Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Obama nominates ambassadors for key Egypt and Iraq posts
• Official: New US ambassador headed to Egypt
• Attacks in Iraq, including cafe bombing, kill 15
• The V.A.’s Ticking Time Bombs
• Bauer Endorses Ernst For Senate
• Red Cross seeks more access to Aleppo, besieged Damascus areas
• Attacks in Iraq, including cafe bombing, kill 12
• Far more funds needed for Syria, says Red Cross
• Veterans health care 101: Why is Obama's VA chief in the hot seat?
• Why is it easier to get off an EU sanctions list than a US one?
• Officials: Attacks in Iraq kill 6 people
• House panel OKs $601 billion defense bill
• Election-year defense budget spares ships, planes
• Kidnapping Schoolgirls Is Too Extreme Even for al-Qaeda
• Will international aid help Nigeria turn the corner with Boko Haram?
• Immigration Laws Have It All Backward
• Therapy dog helps troops deal with postwar stress
• For victim-turned-guide, Iraq gas attack still vivid
• House panel backs Pentagon on sex assault cases
• U.S. renews training of elite Iraqi forces in Jordan
• Hillary Dropped the Ball on Boko Haram
• Iraq policeman's booby-trapped body kills two relatives

Obama nominates ambassadors for key Egypt and Iraq posts Posted: 08 May 2014 04:06 PM PDT President Barack Obama said on Thursday he would nominate two career diplomats with extensive experience in the Middle East as ambassadors to Egypt and Iraq. Robert Stephen Beecroft, who has been U.S. ambassador in Baghdad since 2012, was nominated for the Cairo post, the White House said. U.S. ties with Egypt, a key Middle East ally, have been strained since the Egyptian army's ouster of an elected president last year. Stuart Jones, who has been ambassador to Jordan since 2011, was picked as the new envoy to Iraq.

Official: New US ambassador headed to Egypt Posted: 08 May 2014 03:16 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Thursday tapped a career diplomat to fill a nine-month vacancy as the U.S. ambassador to Egypt in a routine but necessary step toward smoothing its stormy relationship with Cairo.

Attacks in Iraq, including cafe bombing, kill 15 Posted: 08 May 2014 01:01 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — A series of attacks in Iraq, including a bomb blast at a cafe in a Baghdad suburb, killed 15 people on Thursday, Iraqi officials said.

The V.A.’s Ticking Time Bombs Posted: 08 May 2014 12:25 PM PDT A single, secret wait list contributed to the deaths of dozens of veterans in a single VA hospital. Insiders say there could be many, many more such lists.

Bauer Endorses Ernst For Senate Posted: 08 May 2014 11:24 AM PDT WASHINGTON, May 8, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former presidential candidate Gary L. Bauer this week endorsed State Senator Joni Ernst for the U.S. Senate, calling Ernst a committed conservative who will represent the values of Iowa voters. Bauer, chairman of the Campaign for Working Families PAC, made the following statement: \"From day one, the Obama Administration has assaulted the values of Iowa voters by forcing Obamacare on the country, redefining marriage, promoting abortion, expanding the government and growing the national debt rather than our economy.  Iowans deserve a senator who will fight Obama's radical agenda. \"As a lieutenant colonel in the Iowa National Guard who served in Kuwait and Iraq, Joni Ernst knows the importance of America's leadership in the world.  As a mother, grandmother and Sunday school teacher, she also knows the importance of traditional values to our society -- the values of hard work, faith and family.  \"Having worked all eight years of the Reagan Administration, I am pleased to say that Joni is a Ronald Reagan conservative who believes in the full-spectrum conservative agenda of lower taxes, smaller government, traditional values and a strong national defense.  With Joni Ernst in the U.S. Senate we will put America back on the right track.\"

Red Cross seeks more access to Aleppo, besieged Damascus areas Posted: 08 May 2014 11:12 AM PDT By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The Red Cross appealed on Thursday for greater access to civilians in rebel-held and besieged areas of Syria where the humanitarian situation is \"catastrophic\", particularly in the divided northern city of Aleppo and in suburbs of Damascus. Basic services and infrastructure in Syria are near collapse and the economy is at a standstill after three years of conflict, with millions dependent on food and medical supplies that are not reaching the most desperate, the aid agency said. \"The scale of the conflict in Syria is unprecedented, and the stark truth is that there is no end in sight,\" Robert Mardini, head of Near and Middle East operations at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told a news briefing. \"Hundreds of civilians are killed or wounded every day.\" In the last few months, President Bashar al-Assad's forces have conducted an aerial bombardment in Aleppo, dropping barrel bombs from helicopters on rebel-held districts.

