Yahoo! News: Iraq

---

• UPROOTED AND RESTIVE, YOUNG MEN OF THE MIDDLE EAST REVOLT
• Iraqi Kurds, battling Islamist threat, press Washington for arms
• As Iraq crisis deepens, veterans wonder: Was it worth it?
• What’s going wrong with rebuilding Afghanistan? Inspector general has a list
• Syria jihadists fight Kurds, Sunni tribe
• Israel, Palestinians locked in vicious circle of Gaza wars
• Obama holds foreign policy meeting with lawmakers
• ‘Woman in black,’ who appealed to US fascination with wanderers, reaches home
• Syrian atrocities witness testifies in US Congress
• Norway calls off terror alert, no longer sees imminent Islamist attack
• Witness of Syrian atrocities testifies in Congress
• Kurdistan says crude cargo near Texas legally sold
• Afghan electoral officials to restart vote audit
• Iraqi Shi'ite militias use hit lists to pick off foes: police
• With Mideast in turmoil, Palestinians feel less backing
• Five Best Thursday Columns
• Col. Christopher Barron assumes command of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District
• Beyond oil and reserves, Russia running on empty
• 'Complacent' NATO unprepared for Russian threat: British lawmakers
• Lebanese Hezbollah commander killed in Iraq
• Hezbollah commander killed in Iraq
• Kurdish oil cargo unloaded at sea, destination a mystery
• Rand Paul’s High-Risk Outreach to Minorities
• Shell profit up on higher oil prices
• Today in History
• Backlash against Australia gagging order
• Dem Who Co-Sponsored Bush Impeachment Bill Says It Never Happened [VIDEO]

UPROOTED AND RESTIVE, YOUNG MEN OF THE MIDDLE EAST REVOLT Posted: 31 Jul 2014 03:31 PM PDT The first time I visited Libya, that huge desert Arab country on the northern coast of Africa, my initial shock came from a customs agent, who found a small bottle of Scotch in my suitcase and gave me a scathing glance. The Health Ministry announced that 97 persons had been killed and 400 wounded.

Iraqi Kurds, battling Islamist threat, press Washington for arms Posted: 31 Jul 2014 02:57 PM PDT By Missy Ryan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq is pressing the Obama administration for sophisticated weapons it says Kurdish fighters need to push back Islamist militants threatening their region, Kurdish and U.S. officials said. A Kurdish official said the request was discussed during a Kurdish delegation's visit to Washington in early July, and U.S. officials said Washington was considering ways to bolster the Kurdish defenses. The Kurds say U.S. help is critical to enable the Peshmerga, the Kurds' paramilitary force, to repel fighters from the Islamic State, an al Qaeda spinoff that seized a wide swath of Iraqi territory in a stunning advance in the last few months.

As Iraq crisis deepens, veterans wonder: Was it worth it? Posted: 31 Jul 2014 02:02 PM PDT Navy man Jeff Craig, who deployed to Iraq during both Desert Storm and the more recent Iraq war, says all the lives lost and American billions spent are now wasted with the takeover of half the country by Islamic extremists. Andrea Sandoval, who spent 2003-04 in Iraq and returned in 2011 briefly as an intern, says that watching the Islamic State (formerly known as ISIS) take over large portions of the country "with little or no resistance, is very disturbing." But, she says, "it's not our fault. Meanwhile, for Navy engineer Ken Smith, who was stationed north of Baghdad for six months, the worst part has been watching Islamic extremists driving American-made Humvees and carrying US-made weapons as they enter towns that he helped rehabilitate. "It's sickening, [the Islamic State] has come swooping in and taken Fallujah, and Ba'iji, where the largest oil refinery in the country is."

What’s going wrong with rebuilding Afghanistan? Inspector general has a list Posted: 31 Jul 2014 01:32 PM PDT The most expensive foreign reconstruction effort ever underwritten by the US taxpayer – more than the wildly successful Marshall Plan to remake Europe after World War II – has been the rebuilding of Afghanistan. Among the most perplexing of these has been its failure to bar American and Afghan contractors who are embezzling millions from US taxpayer coffers, warns the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), an office created by Congress in 2008 and filled by John Sopko since 2012. In his latest report on the reconstruction efforts, released this week, Mr. Sopko, a lawyer and former prosecutor with extensive experience in government oversight, notes that while Afghan National Security Forces have received billions from the US for training, the Afghan government routinely fails to come through with basics for their soldiers, such as pay, which serves to "severely undermine" US efforts. Then, Sopko notes, there is the "misguided policy" of the Pentagon.

