Yahoo! News: Iraq

---

• Competence at center of 'American Sniper' murder trial
• Shadow of Clinton war vote hangs over other 2016 contenders
• Traces of sympathy seen for Boston Marathon bombing suspect
• U.S. moving to resupply Jordan's military with munitions: officials
• IS seizes Iraq town near US forces: Pentagon
• Does Brian Williams have Black Hawk wreckage? No way, says former Navy SEAL
• Graham's consideration of 2016 upends SC landscape
• Brian Williams' SEAL Team 6 stories are the latest to come under fire
• US: Islamic State fighters killed by Iraqi forces
• Assad 'part of the solution' in Syria: UN envoy
• Attack on Iraq air base included several suicide bombers: Pentagon
• Obama calls for war authorization, reopening constitutional debates
• US Army approves hormone therapy for Chelsea Manning
• Chelsea Manning's hormone treatment OK'd, but not long hair
• IS jihadists attack Iraq base housing US forces
• War history is littered with civilian deaths
• Oil loadings delayed at Egypt's Sidi Kerir port -trade
• Iraqi army repels attack on base hosting U.S. Marines: officials
• Philanthropist Lois Pope And American Humane Association To Proudly Welcome American Hero Sergeant Matt Eversmann To Palm Beach
• U.S. says 15 more airstrikes launched against Islamic State
• Bomb blast hits Turkish checkpoint near Syrian border, three hurt: sources
• Brian Williams suspended for it, but everybody embellishes
• Air strikes in Syria kill at least 20 Islamic State fighters: monitor
• Hormone treatment approved for Chelsea Manning
• Today in History
• Bob Simon's Legacy: "No One Was Better at Setting Words to Images" (Guest Column)
• At least nine more journalists in Egypt jails

Competence at center of 'American Sniper' murder trial Posted: 13 Feb 2015 04:04 PM PST STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) — While defense attorneys mount an insanity defense for the former Marine on trial in the shooting deaths of "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield, prosecutors have described Eddie Ray Routh as a troubled drug user who knew right from wrong. Criminal law experts say the case hinges on whether the defense can prove Routh did not know that the killings constituted a crime.

Shadow of Clinton war vote hangs over other 2016 contenders Posted: 13 Feb 2015 03:49 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — In 2002, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton cast a vote in favor of the Iraq war that would later come to haunt her presidential campaign.

Traces of sympathy seen for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Posted: 13 Feb 2015 03:07 PM PST BOSTON (AP) — Many prospective jurors in the trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev have expressed anger over the attack and compassion for the people who were killed and injured in the explosions.

U.S. moving to resupply Jordan's military with munitions: officials Posted: 13 Feb 2015 02:40 PM PST By Phil Stewart and Suleiman Al-Khalidi WASHINGTON/AMMAN (Reuters) - The United States is readying plans to resupply Jordan with munitions in the coming weeks, possibly including precision-guided arms, expediting support for the kingdom as it expands its role in airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS), officials say. The State Department and Pentagon declined comment on any future moves to assist Jordan with requests for weapons. U.S. efforts to expedite delivery of munitions and other weapons follow a vocal appeal from Jordan's King Abdullah to American lawmakers last week for greater U.S. support.

IS seizes Iraq town near US forces: Pentagon Posted: 13 Feb 2015 02:07 PM PST The fall of the town, which the Pentagon played down as a minor setback, came as IS extremists launched an unsuccessful assault involving suicide bombers on the nearby Al-Asad air base. The town is located in Anbar province, about five miles (eight kilometers) from the Asad air base, where about 300 US Marines are stationed to assist Iraqi government troops. Iraqi soldiers repelled the IS group's assault on the base on Friday which involved several suicide bombers, officials said. American surveillance aircraft tracking the IS extremists assisted the Iraqi army forces and Apache attack helicopters were sent in but did open fire, officials said.

Does Brian Williams have Black Hawk wreckage? No way, says former Navy SEAL Posted: 13 Feb 2015 01:32 PM PST As NBC News anchor Brian William waits out his six-month, unpaid exile from broadcasting, new questions are being raised about his claims of journalistic derring-do. The most recent comes from a former United States Navy SEAL disputing Mr. Williams's claim that he flew with SEAL Team Six during the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and that he'd later been given a piece of a helicopter used in the SEAL raid into Pakistan in 2011 that killed Osama bin Laden. There's a healthy dislike towards embedded journalists within the SEAL community," Brandon Webb, a writer and former SEAL sniper who helped train "American Sniper" Chris Kyle, told the Huffington Post. "I can't even remember an embed with a SEAL unit.

