreign backers, following advances by regime forces around Syria's main cities of Damascus and Aleppo. "The 'Islamic Front' is an independent military and social force that is aimed at bringing down Assad's regime in Syria and at replacing it with a just Islamic state," a statement said. Earlier, a rebel spokesman, Abu Firas, declared "the complete merger of the major military factions fighting in Syria."

20 killed as Iraq Sunni mosques close over unrest Posted: 22 Nov 2013 12:15 PM PST Attacks mostly targeting Sunni-majority areas of Iraq killed 20 people on Friday as the minority community shuttered countless mosques nationwide, complaining that security forces were failing to provide adequate protection. The move follows a months-long surge in bloodshed, with the latest wave of violence leaving around 200 people dead in the past week alone, that has forced Baghdad to appeal for international help in combatting militancy just months before its first general election in four years. Officials have also voiced concern over a resurgent Al-Qaeda emboldened by the civil war in neighbouring Syria which has provided the jihadist network's front groups with increased room to plan operations in Iraq. Attacks on Friday struck Sunni-majority areas in and around Baghdad, the restive province of Diyala, and the main northern city of Mosul, leaving at least 20 dead and dozens of others wounded, security and medical officials said.

Afghanistan rebuffs US demand on signing security deal Posted: 22 Nov 2013 11:26 AM PST Afghanistan on Friday rebuffed a US demand to sign a highly anticipated security pact as soon as possible, insisting the document must wait until after next year's presidential election. Washington warned Kabul on Thursday to act quickly to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA), with senior officials hinting that delaying beyond the end of this year could mean no post-2014 US troop presence. The latest US run-in with President Hamid Karzai was set off by the Afghan leader saying the painstakingly negotiated deal would not be signed until after the election in April. US officials bristled, saying the pact, which governs the conditions of any post-war American counter-terrorism and training mission in Afghanistan, must be signed by the end of 2013.

Feds Seize Korean Royal Seals Taken During Wartime Posted: 22 Nov 2013 11:24 AM PST In 1950, an American Marine serving during the Korean War picked up nine royal and national seals in a ditch near Seoul's ransacked Deoksugung Palace. The lieutenant brought those artifacts back to the United States with him. Now more than 60 years later, the objects are making their way back to South Korea. The nine seals "are worth millions in the antiquities business, but they are priceless to South Korea," Taekuk Cho, the attaché in Seoul for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigation (HSI), said in a statement.

Bombings, shootings kill at least 23 across Iraq Posted: 22 Nov 2013 11:14 AM PST At least 23 people were killed in bombings and shootings in Iraq on Friday, police and medical sources said, the latest in the worst wave of sectarian attacks to sweep the country in five years. The deadliest attack took place in a predominantly Sunni Doura neighborhood in southern Baghdad, where two roadside bombs exploded near a soft drinks store, killing six people and wounding 18, the police and medics said. Another roadside bomb hit the vehicle of a government-backed Sunni militia's patrol in the Sunni neighborhood of Tarmiya in the north of the Iraqi capital, killing three fighters and wounding another three, police said. Two roadside bombs also went off near Sunni mosques in the southern and western outskirts of Baghdad after Friday prayers, killing three worshippers and wounding 12, the police said.

Exclusive: Enter America's Repository of Pain, 100,000 Weapons of War Posted: 22 Nov 2013 11:12 AM PST Secret Evidence Warehouse Holds Terrorists' IEDs Used to Kill and Maim U.S. Troops

Jihadists cut down 150-year-old oak in Syria Posted: 22 Nov 2013 11:04 AM PST Jihadists cut down a 150-year-old oak tree in Atme, on Syria's border with Turkey, after they accused locals of worshipping it, a pro-jihadist source said. Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the tree had been cut down, adding that it stood next to an ancient shrine in Atme. The reports came hours after ISIL took over the town of Atme in northwestern Syria's Idlib on Thursday, according to the Observatory and a local rebel source. "Atme was oxygen for the (rebel) Free Syrian Army" fighting to topple Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, he told AFP.

