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Bombing At An Iraqi Army Base In Baghdad Kills 12, Injures At Least 20
www.washingtonpost.com-September 06, 2010
Just five days after the United States declared the end of its combat mission in Iraq, U.S. soldiers opened fire Sunday morning on suicide bombers who snuck into an Iraqi army base in Baghdad, a U.S. military spokesman said.
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U.S. Soldiers Help Repel Deadly Attack On Iraq Army Headquarters
www.latimes.com-September 06, 2010
At least 18 people, none of them Americans, are killed and 39 wounded in the attack by insurgents. The incident comes five days after President Obama declared an end to U.S. combat operations in Iraq.
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Attack Shows Lasting Threat To U.S. In Iraq
www.nytimes.com-September 06, 2010
Insurgents mounted a coordinated attack on one of the main military commands in Baghdad on Sunday, briefly drawing fire from American soldiers, an event that underscored the ambiguity of the American military’s role in Iraq.
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UN nuke agency warns monitoring of Iran hampered
www.washingtonpost.com-September 06, 2010
The U.N. atomic agency expressed alarm Monday about Iran's decision to bar some of its inspectors, suggesting that its efforts to monitor the country's nuclear program were suffering as a result.
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As the U.S. withdraws from Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno bids an anxious goodbye
www.washingtonpost.com-September 05, 2010
When Gen. Ray Odierno returned to Iraq at the end of 2006 to take the reins of ground forces during the darkest days of the war, his team boiled down the country's ills in a document it called the "Gap Chart."
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The true cost of the Iraq war: $3 trillion and beyond
www.washingtonpost.com-September 05, 2010
Writing in these pages in early 2008, we put the total cost to the United States of the Iraq war at $3 trillion. This price tag dwarfed previous estimates, including the Bush administration's 2003 projections of a $50 billion to $60 billion war.
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U.S. troops join Baghdad battle against militants
www.msnbc.com-September 05, 2010
Days after the U.S. officially ended combat operations and touted Iraq's ability to defend itself, American troops found themselves battling heavily armed militants assaulting an Iraqi military headquarters in the center of Baghdad on Sunday. The fighting killed 12 people and wounded dozens.
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Report: Iran pays $1,000 for each U.S. soldier killed by the Taliban
www.msnbc.com-September 05, 2010
Iran is paying Taliban fighters $1,000 for each U.S. soldier they kill in Afghanistan, according to a report in a British newspaper.
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Report: Iran Paying Taliban to Kill U.S. Troops
www.foxnews.com-September 05, 2010
At least five Iranian companies in Afghanistan's capital are using their offices covertly to finance Taliban militants in provinces near Kabul, according to an investigation by London's Sunday Times.
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End Of Combat Yields Surge Of Contractors
www.bostonglobe.com-September 04, 2010
EVEN AS President Obama claimed this week that the end of combat operations in Iraq “completes’’ a transition in which Iraqis have taken responsibility for their own security, he knows that the US pullout is not as thorough as he let on. The American presence takes the form not just of uniformed personnel — tens of thousands of whom will remain — but also of largely unaccountable private security contractors, whose numbers are likely to grow.
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Want Middle East Peace? Deny Iran Nukes
htttp://online.wsj.com-September 03, 2010
Those of us who hope for peace in the Middle East applaud the meeting of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The fact that Palestinians finally agreed to direct negotiations, without preconditions, is a positive step. But let's not delude ourselves: There can never be peace in the Middle East with a nuclear-armed Iran.
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Hillary Clinton's Risky Return to Mideast Peace Talks
www.time.com-September 03, 2010
Hillary Clinton has been notably distant from the Middle East peace process over the past 10 months. Since her ill-fated visit to the region in late October 2009, when she overstated the significance of an Israeli concession and spent the rest of the trip trying to dial it back, Clinton has not traveled to Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan or Egypt. Her most notable intervention came last March, when she called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scold him for a perceived slight to Vice President Joe Biden.
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Iraq U.S. troop numbers down but not out
www.sfchronicle.com-September 02, 2010
Even as President Obama was announcing the end of combat in Iraq, U.S. soldiers were sealing off a northern village early Wednesday as their Iraqi partners raided houses and arrested dozens of suspected insurgents.
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Cloud Of Pessimism Over New Iraq Era
www.latimes.com-September 02, 2010
Iraqi politicians, security officers and civil servants, as well as a senior U.S. military officer, speak of daunting and dangerous challenges.
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U.S. Funding Boost Is Sought For Yemen Forces
htttp://online.wsj.com-September 02, 2010
The U.S. military's Central Command has proposed pumping as much as $1.2 billion over five years into building up Yemen's security forces, a major investment in a shaky government, in a sign of Washington's fears of al Qaeda's growing foothold on the Arabian Peninsula.
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If Saddam Had Stayed
htttp://online.wsj.com-September 02, 2010
From the vantage point of history, Barack Obama's prime-time speech announcing the Iraq war's end is less important than the speech he gave eight years ago as a state senator in Illinois. This was the October 2002 "dumb war" speech to an anti-Iraq war rally in Chicago's Federal Plaza. Back then, Mr. Obama had a more complex view of the stakes in Iraq than he does now.
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Awaiting A Verdict In Iraq
www.washingtonpost.com-September 02, 2010
The images for ending America's war in Iraq were appropriately tentative rather than triumphal: The president spoke in Washington of turning a page; the vice president talked here of starting a new chapter; the defense secretary said it was too early even to judge whether the war was worth it.
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A Speech's Tall Order
www.washingtonpost.com-September 02, 2010
By insisting Tuesday evening that "it's time to turn the page," President Obama was talking about more than the Iraq war, and doing much more than reviving one of his most effective slogans from the 2008 campaign.
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Update on the US Withdrawal From Iraq
www.csis.org-September 02, 2010
There are three areas where there still seems to be confusion about the formal end of US combat operations in Iraq.
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In Baghdad, U.S. Officials Take Note of Milestone
www.nytimes.com-September 02, 2010
The United States began a fragile new era in its turbulent history with Iraq on Wednesday as American political and military leaders marked the official end of combat operations but acknowledged that a difficult milestone, the creation of a new coalition Iraqi government, was not yet in reach.
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Netanyahu and Abbas to Begin Direct Mideast Peace Talks
www.nytimes.com-September 02, 2010
The Israeli and Palestinian leaders were to open direct peace negotiations Thursday after committing to work to end the conflict that has endured for six decades.
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In Iraq, Clear Signs Of A New U.S. Mission
www.washingtonpost.com-September 02, 2010
The U.S. military's war is officially over in Iraq, even as the future of the country remains undecided. The signs of the end were everywhere Wednesday, despite the presence of about 49,000 American troops who remain mostly sequestered on large U.S. bases.
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In A Fragile Iraq, U.S. Ushers In New Era
htttp://online.wsj.com-September 02, 2010
Vice President Joe Biden and top U.S. military officials gathered Wednesday in a former palace of Saddam Hussein to usher in a new era in Iraq—one marked by a lower profile for American troops and a heightened scrutiny on the fragile state of the country's security and democracy.
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Gates Says History Will Determine Whether Iraq War Was Worth It
www.bostonglobe.com-September 02, 2010
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday that history will judge whether the war in Iraq was worth it.
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Iraq Politicians Must Match Citizens' Courage, Form Government, Biden Says
www.bloomberg.com-September 01, 2010
Iraqi leaders must “match the courage” of their citizens and form a government to rule their war-shattered country, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said as American troops formally ended their Iraq combat mission today.
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Gates: Iraq Outcome 'Will Always Be Clouded By How It Began'
www.mcclatchynews.com-September 01, 2010
The U.S. military Wednesday marked the end of its combat mission in Iraq amid a series of conflicting messages that underscored the mixed feelings many here, both American and Iraqi, have toward a seven-and-a-half-year effort that cost tens of thousands of lives but left the political outcome undecided.
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Obama urges Middle East leaders to make peace
www.washingtonpost.com-September 01, 2010
On the eve of the first direct Middle East peace negotiations since he took office, President Obama urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders Wednesday to seize "this moment of opportunity" and to end their decades-long conflict, pledging to throw his administration's "full weight" behind their effort to do so.
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The War In Iraq
www.nytimes.com-September 01, 2010
We were glad to see President Obama go to Fort Bliss on Tuesday before his Oval Office speech on Iraq, to thank those Americans who most shouldered the burdens of a tragic, pointless war. One of the few rays of light in the conflict has been the distance America has come since Vietnam, when blameless soldiers were scorned for decisions made by politicians.
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Combat Mission Ends, But Iraq's Fate Remains Uncertain
www.usatoday.com-September 01, 2010
Since World War II, Americans have seen little reward for their wars. The Korean conflict ended in a menacing 57-year stalemate. Vietnam brought demoralizing defeat. The Afghanistan invasion, so justified and satisfying at the start, degenerated into an unfocused miasma. Even the Persian Gulf War, a military and diplomatic tour de force in its time, was tarnished by its stumbling sequel.