Syria jihadists fight Kurds, Sunni tribe Posted: 31 Jul 2014 01:09 PM PDT The jihadist Islamic State (IS), which has taken over large swathes of war-torn Syria in just a few months, was Thursday engaged in fighting Kurds and members of a Sunni tribe. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the well-equipped Kurds, who started fighting IS after it emerged in Syria in spring last year, had Wednesday recaptured several hills surrounding the city of Ain al-Arab (Kobane in Kurdish) in the north. IS has been trying to take Ain al-Arab -- Syria's third Kurdish city -- and incorporate it into the Islamic "caliphate" it proclaimed last month. Dozens of other fighters were wounded, the Observatory said.

Israel, Palestinians locked in vicious circle of Gaza wars Posted: 31 Jul 2014 01:02 PM PDT By Mark Heinrich LONDON (Reuters) - When Israel ended its 38-year occupation of the Gaza Strip by withdrawing settlers in 2005, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon hailed it as a "disengagement" from conflict with Palestinians in the densely populated coastal enclave. Israel kept expanding settlements in the West Bank where the Palestinians also seek a state. Hardline Islamists seized control of Gaza in 2007 and periodic U.S. efforts to broker a permanent peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority under secular President Mahmoud Abbas have proved fruitless. Israel sealed Gaza in an economically choking blockade and the territory's ruling Hamas movement and other militant factions fired rockets with increasing frequency and range, though not accuracy, into the Jewish state.

Obama holds foreign policy meeting with lawmakers Posted: 31 Jul 2014 12:34 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama huddled with congressional lawmakers Thursday to discuss the numerous foreign policy crises facing his administration, including tensions with Russia and the war between Israel and Hamas.

‘Woman in black,’ who appealed to US fascination with wanderers, reaches home Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:23 AM PDT A 50-something Army veteran who caused an Internet sensation as she traveled nearly 500 miles by foot, clad in long, black robes and sandals, has apparently reached what she calls "home" in Winchester, Va., police in Virginia say. Elizabeth Poles traveled for two months, and was seen from Georgia to West Virginia in her wanderings.

Syrian atrocities witness testifies in US Congress Posted: 31 Jul 2014 10:38 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Graphic images of emaciated and bloodied corpses in the Syrian civil war were presented to uncharacteristically silent members of Congress Thursday as a former military photographer testified about the signs of savagery he witnessed.

Norway calls off terror alert, no longer sees imminent Islamist attack Posted: 31 Jul 2014 10:29 AM PDT Norway's government called off a week-long terror alert on Thursday, saying an attack by a militant Islamist group with combat training in Syria was no longer seen as imminent. Security forces had been put on high alert last Thursday with armed units placed at high-risk locations after police received information that a small militant group was on its way to carry out attacks in the West, with Norway among its targets. "The probability that the original information was correct has been reduced," Benedicte Bjoernland, the director of the Police Security Service, the police's intelligence unit, told a news conference. "The threat of an attack is therefore lower." Scandinavian governments have repeatedly warned that several hundred people have traveled to Syria from Scandinavia for combat training since civil war broke out in Syria two years ago.

Witness of Syrian atrocities testifies in Congress Posted: 31 Jul 2014 10:24 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Graphic images of emaciated and bloodied corpses in the Syrian civil war were presented to uncharacteristically silent members of Congress Thursday as a former military photographer testified about the signs of savagery he witnessed.

