Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Ex-Guantanamo detainees ask French judge to probe torture
• UK troops mentally resilient despite Iraq, Afghan conflicts
• Pleas for more help for military veterans to recover from sexual assault
• Get a Tank in Your Garage — Free!
• Painful but Necessary Military Cuts Draw Fire from Vets
• US ex-envoy says dialogue vital with North Korea
• US stakes in Ukraine tied to location, location
• Ukraine draws Obama into Putin's long game
• Army study gives women taste of combat tasks
• Syria jihadists lay down rules for Christians
• Islamists demand levy from Christians in Syrian city
• America, tightening belt, warns Europe over its defense spending
• A-10 Warthog faces elimination. Will Congress save it again?
• Syria rebel-jihadist fighting kills 3,300 since January: NGO
• Senate's Menendez happy in 'bad cop' role on Iran talks
• Muqtada al-Sadr doesn't appear to have quit Iraqi politics
• Germany sees threat from returning Syria militants
• 3,300 people killed in Syria rebel infighting this year: monitor
• Oil prices rise as market awaits US inventory data
• Obama administration must act to protect Iranian dissidents threatened in Iraq, says former senior U.S. officials, Iranian American community leaders, according to OIAC

Ex-Guantanamo detainees ask French judge to probe torture Posted: 26 Feb 2014 04:31 PM PST Two former Guantanamo Bay detainees asked a French judge Wednesday to subpoena a former prison commander they accuse of overseeing their alleged torture. Nizar Sassi and Mourad Benchellali, who were both held by American authorities first in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and then on the US naval base at Guantanamo in Cuba from late 2001 to 2004, are French citizens and now live in France. French investigations into their case began after they filed a complaint in court, along with Khaled Ben Mustapha, another former Guantanamo inmate. In an expert report submitted to the investigative judge of the high court of Paris, lawyers for Sassi and Benchellali accused retired major general Geoffrey Miller of "an authorized and systematic plan of torture and ill-treatment on persons deprived of their freedom without any charge and without the basic rights of any detainee."

UK troops mentally resilient despite Iraq, Afghan conflicts Posted: 26 Feb 2014 03:32 PM PST By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Intervention strategies have helped mitigate the psychological impact on British soldiers of more than 10 years of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, a new study suggests, leaving them mentally healthier than their U.S. peers. But the study, by the King's Centre for Military Health Research at King's College London, found some British soldiers - particularly reservists and soldiers deployed in combat - do seem more vulnerable to mental illness when they come home. "Overall, UK military personnel have remained relatively resilient in spite of the stresses endured in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Deirdre MacManus, who led the study.

Pleas for more help for military veterans to recover from sexual assault Posted: 26 Feb 2014 03:24 PM PST When Jeremiah Arbogast was a lance corporal, he was drugged and then raped by his boss, a fellow Marine. Mr. Arbogast taped a wire to himself in 2001 and recorded a confession during a confrontation with the boss, who ultimately received a dishonorable discharge but no jail time. Today, Arbogast added, he has no idea where the man who raped him is – a situation that, along with the trauma of the crime itself, prompted a discharge from the Marines for post-traumatic stress disorder. Arbogast's story offers a window into the treatment of veterans who were sexually assaulted while serving in the US military, the subject of a hearing Wednesday on the ties among sexual assault, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicide.

Get a Tank in Your Garage — Free! Posted: 26 Feb 2014 02:30 PM PST In 2007, following scores of American soldiers being killed by roadside bombs in Iraq while driving vehicles known as Cougars, then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates ordered thousands of Mine-Resistant ...

Painful but Necessary Military Cuts Draw Fire from Vets Posted: 26 Feb 2014 02:00 PM PST Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who arrived in Brussels this morning for meetings with NATO allies, announced earlier this week that the military was shrinking to its smallest levels since before World War II. The size of America's fighting force, however, isn't the only thing that's shrinking: So are the benefits paid to soldiers and their families.