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“Bring It On” Worked
http://smallwarsjournal.com-September 01, 2010
Through accident or design, mostly through accident and blunt trauma, the war in Iraq was brutal, costly in lives and money, and heavy-handed, but dealt al-Qa’ida a severe blow -- hopefully a fatal one and even better, a self-inflicted blow. By creating such a rallying cry for the West’s alleged ‘war against Islam,’ thousands of al-Qa’ida fighters were directed to Iraq where they trained and committed terrorist acts. These acts killed the perpetrators, of course, and killed thousands of innocent Muslims and many American, and Coalition soldiers and civilians. But the attacks revealed al-Qa’ida’s brutish nature, its willingness to kill Muslims, and its goal of achieving chaos and totalitarian rule in pursuit of deposing ‘apostate regimes’ and restoring a new Caliphate (under al-Qa’ida rule, of course) – all of which undermined its legitimacy.
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Unanswered Policy Questions on U.S. Troops
www.cfr.org-September 01, 2010
Speaking on August 31 to the American people from the Oval Office, President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. combat mission in Iraq was over after more than seven costly years. "Now, it's time to turn the page," he said. But turning the page entirely will be difficult; in fact, the president raised more questions than he answered.
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Direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders to begin
www.washingtonpost.com-September 01, 2010
President Obama plunges into Middle East peacemaking on Wednesday with a two-day summit he hopes will be the first step in brokering an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement within a year.
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Biden: Time to turn attention from Iraq to economy
www.realclearpolitics.com-September 01, 2010
Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday he's confident the various factions in Iraq will form a workable coalition and bring stability to the country, now that the U.S. combat role there has ended.
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Obama opens Mideast talks with warning to Hamas
www.msnbc.com-September 01, 2010
President Barack Obama opened a new round of Mideast peacemaking Wednesday, bringing Israeli and Palestinian leaders to the White House for talks aimed at forging agreement within one year on a two-state solution: a sovereign Palestine and a secure Israel.
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Iraq and History's Eventual Verdict
www.realclearpolitics.com-September 01, 2010
As the United States' combat mission in Iraq draws to a close, it is fitting to look back on the war and its legacy so far.
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Obama's Mideast Workhorse: Mitchell's Surprising Success
www.time.com-September 01, 2010
Even by the rough standards of Middle East diplomacy, Senator George Mitchell has received a beating during his tenure as President Obama's special envoy to the region. It took Mitchell 18 months of near constant shuttle diplomacy just to get the Israelis and Palestinians to sit down and talk face to face. In the process, Mitchell's effort has been labeled "an embarrassing flop" and a "failure" by editorialists and nonpartisan analysts.
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Been There, Said That
www.newsweek.com-September 01, 2010
To acknowledge the long odds, here are a few oft-used phrases the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators should avoid.
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Obama Says Iraq Combat Mission Is Over
www.nytimes.com-September 01, 2010
President Obama declared an end on Tuesday to the seven-year American combat mission in Iraq, saying that the United States has met its responsibility to that country and that it is now time to turn to pressing problems at home.
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'Time To Turn The Page' On The Iraq War
www.washingtonpost.com-September 01, 2010
Saying it is "time to turn the page" on one of the most divisive chapters in American history, President Obama declared the U.S. war in Iraq over Tuesday night, telling the nation that he was fulfilling his campaign pledge to stop a war he had opposed from the start.
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Obama Marks End Of Iraq War To Focus On Economy
htttp://online.wsj.com-September 01, 2010
President Barack Obama on Tuesday formally declared an end to combat operations in the seven-year-old Iraq War and, during an Oval Office address, promised to refocus the government from prosecuting wars to rebuilding the U.S. economy.
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Trying to Buck Odds, Obama Takes On 3 Big Mideast Tasks
www.nytimes.com-September 01, 2010
President Obama is attempting a triple play this week that eluded his predecessors over the past two decades: simultaneous progress on the most vexing and violent problems in the Middle East — Israeli-Palestinian peace, Iraq and Iran — in hopes of creating a virtuous cycle in a region prone to downward spirals.
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Gates with Iraq troops as combat mission ends
http://news.yahoo.com-September 01, 2010
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that while the United States is no longer at war in Iraq, history will judge whether the fight was worth it.
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Biden And Gates In Iraq To Mark US Change Of Command
http://news.yahoo.com-September 01, 2010
Vice President Joe Biden and Defence Secretary Robert Gates were on Wednesday to preside over a change of US military command in Iraq, after President Barack Obama declared an end to combat operations.
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As Combat Mission Ends, A New U.S. Operation Begins
http://online.wsj.com-September 01, 2010
The U.S. mission in Iraq is set to undergo a major rebranding on Wednesday, when Vice President Joe Biden presides over a change-of-command ceremony in Baghdad marking the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the campaign that began in March 2003, and the beginning of a military assistance mission called Operation New Dawn.
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A Conflicted Iraq
www.latimes.com-September 01, 2010
Muwafak Ali's downtown Baghdad music store is still pockmarked by the American rocket that whizzed through the door on one of the first days of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003
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After Years Of War, Few Iraqis Have A Clear View Of The Future
www.nytimes.com-September 01, 2010
The invasion of Iraq, occupation and tumult that followed were called Operation Iraqi Freedom back then. It will be named New Dawn on Wednesday.
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Iraq To Spend $13B On U.S. Arms, Equipment
www.usatoday.com-September 01, 2010
Iraq is preparing to buy as much as $13 billion in American arms and military equipment, a huge order of tanks, ships and hardware that U.S. officials say shows Iraqi-U.S. military ties will be tight for years to come.
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In Three Families' Lives, U.S. Mission Leaves Imprint
htttp://online.wsj.com-September 01, 2010
As the U.S. marked the official last day of its combat operations here Tuesday, Iraqis look back on the dramatic impact of the American intervention with mixed feelings.
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Blair’s Memoirs Reveal ‘Tears’ but No Regrets on Iraq
www.nytimes.com-September 01, 2010
As the United States ends it combat mission in Iraq, Tony Blair, the former British prime minister who deployed troops alongside American forces in the 2003 invasion, said Wednesday that, while there had been many tears over the loss of life, he could not regard the war as a mistake.
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Vice President Biden In Iraq
www.pbs.org-September 01, 2010
Biden: After U.S. Combat Exit, Iraqi Government Ready to Take Shape
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Al Qaeda Leader In Yemen Tries To Woo Saudi Soldiers
www.longwarjournal.org-August 31, 2010
In a nearly 15-minute audio tape released in early August, Said al Shihri, one of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) top leaders, tried to convince Saudi soldiers and security officers to serve al Qaeda. Al Shihri set forth a dozen reasons why Saudi citizens should betray the royals, and he offered a cursory plan for doing so.
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Iconic images from the War in Iraq
www.msnbc.com-August 31, 2010
Various images from the War in Iraq.
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John Ubaldi on Sacramento's KFBK Newstalk Radio
www.kfbk.com-August 31, 2010
John comments on the president's speech on Iraq withdrawal.
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Obama’s Iraq Challenge
www.newsweek.com-August 31, 2010
In his speech tonight, the president must do the impossible: plan a finish to a war without end.
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Obama's Speech on the End of Operation Iraqi Freedom
www.realclearpolitics.com-August 31, 2010
Text of President's speech on Iraq.
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Boehner To Obama On Israel: "You Do Not Send A Message Of Strength To Your Enemies By Shunning Your Friends"
www.realclearpolitics.com-August 31, 2010
"Where I come from you stick by your friends and you stick by the people who share your values. You do not send a message of strength to your enemies by shunning your friends and allies. The foreign policy of the United States should not be built on a platform of apologies, corrections, and reset buttons. We will not confront and defeat the terrorist threat by blurring America's exceptionalism and backing out on America’s commitments," Rep. John Boehner, House Minority Leader, said Tuesday to the American Legion.
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Gates: All Is Not Well As Combat Role Ends
www.associatedpress.com-August 31, 2010
All is not well in Iraq as the United States formally closes down its combat mission there, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday, warning that political paralysis and continued sectarian violence cloud that country's future.
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Gates Warns Iraq Commitment Isn't Over
www.mcclatchynews.com-August 31, 2010
As the Obama administration prepared to hail the formal end of combat operations in Iraq, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warned Tuesday that despite the drawdown, the U.S. military effort in Iraq is not over.
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Lost in a Muddle
www.slate.com-August 31, 2010
President Barack Obama's speech from the Oval Office Tuesday night was a strange muddle—a televised prime-time address that lacked a bottom line, a consistent theme, a clear road to the future.
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Obama speech on Iraq has risks
www.washingtonpost.com-August 31, 2010
President Obama is promoting the decision to end the U.S. combat mission in Iraq on Tuesday as a fulfillment of his campaign promise to draw the war to a close. But some of the president's detractors are using the same moment to question the wisdom of doing so - noting that Iraq is still afflicted with violence and has yet to form a government.
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Outlines Emerge of Future State in the West Bank
www.nytimes.com-August 31, 2010
As preparations intensify for a Palestinian-Israeli summit meeting in Washington on Thursday, the crude outlines of a Palestinian state are emerging in the West Bank, with increasingly reliable security forces, a more disciplined government and a growing sense among ordinary citizens that they can count on basic services.
