Monday, March 30, 2009

WITHDRAWAL TO INCREASE COSTS FOR YEARS

"The removal of about 140,000 U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011 will be a "massive and expensive effort" that is likely to increase rather than lower Iraq-related expenditures during the withdrawal and for several years after its completion... The price of equipment repairs and replacements, along with closing or turning over 283 U.S. military installations in Iraq, "will likely be significant..."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/24/AR2009032402741.html

Saturday, March 28, 2009

IRAQ TO RELOCATE ANTI-IRAN MEK TERRORISTS

"Iraq's national security adviser said Friday that the government intends to move an Iranian opposition group... Mujaheddin-e Khalq, or MEK... from its sanctuary near the Iranian border... "Their days in Iraq are numbered"... The U.S. military has protected the group's camp in Iraq since the 2003 invasion... "The party is over for them. The party is over for coalition protection for them," he said, referring to the U.S. military."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/27/AR2009032702954.html?nav=rss_email/components

Thursday, March 26, 2009

BILLIONS OF U.S. AID WASTED IN IRAQ

"... Stuart Bowen, the U.S. special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, told Congress that... about $3 billion to $5 billion in U.S. aid for rebuilding Iraq has been wasted since 2003.."
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2544653120090325

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

CONDITION OF WOMEN IN IRAQ

"Women in Iraq still lack security and basic services... their plight a "silent emergency"... more than half the women had suffered from violence... more than 20% of widows had been victims of domestic violence... A third of all women surveyed said members of their families had died violently... A quarter did not have daily access to water supplies, and more than three-quarters were not getting pensions... health care provision was worse in 2008 than the two previous years, and almost half of respondents said they were getting poorer. ... Iraqi women are suffering a silent emergency, trapped in a downward spiral of poverty, desperation and personal insecurity despite an overall decrease in violence in the country... The majority feel that this is the will of God..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7930890.stm

Monday, March 02, 2009

FORMER IRANIAN PRESIDENT VISITS IRAQ

"One of Iran's most powerful political and religious figures — former President Hashemi Rafsanjani — began talks Monday with Iraqi leaders in the latest high-level contacts between the neighboring countries... Rafsanjani, an influential Shiite ayatollah, was given a red carpet welcome by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani at Baghdad's airport... Talabani said Iraqi authorities could benefit from Rafsanjani's "long experience" as a leader who helped rebuild Iran after its war with Iraq."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090302/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq