Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• House panel weighs limit on Guantanamo transfers
• U.S. considers air strikes on Iraq, holds talks with Iran
• U.S. pressures Iraqi leader to curb sectarian governance
• Prez Takes Gay Rights Into His Own Hands
• More US troops to Iraq; special forces considered
• US 'briefly' discussed Iraq crisis with Iran in Vienna
• Pelosi praises state budget, Obama tactics on Iraq
• Iran's general in Iraq, militants seize key city
• President Obama to Deploy Troops to Protect the Baghdad Embassy
• U.S. FOREIGN POLICY SHOULD LOOK CLOSER TO HOME
• US, Iran discuss ongoing Iraq violence
• About 275 US military personnel to Iraq, says Obama
• Obama: 275 US forces can deploy to Iraq
• Iran and six powers seek to recover momentum for nuclear deal
• U.S. official confirms talks with Iran about Iraq
• Obama: 275 US forces deploying to Iraq
• Obama tells Congress U.S. deploying up to 275 troops to Iraq
• Exclusive: U.S., Iran discuss Iraq on sidelines of nuclear talks - sources
• President Barack Obama says up to 275 US military troops will deploy to Iraq
• Senate bill would double veterans' health spending
• Obama's economic focus seeks to unify Democrats
• As Worst Fears Become Reality in Iraq, Experts Wonder What's Next
• Break over, Obama returns to Iraq nightmare
• Iraq widens Internet blocks to disrupt insurgent communications
• Business Highlights
• Hillary’s Laughter Over Rape Suspect
• How the Dow Jones industrial average fared Monday
• US stocks manage meager gains on mostly quiet day
• Senate logjam complicates US efforts in Iraq
• Obama’s Legacy: A Failed Twitter Presidency
• Pentagon moves USS Mesa Verde nearer Iraq. What can it do?
• TSX nears its record high as energy, bank shares rise
• Wall Street ends up slightly on M&A; Iraq closely watched
• In Colombia and Afghanistan, elections that pacify
• White House moves on funding for possible Iraq action: congressional aides
• Oil gains on Iraqi violence; bonds steady on safety bid
• US stocks finish higher ahead of Fed meeting
• Obama considers special forces to help in Iraq
• GOAAAAAL!! German Soccer Coach Caught Picking His Nose — AGAIN!
• US stocks mixed in late afternoon trading

House panel weighs limit on Guantanamo transfers Posted: 16 Jun 2014 04:43 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — A House panel would impose new restrictions on the transfer of enemy combatants from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a reflection of congressional anger over President Barack Obama's swap of five Taliban leaders for an American soldier held captive for five years in Afghanistan.

U.S. considers air strikes on Iraq, holds talks with Iran Posted: 16 Jun 2014 04:43 PM PDT By Ziad al-Sanjary and Susan Heavey MOSUL Iraq/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama considered options for military action to support Iraq's besieged government on Monday, and U.S. and Iranian officials held talks to stabilize the region, which has been roiled by the advance of Sunni rebels toward Baghdad. Obama, who was being presented with recommendations from his top national security advisers on Monday evening, has made U.S. action contingent on Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's taking steps to broaden his Shi'ite-dominated government. Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have routed Baghdad's army and seized the north of the country in the past week, threatening to dismember Iraq and unleash all-out sectarian warfare with no regard for national borders. The fighters have been joined by other armed Sunni groups that oppose what they say is oppression by Maliki.

U.S. pressures Iraqi leader to curb sectarian governance Posted: 16 Jun 2014 04:43 PM PDT By Warren Strobel and Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. security officials prepared on Monday to brief President Barack Obama on options to counter militants threatening Baghdad as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki came under increased U.S. pressure to curb religious partisanship in his government. Obama notified Congress on Monday the United States was deploying up to 275 military personnel to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the country's embassy in Baghdad after militants seized control of the north of the country. Brett McGurk, the State Department point man on Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador Stephen Beecroft met with Maliki in Baghdad on Monday as part of a U.S. effort to prod leaders of Iraq's Shi'ite-dominated administration to govern in a less sectarian manner, officials said.

Prez Takes Gay Rights Into His Own Hands Posted: 16 Jun 2014 04:25 PM PDT Federal legislation to make employment discrimination illegal has died repeatedly in the GOP-controlled House—so the president is doing it himself with an executive order.

