Iraq Update
 

May,10,2006:

1) "U.S. forces are tracking a worrisome rise in Afghanistan of tactics used by insurgents in Iraq, but have no conclusive evidence that those methods have been brought by rebels coming from Iraq."
( A senior US commander)


2) Iran has appointed an ambassador to Iraq for the first time in more than 20 years.
( Official Iranian News Agency )


3) President Jalal Talabani urged Iraq's feuding factions to unite against surging crime and terrorism, as attacks raged across the country.


4)U.S. and Iraqi entrepreneurs pointed to some positive economic numbers in Iraq as they voiced cautious optimism about doing business in the country despite the raging violence.


May,11,2006:

1)German lawmakers formally launched an investigation into the security services that will delve into sensitive areas of cooperation with the United States, including over the Iraq war.


2)ON MONDAY, a proposal for ending the chaos in Iraq was put forward by Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del. Biden was addressing the fact that a rising tide of sectarian violence has become the biggest threat to Iraq's future.


3)"Iraq will bring its Baghdad security forces under a unified command in a bid to quash death squad activity." ( National Security Advisor ,Muwaffaq Rubaie )


4)German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the need for security cooperation with the United States as members of parliament launched a sensitive inquiry into the role of German spies in the Iraq war.


5)"Negotiations are under way to bring a final one of Iraq's government paramilitary units under clear control of the Interior Ministry, in line with an earlier announced reorganization aimed at putting all national police forces under a single commander." ( An interior Ministry Official )



Regards,
angelfalls!!

May 12, 2006:


1)One of the smaller parties in the main Shia alliance in Iraq says it is withdrawing from talks on a new cabinet.


2)U.S. Tank Falls Off a Bridge Into a Canal in Iraq, Killing 4 Marines.


3)Hundreds of Kurds had to flee their homes in the mountain village of Razqa, Iraq, when artillery shells came whistling down from Iran this month, blowing apart their homes and livestock.


4)More than 100 Hawaii Army Reserve soldiers received orders on Friday for deployment to Iraq sometime this summer.


5)The Army Corps of Engineers said that it had canceled the work remaining on a $70 million project to refurbish 20 hospitals in Iraq, deepening a dispute with one of the largest contractors operating in Iraq.


6)President Bush said that militias are the biggest roadblock in Iraq's effort to get a unity government up and running, suggesting that sectarian strife may have become a larger problem than the insurgency fed by Saddam loyalists or foreign terrorists.


7)Gunmen killed the son of Iraq's top judge along with two of his bodyguards and dumped their bodies in Baghdad.


8)Al Qaeda's branch in Iraq is worried that its cells in the Baghdad area are ineffective.( By two documents released by US. Military )

May 13, 2006;


1)Pressure has mounted on Iraq's Shiites to form a new government that will stem the ongoing violence, as US President George W. Bush described militias as one of the main challenges to peace.


2)Thousands of Kurdish refugees of the 1980s Iran-Iraq war want UN recognition of their status and to return to the Iranian town from which they were driven.



Regards,
angelfalls!!

3) Iraq's Interior Ministry has taken its first steps to rein in the Facilities Protection Service, a unit of 4,000 building guards that U.S. officials say has quietly burgeoned into the government's largest paramilitary force, with 145,000 armed men and no central command, oversight or paymaster.


May 14 , 2006:


1) An Iraqi militant group affiliated to al Qaeda posted an Internet video of two men they said were fighters wanted by Saudi Arabia who were killed while attacking U.S.-led forces in Iraq.


2) A series of bombs destroyed two Shiite shrines near the volatile city of Baqouba late Saturday ; the second time this year that sites sacred to Iraq's Shiite majority have been targeted.


3) Bombs wrecked six small Shi'ite Muslim shrines in a rural area about 60 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, in what appeared to be the latest acts of sectarian violence in Iraq.


4) At least two bodyguards working for Iraq's foreign minister were killed and three were wounded when their convoy of vehicles was hit by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad.


5) Suspected insurgents fired about 30 to 40 mortar bombs at a British base in southern Iraq on Monday, wounding four soldiers.


May 15, 2006:


1)In Iraq, Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki is struggling with sectarian divisions as he attempts to fill out his Cabinet before the constitutional deadline of May 22. The backdrop for Iraq's political troubles continues to be deadly violence, with multiple attacks leaving dozens dead on Sunday. Monday also brings the resumption of Saddam Hussein's trial.

2) Iraqi insurgents shoot down a US helicopter, killing two soldiers.




Regards,
angelfalls!!

3) A few miles west of Baghdad, a brand-new water truck backed gingerly off a flatbed truck and down a makeshift dirt ramp, completing its 7,000-mile journey from a factory in Texas to a government ministry in Iraq.