Bassam Tibi: "'Arab Spring' a Catastrophe for Religious Minorities in the Middle East." Posted: 22 Nov 2013 10:51 AM PST ZURICH and WASHINGTON, Nov. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "The so-called Arab Spring has turned out to be a deadly winter," Professor Bassam Tibi said in Zurich Tuesday at a lecture hosted by Christian Solidarity International.  Tibi's lecture was entitled, "The Uprisings in the Middle East and the Fate of Religious Minorities in a Sharia State: U.S. Support for Islamist Governments." According to Tibi, Islamist movements in the Middle East succeeded in hijacking and "religionizing" the uprisings in the region. The problem was compounded, Tibi said, because "the present U.S. government thinks it is possible to cooperate with peaceful Islamists against jihadist Islamists, and that the best partner for this is the Muslim Brotherhood." "In the Middle East, we can clearly witness a process of de-Christianization," Tibi stated.

Syrian Muslim rebel groups say they have unified Posted: 22 Nov 2013 10:40 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — Powerful Syrian Islamic rebel brigades announced Friday their merger into a single organization, a step meant to hold off surging government forces and stop rival groups from seizing more opposition-held territory.

Bombings, militant attacks kill 23 across Iraq Posted: 22 Nov 2013 09:37 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Militant bombings and shootings Friday across Iraq killed at least 23 people, officials said, capping several days of bloody assaults in the country as the attacks go unstopped.

Syria Islamists unite as faction-fighting goes on Posted: 22 Nov 2013 09:32 AM PST By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Erika Solomon AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Islamist fighters in Syria have joined forces to form what may be the biggest rebel army in the country, further undermining Western-backed military commanders and potentially challenging al Qaeda. The announcement on Friday of a common leadership for the Islamic Front, an amalgam of six major Islamist groups which had earlier declared an intention to merge, coincided with accounts of a battle on the Turkish border between rival Islamists that ended with al Qaeda allies taking control of the town of Atma. Factional fighting and fragmentation among those seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad have hampered the revolt and the latest effort to unite has yet to show that it can result in effective coordination among groups which between them control large parts of Syria and some tens of thousands of fighters. Gains by Assad since the United States held back from intervening following a poison gas attack on rebel territory in August have both hardened many rebels against the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), notionally charged with coordinating the war, and also galvanized some major formations to come together.

Syria rebels take key town from army: watchdog Posted: 22 Nov 2013 08:53 AM PST Rebels in Syria seized a key town Friday in Qalamoun province that has been under army control since the outbreak of the conflict, a monitoring group and the opposition said. Hundreds of rebels now control most of Deir Attiyeh, with the exception of the Bassel hospital and a small hill, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The majority Christian town north of Damascus is home to 10,000 people and is situated on the strategic route linking the capital to Homs in central Syria. It was seized by the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Al-Nusra Front, as well as other Islamist fighters, said the Observatory, which relies on a network of activists, doctors and lawyers on the ground for its reports.

National Geographic Traveler's picks for 2014 span Iraq to Laos Posted: 22 Nov 2013 07:57 AM PST A booming, oil-rich city in Iraq named 2014's Capital for Arab Tourism and a coffee estate in Laos set in an extinct volcano are among some of National Geographic Traveler's picks for the top places to visit next year. Unlike Lonely Planet, for instance, whose list of best cities for 2014 consists mainly of large metropolises and gives Paris the top spot, National Geographic's picks are less conventional, less predictable, and perhaps more thought-provoking. The city Arbil in northern Iraq, for instance, is described as one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities that will "make you forget everything you've heard about Iraq." The citadel is surrounded by Ottoman palaces and labyrinthine bazaars, while just outside its fortified walls lie mountains, waterfalls and lake resorts. The magazine also shines the spotlight on a little known area in Laos which is emerging as a coffee-growing region that produces dark, bittersweet java.