Attacks in Iraq, including cafe bombing, kill 12 Posted: 08 May 2014 11:08 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — A series of attacks in Iraq, including a bomb blast at a cafe in a Baghdad suburb, killed 12 people on Thursday, Iraqi officials said.

Far more funds needed for Syria, says Red Cross Posted: 08 May 2014 10:22 AM PDT The Red Cross appealed Thursday for a record budget to help Syrians affected by the humanitarian catastrophe in their war-ravaged country, in the largest funding of an operation since the 1990s Balkan wars. \"The scale of the conflict in Syria is unprecedented, and the stark truth is that there is no end in sight,\" said Robert Mardini, who heads Near and Middle East operations at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). \"The bleak reality is that the needs are growing at a much faster pace than the humanitarian aid being provided on the ground,\" he told reporters in Geneva. The ICRC, he said, needs $212 million (153 million euros) this year -- $84 million more than previously estimated -- to help address the needs of Syrians both inside the country and in the surrounding region.

Veterans health care 101: Why is Obama's VA chief in the hot seat? Posted: 08 May 2014 10:16 AM PDT Secretary Eric Shinseki faces mounting calls to resign amid reports that Department of Veterans Administration (VA) offices around the country falsified reports about how long patients are waiting to get appointments to see physicians – and that some military veterans may have died while waiting for care at a Phoenix VA hospital. The VA provides health services for about 9 million veterans a year at 1,700 hospitals, clinics, and community centers.  On Thursday, a House panel voted to subpoena Secretary Shinseki and department e-mails about activities at the Phoenix VA. The Veterans Affairs Committee's action ramps up the pressure on the secretary and President Obama, who continues to express confidence in the VA chief.

Why is it easier to get off an EU sanctions list than a US one? Posted: 08 May 2014 09:45 AM PDT If you are a Russian oligarch, a dictator, or you're trying to make a nuclear bomb, it's probably good to have Maya Lester on your speed dial. As the crisis in Ukraine and ensuing struggle between Russia and the West takes uncertain turns, demand for such specialists is rising – not least because it's far easier, with the help of lawyers like Ms. Lester, to get off of an EU sanctions list than an American one.

Officials: Attacks in Iraq kill 6 people Posted: 08 May 2014 09:39 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi authorities say bombings and shooting have killed six people in and around the capital, Baghdad.

House panel OKs $601 billion defense bill Posted: 08 May 2014 08:26 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The A-10 Warthog, military bases scattered around the country and the generous housing allowance for service members survived the budget knife early Thursday morning as a House panel rebuffed Pentagon pleas and approved a $601 billion defense bill that spares ships, planes and benefits.

Election-year defense budget spares ships, planes Posted: 08 May 2014 08:17 AM PDT Pentagon pleas for flexibility in keeping the military ready to fight with less money were largely ignored as a Republican-led House panel kept older weapons alive and preserved generous personnel benefits. ...

Kidnapping Schoolgirls Is Too Extreme Even for al-Qaeda Posted: 08 May 2014 06:46 AM PDT Nigeria's militant group Boko Haram has long been associated with the global wave of Islamic fundamentalism, but their recent attacks on civilians and the kidnapping of children may have gone too far for even other terrorist groups to abide.  According to Adam Nossiter and David Kirkpatrick at New York Times, other Islamic jihadists around the world, including many closely affiliated with al-Qaeda, have soured on Boko Haram's tactics, believing they \"taint the image of the Mujahedeen\" and bring scorn down upon the whole movement. Al-Qaeda solidified a relationship with Boko Haram after the Nigerian government staged a massive crackdown on the group in 2009. Evidence has since emerged of al-Qaeda camps taking in Boko Haram insurgents and possibly offering them training. Boko Haram is in many ways an awkward ally for any of [al Qaeda] Its violence is broader and more casual than Al Qaeda or other jihadist groups.