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Restoring Names to Iraq War’s Unknown Casualties
www.nytimes.com-August 31, 2010
In a pastel-colored room at the Baghdad morgue known simply as the Missing, where faces of the thousands of unidentified dead of this war are projected onto four screens, Hamid Jassem came on a Sunday searching for answers.
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Al-Maliki: 'Iraq today is sovereign and independent'
www.msnbc.com-August 31, 2010
Iraq's prime minister said the country had won sovereignty and stood as an equal to the United States after the U.S. military formally ended combat operations on Tuesday, despite political deadlock and violence.
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Obama To Make 2nd Oval Office Speech
www.nytimes.com-August 31, 2010
For only the second time since he took office, President Obama will speak to the nation from the Oval Office on Tuesday night, in an address meant to convey that he has kept one of the central promises of his campaign: withdrawing American combat troops from Iraq.
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Biden in Iraq for Talks and Handover
www.nytimes.com-August 31, 2010
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. arrived in Baghdad on Monday to commemorate the official end of the United States combat mission and to meet with Iraqi political leaders, who have yet to form a government more than five months after elections.
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Worries About US Data On Iraqis
www.bostonglobe.com-August 31, 2010
Over the past seven years, US soldiers in Iraq have used sweeping wartime powers to collect fingerprints, iris scans, and even DNA from ordinary people and suspected insurgents, an effort that has helped the Pentagon amass one of the world’s most comprehensive databases of biometric information collected during a war.
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Fearful Iraqis Scrambling To Buy Weapons
www.washingtonpost.com-August 31, 2010
Four days after his brother was slain in a Baghdad robbery this month, Muntather Shaker borrowed $1,500 and bought a pistol. He carries it in his back pocket, sleeps with it under his pillow and is ready to use it to defend his family.
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A Future To Write In Iraq
www.washingtonpost.com-August 31, 2010
Much has been written in recent days about Iraq and anniversaries. August 1990: Iraq invades Kuwait. August 2010: The last U.S. combat brigade withdraws from Iraq. Are these the bookends of a 20-year war? Did we win? What does winning mean?
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Nation Building Works
www.nytimes.com-August 31, 2010
The U.S. venture into Iraq was a war, but it was also a nation-building exercise. America has spent $53 billion trying to reconstruct Iraq, the largest development effort since the Marshall Plan.
So how’s it working out?
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Abandoned In Baghdad
www.nytimes.com-August 31, 2010
As the United States ends combat operations in Iraq today, it is leaving behind the thousands of Iraqis who worked on behalf of the American government — and who fear their lives and families are threatened by insurgents as a result.
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The Fog At War's End
www.washingtonpost.com-August 31, 2010
Now that the Iraq war is over -- for U.S. combat troops, at least -- only one thing is clear about the outcome: We didn't win.
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Why We Fought And What We Achieved
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 31, 2010
Saddam had launched multiple wars, used weapons of mass destruction and aided global terrorism. Now Iraq's government is an ally and represents all the Iraqi people.
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In Korea, A Model For Iraq
www.nytimes.com-August 31, 2010
VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, who traveled to Iraq this week to mark the formal end of United States combat operations there, has claimed that peace and stability there could be “one of the great achievements” of the Obama administration. Of course, the largest share of credit belongs to the brave men and women of the American military, who have sacrificed so much and persevered through so much difficulty.
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The Surge And Afghanistan
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 31, 2010
Unless he understands the reason for success in Iraq, the president is unlikely to lead a successful strategy against the Taliban.
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In Iraq, A Long Engagement
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 31, 2010
It took 35 years for democracy to take hold in South Korea, and U.S. troops could be in Iraq just as long. Noah Feldman on why the draw-down is a beginning and not an end.
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Why Gloom Looms Over Obama's Iraq Address
www.time.com-August 31, 2010
When he speaks from the Oval Office on Tuesday night, Barack Obama will deliver one of the hardest addresses of his presidency. Yes, he's had tough ones before — on Afghanistan, health care and the BP oil spill. But Tuesday's speech marking the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq confronts Obama with a subject that defies easy explanation, a policy that allows little self-congratulation and a political climate in which Iraq's place is not clear.
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Obama: End of Iraq combat mission not victory lap
www.msnbc.com-August 31, 2010
President Barack Obama marked the end of America's combat mission in Iraq on Tuesday without declaring victory, winding down the U.S. role in a war he considered a terrible mistake and closing a divisive chapter of American history.
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Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates Addresses the American Legion
www.defense.gov-August 31, 2010
Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates Addresses the American Legion National Convention.
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Deterring Al Qaeda after Iraq: A Critique of Paul Davis’ RAND Study
http://smallwarsjournal.com-August 31, 2010
Today marks the last day of Operation Iraqi Freedom. So what? At what cost? To what end? Ever since the successful conclusion of the Cold War, U.S. academics and policymakers have frequently championed deterrence as a military concept. This, of course, is not without substance. Through a combination of nuclear weapons, large bases overseas, and the potential for quick military action, Washington was able to change the Soviet Union’s behavior from a force who aggressively tried to expand communist ideology in the 1960’s to a reserved and degraded confederation by the time of its collapse.
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With U.S. Combat Troops Gone, Iraqis Say 'Thanks for the Mess'
www.time.com-August 30, 2010
Even as Washington is recasting the narrative of the Iraq war in terms of the troop withdrawal and campaign promises, Iraqi citizens say they're still caught in the same old story of frustration and fear. U.S. combat troops have now left the country, leaving behind an unfinished $53 billion rebuilding plan and some 50,000 personnel to advise and assist the populace. Meanwhile, President Obama is scheduled to speak about the end of America's seven-year military engagement in Iraq in a speech on Tuesday that will, among other things, officially change the code name for the U.S. mission from Operation Iraqi Freedom to Operation New Dawn.
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Mysterious killings spread panic in Iraq
www.latimes.com-August 30, 2010
Iraqis say a post election political deadlock has given free rein to terrorists, but no one knows who they are or how they choose their victims.
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Winding down the Iraq war, and avoiding civil war
www.latimes.com-August 30, 2010
Most Americans seem ready to consign the Iraq war to history. They've watched tank convoys leave Baghdad, and they've heard the president underscore his campaign promise to draw down U.S. forces, leaving roughly 50,000 in the country as of Aug. 31. Moreover, Iraq and the U.S. have agreed that the remaining U.S. troops will be gone by December 2011. But history suggests that unless the U.S. is willing and able to remain committed to Iraq's security and prosperity — and Iraqis know it — the country is at risk of spiraling back into civil war.
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Biden visits Iraq as troops withdraw
www.reuters.com-August 30, 2010
Vice President Joe Biden flew into Iraq on Monday to assure Iraqis the United States is not abandoning them as it stops combat operations, a milestone in the 7-1/2 year war the Obama administration is trying to end.
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Iraq conflict leaves officers weary and humbled
www.washingtonpost.com-August 30, 2010
In the summer of 2006, Maj. Walt Cooper was convinced that his Special Forces team's work was only contributing to the violence spiraling out of control in Baghdad.
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U.S. troops in Iraq go from shock and awe to 'advise and assist'
www.latimes.com-August 30, 2010
Even before the formal end this month, for most of the remaining troops in Iraq, the war as they knew it has long been over as they transitioned from a combat role to one of helping and training Iraqi forces.
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No Letup In Iraq For Some Forces
www.washingtontimes.com-August 30, 2010
As U.S. military forces continue to stream out of Iraq, formally ending combat operations on Tuesday, one of the most effective elements of those forces missed the drawdown completely.
There are as many special operations forces in the country now as there were when the exit began last year.
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$5 Billion In U.S. Rebuilding Aid Wasted In Iraq
www.sfchronicle.com-August 30, 2010
As the United States draws down in Iraq, it is leaving behind hundreds of abandoned or incomplete projects. More than $5 billion in American taxpayer funds has been wasted - more than 10 percent of the $50 billion the United States has spent on reconstruction in Iraq, according to audits from a U.S. watchdog agency.
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'It's too soon to tell' how the Iraq war went
www.washingtonpost.com-August 30, 2010
On Tuesday, Barack Obama will make a speech about Iraq. With 50,000 troops still in the country in an "advisory capacity" he can't declare victory, so he will instead celebrate "the end of combat operations." If he follows others who have already marked this occasion, his comments will focus on Iraq: the state of Iraqi democracy, the level of violence, the impact seven years of war has had on Iraqi society.
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Questionable Timing on Mideast Talks
www.cfr.org-August 30, 2010
U.S. President Barack Obama this week hosts a conference to launch the latest round of Israeli-Palestinian talks. Yet "it's hard to be optimistic" on prospects for the talks, says CFR's Steven A. Cook, noting the political situation in Israel makes it tough for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to extend a moratorium on building in the West Bank settlements.
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Iraq: The Realities of US "Withdrawal" of Combat Forces and the Challenges of Strategic Partnership
www.csis.org-August 30, 2010
The US may be announcing the “withdrawal” of its combat forces – although six Advisory and Assistance brigade and ~ 50,000 men may remain up to the end of 2011. The fact is, however, that US the withdrawal is far from over, the Iraq War is not over, it is not “won,” and any form of stable end state in Iraq is probably impossible before 2020.
