Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• General: New US hub in Iraq could be model
• American teenager pleads guilty to helping Islamic State
• Body of American killed fighting IS handed over to family
• Pentagon: Price tag for war on Islamic State is $2.7 billion
• Why did Obama send another 450 trainers to Iraq?
• American Killed Battling ISIS: Father Says He Felt 'Led by the Lord'
• Keith Broomfield killed: How many Americans are fighting against ISIS?
• House passes defense spending bill
• US mission could expand to more bases in Iraq: Pentagon
• Air Force One Rewards Program: President Obama Thanks Trade Supporters With Ride on Flying Oval Office
• Israel says Gaza militants fired rocket that hit inside Gaza
• Oil prices drop as IEA sees demand growth cooling
• IS marks 'easy' Mosul capture with video epic
• In Syria, Al Qaeda affiliate reportedly slaughters minority Druze
• U.S. considering more military bases in Iraq: top general
• America Is Sliding Into Open-Ended Conflict in Iraq
• House panel OKs bill punishing State over Benghazi response
• House rejects measure to force vote on Islamic State fight
• Tariq Aziz family says his body has gone missing in Iraq
• US Army chief: Futile to send '150,000 soldiers' to defend unreformed Iraq
• IRAQ
• Morocco dismantles IS-linked 'terrorist' cell
• Putin Lets Criminals Bring Money Back to Russia
• Anti-terrorist finance rules exact toll on aid to conflict zones
• U.S., allies target Islamic State with 29 air strikes: statement
• Macedonian police find 128 migrants hiding in border village
• Boko Haram: from Islamic sect to deadly armed group
• Macedonia detain 128 migrants hiding in five homes
• Nigeria's Buhari meets peers to hammer out Boko Haram force
• Post-Snowden, UK watchdog issues online spying report
• Report says rich nations face rising risks of cyberattacks
• Japan eases to 4-0 win over Iraq in friendly
• Crunch time coming for Saudi campaign as options narrow in Yemen
• Back from Syria and Iraq, Bosnian fighters pose threat at home
• Experts meet in Paris to tackle growing document fraud
• Retired CIA operative becomes breakout spy novelist
• Dempsey says new US military base in Iraq could be model
• The Budget Battle that Will Define This Congress Begins
• Australian talks tackle jihadists' use of social media
• Nigeria, regional leaders meet to discuss new Boko Haram force

General: New US hub in Iraq could be model Posted: 11 Jun 2015 04:40 PM PDT NAPLES, Italy (AP) — The Pentagon's top general said Thursday the U.S. military's reach could extend even further into Iraq if the anti-Islamic State campaign gains momentum, and he held out the possibility of eventually recommending to President Barack Obama that U.S. troops take on the riskier role of calling in airstrikes.

American teenager pleads guilty to helping Islamic State Posted: 11 Jun 2015 04:28 PM PDT A 17-year-old from Virginia pleaded guilty in court on Thursday to charges of conspiring to help Islamic State militants, the first time the United States has prosecuted a minor as an adult in such a case. Ali Amin, of Manassas, Virginia, used Twitter and his blog to provide instructions on how to use the virtual currency Bitcoin to send funds to the militants, according to court documents. Prosecutors said Amin also helped another Virginia resident, Reza Niknejad, to travel to Syria to join the group that has taken control of areas of Iraq and Syria over the past year in a campaign marked by mass killings and beheadings.

Body of American killed fighting IS handed over to family Posted: 11 Jun 2015 04:02 PM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — The body of an American who died fighting with Kurdish forces against the Islamic State group in Syria was handed over on Thursday to his family at a Turkish border crossing, a Kurdish official said.

Pentagon: Price tag for war on Islamic State is $2.7 billion Posted: 11 Jun 2015 03:40 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has spent more than $2.7 billion on the war against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria since bombings began last August, and the average daily cost is now more than $9 million, the Pentagon said Thursday.

