Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Hagel adds urgency to push for ethics crackdown
• Iraqi PM under fire amid 'insanity' of suicide bombings
• Hagel worried about ethical 'breakdown' in US military
• Baghdad bombs, including near Green Zone, kill 33
• Lebanon Sunni sheikh charged over suicide bombings
• Four bombs hit central Baghdad, killing 23
• Explosions rock Iraqi capital, killing at least 34
• Iraqi efforts to block Iranian overflights 'not enough': U.S. official
• Behind Syria's calculations on missing chemical weapons deadline
• German ex-chancellor Schroeder accuses U.S. of disrespect over spying
• Bombings kill at least 32 in Iraqi capital
• US to advise Iraq on securing oil infrastructure
• Use of drones spreading as cost falls: IISS think-tank
• Iraq's insurgency shows staying power
• Review: 'Monuments Men' a misstep for Clooney
• Army probing hundreds in recruiting fraud scheme
• Bombings kill at least 22 in Iraqi capital
• Anbar conflict halts Iraq's trucked oil exports to Jordan
• U.S. bugged Schroeder when he was German chancellor: paper
• Bombings kill at least 17 in Iraqi capital
• Libya says destroys last chemical weapons with Western help
• Bombings kill at least 16 in Iraqi capital

Hagel adds urgency to push for ethics crackdown Posted: 05 Feb 2014 04:16 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Concerned that ethical problems inside the military might run deeper than he realized, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered service leaders Wednesday to add urgency to their drive to ensure "moral character and moral courage" in a force emerging from more than a decade of war.

Iraqi PM under fire amid 'insanity' of suicide bombings Posted: 05 Feb 2014 03:56 PM PST Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki came under fire from US lawmakers Wednesday for the slow pace of political reconciliation and links to Iran, said to fuel a wave of suicide bombings. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives gathered to assess the threat of Al-Qaeda in Iraq and its offshoot, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), as a new round of bombings rocked Baghdad, killing 33 people. Militants linked to Al-Qaeda are now carrying out an average of 40 mass attacks a month, in Iraq's bloodiest eruption of violence in six years and the worst since US troops withdrew in 2011, said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce. The militants were benefiting from "the alienation" of the country's Sunni population from its Shiite-dominated government, which also has strong ties to Iran's Shiite leaders in Iran, he added.

Hagel worried about ethical 'breakdown' in US military Posted: 05 Feb 2014 03:23 PM PST Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is concerned that recent scandals signal a potential ethical "breakdown" in the US military and has asked commanders to urgently address the problem, his spokesman said Wednesday. The Pentagon chief was "troubled" by revelations of cheating on exams, as well as other incidents, and had raised the issue with the chiefs of all the armed services in talks earlier Wednesday, Rear Admiral John Kirby told a news conference. "I think he's generally concerned that there could be, at least at some level, a breakdown in ethical behavior and in the demonstration of moral courage," Kirby said.

Baghdad bombs, including near Green Zone, kill 33 Posted: 05 Feb 2014 02:34 PM PST Bombings in Baghdad, including three near the heavily fortified Green Zone and the foreign ministry, killed 33 people Wednesday, prompting US lawmakers to criticise the slow pace of reconciliation efforts. The attacks, which also wounded dozens, came as security forces battled militants in the western province of Anbar, including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a powerful jihadist group that has exploited the chaos in neighbouring Syria. With violence at its highest level since 2008, diplomats have urged the Shiite-led government to reach out to the Sunni Arab minority to undercut support for militancy, but Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has taken a hard line with a general election due in April. US House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce said Maliki's failure to do more to address Sunni grievances had allowed ISIL to exploit the minority community's "alienation" to sharply step up its attacks.

Lebanon Sunni sheikh charged over suicide bombings Posted: 05 Feb 2014 01:40 PM PST A Lebanese military court has charged a Sunni Muslim sheikh in connection with two suicide bombings in southern Beirut last month that killed at least six people, the ANI news agency reported Wednesday. Judge Saqr Saqr charged Omar Ibrahim al-Atrash and five others with the bombings in Hart Hreik, a stronghold of the Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah. Lebanon has been rocked by a string of bomb attacks in recent months, with three in January alone. Many have targeted strongholds of Hezbollah, which has drawn the ire of Sunni extremist groups in part because of its role fighting alongside the regime in Syria.

