Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• US eyes Somalia strategy as model for Islamic State destruction
• US and France ramp up anti-jihadist efforts
• Clinton wants more done to halt kidnappings
• Boehner promises support to new Iraqi leader
• US Congress wary of greenlighting 'Iraq 2.0'
• Obama says need to 'snuff out' militant groups like Islamic State
• US stocks retreat despite strong Apple launch, data
• US hopes training local forces will work -- this time
• White House makes it official : US 'at war' with IS
• US general Allen to head anti-jihadist coalition
• AP: More than 5,000 dead in C. African Republic
• Obama 'confident' Islamic State will be defeated
• Obama's war plan rattles Dem, GOP Senate nominees
• Kerry says no to Iran's help against Islamic group
• US will be ramping up airstrikes soon _ in Iraq
• Analysis: US strikes unsettling for Damascus
• Two Navy jets crash into Pacific: Was mid-air collision to blame?
• US house leader promises to back new Iraqi leader
• Kerry confident of broad anti-IS coalition
• Kerry says comfortable U.S. will form broad anti-ISIL coalition
• About 100 Syria, Iraq militants have returned to France: lawmaker
• Kerry plays down hopes of imminent anti-Islamic State coalition
• Turkish PM says U.S. action in Iraq not enough to bring stability
• Iraq's speaker warns of civilian deaths from U.S. air strikes
• U.S. sharply raises estimate of number of Islamic State fighters
• Cobbling coalition for Iraq, Syria no easy task
• Obama to discuss Ebola response with top medical experts
• Can Obama wage war without consent of Congress?
• White House: New U.S. mission a war as with al-Qaida
• Gov Buys $17M in Luxury Homes for Border Agents
• Islamic State group name raises objection
• What the White House Means When It Says 'We're at War' with ISIS
• US gives Lebanon Hellfire missiles, pledges aircraft
• 10 Questions: Syria
• Former U.S. Afghanistan commander to lead effort against Islamic State
• Paris wants Iran to help crush Islamic radicals
• The New Price Tag for the U.S. War Against ISIS
• Iraq premier says France to join airstrikes effort
• Nigeria says army repels militants outside northeast city
• Germany, eyeing threat, bans aiding Islamic State

US eyes Somalia strategy as model for Islamic State destruction Posted: 12 Sep 2014 04:39 PM PDT Nairobi (AFP) - US President Barack Obama has ordered a "relentless" war against the Islamic State, and has cited the ongoing intervention in Somalia as a model for intervention in Syria and Iraq.

US and France ramp up anti-jihadist efforts Posted: 12 Sep 2014 04:32 PM PDT France's president travelled to war-torn Iraq and Washington's top diplomat to neighbouring Turkey Friday, ramping up efforts to address what they now see as the global threat posed by jihadists. Francois Hollande was the first head of state to visit Iraq since jihadist-led militants seized large parts of it in June, and he said France is ready to step up its military involvement. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry was in neighbouring Turkey, which many observers see as holding one of the keys to turning the tide on the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group's expansion in Iraq and Syria.

Clinton wants more done to halt kidnappings Posted: 12 Sep 2014 04:32 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday urged the United Nations to come up with a more robust strategy to combat the growing use of kidnappings of girls and women as a war tactic across the globe.

Boehner promises support to new Iraqi leader Posted: 12 Sep 2014 04:04 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker John Boehner on Friday promised Iraq's prime minister that the House will provide the new government in Baghdad the U.S. assistance necessary to defeat Islamic militants.

US Congress wary of greenlighting 'Iraq 2.0' Posted: 12 Sep 2014 03:46 PM PDT US lawmakers will likely give President Barack Obama authority to train Syrian rebels to combat jihadists, but Democrats and many Republicans are wary of repeating America's Iraq war debacle. Mindful of the risks of war in the Middle East, Congress will rally to an embattled commander in chief's strategy to defeat the Islamic State (IS) extremist group, but seek to keep his war powers in check. This has led to an introspective mood in Washington, where lawmakers have only a few days before hustling home to hit the campaign trail, essentially leaving the US Capitol empty until after November's congressional election. Republican Senator Mark Kirk reflected the mood of many, saying he supports a swift vote backing Obama's effort to train and arm vetted, moderate rebel forces in Syria as a key plank in battling IS.