Why did Obama send another 450 trainers to Iraq? Posted: 11 Jun 2015 03:08 PM PDT President Obama's decision to send an additional 450 troops to Iraq to train mostly Sunni fighters for the battle to oust the Islamic State is a modest gesture aimed at a very big problem – Iraq's wide and deepening sectarian divide between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. The new trainers, expected to arrive in Iraq within a few days, will go to a different location from the 3,050 United States soldiers already in Iraq and assisting in the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces. The difference is that the objective of the new site will be to train and arm Sunnis who have largely been excluded from other efforts at building up Iraq's security forces.

American Killed Battling ISIS: Father Says He Felt 'Led by the Lord' Posted: 11 Jun 2015 02:40 PM PDT The father of Keith Broomfield, the American killed fighting alongside Kurdish forces in Syria, has said his son felt "led by the Lord" to go to the region. Earlier today, the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG, released a compilation of video clips purporting to show Broomfield, 36, whose death inside Syria was confirmed by the U.S. State Department Wednesday. Broomfield died on the battlefield "during an operation in Qentere village," according to the YPG's media center, making him the first known U.S. casualty among dozens of Americans who are believed to have joined Kurdish forces in their fight against ISIS militants.

Keith Broomfield killed: How many Americans are fighting against ISIS? Posted: 11 Jun 2015 02:37 PM PDT An American citizen was killed fighting with Kurdish pershmerga forces against the Islamic State in Syria, the US State Department confirmed on Wednesday. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke identified the man as Keith Broomfield. Broomfield is the first reported case of an American killed while fighting alongside Kurdish fighters. Over the past two years, it's been estimated that "hundreds" of foreigners have joined Kurd forces in their battle against the Islamic State. The New York Times cites a spokesman for the Kurdish People's Protection Units who said that more than 100 American citizens are currently fighting in Syria.

House passes defense spending bill Posted: 11 Jun 2015 02:21 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Thursday approved a $579 billion defense spending bill that offers a slight pay raise to U.S. troops, but reflects deep divisions on budget priorities and whether President Barack Obama needs new war powers to fight Islamic State militants.

US mission could expand to more bases in Iraq: Pentagon Posted: 11 Jun 2015 01:59 PM PDT The United States is considering setting up additional bases in Iraq similar to a new hub planned in Anbar province to help Iraqi forces battle the Islamic State group, the Pentagon said Thursday. Establishing more bases to get US military advisers closer to the battlefront would likely require yet more American troops to deploy to Iraq beyond the 450 reinforcements announced by the White House on Wednesday. The Pentagon raised the possibility of more bases a day after President Barack Obama's administration unveiled plans to send dozens of advisers to Anbar to help Iraqi forces eventually recapture Ramadi, which fell to the IS jihadists last month.

Air Force One Rewards Program: President Obama Thanks Trade Supporters With Ride on Flying Oval Office Posted: 11 Jun 2015 01:58 PM PDT Although House Republicans are expected to do most of the heavy lifting in providing votes to pass Trade Promotion Authority, President Obama has worked his personal touch to ensure his trade agenda does not fall by the wayside -- lobbying congressional Democrats to support what may turn out to be one of his lasting legacies during his second term in office. One key presidential perk at Obama's disposal: Air Force One. So far, 18 House Democrats have come out in support of TPA, and Obama invited four of them to join him on board the flying Oval Office for his trip to the G-7 summit in Germany last weekend.

Israel says Gaza militants fired rocket that hit inside Gaza Posted: 11 Jun 2015 01:56 PM PDT JERUSALEM (AP) — Gaza militants fired a rocket at Israel on Thursday, the military said, adding the projectile fell short and exploded inside the coastal territory ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas.

Oil prices drop as IEA sees demand growth cooling Posted: 11 Jun 2015 01:20 PM PDT Oil prices retreated Thursday after two days of gains as the International Energy Agency predicted that a recent surge in world crude demand was set to end. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for July delivery shed 66 cents to $60.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In its monthly report on the oil market, the IEA lifted its 2015 demand forecast to 94 million barrels a day, 300,000 barrels per day more than the previous level.

IS marks 'easy' Mosul capture with video epic Posted: 11 Jun 2015 01:08 PM PDT The Islamic State group Thursday marked a year since its capture of Mosul with a film documenting the founding moment of the "caliphate" that triggered an international war. A year after the fall of Iraq's second city, an ever-broadening conflict was in full swing, with IS franchises spreading across the region and Washington being drawn ever deeper into the quagmire. The video glamorises the assault IS launched in Iraq last year as an epic Islamic conquest, with previously unreleased footage of civilians welcoming the jihadists and elated prisoners being freed.