Four bombs hit central Baghdad, killing 23 Posted: 05 Feb 2014 01:28 PM PST By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Four bombs exploded in central Baghdad near the heavily-fortified "Green Zone" and a busy square on Wednesday, killing at least 23 people, Iraqi security sources said. The blasts came a day after two rockets were fired into the Green Zone, home to the prime minister's office and Western embassies, and are likely to heighten concerns about Iraq's ability to protect strategic sites as security deteriorates. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombings, but Sunni Islamist militants have been regaining ground in Iraq, particularly in the western province of Anbar, where they overran two cities on January 1. On Wednesday, security sources said two parked car bombs went off opposite the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, killing 11.

Explosions rock Iraqi capital, killing at least 34 Posted: 05 Feb 2014 12:48 PM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Multiple explosions rocked Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 34 people and sending plumes of smoke into the sky across the street from a major government building in a brazen reminder of the ability of insurgents to penetrate the heart of the capital.

Iraqi efforts to block Iranian overflights 'not enough': U.S. official Posted: 05 Feb 2014 12:26 PM PST The Iraqi government needs to do more to prevent Iran from flying weapons and fighters through its airspace en route to Syria, a U.S. official told lawmakers on Wednesday. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has been accused by the United States of allowing Iran to fly planes through Iraqi airspace and send support to bolster Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom Washington blames for a nearly three-year-old civil war that has killed more than 130,000 people. "The issue of overflights is something where the Iraqis have not done enough," the State Department's Brett McGurk said at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing. Both Iraq and Iran have Shi'ite Moslem majorities, and Maliki's Shi'ite-led government has maintained close ties with Tehran before and after U.S. forces left Iraq in 2011.

Behind Syria's calculations on missing chemical weapons deadline Posted: 05 Feb 2014 11:01 AM PST Syria has missed today's deadline for giving up another portion of its entire chemical weapons arsenal, raising alarm that President Bashar al-Assad will renege on the agreement that curbed a potential US military strike last summer. "They're not going to make that timeline either," Michael Luhan, a spokesman for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), told USA Today. The mission to dismantle Syria's chemical weapons program, which is led by the OPCW, "has reached a kind of a stasis at the moment." The OPCW has little recourse if Syria flouts the agreement.

German ex-chancellor Schroeder accuses U.S. of disrespect over spying Posted: 05 Feb 2014 10:51 AM PST Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder accused the United States of showing "no respect" for Germany's sovereignty after a newspaper reported on Wednesday the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) had bugged his phone from at least 2002. Reports last year about mass U.S. surveillance in Germany, in particular of Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone, shocked Germans and sparked the most serious row between the transatlantic allies in a decade. "The United States has no respect for a loyal ally and for the sovereignty of our country," Schroeder was quoted as saying by Bild daily. But to spy on the telephone of a chancellor is clearly a step too far." Since the first reports of spying last year, it has been widely suspected in Germany that the NSA had bugged governments preceding Merkel's. But the report by Sueddeutsche daily on Wednesday, which it sourced to former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, was the first concrete report that offers evidence.

Bombings kill at least 32 in Iraqi capital Posted: 05 Feb 2014 08:56 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Multiple explosions rocked Baghdad, killing at least 32 people and sending plumes of smoke into the sky across the street from a major government building in a brazen reminder of the ability of insurgents to penetrate the heart of the capital.

US to advise Iraq on securing oil infrastructure Posted: 05 Feb 2014 08:51 AM PST The United States is to provide Iraq with technical support to help it secure its oil export infrastructure, which accounts for the lion's share of government revenues, officials said Wednesday. The cooperation comes with Baghdad looking to dramatically ramp up crude sales to fund much-needed reconstruction of its conflict-battered economy, but facing repeated attacks on its pipeline infrastructure, including one on Wednesday. "Iraq and the United States are embarking on a significant new area of cooperation by having experts from the US Departments of Energy and State work with Iraq to develop approaches to protect Iraq's energy infrastructure from terrorist attack or natural disaster," a joint energy committee said after Baghdad talks.