Obama says need to 'snuff out' militant groups like Islamic State Posted: 12 Sep 2014 03:44 PM PDT By Steve Holland BALTIMORE (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday the goal of an international coalition he is helping to form is to "ultimately snuff out" the type of extremism demonstrated by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. It is a "sobering time," said Obama at a Democratic fund-raising event in Baltimore following his decision to authorize U.S. The threat from Islamic State has had an important silver lining, he said. It has focused the world's attention on the need to "ultimately snuff out this particular brand of Islamic extremism that really has no place in the 21st century." Obama is leading an effort to form a coalition of Western allies and Gulf Arab states to take on the extremist group, whose savage methods have included beheading two American journalists.

US stocks retreat despite strong Apple launch, data Posted: 12 Sep 2014 03:37 PM PDT Wall Street stocks took a breather this week, finishing down from record levels despite solid US economic data and a successful products launch by Apple. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index, bolstered by a 2.8 percent gain in Apple, declined a relatively modest 15.30 (0.33 percent) to 4,567.60. The week was relatively light on major US economic data. Investors were also cheered by a jam-packed product launch by Apple that included new models of the iPhones, a smartwatch and a new mobile payments system.

US hopes training local forces will work -- this time Posted: 12 Sep 2014 03:33 PM PDT The United States has often struggled to turn rag-tag foreign forces into professional armies, but President Barack Obama is gambling that this time the training effort will succeed in Iraq and Syria. Eager to avoid sending US combat troops to fight against Islamic State jihadists, Obama is touting a renewed effort to bolster Iraqi government forces and "moderate" opposition fighters in Syria with weapons and advice from seasoned American officers. The US president vowed this week to ratchet up support for the rebels, but it remains unclear how much help Washington is ready to provide and whether the West can even identify reliable partners who could form a viable fighting force -- at a time when Islamist hardliners are ascendant.

White House makes it official : US 'at war' with IS Posted: 12 Sep 2014 03:29 PM PDT The White House declared Friday the United States was at war with Islamic State radicals, seeking to rub out another semantic flap over its Syria policy. In a series of television interviews Secretary of State John Kerry had appeared to be reluctant to term the expansion of US operations against IS in Iraq and Syria as "war." "The United States is at war with ISIL in the same way that we are at war with Al-Qaeda and its al-Qaeda affiliates all around the globe," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. Pentagon spokesman, Rear Admiral John Kirby said that the US was not fighting the last Iraq war and used similar language to Earnest.

US general Allen to head anti-jihadist coalition Posted: 12 Sep 2014 03:05 PM PDT Retired US general John Allen, the cerebral ex-commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan who also led troops in western Iraq, has been named to lead the international effort against Islamic State extremists, officials announced Friday. Allen, 60, has been an unabashed hawk when it comes to Islamic State, urging a no holds-barred assault on the militants, who have employed brutal tactics in their advance across Syria and Iraq. "The Islamic State is an entity beyond the pale of humanity and it must be eradicated. As head of the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan from July 2011 to December 2013, Allen had to deal with the notoriously mercurial president Hamid Karzai -- as well as commanders from dozens of countries while overseeing the start of a troop drawdown.

AP: More than 5,000 dead in C. African Republic Posted: 12 Sep 2014 02:56 PM PDT GUEN, Central African Republic (AP) — More than 5,000 people have died in sectarian violence in Central African Republic since December, according to an Associated Press tally, suggesting that a U.N. peacekeeping mission approved months ago is coming too late for thousands.

Obama 'confident' Islamic State will be defeated Posted: 12 Sep 2014 02:54 PM PDT BALTIMORE (AP) — President Barack Obama says he's confident the U.S. is pursuing the right approach that will roll back and eventually defeat the Islamic State group.