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U.S. Commander Fears Political Stalemate in Iraq
www.nytimes.com-August 30, 2010
The departing commander of American forces in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, said Sunday that a new Iraqi government could still be two months away and warned that a stalemate beyond that could create demands for a new election to break the deadlock, which has lasted since March.
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Tensions in Israel Ahead of Talks
www.nytimes.com-August 29, 2010
Israel was in an uproar on Sunday over a refusal by Israeli theater artists to perform in West Bank Jewish settlements, and Palestinians were outraged by a virulently anti-Palestinian sermon by a Jerusalem rabbi, further fueling the atmosphere days before the expected resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in Washington.
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A U.S. 'Legacy Of Waste' In Iraq
www.latimes.com-August 29, 2010
The $53-billion reconstruction effort is not without its successes. But poor planning, violence and a failure to consult Iraqis derailed many projects, which may offer lessons in Afghanistan.
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Dangers of war persist for soldiers left in Iraq
www.washingtonpost.com-August 28, 2010
Col. Malcolm Frost knew there would be questions. The official end to the U.S. combat mission in Iraq was approaching, but his soldiers, operating in two of Iraq's most dangerous provinces, would still be here.
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Obama: Iraq war is ending, Baghdad to chart future
www.realclearpolitics.com-August 28, 2010
President Barack Obama said the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq means "the war is ending" and Baghdad is in position "to chart its own course."
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A Very Long Engagement
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 28, 2010
It took 35 years for democracy to take hold in South Korea, and U.S. troops could be in Iraq just as long. Noah Feldman on why the draw-down is a beginning and not an end.
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Iraq seven years later: Was the war worth it?
www.usatoday.com-August 27, 2010
Was the War in Iraq worth it?
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Iraqis Face Uncertain Future As U.S. Ends Combat Mission
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 27, 2010
As the U.S. declares an official end to its combat mission in Iraq on Tuesday, having cut its troops to fewer than 50,000, the outlook for the country is better than it was three years ago. And yet Amil, like the rest of Iraq, is watching with mixed emotions. In addition to hope, there is anger, disappointment at what the U.S. has achieved and a sense of plunging into the unknown.
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Fact Sheet: The Iraq Drawdown
www.understandingwar.org-August 27, 2010
On September 1, 2010, the mission of U.S. forces in Iraq will change from a combat mission under Operation Iraqi Freedom to a stability operations mission. General Lloyd Austin will assume command of United States Forces-Iraq from General Ray Odierno on that day.
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Battle Centers On Surge
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 27, 2010
Though the fighting appears to be over for U.S. troops in Iraq, the battle still rages over how those forces brought the country a measure of stability.
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Insurgents Ambush US-Backed Militia
www.bostonglobe.com-August 27, 2010
Insurgents killed six members of a government-allied Sunni militia in an ambush northeast of Baghdad yesterday, police said, offering no respite to a nation reeling from a spate of attacks on police and soldiers a day earlier that left at least 56 dead.
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A Shaky Advance Led By Oil Money
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 27, 2010
Seven years after the U.S.-led invasion, Iraq's petroleum industry shows signs of living up to the potential that American planners hoped for at the start of the military operation, a potential boost to the war-ravaged country's economic recovery.
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Anxious Iraqis Look at Uncertain Future
www.cfr.org-August 27, 2010
With the pullout of U.S. combat units completed, many Iraqis, even those who deplored the presence of foreign troops, are "fearful about what happens" if the U.S. withdraws completely next year as planned, says Jane Arraf, a long-time Baghdad correspondent who served as an Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow at CFR. Beyond concerns about whether Iraq will be able to defend itself when all U.S. troops have gone, there's also anxiety about the unsettled political situation.
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Critics of ‘Imperial America’ had reason for their silence
www.thenational.com-August 26, 2010
The withdrawal of American combat forces from Iraq last week brought muted reactions from those who had opposed the invasion of the country in 2003. This was partly understandable, since the United States will continue to exert considerable influence in Baghdad. But there was also discernible bad faith in the critics’ refusal to acknowledge that Iraq had entered a fundamentally new phase.
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John Ubaldi on Sacramento's KFBK Newstalk Radio
www.kfbk.com-August 26, 2010
John Ubaldi interviewed on Sacramento KFBK News Talk Radio 680 on Iraq troop withdrawal and its impact.
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Coordinated Attacks Strike 13 Iraqi Cities
www.nytimes.com-August 26, 2010
Insurgents unleashed a wave of coordinated attacks across Iraq on Wednesday in a demonstration of their ability to strike at will, offering their counterpoint to American aspirations of bringing the war in Iraq “to a responsible end.”
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Obama To Give War Address Tuesday
www.nytimes.com-August 26, 2010
President Obama will address the nation on Tuesday night about the end of combat operations in Iraq, in his second televised speech from the Oval Office, the White House announced on Wednesday.
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Departing Troops Leave Big Job For Diplomats
www.washingtontimes.com-August 26, 2010
As the White House eagerly highlights the departure of U.S. combat troops from Iraq, the small army of American diplomats left behind is embarking on a long and perilous path to keeping the volatile country from slipping back to the brink of civil war.
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Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen Confident In Iraqi Forces, Concerned About Nuclear Weapons
www.chicagotribune.com-August 26, 2010
As the final U.S. combat troops pull out of Iraq and a wave of attacks there Wednesday killed more than 50 people, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said his confidence in the Iraqi security forces has not faltered.
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Iraq Combat Phase Ends, But U.S. Might Stay Past 2011
www.mcclatchynews.com-August 26, 2010
The U.S. combat mission in Iraq officially comes to an end Tuesday, 2,722 days after American-led troops stormed across the border from Kuwait. The remaining 49,000 U.S. troops are supposed to depart by the end of next year.
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For Once, Hope in the Middle East
www.brookings.edu-August 26, 2010
Now that President Obama has finally succeeded in bringing the Israelis and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table, the commentariat is already dismissing his chances of reaching a peace agreement. But there are four factors that distinguish the direct talks that will get under way on Sept. 2 in Washington from previous attempts — factors that offer some reason for optimism.
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Military Aid To Yemen Doubles As U.S. Aims To Boost Fight Against Al-Qaeda
www.bloomberg.com-August 25, 2010
The U.S. Defense Department said it will finish spending $155 million by the end of September on equipment to help Yemen’s army commandos fight al-Qaeda, more than double last year’s military aid to that country.
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Iran: Who's Afraid of Ahmadinejad's New Drone?
www.time.com-August 25, 2010
Iran's weapons-development efforts have long had a wisp of The Wizard of Oz about them — in other words, don't look behind the curtain. In the movie, of course, it was Toto who tugged back the curtain to show the lever-pulling wiz was a fraud. But it was Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad himself who stood proudly on the stage at Tehran's Malek-Ashtar University of Technology as a sky-blue curtain rose to unveil Iran's first armed drone. It also showed the world, if not his fellow Iranians, just how threadbare Tehran's arsenal is.
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CIA sees increased threat from al-Qaeda in Yemen
www.washingtonpost.com-August 25, 2010
For the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, CIA analysts see one of al-Qaeda's offshoots - rather than the core group now based in Pakistan - as the most urgent threat to U.S. security, officials said.
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Dozens Killed in Wave of Attacks Across Iraq
www.nytimes.com-August 25, 2010
In one of the broadest assaults on Iraq’s security forces, insurgents unleashed a wave of roadside mines and a more than a dozen car bombs across Iraq on Wednesday, killing dozens, toppling a police station in the capital and sowing confusion among the soldiers and police who responded.
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U.S. Weighs Expanded Strikes In Yemen
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 25, 2010
U.S. officials believe al Qaeda in Yemen is now collaborating more closely with allies in Pakistan and Somalia to plot attacks against the U.S., spurring the prospect that the administration will mount a more intense targeted killing program in Yemen.
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U.S. Troop Count Dips Below 50,000 In Iraq
www.nytimes.com-August 25, 2010
The American military said Tuesday that the number of troops in Iraq had dropped below 50,000, in line with the Obama administration’s deadline of Aug. 31 for what it describes as the end of combat operations in the country.
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U.S. Meets Iraq Drawdown Ahead Of Schedule
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 25, 2010
The U.S. military in Iraq said Tuesday that the number of U.S. soldiers in the country has now fallen below 50,000, a milestone accomplished ahead of the formal end of its combat mission slated for Aug. 31.
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Palestinian-Israeli Direct Talks: The Case for a Regional Approach
www.carnegieendowment.org-August 24, 2010
Even with little chance of a breakthrough, U.S. negotiators worked hard to get Palestinians and Israelis to restart direct peace talks. But with a similar amount of effort they could take a different approach that is far more promising.
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US Military: US Troops In Iraq Below 50,000 Number
http://news.yahoo.com-August 24, 2010
The number of U.S. troops in Iraq has fallen below 50,000 for the first time since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and ahead of the end-of-the-month deadline mandated by President Barack Obama, the American military said in a statement Tuesday.