More US troops to Iraq; special forces considered Posted: 16 Jun 2014 04:46 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is urgently deploying several hundred armed troops in and around Iraq and considering sending an additional contingent of special forces soldiers as Baghdad struggles to repel a rampant insurgency, even as the White House insists anew that America will not be dragged into another war.

US 'briefly' discussed Iraq crisis with Iran in Vienna Posted: 16 Jun 2014 04:15 PM PDT The United States discussed the crisis in Iraq with Iran on the sidelines of nuclear talks in Vienna, US officials said Monday, warning that no outside countries can fix the country's problems. Jihadists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have taken control of a swath of territory north of Baghdad in a drive towards the Iraqi capital launched a week ago, leading to growing fears that the country is sliding towards chaos. "The issue did come up briefly with Iran on the margins of the P5+1 in Vienna today, separate from our trilateral meeting" which had included the EU, a senior State Department official said in a statement, asking not to be named. State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf confirmed to CNN television that there were "brief discussions."

Pelosi praises state budget, Obama tactics on Iraq Posted: 16 Jun 2014 04:08 PM PDT SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on a Monday visit to the state capital called for minimal military involvement in Iraq and praised California for passing a timely budget.

Iran's general in Iraq, militants seize key city Posted: 16 Jun 2014 04:06 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — In a sign of Iran's deepening involvement in the Iraqi crisis, the commander of Tehran's elite Quds Force is helping Iraq's military and Shiite militias gear up to fight the Sunni insurgents advancing across the country, officials said Monday.

President Obama to Deploy Troops to Protect the Baghdad Embassy Posted: 16 Jun 2014 04:02 PM PDT Late on Monday afternoon, President Obama informed Congress that he will deploy 275 U.S. soldiers to watch over the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, as the terrorist group ISIS gains continues its offensive across Iraq. This news comes just days after hundreds of Americans were evacuated from the Balad Air Base, just north of Baghdad, and after President Obama declared that he wouldn't be sending "combat" troops into Iraq. Earlier today, Obama sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Senate President Pro Tempore Patrick Leahy — as required by the War Powers Resolution — to announce the deployment:

U.S. FOREIGN POLICY SHOULD LOOK CLOSER TO HOME Posted: 16 Jun 2014 04:01 PM PDT WASHINGTON -- We know now that these new Islamic terrorists known as ISIS have rampaged across Syria and northern Iraq, threatening Baghdad and years of American work there. We know, too, that probably up to 80,000 Central Americans, many of them young children, have stumbled, strolled and boldly rode buses across the Mexican border into the United States. But you do not organize an invasion of thousands of radicals across the vast Sunni sands of northern Iraq and Syria overnight. Nor do you carry tens of thousands of children from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras through Mexico and into the arms of the Border Patrol in even a week's time.

US, Iran discuss ongoing Iraq violence Posted: 16 Jun 2014 03:57 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior U.S. official says American and Iranian diplomats have discussed developments in Iraq on the sidelines of multination nuclear talks in Austria.

About 275 US military personnel to Iraq, says Obama Posted: 16 Jun 2014 03:55 PM PDT About 275 US military personnel are being deployed to Iraq to help American personnel and protect the embassy in Baghdad, President Barack Obama said Monday in a letter to Congressional leaders. The force, which began deploying on Sunday, has been sent "for the purpose of protecting US citizens and property, if necessary, and is equipped for combat," Obama wrote. "This force will remain in Iraq until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer needed." The move comes as jihadists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) battle Iraqi security forces for control of a strategic northern town and Washington weighs possible drone strikes against the militants.

Obama: 275 US forces can deploy to Iraq Posted: 16 Jun 2014 03:49 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is notifying Congress that about 275 U.S. military personnel could deploy to Iraq.

Iran and six powers seek to recover momentum for nuclear deal Posted: 16 Jun 2014 03:48 PM PDT By Justyna Pawlak and Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran and six world powers will try in talks in Vienna this week to narrow differences and keep alive hopes of ending a decade-old nuclear dispute by late July, despite doubts the self-imposed deadline can be met. Ahead of Tuesday's start of formal talks, U.S. and Iranian officials separately discussed the fast-moving crisis in Iraq on Monday. Governments in Iran and Iraq share concern over the ascendancy of militant Sunni rebels there. With time running short if a risky extension of the nuclear talks is to be avoided, negotiators face huge challenges to bridge gaps in positions over the future scope of Iran's nuclear programme in just five weeks.