Kurdistan says crude cargo near Texas legally sold Posted: 31 Jul 2014 10:22 AM PDT A $100 million cargo of crude oil in a tanker near Texas was legally shipped and sold by Kurdistan, lawyers for the autonomous region in Iraq told a U.S. court in a letter seen on Thursday, saying Baghdad has no right to the barrels. They also told the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas that it has no jurisdiction over Kurdish affairs. Baghdad, in a lawsuit filed with the court earlier this week, said that only it has the authority to export oil under Iraq's constitution, a view that autonomous Kurdistan government rejects. "The oil cargo in question belonged to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) before it was legally shipped and sold pursuant to KRG's authority under the 2005 Iraqi Constitution and subsequent Kurdistan law," said the letter, which did not identify the buyer of the cargo.

Afghan electoral officials to restart vote audit Posted: 31 Jul 2014 10:17 AM PDT KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Despite lingering disputes, Afghan electoral officials said Thursday that they will resume an audit of the presidential election this weekend after the presidential candidates sparred over how to disqualify ballots amid allegations of massive fraud.

Iraqi Shi'ite militias use hit lists to pick off foes: police Posted: 31 Jul 2014 09:12 AM PDT By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Shi'ite militias have drawn up hit lists of suspected Sunni insurgents to be kidnapped, executed and hung in public, security and police officials said, raising the stakes in a sectarian war tearing the country apart. The militias became a vital line of defense for the Shi'ite-led government after the army collapsed in the face of a June advance by Sunni Islamic State militants who seized large swathes of land in the north and aim to march on Baghdad. The militias' increasingly ruthless tactics, in towns north of the capital, near the front line with insurgents, could radicalize Sunnis who say innocent people are being swept up in the fighting. "They have a hit list of Sunni individuals that are considered a threat to security forces and the Shi'ite population," said a senior security official in Diyala Province who works with the militias.

With Mideast in turmoil, Palestinians feel less backing Posted: 31 Jul 2014 08:52 AM PDT By Tom Perry and Stephen Kalin BEIRUT/CAIRO (Reuters) - With the Middle East ablaze with multiple crises, Palestinians are getting less Arab support than before in their latest battle with Israel in Gaza. Arab nations that long championed the Palestinian cause are now consumed by their own conflicts, including sectarian wars in Syria and Iraq, and Egypt's political battle with the Muslim Brotherhood that has drawn in rival Gulf states. The death toll in the Israeli offensive launched on July 8 stands at more than 1,300 Palestinians. Some Palestinians say they have been abandoned.

Five Best Thursday Columns Posted: 31 Jul 2014 08:43 AM PDT Beth Pond in The Financial Times on how Angela Merkel has been playing the long game with her policy towards Russia. Pond describes Merkel's systematic and effective approach to dealing with Vladimir Putin since the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea. "Europe's de facto leader has been working night and day to persuade three very different audiences that peace and security trump European economic interests, and will now require European financial sacrifice. Ms. Merkel's first audience was Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. The second was the domestic business lobby, and the 6,200 companies that make Germany by far Russia's most important trading partner. The third consisted of Berlin's fellow EU members, especially Britain, France and Italy, which have their own pro-Russian business lobbies." Pond writes that both the United States and Russia have underestimated Merkel.

Col. Christopher Barron assumes command of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District Posted: 31 Jul 2014 08:35 AM PDT CONCORD, Mass., July 31, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a Change of Command ceremony today at Faneuil Hall in Boston, Mass., District Commander Col. Charles P. Samaris passed the command flag, signifying change of command authority of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in New England, to new District Commander Col. Christopher J. Barron. Presiding over the ceremony was Brig. Gen. Kent D. Savre, Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, North Atlantic Division. This transfer is physically represented by passing the Command Flag, the tangible symbol of the unit, from the outgoing commander to the next senior commander to the new commander.

Beyond oil and reserves, Russia running on empty Posted: 31 Jul 2014 07:17 AM PDT By Lidia Kelly and Katya Golubkova MOSCOW (Reuters) - For all the sanctions Western leaders can throw at Russia, the biggest threat to President Vladimir Putin's ability to back separatists in east Ukraine is something beyond his or their control: the price of oil.     With Russia's $2 trillion economy heavily dependent on crude exports, oil prices are always closely monitored by the Kremlin, but the government is particularly wary now as tensions with the West mount and sanctions ratchet up. ...