May 16, 2006:


1)Iraq's prime minister designate Nuri Maliki will present a list outlining the make-up of his government to the main Shiite alliance, with a view to presenting the coalition to parliament a day later.


2) Iraq has apprehended an aide to the country's most-wanted man, Iraq Al-Qaeda chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in the city of Ramadi.


3) Doctors monitoring British troops in the Iraq war reported that so far they see no repeat of the notorious yet elusive condition known as Gulf War Syndrome, which surfaced after the 1991 conflict.


4) The Army is warning soldiers and their families that a new film about an Iraq war medical unit may trigger mental health problems for some who view it. "Baghdad ER" shows a graphic view of Iraq through the eyes of trauma doctors.




Regards,
angelfalls!!

May 17, 2006:


1)Iraq's incoming prime minister said that he will unveil his Cabinet to parliament this weekend, the first sign that the country may finally be moving ahead with a national unity government after weeks of wrangling. ( Yahoo! News )


May 18, 2006 :


1)A slew of fresh violence was reported Thursday in Iraq, leaving a U.S. sailor, Iraqi police, civilians and insurgents dead, and a shrine used by both Sunnis and Shiites severely damaged. ( CNN.com )


2)Italy's new Prime Minister Romano Prodi told lawmakers in the Senate that his centre-left government would maintain an election pledge to withdraw Italy's troops from Iraq. ( Yahoo! News )


3)Britain's new Defence Secretary Des Browne has challenged Iraq's incoming government of national unity to show the nation that it has what it takes to restore stability. ( Yahoo! News )


4)Violence shook Baghdad, killing 13 people, as last-minute political horse-trading continued over key security portfolios ahead of this weekend's expected unveiling of Iraq's new cabinet. ( Yahoo! News )


5)At least 16 people were killed in insurgent attacks in Iraq today, and 15 Tae Kwon Do athletes were kidnapped while driving to a training camp in neighboring Jordan. ( Washington Post )


6)Another U.S. ally in the war in Iraq distanced itself from the U.S.- led effort today when Italy's new prime minister, Romano Prodi, called the U.S.-led invasion and occupation a "grave error" and said he would propose a withdrawal of Italian troops. ( Washington Post )





Regards,
angelfalls!!

7) The kidnappers of a United Arab Emirates diplomat in Iraq demanded the closure of the country's Baghdad embassy in a video shown Thursday on Arab television. ( Yahoo! News )


8) Daunting challenges beyond the volatile security situation in Iraq are preventing a rapid withdrawal of American troops. ( New York Times )


9) Military officials said Thursday that a criminal investigation into a firefight in western Iraq that left at least 15 civilians dead is not complete, but they did not dispute a congressman's charges that the attack by Marines was far worse than originally reported. ( USA Today )



May 19, 2006:


1) Nuclear scientist Hussain al-Shahristani, a Shi'ite Islamist, looked set to become Iraq's next oil minister in a unity government expected to be unveiled within the next 24 hours, negotiators said on Friday. ( Yahoo! News )


2) The brother of a UAE diplomat kidnapped in Iraq told Al-Arabiya television the envoy has not been released, seconds after the Dubai-based news channel said he had been freed. ( Yahoo! News )


3) The key to reducing American casualties in Iraq is getting a government in Baghdad that can revive the economy and "take the angry young men off the street, to give them an alternative" to planting roadside bombs and inflicting other violence, the No. 2-ranking U.S. general in Iraq said Friday.
( Yahoo! News )





Regards,
angelfalls!!

May 20,2006:


1) Japan may begin withdrawing its noncombat troops from southern Iraq as early as next month, winding down the country's riskiest mission since World War Two. (Reuters via Yahoo! News )


2) Iraq's parliament on Saturday approved the line-up of a government of national unity proposed by Prime Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki. ( Reuters via Yahoo! News )


3) Iraq is set to end five months of waiting by announcing its first permanent post-invasion government, a national unity coalition lacking occupants in the key security ministries.(AFP via Yahoo! News )


4 ) Three bombings killed 27 people and wounded dozens on Saturday as parliament convened to inaugurate Iraq's first fully constitutional government since the ouster of Saddam Hussein three years ago. (AP via Yahoo! News )



May 21,2006:


1) Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki said on Sunday he will name defense and interior ministers for his government of national unity in the next "two to three days." ( Reuters via Yahoo! News )


2) Iran has benefitted most from the US-led war in Iraq and would make further gains if the continuing violence ended up dividing the country, former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright has said. ( AFP via Yahoo! News )


3) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Iraq has made "extraordinary progress politically" by inaugurating a new government even though sectarian infighting has stalled the selection of Cabinet posts for overseeing the army, police forces and national security. (AP via Yahoo! News )