US ex-envoy says dialogue vital with North Korea Posted: 26 Feb 2014 01:57 PM PST The US diplomat who led the last substantive denuclearization negotiations with North Korea urged fresh dialogue Wednesday, warning that the long gap in talks only aggravated the risks. Christopher Hill represented the United States in six-nation talks in which Pyongyang agreed in 2005 and 2007 to give up its nuclear weapons in return for aid and security guarantees. Relations have since worsened significantly, with North Korea defiantly carrying out another nuclear test last year. Hill presented an independent report that urged more "robust diplomacy" with North Korea.

US stakes in Ukraine tied to location, location Posted: 26 Feb 2014 01:21 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine isn't typically a U.S. foreign policy priority, experts say. President Barack Obama is more occupied with Syria, Iran, Afghanistan and more. His administration rejects the notion that the situation in Ukraine represents some kind of epic East vs. West power struggle.

Ukraine draws Obama into Putin's long game Posted: 26 Feb 2014 01:12 PM PST Days after his ally Viktor Yanukovich was ousted as Ukraine's leader, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a 150,000 troop Russian military exercise on Ukraine's border. The fall of Yanukovich - and Putin's potential response to it - has reignited a debate in Washington on how to respond to the assertive Russian leader. For Obama administration officials, Vladimir Putin is a concern but not a threat. "This is a world where we need to work with the Russians," a senior State Department official said on Tuesday.

Army study gives women taste of combat tasks Posted: 26 Feb 2014 12:14 PM PST FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) — Standing just over 5 feet, Army Spc. Karen Arvizu is barely a foot taller than the anti-tank missile she carries in both arms and loads into an armored vehicle. She stands on her tip-toes to wrestle open the 300-pound top hatch.

Syria jihadists lay down rules for Christians Posted: 26 Feb 2014 11:42 AM PST A jihadist group in Syria said Wednesday that Christians in the city of Raqa will have to pay taxes and hold religious rituals behind closed doors, under a set of rules. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), listed 12 rules which made up an "agreement" with Christians in the northern city to provide "protection." They include a provision that Christians must pay a "jiziyeh" tax, as imposed in early Islam on non-Muslim subjects. It said wealthy Christians must pay up the equivalent of 13 grams (half an ounce) of pure gold, that middle-class Christians pay half that sum, while the poor pay a quarter.

Islamists demand levy from Christians in Syrian city Posted: 26 Feb 2014 11:22 AM PST An al Qaeda splinter group has demanded that Christians in a Syrian city it controls pay a levy in gold and curb displays of their faith in return for protection, according to a statement posted online on Wednesday. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), mainly composed of foreign fighters, is widely considered the most radical of the groups fighting President Bashar al-Assad, and is also engaged in a violent struggle with rival Islamist rebels. Its directive to Christians in the eastern city of Raqqa is the latest evidence of the group's ambition to establish a state in Syria founded on radical Islamist principles, a prospect that concerns Western and Arab backers of other rebel groups fighting Assad. It said Christians must not make renovations to churches or other religious buildings, display religious insignia outside of churches, ring church bells or pray in public.

America, tightening belt, warns Europe over its defense spending Posted: 26 Feb 2014 09:56 AM PST Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel cautioned NATO allies on Wednesday against using reductions in U.S. defense spending as an excuse to slash European military outlays. Hagel arrived in Brussels two days after announcing U.S. plans to shrink America's Army to pre-World War Two levels and make other controversial cuts, in the face of shrinking budgets and the end of 13 years of land wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Still, Hagel noted that the Pentagon's budget would protect investments in transatlantic security, including missile defense. "America's contributions in NATO remains starkly disproportionate, so adjustments in the U.S. defense budget cannot become an excuse for further cuts in European defense spending," Hagel said in prepared remarks to a closed-door session of a defense ministers' meeting.

A-10 Warthog faces elimination. Will Congress save it again? Posted: 26 Feb 2014 09:13 AM PST Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is proposing to eliminate funds for the venerable ground support aircraft in the Pentagon's 2015 budget. The move would save $3.5 billion over the next five years, according to Secretary Hagel – money the Air Force needs to help pay for newer weapons, such as the F-35. It is a tough survivor, in both the skies and the halls of Congress. Senator Levin is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, though he is retiring in the fall.