Use of drones spreading as cost falls: IISS think-tank Posted: 05 Feb 2014 08:30 AM PST The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) also noted a continuing trend of Asian military spending surging ahead as European defence budgets shrink, in its annual assessment of the world's armies. At the launch of the Military Balance 2014 at the IISS's London headquarters, its military aerospace expert Doug Barrie said the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, would increase, although they would continue to co-exist next to manned aircraft. I think you will see mixed use for quite some time," Barrie said, but acknowledged that the range of drones' capabilities would increase. The IISS said the increased use of drones was accompanied by legal and ethical questions, including whether attacks could be justified as self-defence and whether they constitute a proportional response to the status of individuals targeted.

Iraq's insurgency shows staying power Posted: 05 Feb 2014 05:58 AM PST A string of deadly explosions rocked central Baghdad today in a fresh eruption of violence between Sunni militants, still in command of areas of Anbar Province, and the government, bent on pursuing a hard line toward the insurgency ahead of April elections.    With a standoff in Anbar and strikes pounding cities across the country on an almost daily basis – today's blasts in Baghdad follow a rocket attack on Fallujah on Tuesday – chances for a peaceful resolution appear slim.

Review: 'Monuments Men' a misstep for Clooney Posted: 05 Feb 2014 05:41 AM PST George Clooney, movie director, started out with so much promise.

Army probing hundreds in recruiting fraud scheme Posted: 05 Feb 2014 04:15 AM PST Hundreds of soldiers and others are under criminal investigation in what the military describes as a widespread scheme to take fraudulent payments and kickbacks from a National Guard recruiting program. ...

Bombings kill at least 22 in Iraqi capital Posted: 05 Feb 2014 04:15 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Multiple bombings rocked central Baghdad on Wednesday, striking mainly near the heavily fortified Green Zone where key government offices are located and killing at least 22 people, Iraqi officials said.

Anbar conflict halts Iraq's trucked oil exports to Jordan Posted: 05 Feb 2014 03:09 AM PST Trucked exports of oil from Iraq to neighboring Jordan have been halted due to deteriorating security in Anbar province where militants have overrun the city of Falluja, an oil ministry spokesman said. When the exports were halted was not clear, but Asim Jihad said the volume in question was between 10,000 and 12,000 barrels of crude per day (bpd). "Due to security developments in Anbar and because the transfer of oil to Jordan is done by truck, which needs safe passage to cross, exports were stopped," Jihad said. "As soon as the reasons are removed exports will resumed." An official from Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation said Baghdad and Amman had taken a joint decision to pause shipments while military operations in Anbar were ongoing and also said they would resume as soon as the security situation improved.

U.S. bugged Schroeder when he was German chancellor: paper Posted: 05 Feb 2014 02:55 AM PST The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) bugged the phone of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder from at least 2002, a German newspaper reported on Wednesday, compounding the most serious row between between the allies in a decade. The reason for the snooping was Social Democrat (SPD) Schroeder's opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq under then President George W. Bush, the Sueddeutsche daily said, citing U.S. government sources and NSA insiders. "We had reason to believe that (Schroeder) was not contributing to the success of the alliance," the newspaper quoted one person with direct knowledge of the monitoring as saying. Since then, it has been widely suspected in Germany that the NSA had bugged governments preceding Merkel's but this is the first concrete report that offers evidence and it stems from information from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Bombings kill at least 17 in Iraqi capital Posted: 05 Feb 2014 01:55 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Multiple bombings rocked central Baghdad on Wednesday, striking mainly near the heavily fortified Green Zone where key government offices are located and killing at least 17 people, Iraqi officials said.

Libya says destroys last chemical weapons with Western help Posted: 05 Feb 2014 12:26 AM PST Libya has destroyed with the help of Western countries the last known large stockpile of chemical weapons from the era of Muammar Gaddafi, officials said on Tuesday. Western countries had been concerned that the weapons might fall into the hands of Islamist militants and regional militias as the North African state grapples with widespread disorder more than two years after the uprising that ousted Gaddafi. Militia groups and armed tribesmen control parts of a vast OPEC-member country awash with arms where the Tripoli government of Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has struggled to enforce its authority much beyond the capital Tripoli. Libya began dismantling its poison gas programme after signing the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2004 but the operation ground to a halt in 2011 when the NATO-backed uprising against Gaddafi broke out.

Bombings kill at least 16 in Iraqi capital Posted: 05 Feb 2014 12:22 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Multiple bombings rocked central Baghdad on Wednesday, striking mainly near the heavily fortified Green Zone where key government offices are located and killing at least 16 people, Iraqi officials said.

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