U.S. official confirms talks with Iran about Iraq Posted: 16 Jun 2014 03:44 PM PDT The United States and Iran discussed Iraq briefly on Monday, a senior U.S. official confirmed, saying such talks would not include military coordination and would not make "strategic determinations" over the heads of Iraqis. "The issue did come up briefly with Iran on the margins of the P5+1 in Vienna today, separate from our trilateral meeting," the senior State Department official said, referring to talks between Iran and six major powers about Iran's nuclear program. U.S., Iranian and European Union officials held three-way talks on Monday but Iraq did not come up there, the official said.

Obama: 275 US forces deploying to Iraq Posted: 16 Jun 2014 03:42 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is notifying Congress that about 275 U.S. military personnel could deploy to Iraq.

Obama tells Congress U.S. deploying up to 275 troops to Iraq Posted: 16 Jun 2014 03:42 PM PDT President Barack Obama told Congress on Monday the United States was deploying up to 275 military personnel to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the country's embassy in Baghdad after militants seized control of the north of the country. "This force will remain in Iraq until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer needed." The president said he was notifying Congress under the War Powers Resolution.

Exclusive: U.S., Iran discuss Iraq on sidelines of nuclear talks - sources Posted: 16 Jun 2014 03:41 PM PDT By Arshad Mohammed and Parisa Hafezi WASHINGTON/VIENNA (Reuters) - U.S. and Iranian officials discussed the crisis in Iraq on the sidelines of separate negotiations about the Iranian nuclear program in Vienna, three sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have routed Baghdad's army and seized the north of the country in the past week, threatening to dismember Iraq and unleash all-out sectarian warfare with no regard for national borders. U.S. President Barack Obama will review his national security team's suggestions for how to deal with the crisis in Iraq, including possible actions, when he returns to Washington later on Monday, the White House said earlier. "The disastrous situation in Iraq was discussed today .

President Barack Obama says up to 275 US military troops will deploy to Iraq Posted: 16 Jun 2014 03:40 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says up to 275 US military troops will deploy to Iraq.

Senate bill would double veterans' health spending Posted: 16 Jun 2014 03:35 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Spending on veterans' health care could double in three years under the Senate's solution to the long waits experienced by thousands seeking medical care at VA hospitals and clinics, according to congressional budget experts.

Obama's economic focus seeks to unify Democrats Posted: 16 Jun 2014 03:27 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — This was the year President Obama would go all in on the economy, elevating the struggles of the poor and the middle class to the top of his agenda. But that focus has been sporadic, overshadowed by foreign policy hot spots in Ukraine and Iraq and controversies like the swap for a U.S. prisoner in Afghanistan.

As Worst Fears Become Reality in Iraq, Experts Wonder What's Next Posted: 16 Jun 2014 03:18 PM PDT Almost a decade ago, I remember having a wide-ranging conversation with then-Iraqi vice president Adel Abdul-Mahdi about the possible break up of Iraq. Different religious sects and ethnic groups had long vied for power—or just equality—under Saddam Hussein's oppressive rule, and his ousting meant an opportunity. Abdul-Mahdi was recounting his own conversations with the group of men he called "The Illusionists"—the architects of the 2003 invasion, among them Paul Bremer, who went on to become the first American overseer of the occupation.   "We used to talk to Bremer and say we can't have reconciliation right now," Abdul-Mahdi told me then.

Break over, Obama returns to Iraq nightmare Posted: 16 Jun 2014 03:16 PM PDT Barack Obama returned to Washington on Monday after a brief family break in California to find himself confronted once again by the nightmare from which America thought it had escaped: Iraq. Obama ran for the White House as a young leader who opposed the 2003 US invasion, and then won re-election as the steady hand who had finally withdrawn American troops eight years later. But now his generals have brought out the old map once again and the 44th president -- like the 41st, 42nd and 43rd before him -- is contemplating new military action against targets in Iraq. With no more US boots on the ground, Obama's best option to counter a lightning offensive by Sunni extremists militants that has threatened the Baghdad government may be strikes from the air.