Breadwinners return empty-handed to Yemen, Arab world's poorest country Posted: 22 Nov 2013 06:39 AM PST Yemen is poised to lose millions of dollars in remittances while reabsorbing up to 200,000 newly unemployed workers as a result of Saudi Arabia's decision to expel tens of thousands of Yemeni guest workers.  The way Saudi officials spin it, it's simply a matter of closing loopholes in laws governing guest workers and streamlining bureaucracy. But as streams of deportees continue to be sent home, they've inflamed longstanding resentment of Yemen's northern neighbor. Yemenis have traditionally flocked to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, fleeing high levels of unemployment (35 percent in 2003) to take advantage of job opportunities created since the discovery of oil in other parts of the Arabian Peninsula.

Iraqi floods provide Internet fodder for frustrated residents Posted: 22 Nov 2013 05:38 AM PST Flooding across Iraq that has left at least 13 people dead and caused widespread structural damage has also provided rich fodder for sarcastic Iraqis bemoaning their decrepit public services. The floodwaters, which have cut off entire areas of Baghdad and several other cities to most vehicles, were caused by several days of heavy rainfall that overwhelmed the crumbling drainage system. Video footage posted on Facebook depicted residents of the Iraqi capital negotiating water-logged streets in life rafts or on planks of wood, armed with makeshift oars. Edited pictures proliferated on social networks, jokingly placing crocodiles in the Baghdad floodwaters.

New attacks across Iraq kill at least 16 Posted: 22 Nov 2013 04:47 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Militants unleashed a new wave of attacks in different parts of Iraq on Friday, killing at least 16 people and wounding 34, officials said.

Q&A: Iran's Arak reactor is growing nuclear concern for West Posted: 22 Nov 2013 04:30 AM PST By Fredrik Dahl GENEVA (Reuters) - The still uncompleted Arak heavy-water reactor, seen by the West as a potential source of nuclear bomb fuel, has emerged as a big stumbling block in Iran's talks with six world powers on a deal to rein in its nuclear program. Iran denies Western accusations that it is seeking the capability to make atomic bombs and says the research reactor near the town of Arak, some 250 km (155 miles) southwest of the capital Tehran, will produce only radio-isotopes for medicine. But experts say this reactor type is suitable for making plutonium, thus providing an alternative pathway to manufacturing fissile material for the core of a nuclear weapon, in addition to Iran's enrichment of uranium. Arak came under a renewed spotlight in May when the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Iran had informed it that the plant would start up in the first quarter of 2014.

Battle for Syrian army base kills 24 rebels Posted: 22 Nov 2013 04:14 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — A fierce battle for control of a Syrian military base near a northern, opposition-held city has killed 24 rebels so far but the government troops have managed to hold on to the complex, activists said Friday.

New attacks across Iraq kill at least 11 Posted: 22 Nov 2013 03:02 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials say separate attacks across the country have killed at least 11 people and wounded 19.

Earthquake strikes western Iran, no casualties reported Posted: 22 Nov 2013 01:18 AM PST An earthquake measuring 5.4 in magnitude struck western Iran near its border with Iraq on Friday morning and relief teams were sent to the area, though the extent of any damage was not immediately clear, Iranian media reported. Iran sits on major geological faultlines and has suffered several big earthquakes in recent years. In April a 7.8 magnitude quake near its border with Pakistan is thought to have killed hundreds of people. Tremors were also felt over the border in Iraq's northern provinces of Diyala and Sulaimaniya as well as in parts of Baghdad, witnesses said.