Obama's war plan rattles Dem, GOP Senate nominees Posted: 12 Sep 2014 02:43 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — In a nation weary of war, yet alarmed by the prospect of an emerging threat, President Barack Obama's plan to strike Islamic State militants is ruffling the usual left-right politics in several races that will decide control of the Senate.

Kerry says no to Iran's help against Islamic group Posted: 12 Sep 2014 02:20 PM PDT ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Even as it discouraged Iran from joining diplomatic talks on how to defeat the Islamic State militant group, the United States could not outline Friday what other nations have volunteered to contribute to a worldwide effort against the insurgency that has overtaken a third of Iraq and Syria and threatens to upend the Mideast.

US will be ramping up airstrikes soon _ in Iraq Posted: 12 Sep 2014 01:54 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — As U.S. forces gear up for airstrikes in Syria, the first demonstration of President Barack Obama's more aggressive military campaign against the Islamic State group is likely to unfold first in Iraq as early as next week, officials said Friday.

Analysis: US strikes unsettling for Damascus Posted: 12 Sep 2014 01:46 PM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad's government is angry Washington has not taken it on as a partner in the international campaign to hit the Islamic State group, likely for a very significant reason: It is worried that once the United States has crossed the Rubicon of airstrikes in Syria, it could next turn its sights on Assad himself, aiming for his eventual downfall.

Two Navy jets crash into Pacific: Was mid-air collision to blame? Posted: 12 Sep 2014 01:44 PM PDT US Navy officials have yet to report what caused two F/A-18 fighter jets to crash into the Pacific Thursday afternoon. One pilot ejected from his aircraft and was quickly recovered by rescue helicopter and returned to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, where he received medical treatment and was reported to be in fair condition. According to the Navy's brief announcement, the search for the second pilot includes guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill and guided-missile destroyer USS Gridley and helicopters assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron and Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron. Based on information from unnamed Navy officials, the US Naval Institute, a private, nonprofit military association, reported Friday that the loss of the two aircraft occurred "following a mid-air collision." NBC News also reported that a mid-air collision caused the crash.

US house leader promises to back new Iraqi leader Posted: 12 Sep 2014 01:44 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican leader of the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday promised Iraq's prime minister that the House will provide the new government in Baghdad the assistance necessary U.S. to defeat Islamic militants.

Kerry confident of broad anti-IS coalition Posted: 12 Sep 2014 01:39 PM PDT US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed confidence Friday of building a broad coalition including Arab and European nations against Islamic State jihadists, on a visit to Turkey which has refused to allow strikes on the extremists from its territory. The top US diplomat also voiced Washington's opposition to Iran joining a conference on the Iraq crisis in Paris on Monday. Kerry held talks in Ankara with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as part of a push to establish a coalition of more than 40 countries to defeat the IS militants in Iraq and Syria. "I am comfortable that it would be a broad-based coalition with Arab nations, European nations, the United States and others, contributing to every single different facet of what (President Barack) Obama laid out as a strategy... to degrade and destroy" the IS militants, Kerry told journalists.

Kerry says comfortable U.S. will form broad anti-ISIL coalition Posted: 12 Sep 2014 01:33 PM PDT Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday he was comfortable that the United States would form a broad-based coalition to fight Islamic State militants but said it would not be appropriate for Iran to be involved in the efforts. Kerry has been touring the Middle East to build support for President Barack Obama's plan, announced on Wednesday, to strike both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi frontier to defeat Islamic State Sunni fighters that control swathes of both countries. "I'm comfortable that this will be a broad-based coalition with Arab nations, European nations, the United States, others," Kerry said, speaking in Ankara after meeting Turkish leaders. He said France had publicly made clear its willingness to take action in Iraq and to use force but said it was too soon to say what role individual nations would play.

