Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Former Army sergeant to receive Medal of Honor
• Ex-U.S. defense secretary knows accuracy of his tax return is unknown
• Militia leader pleads guilty to ID theft
• FYI: Your Political Opponents Don't Want Their Taxes Paying for Your Stuff, Either
• Officer dies in helicopter crash as Iraq violence kills 7
• Media group names award after AP's Niedringhaus
• 'Syria rebels get US-made missiles'
• First women move into Army platoon artillery jobs
• Alabama man sentenced in murder-for-hire plot to kill neighbor
• In Ukraine, NATO sticks to a war of words against Russia
• Saudi renews demand for 'stern' world action on Syria
• Concerned for stability, Saudi Arabia tightens curbs on dissent
• Iraq Kurds dig trench on Syria border to block militants
• Iraq shuts infamous Abu Ghraib prison over security fears
• Poland: NATO should send troops to east Europe, ignore Russia's objections
• First women move to Army platoon artillery jobs
• Iraq closes notorious prison over security issues
• The End of Ideology?

Former Army sergeant to receive Medal of Honor Posted: 15 Apr 2014 03:46 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will award the Medal of Honor to former Army Sergeant Kyle J. White, who put his own life at risk in an hours-long effort to save fellow service members during a 2007 ambush in Afghanistan.

Ex-U.S. defense secretary knows accuracy of his tax return is unknown Posted: 15 Apr 2014 03:00 PM PDT By Bill Trott WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Rumsfeld has a new addition to his list of known unknowns - the accuracy of his 2013 tax filing. Rumsfeld, who was U.S. defense secretary under President George W. Bush, posted a picture on Twitter of the letter he sent to the Internal Revenue Service, saying he had submitted his tax return by Tuesday's deadline but that he had "absolutely no idea whether our tax returns and tax payments are accurate." That was despite his being a college graduate and having paid an accounting firm to prepare his return, he said.

Militia leader pleads guilty to ID theft Posted: 15 Apr 2014 02:41 PM PDT MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A self-described militia commander from Minnesota who was charged with stealing identification information from members of his former Army unit at Fort Bragg in North Carolina has pleaded guilty to identity theft.

FYI: Your Political Opponents Don't Want Their Taxes Paying for Your Stuff, Either Posted: 15 Apr 2014 11:22 AM PDT It is Tax Day in these United States, a good time to remind American citizens that taxes 1) aren't super fun to pay, 2) are used to pay for things you're not happy with, and 3) this is the cost of being an American citizen in these United States.

Officer dies in helicopter crash as Iraq violence kills 7 Posted: 15 Apr 2014 11:14 AM PDT A senior army officer died when his helicopter crashed due to a malfunction, the defence ministry said, as violence in Iraq killed seven people on Tuesday. Iraq is suffering a protracted surge in violence that has claimed more than 2,550 lives this year. The heightened unrest has been driven mainly by widespread anger among the Sunni Arab minority, who say they are mistreated by the Shiite-led government and security forces. Lieutenant General Hassan Karim Khudayr was killed when his helicopter experienced a "technical defect" during landing north of Baghdad, the defence ministry said in an emailed statement, without specifying when the incident occurred.

Media group names award after AP's Niedringhaus Posted: 15 Apr 2014 10:53 AM PDT A women's media group has created a new award for courage honoring Associated Press photographer Anja Niedringhaus, who was killed on assignment in Afghanistan, the group announced Tuesday. The International ...

'Syria rebels get US-made missiles' Posted: 15 Apr 2014 10:08 AM PDT Syrian rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad for the first time received at least 20 US-made TOW anti-tank missiles from a "Western source," a rebel official told AFP Tuesday. "Moderate, well-organised fighters from the Hazm movement have for the first time received more than 20 TOW anti-tank missiles from a Western source," the source said on condition of anonymity, and without specifying who had supplied the rockets. The Hazm movement, part of the opposition Free Syrian Army, brings together mainly ex-army officers and soldiers who defected from the military to join the revolt.

First women move into Army platoon artillery jobs Posted: 15 Apr 2014 09:29 AM PDT FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — Under a canopy of trees on the edge of a large field, soldiers from Bravo Battery are lying in a circle as they pore over targeting charts. Nearby, others are preparing the howitzer cannons as helicopters swoop overhead. At the edge of the circle, the platoon leader watches as the field artillerymen go through their training exercise.

Alabama man sentenced in murder-for-hire plot to kill neighbor Posted: 15 Apr 2014 08:06 AM PDT (This April 14 story was corrected to say "raping" instead of "having an affair" in paragraph 3, and changes "trial" to "hearing" in paragraph 4) BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - An Alabama man who tried to hire members of the Ku Klux Klan to torture and murder his African-American neighbor was sentenced on Monday to six years in prison. Allen Wayne Densen Morgan, 30, pleaded guilty in October to charges of using interstate facilities in an attempt to commit a murder for hire. Prosecutors said Morgan spoke with an FBI agent posing as a Ku Klux Klan member and offered to pay him if he killed his neighbor. Morgan falsely suspected the neighbor of raping his wife.