In Syria, Al Qaeda affiliate reportedly slaughters minority Druze Posted: 11 Jun 2015 01:00 PM PDT Jabhat al-Nusra, Al Qaeda's formal affiliate fighting in Syria against the forces of President Bashar al-Assad, has in recent weeks been trying to put a kinder, gentler face on its movement. The group has lately been fighting and winning battles alongside Syrian rebel groups that are getting support from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, dealing setbacks to the Iranian-allied regime in Damascus. Last month Nusra's leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani told Al Jazeera that if it eventually prevails in Syria, religious minorities – Christians, Alawites, and others – have nothing to fear from a group whose ideology calls for the forceful conversion of all humankind to its brand of Islam.

U.S. considering more military bases in Iraq: top general Posted: 11 Jun 2015 12:48 PM PDT By Phil Stewart NAPLES, Italy (Reuters) - The United States is considering building more U.S. military bases in Iraq to drive back Islamic State militants in a move that may require a further increase in American forces, the top U.S. general said on Thursday. A day after the White House announced the deployment of 450 more U.S. troops to Iraq and a new training hub in Anbar province, Army General Martin Dempsey said the Pentagon was considering more sites in strategic areas such as the corridor from Baghdad to Tikrit and further north toward Mosul.

America Is Sliding Into Open-Ended Conflict in Iraq Posted: 11 Jun 2015 12:22 PM PDT On Wednesday, the White House announced the deployment of "450 additional U.S. military personnel to train, advise, and assist Iraqi Security Forces at Taqaddum military base in eastern Anbar province." It is easy to conceive of this latest limited addition of U.S. troops to Iraq, and nearby countries, in isolation, and as the logical and necessary next step in the expanding campaign against ISIS. On June 16, 2014: "275 U.S. military personnel are deploying to Iraq to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad." This package was initially described as being for force-protection and intelligence-gathering purposes.

House panel OKs bill punishing State over Benghazi response Posted: 11 Jun 2015 12:20 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Over White House objections, a House panel approved a bill Thursday that withholds hundreds of millions of dollars from the State Department until it produces more documents to lawmakers investigating the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya.

House rejects measure to force vote on Islamic State fight Posted: 11 Jun 2015 12:08 PM PDT By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives rejected an amendment to a defense bill on Thursday that would have forced lawmakers to vote on a formal authorization for the use of military force against Islamic State. The House voted 231 to 196 to defeat the amendment sponsored by Representative Adam Schiff. Republicans, who control a majority of seats in the House, largely voted against the amendment and Schiff's fellow Democrats generally backed it.

Tariq Aziz family says his body has gone missing in Iraq Posted: 11 Jun 2015 12:04 PM PDT AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The body of Tariq Aziz, Saddam Hussein's former top aide who died last week in prison in Iraq, went missing on Thursday after it was snatched in Baghdad while en route to Jordan for burial, Aziz's daughter said.

US Army chief: Futile to send '150,000 soldiers' to defend unreformed Iraq Posted: 11 Jun 2015 11:06 AM PDT Yesterday, President Obama said 450 more US soldiers will be deployed under an expanded training mission in Iraq, with a focus on arming and training Sunni Arabs, who feel excluded and oppressed under a Shiite-dominated government. "You've got to understand why this is happening," Odierno told CBS. "My thought is we had this in a good place three or four years ago and Iraq was safe, the economy was growing we turned it over to the Iraqi government.

IRAQ Posted: 11 Jun 2015 10:28 AM PDT Map locates al Taqaddum in Iraq; 1c x 2 inches; 46.5 mm x 50 mm;

Morocco dismantles IS-linked 'terrorist' cell Posted: 11 Jun 2015 09:01 AM PDT Morocco on Thursday dismantled a seven-member "terrorist" cell linked to the Islamic State group that was planning to abduct and murder tourists, the interior ministry said. The suspects, whose identities were not revealed, had "pledged allegiance" to the jihadist IS group, the ministry said in a statement carried by the MAP news agency. According to the interior ministry the suspects had undertaken "intensive paramilitary training" in a mountainous region of Morocco.