About 100 Syria, Iraq militants have returned to France: lawmaker Posted: 12 Sep 2014 01:33 PM PDT Around 100 militants who fought with rebel groups in Syria and Iraq have returned to France, requiring "massive" resources for surveillance and other security measures to prevent attacks, a French lawmaker said on Friday. Thousands of Western volunteers have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join Islamist fighting groups, notably Islamic State. Of an estimated 1,000 volunteers who left from France - the top source of Western volunteers for the Islamist jihad in the region - around 100 have returned and are currently in the country, Socialist lawmaker Sebastien Pietrasanta told Reuters.

Kerry plays down hopes of imminent anti-Islamic State coalition Posted: 12 Sep 2014 01:33 PM PDT Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday played down chances of an imminent broad coalition against Islamic State militants, illustrating the difficulty Washington faces winning commitment for a military campaign in the heart of the Middle East. Kerry met Turkish leaders to try to secure support for U.S.-led action against Islamic State, but Ankara's reluctance to play a frontline role highlighted the challenges of building a willing coalition to wage what will likely be a tough offensive. Kerry has been touring the Middle East to build support for President Barack Obama's plan, announced on Wednesday, to strike both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi frontier to defeat Islamic State Sunni fighters, who control swathes of both countries.

Turkish PM says U.S. action in Iraq not enough to bring stability Posted: 12 Sep 2014 01:33 PM PDT ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Friday U.S. action in Iraq, where Islamic State fighters have seized swathes of territory, was necessary but would not be enough on its own to bring about political stability. Asked in a live interview with Turkey's Kanal 24 television if current U.S. moves were sufficient to solve the crisis, Davutoglu said: "It is necessary, but it is not enough to establish order, I mean to achieve political stability". (Reporting by Daren Butler; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

Iraq's speaker warns of civilian deaths from U.S. air strikes Posted: 12 Sep 2014 01:33 PM PDT By Raheem Salman and Oliver Holmes BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament speaker Salim al-Jabouri has told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that air strikes on Islamic State should not kill civilians, the speaker said to Reuters in an interview. President Barack Obama has promised to destroy the Islamist militants using a "systematic campaign of air strikes". Washington has already conducted more than 150 strikes in Iraq in recent weeks.

U.S. sharply raises estimate of number of Islamic State fighters Posted: 12 Sep 2014 01:33 PM PDT (Reuters) - The U.S. intelligence community has sharply raised its estimate of the number of Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria to between 20,000 and 31,500, from its estimate in June of about 10,000. A CIA spokesman said the new assessment reflected stronger recruitment by the radical Islamist group since June "following battlefield successes and the declaration of a caliphate, greater battlefield activity, and additional intelligence." It was based on intelligence reports from May to August and was shared this week with Congress and senior U.S. officials. ...

Cobbling coalition for Iraq, Syria no easy task Posted: 12 Sep 2014 01:32 PM PDT ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Assembling a coalition to fight the militants from the Islamic State group is proving to be a complicated affair.

Obama to discuss Ebola response with top medical experts Posted: 12 Sep 2014 01:32 PM PDT President Barack Obama will meet leading US medical experts next week as he considers how to follow through on his pledge to step up aid to Africa over the Ebola epidemic. Obama will travel to the US headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta on Tuesday, after signaling he will deploy US military assets in the bid to check the spread of Ebola. Obama will get "a briefing on the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa, discuss the US response to that outbreak, and thank the scientists, doctors and health care workers who are helping those affected by the disease at home and around the world," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. Obama said in an NBC News interview on Sunday that the US military would help set up isolation units and equipment to help surge public health workers to West African nations affected by Ebola.

Can Obama wage war without consent of Congress? Posted: 12 Sep 2014 01:28 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is using the legal grounding of the congressional authorizations President George W. Bush relied on more than a decade ago to go to war as he readies intensified airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. But Obama has made no effort to ask Congress to explicitly authorize his own conflict.

White House: New U.S. mission a war as with al-Qaida Posted: 12 Sep 2014 12:29 PM PDT The White House is characterizing the U.S. mission against Islamic State militants as a war similar to the one waged against al-Qaida and its affiliates.