Earthquake measuring 5.4 in magnitude strikes western Iran: reports Posted: 22 Nov 2013 12:44 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - An earthquake measuring 5.4 in magnitude struck western Iran near its border with Iraq on Friday morning, Iranian media reported. There are no details on the extent of the damage, but several relief teams have been dispatched to assess the situation, state news agency IRNA reported. The epicenter of the quake was the town of Qasr-e Shirin, the capital of Kermanshah province, lying just 10 kilometers from the Iran-Iraq border. (Reporting by Marcus George; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Will Obamacare Be the Death of Liberalism? Posted: 22 Nov 2013 12:00 AM PST By 1968, Walter Lippmann, the dean of liberal columnists, had concluded that liberalism had reached the end of its tether. In that liberal epoch, the 1960s, the Democratic Party had marched us into an endless war that was tearing America apart. Lyndon Johnson's Great Society had produced four "long, hot summers" of racial riots and a national crime rate that had doubled in a decade. Jimmy Carter won one term by presenting himself as a born-again Christian from Georgia, a peanut farmer, Naval Academy graduate and nuclear engineer.

Brent slips below $110, but on track for second weekly gain Posted: 21 Nov 2013 10:30 PM PST By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent oil futures slipped below $110 per barrel on Friday but were on track to end higher for the second week following sharp overnight gains, with investors waiting for the outcome of talks on Iran's nuclear programme. Oil prices jumped on Thursday, fuelled by a surge in gasoline futures, signs of continued economic strength in the United States and indications that a deal to curb Tehran's nuclear programme could be a long time coming. It is going to take months or maybe even years before we get anything concrete out of this," said Tony Nunan, oil risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo. Iran and six major powers have made some progress this week towards an interim deal, but negotiators appeared to play down expectations of an imminent breakthrough in the three-day talks that began on Wednesday.

Women in the Marines: You've come a long way baby...kinda Posted: 21 Nov 2013 10:16 PM PST But even though they met the same requirements as the men in their class, they won't be assigned to infantry units for at least another two years while the Pentagon studies the effect of integrating women into combat roles. Katie Gorz — proved that women can meet the same physical standards as men.

Al Qaeda affiliate captures Syrian town on border with Turkey: activists Posted: 21 Nov 2013 07:29 PM PST By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - An al Qaeda affiliate has captured a northern Syrian town on the border with Turkey after ousting a moderate Islamist rebel unit and detained its leader, activists said on Thursday. The fall of the town of Atma, a crossing point for weapons and for Syrian rebels, signals disarray among some of the rebel groups, which are ceding ground to hardline Islamist units. Some of these groups are now playing a lesser role on the battlefield in the war against President Bashar al-Assad's forces, opposition sources said. The rise of al Qaeda in Syria has helped change the international diplomatic calculus and tempered Western calls for Assad's removal from power.

Kenya snubs envoys of ICC backers in tit-for-tat diplomacy Posted: 21 Nov 2013 06:56 PM PST Kenya appears to be punishing nations backing the International Criminal Court, where President Uhuru Kenyatta faces trial for crimes against humanity, by keeping envoys in limbo while they wait for accreditation. European nations said they would keep diplomatic contact with newly elected Kenyatta to a minimum due to the looming trial at The Hague-based court, but eight months after he took office, it is the president's turn to hit back over their support for the ICC. "This is a diplomatic move that reflects protest at the ICC," said Alex Vines from Britain's Chatham House. "It also reflects how Kenya's foreign affairs have been focused on ICC."

Foes of an Iran nuclear deal refocus on containing the damage Posted: 21 Nov 2013 04:52 PM PST Opponents and skeptics of an interim nuclear deal being negotiated with Iran are gearing up to ensure that what they fear will be a "bad deal" does not become the means through which Iran obtains a nuclear weapon. So attention is already turning to ways to ensure that Iran face immediate consequences if it fails to abide by the provisions of any such agreement. The six world powers meeting with Iran in Geneva reported no progress Thursday in narrowing the remaining differences between the two sides, while some Iranian officials suggested that if anything the gaps might have widened since the two sides last met earlier this month. At least one Republican senator announced that he was proposing legislation to force the immediate reinstatement of any lightened sanctions on Iran upon any evidence of Iran not abiding by the terms of a first-step deal.

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