Syria rebel-jihadist fighting kills 3,300 since January: NGO Posted: 26 Feb 2014 09:07 AM PST Some 3,300 people have been killed in fighting between rebels seeking President Bashar al-Assad's ouster and their erstwhile jihadist allies since clashes erupted in January, a monitoring group said Wednesday. "Some 3,300 people have been killed ever since the start of fighting on January 3 between the (jihadist) Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on one side, and (rebel) Islamist and other groups on the other," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The deaths came "in car and (other) bomb attacks, suicide blasts and fighting," said the Britain-based Observatory, which relies on activists and other sources inside Syria. Among the overall fatalities were at least 281 civilians, the majority of them killed by shelling and stray bullets, the Observatory said.

Senate's Menendez happy in 'bad cop' role on Iran talks Posted: 26 Feb 2014 08:32 AM PST By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Robert Menendez is happy to play the role of a U.S. "bad cop" on Iran. The Democratic chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee upset the White House by leading the push for a bill that would tighten sanctions even further on Tehran, potentially putting at risk nuclear talks between world powers and the Islamic Republic. Still, his hard line on Iran has its uses in the negotiations. Congressional hawks like Menendez have allowed "good cop" Obama administration negotiators to remind Iran that Congress is ready to impose more sanctions if talks do not go well.

Muqtada al-Sadr doesn't appear to have quit Iraqi politics Posted: 26 Feb 2014 08:03 AM PST Muqtada al-Sadr quitting Iraqi politics? On Feb. 16, Mr. Sadr, a Shiite cleric who built a far-reaching political machine in the decade after the US toppled Saddam Hussein, said he was calling it a day for his network of political and social services offices. Powerful Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has withdrawn from politics, overnight dismantling his influential political movement in a move that has stunned his followers and handed a pre-election boost to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Germany sees threat from returning Syria militants Posted: 26 Feb 2014 07:35 AM PST Germany faces an increased threat of attack due to around a dozen German militants who have returned from the conflict in Syria with specialist knowledge of weapons and bomb-making, German intelligence officers said. Hans-Georg Maassen, head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency (BfV), said about 300 German citizens had left to join rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad in Syria since the conflict began in 2011, and more than 20 had died there. "We have knowledge of about a dozen people who were active in the conflict in Syria ... and with this the threat of a terror attack in Germany increases," Maassen said.

3,300 people killed in Syria rebel infighting this year: monitor Posted: 26 Feb 2014 06:44 AM PST About 3,300 people have been killed in fighting between rebel factions trying to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the start of the year, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday. The small but powerful al Qaeda-splinter group, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has been caught up in clashes with other insurgents in Syria, including al Qaeda's official Syria branch, the Nusra Front. The fighting started over power struggles and territorial disputes and has since spread throughout rebel-held territory in Syria. The British-based Observatory said 924 ISIL fighters had been killed as well as ‮‮13‬‬95 militants from other rebel groups, which include the powerful Islamic Front alliance but also Western-backed rebel groups.

Oil prices rise as market awaits US inventory data Posted: 26 Feb 2014 05:20 AM PST The price of oil edged above $102 a barrel Wednesday as investors tried to assess the strength of U.S. demand with the approach of warmer weather.

Obama administration must act to protect Iranian dissidents threatened in Iraq, says former senior U.S. officials, Iranian American community leaders, according to OIAC Posted: 25 Feb 2014 11:00 PM PST WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Top American supporters of the Iranian resistance are growing increasingly critical of the Obama administration for failing to keep a U.S. promise to protect more than 3,000 Iranian dissidents in an overcrowded refugee camp in Iraq, where they have been under repeated deadly attacks by Iraqi gunmen. It was a bargain, and the United States has never lived up to that bargain," Ed Rendell, a former chairman of the Democratic Party, told a weekend forum of Iranian-Americans at the Los Angeles Convention Center on February 22. The Iranian dissidents handed over their weapons to U.S. forces voluntarily in 2003 in exchange for a U.S. pledge to treat them as protected persons under the Geneva Conventions.

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