Iraq widens Internet blocks to disrupt insurgent communications Posted: 16 Jun 2014 03:16 PM PDT By Matt Smith DUBAI (Reuters) - Iraq widened a clampdown on social media on Monday, blocking secure private communications channels to prevent Sunni militants from using them in their stunning sweep that is threatening to dismember the country. In addition to banning virtual private networks (VPNs), it has also recently instructed mobile telephone operators to stop mobile data including instant messaging services, a mobile operator and an industry source said on Monday. Sunni armed groups led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) routed Baghdad's army last week, seizing Mosul and much of the north of the country and also vowing to push onto the capital. These setbacks led state-run Iraq Telecommunications and Post Company (ITPC), which owns almost all fixed line networks outside Kurdistan, to block some social media including Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and Skype, according to a circular obtained by Reuters.

Business Highlights Posted: 16 Jun 2014 03:07 PM PDT ___ IMF lowers estimate of US economic growth in 2014 The U.S. economy is poised to accelerate after a dismal start to the year even though the job market won't return to full employment until 2017. That ...

Hillary’s Laughter Over Rape Suspect Posted: 16 Jun 2014 02:35 PM PDT As a lawyer in the 1970s, Hillary Clinton defended a child rapist. Is it disturbing that in a taped interview recorded years later she is heard laughing over how she succeeded in securing a more lenient sentence for him?

How the Dow Jones industrial average fared Monday Posted: 16 Jun 2014 02:28 PM PDT U.S. stocks finished slightly higher as traders assessed a round of corporate deals and a recent spike in oil prices brought on by the conflict in Iraq. Indexes moved between small gains and losses for ...

US stocks manage meager gains on mostly quiet day Posted: 16 Jun 2014 02:21 PM PDT Investors nudged U.S. stocks into positive territory Monday, thanks in part to another round of corporate couplings.

Senate logjam complicates US efforts in Iraq Posted: 16 Jun 2014 02:11 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate logjam over confirming ambassadors risks hampering U.S. efforts to contain an expanding Islamist urgency in Iraq, with several of President Barack Obama's nominees for the volatile Middle East unsure when they can get to work.

Obama’s Legacy: A Failed Twitter Presidency Posted: 16 Jun 2014 02:10 PM PDT Surely the pint-sized messaging service is a perfect vehicle for promoting the undernourished programs of the #ObamaWhiteHouse.  How better to convey Obama's meaningless foreign policy "doctrine" than summing it up in 140 characters (or less!)? His prescriptions on the domestic front are equally Tweet-worthy: #Forward!, #WinningTheFuture, #AFairShot, #BettingOnAmerica! The bad news for Obama, as even the friendly Washington Post has noted, "Obama's slogans have been suffering from the product they are selling."  The bad news for the nation, and for the world, is that Obama's 'lil bit pronouncements rarely link to a more meaningful and informed analysis. While in 2011 Obama told Americans we were "leaving behind a sovereign, stable, and self-reliant Iraq…" it has become all too clear that our hasty abandonment of a war-torn country was risky, and a mistake -- a mistake that was flagged early on.   As The New York Times reported, "Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates favored leaving 16,000 troops" in Iraq.  President Obama talked Gates down to 10,000 troops, a proposal that so alarmed Mullen that he wrote the president a letter still pressing for 16,000 troops and cautioning, "In light of the risks noted above and the opportunities that might emerge, that is my best military advice to the president." Mullen added that the recommendation was supported by Gen. Lloyd Austin, the American commander in Iraq, and Gen. James N. Mattis, head of Central Command, which has responsibility for the Middle East."

Pentagon moves USS Mesa Verde nearer Iraq. What can it do? Posted: 16 Jun 2014 02:08 PM PDT With Islamist militants bearing down on Baghdad, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered yet another ship to the Persian Gulf Monday. The USS Mesa Verde will join a US aircraft carrier strike group and give President Obama "additional options to protect American citizens and interests in Iraq, should he chose to use them," Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said Monday. The Pentagon is also providing some 50 to 100 US troops to help with security at US diplomatic facilities in Baghdad, which could include the temporary relocation of some embassy personnel in the face of possible attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The USS Mesa Verde comes with quick-reaction forces and a complement of MV-22 Ospreys, which come in particularly handy during, say, evacuation operations because of their ability to land and takeoff vertically, like a helicopter.