Putin Lets Criminals Bring Money Back to Russia Posted: 11 Jun 2015 08:58 AM PDT Barely six months after Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an explicit invitation to Russian criminals hiding assets overseas to bring their cash home with no questions asked, he's made it official. In his remarks, Putin was surprisingly explicit about his intention to grant amnesty to illegally obtained assets.

Anti-terrorist finance rules exact toll on aid to conflict zones Posted: 11 Jun 2015 08:17 AM PDT By Stella Dawson WASHINGTON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - As Western governments tighten the noose on anti-terrorist financing, aid groups say the crackdown is exacting a toll on humanitarian programs in war-torn regions. The international women's rights group Madre twice in the past year could not get funds transferred to Iraq for its gender-based violence program. It had to fly the Iraq director for to Istanbul to collect his paycheck, said Lisa Davis, Madre's human rights advocacy director.

U.S., allies target Islamic State with 29 air strikes: statement Posted: 11 Jun 2015 08:07 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S.-led coalition targeting Islamic State forces have launched 29 air strikes against the group since early on Wednesday, the Combined Joint Task Force leading the operations said in a statement on Thursday. The 16 air strikes in Syria and 13 in Iraq hit various Islamic State fighting positions, fighting units, vehicles, buildings and other targets, the task force said in the statement. For a Reuters map of the U.S.-led coalition strikes, see: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/14/airstrikes/index.html (Reporting by Washington Newsroom; Editing by Will Dunham)

Macedonian police find 128 migrants hiding in border village Posted: 11 Jun 2015 07:34 AM PDT SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — A Macedonian police raid has found 128 migrants and refugees, mostly from Iraq and Syria, hiding in a northern border village as they make their way across the Balkans toward the more prosperous countries of the European Union.

Boko Haram: from Islamic sect to deadly armed group Posted: 11 Jun 2015 07:29 AM PDT Nigeria's Boko Haram has over the years morphed from an Islamic sect into an IS-affiliated armed movement waging a deadly insurgency that threatens regional stability. The group, whose name roughly translates from the Hausa language spoken in northern Nigeria as "Western education is forbidden", aims to create an Islamic caliphate in the territories it controls. Its first leader was Mohammed Yusuf, who advocated a radical form of Islam and said Western values installed by Nigeria's former British rulers were responsible for the country's ills.

Macedonia detain 128 migrants hiding in five homes Posted: 11 Jun 2015 07:19 AM PDT Macedonian police have detained 128 illegal migrants from Syria, Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries sheltering in five houses in a village near the border with Serbia, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday. Villagers had rented their houses to the migrants for 1,500 euros ($1,685) a month, ministry spokesman Vlado Kotevski said. The early morning raid on the houses in Vaksince came a week after British Channel 4 TV broadcast a program in which it reported the migrants were being held there against their will.

Nigeria's Buhari meets peers to hammer out Boko Haram force Posted: 11 Jun 2015 06:38 AM PDT By Julia Payne ABUJA (Reuters) - New Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari met his regional counterparts in Abuja on Thursday to set up a joint military force against Boko Haram, the latest sign of his intent to crush the Islamist militant group early in his tenure. The 72-year-old former military ruler, who was inaugurated just two weeks ago, welcomed the leaders of neighbouring Chad, Niger and Benin for the impromptu one-day summit at Abuja airport. Cameroon sent its defence minister.

Post-Snowden, UK watchdog issues online spying report Posted: 11 Jun 2015 06:22 AM PDT The man responsible for reviewing Britain's anti-terrorism laws called Thursday for greater judicial oversight over data interception as ministers prepare legislation firming up the powers of security services following leaks by Edward Snowden. The move would be a way of "helping build the relationship" with US technology giants and could make it more likely they would comply with requests from British law enforcement agencies, senior lawyer David Anderson said. After winning last month's general election outright, Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative government wants to pass new legislation giving intelligence services and the police increased powers to monitor Internet and phone use.