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The Twenty Years' War
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 24, 2010
Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2, 1990. Two decades later, on Aug. 18, 2010, the U.S. withdrew its last combat brigade from Iraq. Throughout those years U.S. military operations went under a variety of names—including Desert Storm, the Gulf War, Operations Northern and Southern Watch, Operation Iraqi Freedom, the War in Iraq—but over time they will be seen as part of an unbroken thread.
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Iran says Middle East peace talks futile
www.hindustimes.com-August 24, 2010
Iran on Tuesday said that the forthcoming Middle East peace talks between Israel and Palestine would be futile. "As long as the main root of the problem is not solved, no peace talks will have any tangible results and be futile," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in a press
briefing in Tehran.
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Israel Will React To Iraq Accordingly
www.jerusalempost.com-August 24, 2010
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said that regional war initiated by Iran was a distinct possibility, adding that "Israel is committed to defending its citizens and if attacked will act accordingly." The comments, released Tuesday, came in a Farsi language broadcast on Israel Radio in which Ayalon addressed the people of Iran, taking calls and answering questions . The broadcast was originally aired on Monday.
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The New Saudi Arms Deal
www.csis.org-August 24, 2010
One of the most critical strategic decisions the US will have to make over the next few years is how to reshape its security posture in the Gulf and the Middle East as it fully withdraws from Iraq. There is no possible “end state” to the US presence in the Gulf, or an end to the need for the strongest possible US security ties to friendly states in the region.
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Iraq: Number of U.S. Troops Below 50,000
www.time.com-August 24, 2010
The number of U.S. troops in Iraq has fallen below 50,000 for the first time since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and ahead of the end-of-the-month deadline mandated by President Barack Obama, the American military said in a statement Tuesday.
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Iraq Border Concerns Spur Effort To Integrate Kurdish And Iraqi Army Forces
www.csmonitor.com-August 23, 2010
Kurdish forces are receiving instruction at the Iraqi Army’s training center in what officials call a breakthrough aimed at easing tensions and securing Iraq's vulnerable border with Iran.
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'Mission accomplished'? Joe Biden gives upbeat assessment of Iraq.
www.csmonitor.com-August 23, 2010
The Obama White House has been fretting for weeks over how best to portray the official conclusion of the US combat presence in Iraq at the end of this month. If the speech by Vice President Joe Biden before a veterans organization Monday is an indication, it will be upbeat, muscular, and just shy of “mission accomplished.”
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LTG JAMES DUBIK (RET.) VISITS THE SITUATION ROOM TO DISCUSS LESSONS LEARNED IN IRAQ (CNN)
www.understandingwar.org-August 23, 2010
ISW Senior Fellow LTG James Dubik (Ret.) discusses the Army's lessons learned on the eve of the Iraq drawdown with CNN Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence.
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Transition to Iraq Sovereignty:
http://smallwarsjournal.com-August 23, 2010
How to transition to Iraqi sovereignty.
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U.S. General Lauds Iraqi Preparedness
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 23, 2010
The top U.S. commander in Iraq, speaking days before U.S. combat troops are scheduled to leave the country, said Iraqi security forces are now fit for duty, and that the U.S. wouldn't restart combat operations there, barring a "complete failure" of these forces.
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Combat Duties In Iraq Unlikely
www.arizonarepublic.com-August 23, 2010
It would take "a complete failure" of the Iraqi security forces for the U.S. to resume combat operations there, the top American commander in Iraq said as the final U.S. fighting forces prepared to leave the country.
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Mideast peace talks raise stakes higher for President Obama
www.usatoday.com-August 23, 2010
President Obama's decision to restart Middle East peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians next week creates a big opportunity for him, but also huge risk, experts on the region say.
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Fatality In Iraq Is First After Deadline
www.nytimes.com-August 23, 2010
An American soldier was killed in Iraq’s southernmost province on Sunday, marking the first American fatality since the military declared last week that the last combat unit had pulled out of the country, the military said.
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Iranians Roll Out Unmanned Bomber
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 23, 2010
Defying mounting international pressure over its military ambitions, Iran on Sunday unveiled what it said was its latest battlefield advance—an armed aerial drone—a day after initiating the start-up of its first nuclear power plant.
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Departure Of Combat Forces Brings New Challenge In Iraq
www.usatoday.com-August 23, 2010
When the last officially designated American combat brigade pulled out of Iraq last week, the occasion — for all its symbolic significance — passed with scant notice. President Obama, no doubt mindful of his predecessor's "Mission Accomplished" fiasco, simply noted that his campaign commitment to end combat operations by Sept. 1 had been met, saving any more substantive comment for a speech later this week. News media attention was similarly moderate, and critics and supporters of the war alike were uncharacteristically subdued.
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U.S. Deadline Improved Iraq
www.usatoday.com-August 23, 2010
Last Thursday, the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, crossed the border out of Iraq. With this exit, two weeks ahead of schedule, our military met the timeline to withdraw combat troops that President Obama first proposed 16 months ago. For that, every American should feel reassured.
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The Guns Of August, 1990
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 23, 2010
The last 20 years would have been very different had American forces taken that open road to Baghdad the first time around.
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Details About President Obama's Iraq Address Next Week
www.abcnews.com-August 23, 2010
As US combat troops prepare to leave Iraq and the mission in Iraq changes, President Obama is preparing a speech to give to the nation. The tentative date for the speech is August 31, the withdrawal deadline for US combat troops.
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Iran's Reactor Fuels Hopes and Fears
www.cfr.org-August 23, 2010
Thirty-six years after construction began, Iranian and Russian engineers started loading fuel into the Russian-built nuclear power plant in the southern Iranian port city of Bushehr (CNN) over the weekend.
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Biden: Iraqis Ready to 'Take Charge' as U.S. Forces Withdraw
www.foxnews.com-August 23, 2010
Vice President Biden, declaring Monday that Al Qaeda in Iraq and its extremist allies have "utterly failed" to inflame widespread violence, said Iraqis are ready to "take charge" of their country as U.S. combat troops leave.
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Israeli-Palestinian Talks Face a Big 'So What?'
www.time.com-August 22, 2010
Wide, long and not very satisfying was the yawn that greeted news that Israel and the Palestinian Authority will resume direct peace talks in Washington next month. After decades of fruitless negotiations interrupted by periods of stalemate or terror or both, expectations could scarcely be lower on either side.
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As U.S. scales back role in Iraq, attacks and political deadlock persist
www.washingtonpost.com-August 22, 2010
As the last U.S. combat brigade pulled out of Iraq amid fanfare last week, Iraqis remained embroiled in a battle for stability.
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US troops to return only if Iraqi forces fail
www.washingtonpost.com-August 22, 2010
It would take "a complete failure" of the Iraqi security forces for the U.S. to resume combat operations there, the top American commander in Iraq said as the final U.S. fighting forces prepared to leave the country.
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Russia helps Iran load fuel into its first nuclear plant
www.washingtonpost.com-August 22, 2010
Iranian and Russian engineers began loading nuclear fuel into Iran's first atomic power plant Saturday amid international concern that the Islamic Republic is seeking a nuclear weapon.
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As Mission Shifts in Iraq, Risks Linger for Obama
www.nytimes.com-August 22, 2010
The official end of America’s combat mission in Iraq next week will fulfill the campaign promise that helped vault President Obama to the White House, but it also presents profound risks as he seeks to claim credit without issuing a premature declaration of victory.
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Iran unveils 'ambassador of death' bomber
www.msnbc.com-August 22, 2010
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Sunday inaugurated the country's first domestically built long-range unmanned bomber aircraft, calling it an "ambassador of death" to Iran's enemies.
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Iran Unveils Domestically Produced Bomber Drone
www.defensenews.com-August 22, 2010
Iranian leaders on Aug. 22 unveiled a bomber drone with a range of up to 1,000 kilometers (621 miles), touting the Islamic republic's home-grown capacity to resist attack, state media reported.
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"Face the Nation" with General Ray Odierno
www.cbs.com-August 22, 2010
"Face the Nation" with General Ray Odierno, Senator Lindsey Graham, and Author Greg Mortenson, and General David Petraeus.
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US troops to return only if Iraqi forces fail
www.realclearmarkets.com-August 22, 2010
It would take "a complete failure" of the Iraqi security forces for the U.S. to resume combat operations there, the top American commander in Iraq said as the final U.S. fighting forces prepared to leave the country.
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'Shiite Zarqawi' Returns To Baghdad From Iran: Report
www.longwarjournal.org-August 21, 2010
An Iranian-backed terrorist known as the "Shiite Zarqawi" is reported to have returned to Baghdad to carry out attacks in central and southern Iraq.
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Iran begins fueling first nuclear reactor
www.washingtonpost.com-August 21, 2010
Iranian and Russian engineers began loading fuel Saturday into Iran's first nuclear power plant, which Moscow has promised to safeguard to prevent material at the site from being used in any potential weapons production.
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In Mideast Talks, Scant Hopes From the Beginning
www.nytimes.com-August 21, 2010
The American invitation on Friday to the Israelis and Palestinians to start direct peace talks in two weeks in Washington was immediately accepted by both governments. But just below the surface there was an almost audible shrug. There is little confidence — close to none — on either side that the Obama administration’s goal of reaching a comprehensive deal in one year can be met.