TSX nears its record high as energy, bank shares rise Posted: 16 Jun 2014 02:05 PM PDT By John Tilak TORONTO(Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose to within 80 points of its record high on Monday as positive investor sentiment spurred gains in its heavyweight financial and energy sectors. Energy shares benefited as increasing violence in Iraq pushed up the price of Brent crude oil. The Toronto stock market's benchmark index, which has climbed in 11 of the past 12 sessions, is up more than 10 percent this year. "The TSX is flying," said Elvis Picardo, strategist and vice president of research at Global Securities in Vancouver.

Wall Street ends up slightly on M&A; Iraq closely watched Posted: 16 Jun 2014 02:00 PM PDT By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks closed slightly higher on Monday, supported by a flurry of merger news, but turmoil in Iraq drove oil prices up and kept trading choppy. The United States said it is considering air strikes and cooperation with its arch-enemy, Iran, to help the Iraqi government fend off an Islamist insurgency. "Iraq is an excuse at this point for investors to sell at these levels. "It's a further indication that this is not a market that will just plunge on geopolitical issues." On the merger front, medical device maker Medtronic Inc agreed to buy Dublin-based Covidien Plc for $42.9 billion and shift its executive headquarters to Ireland in the latest move by U.S. companies to take advantage of lower tax rates abroad.

In Colombia and Afghanistan, elections that pacify Posted: 16 Jun 2014 01:48 PM PDT In the two dozen or so countries facing violent insurgencies, such as Iraq and Pakistan, the preferred response has been military force. Yet in two countries, Colombia and Afghanistan, elections held this past weekend point to an alternative: reaching out to insurgents with a degree of empathy toward some of their ideas – if not their violent tactics. Colombia's president, Juan Manuel Santos, was reelected Sunday in a victory seen as a referendum on his peace negotiations with the left-wing FARC rebels. In Afghanistan, the results of Saturday's presidential election are still not known, but the two candidates, Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, want reconciliation talks with moderate leaders of the Taliban to bring them into the democratic fold.

White House moves on funding for possible Iraq action: congressional aides Posted: 16 Jun 2014 01:45 PM PDT The White House is putting together a proposal to shift some money that had been designated for use in Afghanistan for possible military operations in Iraq, congressional aides said on Monday. As they formulate a response to the Iraq crisis, White House officials have told lawmakers they will submit this week or next a request to Congress for "Overseas Contingency Operations" funding, carving out some money for Iraq that had previously been anticipated for use in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama has said he is open to possible U.S. action in Iraq to help the Baghdad government counter an onslaught by Islamist militants.

Oil gains on Iraqi violence; bonds steady on safety bid Posted: 16 Jun 2014 01:44 PM PDT By Herbert Lash NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Monday after the Sunni insurgency in Iraq raised concerns over potential disruption to crude supplies, while that violence and renewed tensions in Ukraine drove buying of safe-haven currencies and U.S. Treasury bonds. While the fighting in Iraq damped global equity markets, merger activity and strong U.S. economic data offset downward pressure on Wall Street, where stocks closed slightly higher. Russian natural gas exporter Gazprom cut supplies to Ukraine after Kiev missed a deadline to pay its gas debts in a dispute that could disrupt supplies to the rest of Europe. "There was a reasonable flight-to-quality bid overnight with the developments in Iraq and Gazprom, so global equities were under a fair amount of pressure and that gave a bid to longer-dated Treasuries," said Ian Lyngen, senior government bond trader at CRT Capital in Stamford, Connecticut.

US stocks finish higher ahead of Fed meeting Posted: 16 Jun 2014 01:41 PM PDT New York (AFP) - US stocks Monday finished a choppy day of trade slightly higher as investors weighed the Iraq crisis and merger news ahead of a US Federal Reserve policy decision Wednesday.

Obama considers special forces to help in Iraq Posted: 16 Jun 2014 01:00 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is considering sending a small number of American special forces soldiers to Iraq in an urgent attempt to help the government in Baghdad slow the nation's rampant Sunni insurgency, U.S. officials said Monday.

GOAAAAAL!! German Soccer Coach Caught Picking His Nose — AGAIN! Posted: 16 Jun 2014 12:50 PM PDT The coach of Germany's national team has been caught, yet again, picking his nose on camera.

US stocks mixed in late afternoon trading Posted: 16 Jun 2014 12:45 PM PDT Stocks were mixed in late afternoon trading Monday, shedding small gains from earlier in the day. Corporate merger news and an encouraging survey of homebuilders had helped lift the market even as traders monitored the growing insurgency by Sunni militants in Iraq and its implications for global oil prices.

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