Report says rich nations face rising risks of cyberattacks Posted: 11 Jun 2015 06:19 AM PDT TOKYO (AP) — Wealthy nations face a high and fast-growing threat of cyberattacks while risks from terrorism increasingly are confined to poorer, conflict-stricken countries, according to a defense outlook report by the consultancy Deloitte.

Japan eases to 4-0 win over Iraq in friendly Posted: 11 Jun 2015 06:14 AM PDT YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — Japan beat Iraq 4-0 on Thursday in a friendly ahead of its qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Crunch time coming for Saudi campaign as options narrow in Yemen Posted: 11 Jun 2015 05:48 AM PDT By Angus McDowall NAJRAN, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - After 11 weeks of air strikes that have failed to change the balance of power in Yemen, Saudi Arabia is running out of options to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's exiled government to Sanaa. Despite the destruction of much of their heavy weaponry, the Houthi militia and army forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh control most of the country's populated west and still daily attack Saudi territory with mortar fire or missiles. The possibility of a ground operation in support of the ragtag local groups still fighting the Houthis in Aden, Taiz, Marib and al-Dhala appears to have been discounted by the Saudis and their allies in an Arab coalition from early on.

Back from Syria and Iraq, Bosnian fighters pose threat at home Posted: 11 Jun 2015 05:35 AM PDT By Daria Sito-Sucic SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Bosnian fighters returning from Syria and Iraq are forming regional militant networks that pose a direct threat to security in the Balkans and beyond, a study warned on Thursday. The returnees have formed links extending to Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo, said the non-profit Sarajevo-based Atlantic Initiative, and may be radicalizing youngsters on the margins of society. "Once a destination country for foreign fighters in the 1990s, Bosnia is now the country of origin for volunteers in other people's wars," said Vlado Azinovic, a co-author of the report.

Experts meet in Paris to tackle growing document fraud Posted: 11 Jun 2015 05:12 AM PDT PARIS (AP) — Criminal networks are busier than ever faking, forging and doctoring travel documents, identity papers, drivers' licenses and social security cards, authorities say.

Retired CIA operative becomes breakout spy novelist Posted: 11 Jun 2015 05:07 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — When Jason Matthews retired after more than three decades as a CIA operative, writing fiction proved a form of therapy.

Dempsey says new US military base in Iraq could be model Posted: 11 Jun 2015 04:23 AM PDT NAPLES, Italy (AP) — The Pentagon's top general says the new U.S. military base being setting up in Iraq's western desert could be a model for more such U.S. hubs if Iraq is able to regain momentum against the Islamic State group.

The Budget Battle that Will Define This Congress Begins Posted: 11 Jun 2015 03:15 AM PDT The battle that will "define" the current Congress for the remainder of the year is getting under way, a top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee said Wednesday, as the GOP-led Congress and President Obama square off over spending on the military and national defense. Missouri Sen. Roy Bunt, speaking at a legislative seminar hosted by the law firm BakerHostetler in Washington, said that threats from Democrats in Congress to block all individual appropriations bills until an agreement is negotiated on all appropriations mean that the fight over how and what the government should spend in Fiscal 2016 is now engaged. "On my side we generally think it's time to spend more money, with what's going on in the world, on defense than we otherwise would spend…," and propose doing that under a provision of the Budget Control Act that allows us to do that because you can't anticipate world events," he said.

Australian talks tackle jihadists' use of social media Posted: 11 Jun 2015 02:46 AM PDT The Islamic State group has "global ambitions" and more must be done to tackle its use of social media for recruitment, representatives of governments and technology giants heard in Australia Thursday. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott told the regional extremism conference it was vital to find ways to stymie the ideology of extremists who are drawing thousands of foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria. "You can't negotiate with an entity like this, you can only fight it," he said of Islamic State, to an audience including high-level officials from 30 nations, as well as Facebook, Twitter and Google.

Nigeria, regional leaders meet to discuss new Boko Haram force Posted: 10 Jun 2015 11:19 PM PDT Nigeria's new President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday holds talks with regional leaders on Boko Haram, with hopes a new fighting force will help crush the Islamists after six years of violence. The meetings come on the back of Buhari's appeal to world leaders at the G7 summit in Germany last weekend for more help in combating extremism and visits to Chad and Niger.

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