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Despite Sanctions, Iran Fuels First Nuclear Reactor
www.nytimes.com-August 21, 2010
Iranian and Russian engineers began loading fuel Saturday into Iran's first nuclear power plant, which Moscow has promised to safeguard to prevent material at the site from being used in any potential weapons production.
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In Mideast talks, scant hopes from beginning
www.msnbc.com-August 21, 2010
The American invitation on Friday to the Israelis and Palestinians to start direct peace talks in two weeks in Washington was immediately accepted by both governments. But just below the surface there was an almost audible shrug. There is little confidence — close to none — on either side that the Obama administration’s goal of reaching a comprehensive deal in one year can be met.
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LISTEN-MARISA COCHRANE SULLIVAN ON IRAQ DRAWDOWN (CNN RADIO)
www.understandingwar.org-August 20, 2010
Marisa Cochrane Sullivan featured in several CNN Radio shorts regarding the troop draw down in Iraq.
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Clinton Announces Israelis, Palestinians To Resume Peace Talks
www.realclearpolitics.com-August 20, 2010
Video of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Announcing Israelis, Palestinians To Resume Peace Talks.
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U.S. offers to host Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
www.washingtonpost.com-August 20, 2010
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday invited Israeli and Palestinian leaders to Washington next month to relaunch direct peace negotiations after a nearly two-year hiatus, and she set a goal of completing a comprehensive settlement within a year.
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Five myths about the Iraq troop withdrawal
www.washingtonpost.com-August 20, 2010
Early Thursday, less than two weeks before the president's Aug. 31 deadline for ending American combat operations in Iraq, the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division crossed the border from Iraq into Kuwait. With the departure of this last combat brigade, the U.S. military presence in Iraq is now down to 50,000 troops, fewer than at any time since the 2003 invasion. The shift offers a useful moment to take stock of both how much has been accomplished and how much is left to be done in what is fast becoming our forgotten war.
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Iran prepares to start up first nuclear reactor
http://news.yahoo.com-August 20, 2010
Iranian and Russian nuclear technicians made final preparations to start up Iran's first reactor on Saturday after years of delays, an operation that will mark a milestone in what Tehran considers its right to produce nuclear energy.
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Winning The Peace In Iraq
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 20, 2010
The last American combat troops left Iraq this week. But when 'Operation New Dawn' begins on Sept. 1, the U.S. will still have a vital mission—and interests—there.
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U.S.: Israel, Palestinians to resume peace talks
www.msnbc.com-August 20, 2010
Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to resume their long-stalled direct negotiations in Washington early next month, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday, with a goal of two sovereign states existing side by side in peace.
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The U.S. and Israel: Same View of Threat, Different View on Force
www.washingtoninstitute.org-August 20, 2010
Over the last year, statements about the Iranian nuclear issue from Israel's leadership have emphasized how serious the problem is, rather than how immediately it will come to a boil. This is quite a shift from 2005, when -- during a visit to President George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas -- Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stressed that, the moment Iran mastered uranium-enrichment technology, we would be past the point of no return.
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Israel and the Palestinians to resume direct talks
www.bbc.com-August 20, 2010
Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to resume direct negotiations for the first time in 20 months, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.
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Recount In Iraq Preserves Victory For Maliki Rival
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 20, 2010
When the men and women of Fourth Brigade, Second Infantry Division deployed to Iraq in April 2007 as part of President Bush's surge, American soldiers were being killed or wounded at a rate of about 750 a month, the country was falling to sectarian mayhem, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had declared that the war was "lost."
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Clinton invites Israel, Palestinians to September 2 talks
www.reuters.com-August 20, 2010
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume direct talks in Washington on September 2 with an aim to reaching a peace deal within one year.
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Israelis and Palestinians to Resume Talks, Officials Say
www.nytimes.com-August 20, 2010
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected to announce Friday that Israel and the Palestinians will return to direct negotiations for the first time in 20 months, delivering the Obama administration a small victory in its protracted effort to revive the Middle East peace process, two officials briefed on the situation said Thursday evening.
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U.S. Assures Israel That Iran Threat Is Not Imminent
www.nytimes.com-August 20, 2010
The Obama administration, citing evidence of continued troubles inside Iran’s nuclear program, has persuaded Israel that it would take roughly a year — and perhaps longer — for Iran to complete what one senior official called a “dash” for a nuclear weapon, according to American officials.
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In Iraq War, Soldiers Say They Had a Job to Do
www.nytimes.com-August 20, 2010
Staff Sgt. Lucas C. Trammell, a tank gunner with the Third Infantry Division, fought his way into Baghdad in 2003. He was back in 2005, abandoning the tank for foot patrols in a very unsafe Ramadi, and again in 2007 as bodyguard for a battalion commander in Baghdad.
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No Rejoicing In Iraq As U.S. Combat Mission Ends
www.latimes.com-August 20, 2010
Iraqis danced in the streets when U.S. troops withdrew from their cities a little over a year ago. After the last American combat brigade trundled across the border into Kuwait early Thursday, reversing a journey that began more than seven years ago, there was no rejoicing.
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Withdrawal Of U.S. Forces Is 'New Dawn' For Iraq
www.usatoday.com-August 20, 2010
U.S. special operations forces will continue to hunt down terrorists in Iraq and 50,000 servicemembers will remain on the ground for more than a year as Iraq prepares to officially take over combat operations Aug. 31.
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US Stresses Military Role In Iraq
http://news.yahoo.com-August 20, 2010
US troops will still be in combat and taking on Islamist militants in Iraq even as the American military moves to an "advise and assist" role with a smaller force, officials said.
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Stiff Test For Mosul As US Pulls Out
www.ft.com-August 20, 2010
At a checkpoint along a highway once dubbed “Death Street,” Brigadier General Majid al-Zubydi brings his convoy of Humvees to a halt and hops out to inspect Iraqi forces who have been taking increasing responsibility for security in one of Iraq’s most volatile cities.
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Bush Comments On End Of Combat
www.politico.com-August 19, 2010
Seven years after declaring the end of “major combat operations in Iraq,” former President George W. Bush Thursday commented on the departure of the last U.S. combat troops from the country by expressing his gratitude to members of the U.S. military.
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The Beginning of the End
www.foreignpolicy.com-August 19, 2010
The U.S. combat presence in Iraq is over, and it is likely all troops will be gone by the end of next year. But strong support will still be needed in the weeks and months to come, lest the country slip back into chaos and conflict.
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Operation Iraqi Freedom ends as last combat soldiers leave Baghdad
www.washingtonpost.com-August 19, 2010
Lt. Col. Mark Bieger huddled his infantrymen in a darkened parking lot minutes before they were to depart Baghdad for the last time.
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Civilians to Take U.S. Lead After Military Leaves Iraq
www.nytimes.com-August 19, 2010
As the United States military prepares to leave Iraq by the end of 2011, the Obama administration is planning a remarkable civilian effort, buttressed by a small army of contractors, to fill the void.
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Iraq in the rear-view mirror
www.latimes.com-August 19, 2010
Their Stryker, hulking in the dark like a dinosaur, is prepped with coolers full of water and Gatorade. The iPod is wired into the communications system. Now all they can do is wait for the ride their commanders have named "the last patrol."
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U.S. Withdrawal Not End To Mission In Iraq
www.washingtontimes.com-August 19, 2010
The Pentagon is officially ending its seven-year combat mission in Iraq on Aug. 31, but the remaining 50,000 U.S. troops will still carry out missions against terrorists and the CIA will continue cooperation with Iraq's now-unified intelligence service.
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Last U.S. Combat Brigade Leaves Iraq
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 19, 2010
As their convoy reached the barbed wire at the border crossing out of Iraq on Wednesday, the soldiers whooped and cheered. Then they scrambled out of their stifling hot armored vehicles, unfurled an American flag and posed for group photos.
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Iraq: Strategic Partnership or Lose the "Unwon" War
www.csis.org-August 19, 2010
The Iraq War is not over and it is not “won.” In fact, it is at as critical a stage as at any time since 2003. Regardless of the reasons for going to war, everything now depends on a successful transition to an effective and unified Iraqi government, and Iraqi security forces that can bring both security and stability to the average Iraqi. The creation of such an “end state” will take a minimum of another five years, and probably ten.
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Iraq war by the numbers, as last US combat brigade leaves
www.csmonitor.com-August 19, 2010
The last US combat brigade departed Iraq on Thursday morning, 12 days ahead of the Aug. 31 deadline set by President Obama. It completed a cutback to 50,000 troops, from a high of 170,000. Mr. Obama has said all US service members will be pulled out by Jan. 1, 2012.
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John Ubaldi on Sacramento's KFBK Newstalk Radio
www.kfbk.com-August 19, 2010
Interview on KFBK News Talk radio regarding the End of Operation Iraqi Freedom
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Not the End
www.newsweek.com-August 19, 2010
The departure of the last “combat troops” from Iraq is hardly the end of American combat there.