Gov Buys $17M in Luxury Homes for Border Agents Posted: 12 Sep 2014 12:18 PM PDT The federal government has a bad habit of overspending on items it could get at much lower rates. The Justice Department buys $16 muffins for a breakfast meeting; the Pentagon pays contractors $1,000 for ...

Islamic State group name raises objection Posted: 12 Sep 2014 12:06 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Propaganda has been one of the core strategies of the Sunni militant group in Syria and Iraq that today calls itself the Islamic State — and its name is very much a part of that.

What the White House Means When It Says 'We're at War' with ISIS Posted: 12 Sep 2014 12:02 PM PDT The White House finally admitted Friday what was abundantly clear to everyone: The United States is at war again. It's actually the next front of the original Global War on Terror that President George W. Bush launched in the days after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. "The United States is at war with ISIL in the same way that we are at war with al Qaeda and its affiliates around the world," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said on Friday, referring to the acronym the administration uses to describe the Islamic State.

US gives Lebanon Hellfire missiles, pledges aircraft Posted: 12 Sep 2014 11:46 AM PDT The United States has delivered Hellfire missiles to the Lebanese army and will also provide it with light aircraft including an armed Cessna, the US ambassador to Lebanon said Friday. David Hale, in a statement after meeting Prime Minister Tammam Salam, said the aircraft would be bought with Saudi funds recently pledged to the Lebanese army. "This week brought the delivery of more Hellfire missiles to the Lebanese Army."

10 Questions: Syria Posted: 12 Sep 2014 10:48 AM PDT This week President Barack Obama presented his strategy for confronting the growing threat of the Islamic State, or IS, in Syria. While many of us first heard about the brutal group of terrorists this summer, it's been around for a while and is actually a splinter from what was known as al-Qaida in Iraq. The civil war that has been ravaging Syria over the last several years has created conditions that helped IS gain strength and numbers. To understand Syria's role, the Assad regime, and the road ahead, I posed 10 questions to Kenneth Pollack, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former CIA analyst.

Former U.S. Afghanistan commander to lead effort against Islamic State Posted: 12 Sep 2014 10:27 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has chosen retired Marine Corps General John Allen, who served as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, to coordinate international efforts to fight Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, a U.S. official said on Friday. Allen has long experience working with leaders in the region, both as a commander in Iraq and as deputy head of U.S. Central Command, which controls U.S. forces in the region. ...

Paris wants Iran to help crush Islamic radicals Posted: 12 Sep 2014 10:23 AM PDT PARIS (AP) — France is prepared to invite Iran to an international conference Monday aimed at coordinating actions to knock out the Islamic State extremists in Iraq — even though that runs counter to the U.S. refusal to deal with Tehran.

The New Price Tag for the U.S. War Against ISIS Posted: 12 Sep 2014 10:18 AM PDT The fight against ISIS is already expensive . As of August 28, the United States had spent $560 million fighting the group, and continues to spend $7.5 million each day on operations in Iraq. According ...

Iraq premier says France to join airstrikes effort Posted: 12 Sep 2014 09:54 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — France will join the U.S.-led airstrikes targeting extremists in Iraq as part of an expanding international effort to combat the Islamic State group, Iraq's new prime minister said after talks with the French president on Friday.

Nigeria says army repels militants outside northeast city Posted: 12 Sep 2014 09:48 AM PDT By Issac Abrak and Felix Onuah ABUJA, (Reuters) - Nigeria's military beat back an attack by Islamist insurgents outside the Borno state capital Maiduguri on Friday and sent in reinforcements to stop any assault on the northeastern city, the government said. Authorities were struggling to reassure frightened locals that the armed forces would defend them against the Boko Haram militants, who have overrun a string of towns and villages in the area in recent weeks. ...

Germany, eyeing threat, bans aiding Islamic State Posted: 12 Sep 2014 09:45 AM PDT Berlin (AFP) - Germany on Friday outlawed active support for the Islamic State, warning the "terrorist" group operating in Iraq and Syria also posed a threat to Europe.

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