Will international aid help Nigeria turn the corner with Boko Haram? Posted: 08 May 2014 06:45 AM PDT International offers of help for Nigeria in its search for more than 200 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram are being trumpeted as a potential turning point for what so far has been a fruitless effort. But the United States and other countries are limited in what they can do on the ground, where the Nigeria Army is increasingly seen as being outplayed in the five-year insurgency. Local Nigerian officials estimate that as many as 300 people were killed on Monday, when the Islamist terror group Boko Haram attacked a busy marketplace in the northeastern town of Gamboru Ngala, which troops have been using as a base in their search for the girls, according to CNN. The handful of Nigerian soldiers were no match for Boko Haram's numbers and fled.

Immigration Laws Have It All Backward Posted: 08 May 2014 02:45 AM PDT You have to move heaven and earth to get a Green Card, but becoming a citizen of the U.S. is comparatively easy. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Therapy dog helps troops deal with postwar stress Posted: 08 May 2014 02:44 AM PDT FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — After three deployments to Iraq and three to Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Dennis Swols is agitated, prone to bouts of anger and unable to really talk about his time on the battlefield.

For victim-turned-guide, Iraq gas attack still vivid Posted: 07 May 2014 09:55 PM PDT Halabja (Iraq) (AFP) - For years, Umed Rashid has guided visitors around a monument to victims of a 1988 gas attack in Iraq, but unlike many guides, he learned about his subject first hand. The 40-year-old vividly recalls the horrifying period more than a quarter century ago when his family was killed by a gas attack launched by the regime of former dictator Saddam Hussein, believed to be the worst ever against civilians. Now, he walks groups of tourists, visiting civil servants and students around a monument dedicated to the attack in the northern Kurdish town of Halabja, which lies in Iraq's autonomous northern Kurdish region, a short drive from neighbouring Iran.

House panel backs Pentagon on sex assault cases Posted: 07 May 2014 07:48 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon posted a narrow win Wednesday as a House panel endorsed leaving the authority to prosecute rapes and other serious crimes with military commanders.

U.S. renews training of elite Iraqi forces in Jordan Posted: 07 May 2014 07:21 PM PDT By Missy Ryan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is resuming training for elite Iraqi soldiers in Jordan, a U.S. official said on Wednesday, as Washington seeks to bolster U.S. support for the Iraqi government's battle against Islamist militants. A small number of U.S. special forces will take part in a training exchange in Jordan with Iraqi counterterrorism forces beginning in early June, a U.S. defense official said on condition of anonymity. The program is similar to an initial counterterrorism training course U.S. forces held with Iraqi and Jordanian forces in Jordan earlier this year, and will involve a total of 50 soldiers from the United States, Iraq and Jordan, the official said.

Hillary Dropped the Ball on Boko Haram Posted: 07 May 2014 07:03 PM PDT Under Hillary Clinton, the State Department repeatedly declined to fully go after the terror group responsible for kidnapping hundreds of girls.

Iraq policeman's booby-trapped body kills two relatives Posted: 07 May 2014 05:27 PM PDT Samarra (Iraq) (AFP) - Relatives discovered the body of a kidnapped Iraqi policeman on Thursday, but it was rigged with explosives and blew up, killing his father and brother, police and a doctor said. The policeman was kidnapped in a village near Sharqat, northwest of Baghdad, the previous day. Militants in Iraq generally carry out car bombings or bury devices in or near roads, but more rarely rig bodies and even animals such as donkeys with explosives for use in attacks. The violence comes as officials tally votes from Iraq's April 30 elections, amid a protracted surge in bloodshed that the government has blamed on external factors such as the civil war in neighbouring Syria.

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