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Iraq: Strategic Partnership or Lose the "Unwon" War
www.csis.org-August 19, 2010
The Iraq War is not over and it is not “won.” In fact, it is at as critical a stage as at any time since 2003. Regardless of the reasons for going to war, everything now depends on a successful transition to an effective and unified Iraqi government, and Iraqi security forces that can bring both security and stability to the average Iraqi.
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Arming Hizballah? U.S. Military Assistance to Lebanon
www.washingtoninstitute.org-August 19, 2010
The August 3 fatal shooting of an Israel Defense Forces officer by a Lebanese Armed Forces soldier has sparked debate regarding the utility and wisdom of the U.S. military assistance program to Lebanon. Although such assistance is not new, the program's scope dramatically increased after the 2005 Cedar Revolution ended Syria's thirty-year occupation and swept the Arab world's only pro-Western, democratically elected government to power.
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Road Ahead in Iraq
www.foxnews.com-August 19, 2010
Video interview on the road ahead in Iraq.
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Don't Cut Off Lebanon's Aid
www.carnegieendowment.org-August 19, 2010
With a deadly clash along the Israeli-Lebanese border earlier this month and amid growing accusations that Hezbollah holds undue sway over the Lebanese army, members of the U.S. Congress moved to cut off military aid to the strategically critical Arab country. But this runs counter to U.S. interests and to the interests of Lebanese and regional stability. While there are valid concerns about the Lebanese military, stopping funding will weaken the government and military, empower Hezbollah and strengthen Syrian and Iranian influence in Lebanon.
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The Meaning of the End of Iraqi Freedom
www.cnas.org-August 19, 2010
The 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division has left Iraq, marking what President Obama has called the end of America's combat mission in Iraq. But some 50,000 U.S. troops remain in the country. It's unclear if and how their role will change as the mission shifts from combat to support
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Going Critical: Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Reactor Starts Up
www.washingtoninstitute.org-August 18, 2010
At a ceremony near the southern Iranian coastal city of Bushehr this Saturday, Russia will begin the process of loading fuel rods into Iran's first civilian nuclear reactor. Theoretically distinct from the rest of the regime's disturbing nuclear program, the Bushehr plant nevertheless remains a major international concern. The low-enriched uranium in the fuel rods would, if diverted, substantially increase Iran's existing stock of the material, which many suspect is already being used to develop nuclear weapons.
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Iraqi Leaders Fear for Future After Their Past Missteps
www.nytimes.com-August 18, 2010
Iraq’s political elite, empowered by the American invasion and entrusted with the country’s future, has begun to deliver a damning critique of itself, a grim harbinger for a country rife with fears of more crises, conflicts and even coups as the American military withdraws.
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Suicide Bomber Kills Dozens in Attack on Iraqi Army Recruits
www.nytimes.com-August 18, 2010
A suicide bomber penetrated apparently lax security measures at an Iraqi Army recruiting office in Baghdad on Tuesday, killing dozens of recruits in the first major bombing of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The attack comes in the fraught period just ahead of the Aug. 31 deadline for American forces to reduce their numbers.
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In Iraq, Cemetery Plot Is A Sign Of Skepticism
www.washingtonpost.com-August 18, 2010
The followers of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr call this plot of land on the edge of this holy Shiite city the Freedom Cemetery.
It is barren, nondescript desert ground, a two-acre section within the Sadrist Martyrs' cemetery. The graves have not been excavated. But it is reserved for a purpose: the possibility that U.S. forces might stay beyond the Dec. 31, 2011, departure deadline mandated by a security agreement between the United States and Iraq.
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Odds Of US Strike On Iran Could Rise After Gates Departure
www.jerusalempost.com-August 18, 2010
The chance that the US will take military action against Iran to stop its nuclear program will likely increase after Secretary of Defense Robert Gates steps down in 2011, according to assessments within the Israeli defense establishment.
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Clerics responsible for Iran's failed attempts at democracy
www.washingtonpost.com-August 18, 2010
Thursday marks the anniversary of one of the most mythologized events in history, the 1953 coup in Iran that ousted Prime Minister Muhammad Mossadeq. CIA complicity in that event has long provoked apologies from American politicians and denunciations from the theocratic regime. The problem with the prevailing narrative? The CIA's role in Mossadeq's demise was largely inconsequential. The institution most responsible for aborting Iran's democratic interlude was the clerical estate, and the Islamic Republic should not be able to whitewash the clerics' culpability.
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U.S. ending combat operations in Iraq
www.msnbc.com-August 18, 2010
The last U.S. combat troops were crossing the border into Kuwait on Thursday morning, bringing to a close the active combat phase of a 7½-year war that overthrew the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein, forever defined the presidency of George W. Bush and left more than 4,400 American service members and tens of thousands of Iraqis dead.
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BUILDING SECURITY FORCES AND MINISTERIAL CAPACITY: IRAQ AS A PRIMER
www.understandingwar.org-August 18, 2010
This report discusses how U.S. commanders in Iraq vastly accelerated the growth of the Iraq Security Forces as part of a broader counterinsurgency strategy to supplement the Surge of U.S. forces into the region.
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Next U.S. Steps In Iraq Focused On North
www.defensenews.com-August 17, 2010
U.S. military forces will begin a four-part mission in Iraq next month when the U.S. State Department assumes operational lead in the country, with a major focus on Arab-Turkish relations.
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Baghdad suicide bomb targets army recruits; at least 50 killed
www.washingtonpost.com-August 17, 2010
A suicide bomber infiltrated a crowd of young Iraqi army recruits Tuesday and detonated powerful explosives, killing more than 50 people and wounding 95 others in an early morning attack just two weeks before U.S. forces are due to end their combat mission in Iraq.
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Suicide Bomber Kills Dozens in Attack on Iraqi Army Recruits
www.nytimes.com-August 17, 2010
A suicide bomber struck early on Tuesday at an army recruiting office here, killing dozens in the first major bombing of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan — a period made more fraught than in previous years by the looming deadline for American forces to replace their combat mission here with a training role.
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Iraqi Talks On Sharing Power Are Called Off
www.washingtonpost.com-August 17, 2010
Negotiations between Iraq's two most powerful political blocs broke down Monday, dashing hopes that a solution to a more than five-month impasse after national elections was on the horizon.
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'Obama won't hit Iranian reactor'
www.jerusalempost.com-August 17, 2010
Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton said he didn't see "any signs whatsoever that President Obama would make the necessary decision" to strike Iran's nuclear reactor, speaking in an interview with Israel Radio Tuesday.
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U.S. Withdrawal and Limited Options in Iraq
www.realclearpolitics.com-August 17, 2010
It is August 2010, which is the month when the last U.S. combat troops are scheduled to leave Iraq. It is therefore time to take stock of the situation in Iraq, which has changed places with Afghanistan as the forgotten war.
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A Long Way From the Point of No Return With Iran
www.theatlantic.com-August 16, 2010
We're nowhere near the point of no return. Far from it. Jeff Goldberg laid out the worst-case scenario, but not necessarily the most likely. His exhaustive reporting also assembled part of the picture, albeit a pivotal part, but by no means the entire intricate mosaic.
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How Much Brinksmanship Will Israel Tolerate?
www.washingtoninstitute.org-August 16, 2010
Robin [Wright] is right (forgive the pun), and Jeff[rey Goldberg] is not, about the timeline for the Iranian nuclear impasse. Robin is wrong, and Jeff is correct, that a crisis will come unless we find a way to stop what former CIA Director Michael Hayden describes as Iran's "inexorable" nuclear progress.
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Iraq Weighs New Post To Help Form Government
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 16, 2010
Senior Iraqi politicians involved in forming a new government said they are weighing the creation of a new federal position that could break the nearly-six-month logjam over which faction gets the coveted premiership.
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U.S. Withdrawal Echoes in Iraq
www.cfr.org-August 16, 2010
As the United States begins to shut down combat operations in Iraq, there's a growing debate between the political heads and militaries of both countries (AP) about whether U.S. soldiers should stay beyond the 2011 deadline for a complete troop withdrawal stipulated in a security agreement between the two nations.
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Strategic Competition With Iran: The Military Dimension
www.csis.org-August 16, 2010
US competition with Iran has become the equivalent of a game of three-dimensional chess, in which other states are outside players that can constantly intervene, and one where each side can modify at least some of the rules with each move. It is a game that has been going on for some three decades. It is clearly unlikely to be ended by better dialog and mutual understanding, and that Iran’s version of “democracy” is unlikely to change the way it is played in the foreseeable future.
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Talk About Iran Attack Seems Very Overheated
www.newsweek.com-August 16, 2010
An article in The Atlantic reports that Iran may be nearing the "point of no return" in its pursuit of an atomic bomb. Therefore, says author Jeffrey Goldberg, there is a "better than 50 percent chance" Israel will launch an attack against Iranian nuclear sites by "next July."
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Shi'a Militias in Iraq
www.understandingwar.org-August 16, 2010
Violence in Iraq today pales in comparison to the bloodshed of only a few years ago. Enemy networks including both al-Qaeda-Iraq (AQI) and Shi’a militias have been seriously degraded by Iraqi and U.S. operations; however, extremist organizations continue to seek to destabilize the country, weaken the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and undermine confidence in the Iraqi government by continuing to conduct attacks across the country.