In Ukraine, NATO sticks to a war of words against Russia Posted: 15 Apr 2014 07:57 AM PDT By Luke Baker BRUSSELS (Reuters) - From the moment Russia first moved on Ukraine and seized Crimea, NATO has not lost an opportunity to admonish Moscow for its actions, warning that peace in Europe is under threat and the sovereignty of a friend being violated. Yet between NATO's tough rhetoric and its ability and willingness to act, there is now a substantial gap, one that Russia is exploiting. The 28-country alliance - on paper the world's most powerful military organization - has no intention of getting militarily involved in Ukraine. The risks of escalation with Russia are far too great, and neither President Barack Obama nor his European allies have any appetite for war.

Saudi renews demand for 'stern' world action on Syria Posted: 15 Apr 2014 07:56 AM PDT Saudi Arabia Tuesday urged "stern" world action against Syria after the regime's decision to hold presidential elections and its alleged use of toxic gas against civilians. Saudi Arabia is one of the main backers of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a civil war increasingly seen as a proxy battle between it and regional rival Iran. Syria's plan to hold elections is "an escalation and undermines Arab and international efforts to peacefully resolve the crisis based on the (outcomes of) the Geneva I conference," said Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal. Syrian daily Al-Watan reported Tuesday that the date for the presidential elections will be announced next week and is expected to be around June.

Concerned for stability, Saudi Arabia tightens curbs on dissent Posted: 15 Apr 2014 07:29 AM PDT By Sami Aboudi and Angus McDowall DUBAI/RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia, rattled by regional turmoil that has destabilized the Middle East, is intensifying a crackdown on domestic dissent, raising fears that a more open space for public debate that emerged in recent years is under threat. Social media, and what analysts describe as King Abdullah's efforts to foster a more open atmosphere since the turn of the century, have given Saudis greater scope than ever before to criticize the authorities and discuss topics once seen as taboo. But it believes it is under attack as never before, say analysts with close ties to the kingdom's elite, and sees Syria's civil war and Egypt's political crisis as posing a domestic threat as well as a foreign policy challenge. Responding to these perceived threats, Saudi Arabia has passed a set of laws that banned citizens from fighting abroad, donating money to any faction in Syria or sympathizing with militant ideologies.

Iraq Kurds dig trench on Syria border to block militants Posted: 15 Apr 2014 06:39 AM PDT Arbil (Iraq) (AFP) - Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region is digging a trench along its border with Syria to prevent the infiltration of militants and smuggling from the war-racked country, officials say. "The trench is designed to prevent the infiltration of members of terrorist groups and stop smugglers," Halkurd Mullah Ali, the spokesman for the Kurdish region's peshmerga security ministry, told AFP. The trench is 17 kilometres (10 miles) long, two metres (yards) deep and three metres wide, and is "part of an Iraqi (federal) government strategy" to protecting the country's 600 kilometre border with Syria.

Iraq shuts infamous Abu Ghraib prison over security fears Posted: 15 Apr 2014 06:33 AM PDT Iraq has closed Abu Ghraib prison, made infamous by Saddam Hussein's regime and US forces, due to security concerns following a mass breakout last year, the justice ministry said Tuesday. The country is suffering a protracted surge in violence that has claimed more than 2,550 lives this year, and the area west of Baghdad where the prison is located is particularly insecure. The ministry announced online the "complete closure of Baghdad Central Prison, previously (known as) 'Abu Ghraib,' and the removal of the inmates in cooperation with the ministries of defence and interior." The statement quoted Justice Minister Hassan al-Shammari as saying 2,400 inmates arrested or sentenced for terrorism-related offences have been transferred to other facilities in central and northern Iraq.

Poland: NATO should send troops to east Europe, ignore Russia's objections Posted: 15 Apr 2014 04:42 AM PDT By Marcin Goettig and Marcin Goclowski WARSAW (Reuters) - Russia's military intervention in Ukraine's Crimea peninsula makes it vital that NATO station significant numbers of troops in eastern Europe and ignore any objections Russia might have in this respect, Poland's defense minister said. Tomasz Siemoniak, in an interview with Reuters, said western Europe was safe thanks to the U.S. military presence there, adding that Russia's military was ready to intervene in Poland's neighbor, Ukraine.

First women move to Army platoon artillery jobs Posted: 15 Apr 2014 04:13 AM PDT FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — Under a canopy of trees on the edge of a large field, soldiers from Bravo Battery are lying in a circle as they pore over targeting charts. Nearby, others are preparing the howitzer cannons as helicopters swoop overhead. At the edge of the circle, the platoon leader watches as the field artillerymen go through their training exercise.

Iraq closes notorious prison over security issues Posted: 15 Apr 2014 02:29 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's justice minister says authorities have closed down a notorious prison west of Baghdad over security concerns.

The End of Ideology? Posted: 15 Apr 2014 12:00 AM PDT And President Obama is widely blamed for the perceived decline in worldwide respect for the United States. Yet, still, one hears no clamor from Middle America for "Action This Day!" to alter the perception that America is in retreat. If Japan and China fight over islets 10,000 miles away, islets that few Americans can find on a map, why should we get into it? One explanation for America's turning away from these wars is that we see no vital interest in these conflicts — from Syria to Crimea, Afghanistan to Iraq, the South China Sea to the Senkaku Islands.

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