Graham's consideration of 2016 upends SC landscape Posted: 13 Feb 2015 01:24 PM PST COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina voters often think of themselves as presidential tie-breakers, enjoying their prime role as the next to cast ballots after Iowa's caucuses and New Hampshire's primary.

Brian Williams' SEAL Team 6 stories are the latest to come under fire Posted: 13 Feb 2015 01:07 PM PST As NBC conducts its official investigation of Brian Williams' reporting, the media is taking its own microscope to the storied anchor's stories.

US: Islamic State fighters killed by Iraqi forces Posted: 13 Feb 2015 12:07 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Islamic State fighters led a suicide attack on an air base where U.S. and coalition troops are training Iraqi forces after taking a nearby town, the first territorial gain by the militant group in months, the Pentagon said Friday.

Assad 'part of the solution' in Syria: UN envoy Posted: 13 Feb 2015 11:40 AM PST Any resolution to the fighting in Syria must involve President Bashar al-Assad, the United Nations envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura said Friday in the first such acknowledgement by the UN. "President Assad is part of the solution," de Mistura told a joint press conference with Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz in Vienna. This was the first time a UN envoy on Syria has explicitly named Assad as part of a peaceful solution after nearly four years of fighting between government forces and rebels seeking his overthrow. De Mistura's remarks drew condemnation from the key opposition National Coalition as well as from activists on the ground in Syria.

Attack on Iraq air base included several suicide bombers: Pentagon Posted: 13 Feb 2015 11:32 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An attack on Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq on Friday was carried out by some 25 Islamic State fighters including several suicide bombers, some of whom evidently detonated their vests, the Pentagon said, cautioning that reports were still preliminary. Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters that most of the attackers, some of whom were in Iraqi uniforms, were killed by Iraqi security forces guarding the base, where U.S. troops are conducting military training. He said no U.S. troops were involved and Iraqi forces suffered no casualties. ...

Obama calls for war authorization, reopening constitutional debates Posted: 13 Feb 2015 11:24 AM PST On Wednesday, President Obama sent a request to Congress to authorize military force against ISIS, seeking formal authority for actions that have been taking place since August 2014.

US Army approves hormone therapy for Chelsea Manning Posted: 13 Feb 2015 11:22 AM PST The US Army has approved hormone therapy for gender "reassignment" for Chelsea Manning, the soldier convicted of leaking a trove of secret documents, in a first for the American military, officials said Friday. Hormone therapy was approved recently by Colonel Erica Nelson, commandant of the US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where Manning is now serving a 35-year prison sentence for his massive document dump, officials said. The American Civil Liberties Union, which had backed Manning's lawsuit demanding the military authorize medical services for a gender transition, was "thrilled for Chelsea that the government has finally agreed to initiate hormone therapy as part of her treatment plan," said Chase Strangio, an attorney for Manning.

Chelsea Manning's hormone treatment OK'd, but not long hair Posted: 13 Feb 2015 11:02 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army has approved gender-reassignment hormone therapy for Chelsea Manning, the former intelligence analyst convicted of espionage for sending classified documents to the WikiLeaks website, but says she can't grow out her hair.

IS jihadists attack Iraq base housing US forces Posted: 13 Feb 2015 10:21 AM PST Iraqi soldiers backed by US-led coalition aircraft repelled an attack Friday by the Islamic State group on a base where hundreds of US troops are training local security forces, officials said. "The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) supported by Coalition surveillance assets defeated the attack (on Al-Asad air base in western Iraq), killing all eight attackers," a US military statement said. An Iraqi army colonel and a defence ministry official said the botched assault involved at least seven would-be suicide bombers using a military vehicle. It came hours after IS fighters launched an offensive on the nearby town of Al-Baghdadi, one of the few in the Sunni province of Anbar still under government control.

War history is littered with civilian deaths Posted: 13 Feb 2015 09:07 AM PST JERUSALEM (AP) — Rarely has the world had such a front-row seat for a concerted attack by a major air force on an urban area as it did during last summer's Gaza war. But Israel is far from the only country to have killed civilians during war. The list is long, from Dresden to Japan, from Grozny to Algeria.

Oil loadings delayed at Egypt's Sidi Kerir port -trade Posted: 13 Feb 2015 08:16 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Oil loadings at Egypt's port of Sidi Kerir have been delayed by bad weather, three industry sources said on Friday, contributing to lower supplies in the Mediterranean. Kuwait and Iraq have also suffered from weather-related oil delays this week, helping crude prices to rally to the highest level this year, with Brent moving above $61 a barrel. The oil terminal at Sidi Kerir is run by Egypt's SUMED, and is a key transit and storage point for crude into the region. SUMED did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Friday. ...