4) US President George W. Bush has said that the formation of Iraq's new government will serve as a "devastating defeat" for Al-Qaeda and other groups seeking to create unrest.
(AFP via Yahoo! News )


5) At least 20 people were killed in insurgent violence, 13 of them in a Baghdad restaurant bombing, as Iraq's new national unity government met on its first full day in office.( AFP via Yahoo! News )


6) Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki vowed to use "maximum force against terrorism" on Sunday, as bombs killed at least 19 people in Baghdad during the first meeting of his national unity cabinet. ( Reuters via Yahoo! News )


7) The U.S. ambassador said Sunday the next six months will be critical for Iraq as its new national unity government seeks to win public confidence and improve security so that American and other international troops can begin heading home. (AP via Yahoo! News )


8) The inauguration of Iraq's new government marks a new era in relations with the country that the U.S. has occupied for more than three years, President Bush said Sunday. (AP via Yahoo! News )




Regards,
angelfalls!!

May 22, 2006:


1) Turning all armed forces into an effective law enforcement mechanism is a prime challenge for the new Iraqi government formed over the weekend, and is central to the American strategy for exiting Iraq. (International Herald Tribune )


2) Formation of a national unity government in Baghdad has cleared the way for proposed direct talks between the United States and Iran about the situation inside Iraq, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said in an interview with The Associated Press. (AP via Yahoo! News )


3) Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday that the establishment of Iraq's unity government means there is no longer any justification for armed insurgency and that the best way to get foreign troops to leave is for insurgents to lay down their arms. (AP via Yahoo! News )


4) The new Iraqi prime minister said on Monday his forces could be in charge in most of Iraq by December and officials with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair said all foreign troops may be gone within four years. (Reuters via Yahoo! News )


5) Car bombs and drive-by shootings killed 17 people Monday, including seven police officers, hours before Iraq's parliament met for its first session after swearing in a new government. (AP via Yahoo! News )





Regards,
angelfalls!!

May 23, 2006:


1) Amnesty International assailed the use of military contractors in Iraq and said the behavior of some contractors had diminished America's moral standing. ( New York Times )


2) President Bush, facing political pressure for troop cutbacks, said Tuesday he would make a fresh assessment about Iraq's needs for U.S. military help now that a new government has taken office in Baghdad.( AP via Yahoo! News )


3) Human rights in Iraq are being "severely undermined" by growing insecurity, violence and a "breakdown of law and order" caused by militias and criminal gangs, the U.N. mission here said Tuesday. ( Washington Post )


May 24, 2006:


1) President Bush is choosing his words carefully as he signals a changing role for the U.S. military in Iraq but stops short of committing to the troop reduction that most people want. ( AP via Yahoo! News )


2) Iraq on Wednesday announced the arrest in Lebanon of a nephew of Saddam Hussein for crimes allegedly committed after the fall of Saddam's regime. ( AP via Yahoo! News )


3) Iraq's ex-Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz made his first public appearance in three years on the stand for Saddam Hussein on Wednesday, calling on the court to try current leaders for attacks on the state in the 1980s. ( Reuters via Yahoo! News )


4) Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki pledged to fill his cabinet security posts by the weekend as Washington downplayed any imminent cutbacks in US forces amid surging violence. ( AFP via Yahoo! News )




Regards,
angelfalls!!

May 26, 2006:


1) The two leaders ( Bush and Blair ) have acknowledged major misjudgments in the execution of the Iraq war even while insisting that the election of a constitutional government in Baghdad justified their decision to go to war three years ago. ( International Herald Tribune )


2) Ten people have been killed in violence across Iraq, including eight in a car bombing near one of Baghdad's main bus stations. ( AFP via Yahoo! News )


3) Iran has decided not to take up an offer from Washington of direct talks over the future of Iraq for the time being, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on a visit to Baghdad on Friday. ( Reuters via Yahoo! News )


4) Italy will pull 1,100 of its troops from Iraq in June, the new government said Friday, giving its first specific numbers about the planned withdrawal. ( AP via Yahoo! News )


5) As of Friday, May 26, 2006, at least 2,465 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 1,943 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. ( AP via Yahoo! News )


6) Former enemies' relations improving Iraq assured Iran on Friday that it supports Iran's right to develop nuclear energy and will not allow Iraqi territory to be used to threaten Iran, adopting a position at odds with America's view that Iran should abandon its nuclear program. ( Chicago Tribune )



May 27 , 2006:


1) At least 15 people were killed in a series of attacks in Iraq, with the restive city of Baquba, where seven died, bearing the brunt of the violence. ( AFP via Yahoo! News )




Regards,
angelfalls!!