Monday, September 24, 2007

Iraq: destruction

Iraq sees "security vacuum" without Blackwater
Reuters via Yahoo! News - 2 hours, 54 minutes agoIraq will not rush to expel U.S. firm Blackwater, under investigation over a shooting which killed 11 Iraqis, because it would leave a "security vacuum" in Baghdad, a government official said on Sunday

United Nations considers a greater role in Iraq
CNN.com - Sep 23 12:00 AMBolstered by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's assurances that there's been "substantial improvement" in security and stability in Iraq, the United Nations is considering boosting its presence in the country

Bush to ask 195 billion to fund Iraq, Afgan wars: report
AFP via Yahoo! News - Sep 22 11:08 PMThe White House will ask Congress next week to approve another massive spending measure for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan totaling nearly 200 billion dollars, The Los Angeles Times reported on its website late Saturday

US dismisses Iranian pledge to help unite Iraq

AFP via Yahoo! News - Sep 22 7:55 PMIran pledged at UN talks Saturday to help national reconciliation in Iraq but the assurance was immediately brushed aside by the Islamic republic's archrival the United States

Iraq Neighbors Urged to Help
Washington Post - Sep 22 6:20 PMUNITED NATIONS, Sept. 22 -- U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told a gathering of 19 foreign ministers and senior diplomats Saturday that peace in Iraq "will not be obtained through military means alone" and that Iraq's neighbors must do more to prevent extremists from crossing into the country

U.S. toll in Iraq San Francisco Chronicle - Sep 23 1:25 AMAs of Saturday, at least 3,795 members of the U.S. military had died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The latest identifications reported by the military: Hoffmaster, Roselle M., 32, Army Capt.,...

Two million displaced inside Iraq since US invasion: report AFP via Yahoo! News - Sep 22 4:11 AMNearly two million Iraqis have fled their homes for other parts of Iraq since the US invasion, creating a "unprecedented human tragedy," the country's Red Crescent said in a report.

Saudi Envoy Weighs In on Iraq
NPR - Sep 22 3:39 PMWith the Middle East in flux, Saudi Arabia has seen opportunities to increase its own influence in the region. In an NPR interview, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, outlines his country's ideas for peace in Iraq.