Iraqi army repels attack on base hosting U.S. Marines: officials Posted: 13 Feb 2015 07:52 AM PST Iraqi security forces on Friday repelled an attack by Islamic State insurgents against an air base in Anbar province where U.S. Marines are training Iraqi troops, Iraqi and U.S. military officials said. Al-Baghdadi has been besieged for months by Islamic State, which captured swathes of northern and western Iraq last year, prompting a campaign of U.S.-led air strikes and the deployment of hundreds of U.S. military advisers to the country. A U.S. defence official said the Iraqi forces had stopped the attack and re-secured the facility.

Philanthropist Lois Pope And American Humane Association To Proudly Welcome American Hero Sergeant Matt Eversmann To Palm Beach Posted: 13 Feb 2015 06:51 AM PST Philanthropist Lois Pope and American Humane Association, the country's first national humane organization, are honored to welcome retired Army First Sergeant Matt Eversmann, whose story was immortalized in the film "Black Hawk Down" to the special "K-9 Battle Buddies" luncheon on Tuesday March 17 at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach. Sergeant Eversmann was one of the biggest heroes of the Battle of Mogadishu and will address the crowd with his message of values-based leadership, which he learned through his years of bravely serving his country. "Black Hawk Down," in which Eversmann is portrayed by Josh Hartnett, recounts the 18 harrowing hours when U.S. soldiers in Somalia were trapped in a hostile district of Mogadishu. Sergeant Eversmann has received many military decorations, including the Army Service Ribbon, the National Defense Service Ribbon, eight Army Achievement medals, and four Army Commendation medals.

U.S. says 15 more airstrikes launched against Islamic State Posted: 13 Feb 2015 06:30 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its coalition partners conducted eight air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria and seven in Iraq since early Thursday, according to the U.S. military. In a statement on Friday, the Combined Joint Task Force leading the air operations said the strikes near al Raqqah, Kobani and Dayr az Zawr in Syria hit numerous armored vehicles used by the militant group as well as two units of fighters, among other targets. ...

Bomb blast hits Turkish checkpoint near Syrian border, three hurt: sources Posted: 13 Feb 2015 03:52 AM PST By Seyhmus Cakan DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - A bomb detonated by remote control rocked an area near a Turkish police checkpoint close to the Syrian border on Friday, wounding three people, security sources said, the latest in a series of bombings to hit Turkey this year. The sources told Reuters the explosives were placed under a car and detonated near the town of Suruc, some 15 km (9 miles) north of the Syrian town of Kobani, where Kurdish fighters forced out Islamic State militants after a four-month siege. There were no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, which is likely to put police on heightened alert after recent blasts in Istanbul. The proximity to Syria will raise concerns the attack is related to the conflict there.

Brian Williams suspended for it, but everybody embellishes Posted: 13 Feb 2015 02:48 AM PST NEW YORK (AP) — Brian Williams had been a trusted voice in news for decades, until questions arose last week about his credibility when he admitted he embellished a story he covered in Iraq.

Air strikes in Syria kill at least 20 Islamic State fighters: monitor Posted: 13 Feb 2015 01:34 AM PST Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said 19 explosions were heard during the air strikes in al-Shadadi in the northeastern province of Hasaka on Thursday. The U.S.-led alliance started bombing Islamic State targets in Syria in September as part of a strategy aimed at rolling back the group's territorial gains in Syria and Iraq.

Hormone treatment approved for Chelsea Manning Posted: 12 Feb 2015 09:07 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Hormone treatment for gender reassignment has been approved for Chelsea Manning, the former intelligence analyst convicted of espionage for sending classified documents to the WikiLeaks website.

Today in History Posted: 12 Feb 2015 09:00 PM PST Today is Friday, Feb. 13, the 44th day of 2015. There are 321 days left in the year.

Bob Simon's Legacy: "No One Was Better at Setting Words to Images" (Guest Column) Posted: 12 Feb 2015 09:00 PM PST The "skill required to calm down, think clearly, and write aphoristically is rare indeed ??? and one that modern digital video journalists should try to emulate," TV analyst Andrew Tyndall writes.

At least nine more journalists in Egypt jails Posted: 12 Feb 2015 04:58 PM PST While two jailed Al-Jazeera reporters were freed on Friday pending a retrial, rights groups say at least nine more journalists still languish in Egyptian prisons. Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were released nearly two weeks after their Australian colleague Peter Greste was deported under a presidential decree. The three were arrested in late 2013 and sentenced to between seven and 10 years in jail for aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood. New York-based media watchdog the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which in 2013 rated Egypt as the third most dangerous country for journalists after Syria and Iraq, says there are nine more media workers jailed in the country.

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., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States