'Complacent' NATO unprepared for Russian threat: British lawmakers Posted: 31 Jul 2014 06:46 AM PDT By Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) - NATO is not prepared for the threat of a Russian attack on one of its members, British lawmakers said on Thursday, calling for more equipment and troops to be positioned in the Baltic States, which, they said, were particularly vulnerable. Parliament's Defence Select Committee said events in Crimea and eastern Ukraine had revealed "alarming deficiencies" in NATO's preparedness and should be a "wake-up call". The military alliance has stepped up exercises in eastern Europe since Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in March. Ukraine is not a member of NATO.

Lebanese Hezbollah commander killed in Iraq Posted: 31 Jul 2014 06:44 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — A commander with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was recently killed while on a "jihadi mission" in Iraq, officials in Lebanon said Thursday.

Hezbollah commander killed in Iraq Posted: 31 Jul 2014 05:13 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Officials say a commander with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was killed in Iraq.

Kurdish oil cargo unloaded at sea, destination a mystery Posted: 31 Jul 2014 04:32 AM PDT By Keith Wallis SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Part of a Kurdish oil cargo has been offloaded from a Greek-managed tanker into another tanker in the South China Sea, but mystery surrounds the identity of the buyer and where the two tankers are headed. The United Emblem, which is carrying more than 1 million barrels of oil, is one of three tankers loaded with oil from the autonomous Kurdish region, which is trying to sell oil independently. Iraqi Kurdistan is locked in a bitter legal and diplomatic struggle with Baghdad over international oil sales. The Kurdistan Regional Government filed a letter with the Texas court arguing its sales are allowed under the Iraqi constitution.

Rand Paul’s High-Risk Outreach to Minorities Posted: 31 Jul 2014 03:15 AM PDT Darnell M. Hunt, director of UCLA's Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, finds Sen. Rand Paul's persistent outreach to black Americans highly intriguing if curious.  Hunt acknowledges that many issues the conservative Kentucky lawmaker has raised are "near and dear" to most African Americans and that it's remarkable to hear them coming from a member of a "law and order party." Yet Hunt says Paul faces an "uphill battle" because of widespread suspicion about his motives among those voters.  For nearly two years, Paul, a libertarian and Tea Party darling who appears poised to mount a 2016 GOP presidential bid, has been reaching out to African American audiences and other minorities. He has spoken at Howard University, a historically black college in Washington, D.C., the Detroit Economic Club to a gathering of African American business leaders, and the National Urban League in Cincinnati.

Shell profit up on higher oil prices Posted: 30 Jul 2014 11:35 PM PDT AMSTERDAM (AP) — Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Europe's largest oil company, says second quarter earnings rose on higher production and higher selling prices for oil, and fewer one-time charges.

Today in History Posted: 30 Jul 2014 09:00 PM PDT Today is Thursday, July 31, the 212th day of 2014. There are 153 days left in the year.

Backlash against Australia gagging order Posted: 30 Jul 2014 08:09 PM PDT An Australian court's gagging order banning the reporting of allegations against several foreign political leaders in a major bribery scandal was Thursday slammed as unacceptable by activists and media groups. Details of the suppression order, imposed by the Victorian Supreme Court in Melbourne on June 19, were revealed by whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. It relates to an ongoing investigation into allegations that Asian officials and their families were bribed to secure contracts to print their currencies by a company -- Securency -- linked to Australia's central bank. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said the gag was issued after the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade stepped in, arguing that publication of the names could affect national security and international relations.

Dem Who Co-Sponsored Bush Impeachment Bill Says It Never Happened [VIDEO] Posted: 30 Jul 2014 07:20 PM PDT In a speech on the floor of the House Wednesday, Texas U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee claimed that Democrats never sought to impeach President George W. Bush. Not only is that claim false, but Jackson-Lee actually co-sponsored a 2008 bill to do just that and spoke in at least one House committee hearing in support of the effort. Jackson-Lee's remarks Wednesday came ahead of a vote on a Republican-backed measure to sue President Obama for overstepping his bounds in implementing Obamacare. "I ask my colleagues to oppose this resolution for it is in fact a veiled attempt for impeachment and it undermines the law that allows a president to do his job," Jackson-Lee said on Wednesday.

You are subscribed to email updates from Iraq News Headlines - Yahoo! News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610