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Netanyahu's warning
www.washingtonpost.com-August 15, 2010
When Israel declared independence in 1948, it had to use mostly small arms to repel attacks by six Arab armies. Today, however, Israel feels, and is, more menaced than it was then or has been since. Hence the potentially world-shaking decision that will be made here, probably within two years.
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Russians To Fuel Iranian Reactor
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 14, 2010
Russia said it would begin loading nuclear fuel into Iran's Bushehr nuclear-power plant on Aug. 21, marking a crucial final step towards making Tehran a nuclear power.
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U.S.-Saudi Arms Plan Grows To Record Size
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 14, 2010
The Obama administration plans to include attack helicopters in an expanded arms package for Saudi Arabia, swelling the size of the proposed deal to as much as $60 billion over 10 years, according to officials familiar with the matter.
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U.S., Israel Build Military Cooperation
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 14, 2010
While the U.S. and Israeli diplomatic relations weather their choppiest phase in years, behind the scenes, military commanders from the two countries have dramatically stepped up cooperation.
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War in Iraq a success? Time will tell, general says
www.msnbc.com-August 13, 2010
As American troops wind up their combat role in Iraq, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said Friday that it’s not yet clear whether the war will ultimately be considered a success.
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Russia gears up to fuel Iran's first nuclear plant
www.msnbc.com-August 13, 2010
Russia said on Friday it will begin loading nuclear fuel into the reactor of Iran's first atomic power station in about one week, an irreversible step marking the start-up of the Bushehr plant after nearly 40 years of delays.
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Ambassador Leaves Iraq With Much Still Unsettled
www.nytimes.com-August 13, 2010
Christopher R. Hill, the ambassador to Iraq charged with reshaping the American role here, on Thursday ended his 16-month tenure in an anxious, unsettled country, with a military withdrawal afoot but a key task not done: the formation of a government that will inherit the country.
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Calls to stop funding Lebanese army put Obama in tight spot
www.washingtonpost.com-August 13, 2010
After Israel and Hezbollah fought a war in 2006, President George W. Bush bolstered assistance to the Lebanese army to create a counterweight to the Shiite militia. Now, after a deadly clash last week between Israeli and Lebanese troops, some on Capitol Hill want to stop funding Lebanese forces entirely.
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U.S. Saudi Sale, With Helicopters, Said To Approach $60 Billion
www.bloomberg.com-August 13, 2010
A proposed U.S. weapons sale to Saudi Arabia of Boeing Co. F-15 fighter jets also includes as many as 132 Boeing Apache attack helicopters and United Technologies Corp. UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters that bring the total value of the package to around $60 billion, according to a government official familiar with the plan.
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Iran nuclear plant start date set
www.bbc.com-August 13, 2010
Russia says it will undertake a key step next week towards starting up a reactor at Iran's first nuclear power station.
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Resistance on Gaza flotilla more than expected, Israeli military chief says
www.washingtonpost.com-August 12, 2010
Israel's military chief testified Wednesday at an inquiry into a deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that although troops had been trained for a violent confrontation, the military had not anticipated the level of resistance it would meet and lacked intelligence about the activists on board.
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Gunmen use kids to lure Iraqi soldiers into trap
www.washingtontimes.com-August 12, 2010
Gunmen burst into a house north of Baghdad early Wednesday, killed three people and then sent the surviving children to lure soldiers from a nearby Iraqi army checkpoint, killing eight.
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Top Iraq general: U.S. army 'must stay' until 2020
www.msnbc.com-August 12, 2010
The commander of Iraq's military is calling for U.S. forces to stay in the country for another decade, reinforcing his stance that his country's military won't be able to secure the nation on their own after U.S. troops leave.
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Iraq needs help defending its borders after U.S. troops leave in 2011
www.latimes.com-August 12, 2010
Some form of continued U.S. military presence is necessary to protect against external threats and to train troops, commanders say. Iraq's inability to defend its airspace is a key concern.
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Iraq needs help defending its borders after U.S. troops leave in 2011
www.latimes.com-August 12, 2010
Some form of continued U.S. military presence is necessary to protect against external threats and to train troops, commanders say. Iraq's inability to defend its airspace is a key concern.
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Is the U.S. Pursuing the Wrong Mideast Peace Process?
www.time.com-August 12, 2010
The recent skirmish on the Israel-Lebanon border has amplified fears that the Middle East could be on the brink of another war. So the fact that U.S. special envoy Senator George Mitchell arrived in Israel this week hoping to restart peace talks ought to offer some reassurance. But it doesn't. The reason: President Obama's peace process doesn't involve those who could clash with the Israelis this summer.
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Repercussions of an Israeli attack on Iran
www.csmonitor.com-August 12, 2010
If Israel is likely to decide to attack Iran next summer, as argued in an Atlantic Monthly story by Jeffrey Goldberg out this week, the big question is, what happens in the aftermath?
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Relative Calm Before a Stormy Lebanese Fall
http://carnegieendowment.org-August 12, 2010
With the findings of the special tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri expected soon—possibly as early as next month—tensions in Lebanon risk reaching the boiling point. Although the UN-backed tribunal was intended to handle the explosive issue in a manner designed to ease tensions and avert violence, indictments threaten to ignite a political crisis and deepen sectarian fissures.
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The East Asian Loophole in Iran Sanctions: Encouraging Compliance by Our Allies and China
www.washingtoninstitute.org-August 12, 2010
Starting in August, U.S. officials are visiting East Asia, Latin America, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to garner support for tightening Iran sanctions under UN Security Council Resolution 1929.
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It's Time to Get Tough on Iran
www.washingtoninstitute.org-August 11, 2010
The media has recently been rife with speculation about the possibility of a U.S. or Israeli preventive strike on Iran's nuclear infrastructure -- from former CIA Director Michael Hayden's observation last month that the drift toward military action against Iran appears "inexorable" to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen's recent statement that the U.S. military has drawn up plans to attack the Islamic Republic.
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Outgoing U.S. Envoy Defends Iraq Progress
www.npr.org-August 11, 2010
Five months after Iraqis voted in a general election, Iraq is having trouble forming a new government even as U.S. troops draw down, but the outgoing U.S. ambassador says the country is making progress.
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Spokesman: Iraq will stand by U.S. troop withdrawal deadline
www.cnn.com-August 11, 2010
The Iraqi government said Thursday it was not looking into renegotiating a deadline for all U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq by end of next year.
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Web Chat: The Status of Iraq
www.brookings.edu-August 11, 2010
On July 11, Kenneth Pollack answered your questions on the current situation in Iraq, in a live web chat moderated by POLITICO senior editor David Mark.
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State Dept. faces skyrocketing costs as it prepares to expand role in Iraq
www.washingtonpost.com-August 11, 2010
As the last U.S. combat troops prepare to leave Iraq this month, the State Department is struggling to implement an expanded mission that it has belatedly realized it might not be able to afford.
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Iran says it will make up for the cutoff of U.S. aid to Lebanon
www.latimes.com-August 11, 2010
The promise comes the day after disclosures that Reps. Berman and Lowey decided to freeze the money because of concerns that it might be buying arms that could be turned against Israel.
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Accountability unclear in Israeli probe of deadly Gaza flotilla raid
www.washingtonpost.com-August 11, 2010
Israel's inquiry into a naval raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May has raised the question of who bears responsibility for the deadly outcome, which drew international condemnation and compelled Israel to ease its embargo of the Palestinian enclave.
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U.S. And Iraqi Interests May Work Against Pullout
www.nytimes.com-August 11, 2010
In a recent speech President Obama took credit for delivering on his promise to end the official combat mission on schedule, and vowed to meet America’s next deadline of moving all American forces off Iraqi soil by the end of 2011. “As agreed to with the Iraqi government, we will maintain a transitional force until we remove all our troops from Iraq by the end of next year,” the president said.
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Fears Of Al–Qaida Return In Iraq As US–Backed Fighters Defect
www.guardian.co.uk-August 11, 2010
Al-Qaida is attempting to make a comeback in Iraq by enticing scores of former Sunni allies to rejoin the terrorist group by paying them more than the monthly salary they currently receive from the government, two key US-backed militia leaders have told the Guardian.
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Iran's Ambassador To Iraq Promises Closer Trade Ties
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 11, 2010
Iran's new ambassador to Iraq promised to double trade volume and bolster economic ties between the two countries, the latest economic outreach by Tehran as its influence here grows.
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Fog of war: What are we missing?
www.usatoday.com-August 11, 2010
On Sept. 11, 2006, The Washington Post carried a front-page story with an alarming headline: "Situation Called Dire in West Iraq."
It was dire then in Anbar, but the story appeared just as the situation was turning for the better. Only two days before, a group of tribal sheiks had met in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, and agreed to oppose al-Qaeda and work with the Americans.
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Russia's LUKOIL resumes gasoline supply to Iran -trade
www.reuters.com-August 11, 2010
Russian oil giant LUKOIL (LKOH.MM: Quote) has resumed gasoline sales into Iran in partnership with China's state-run firm Zhuhai Zhenrong, even as the United States urges the international community to be tough with Tehran.
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White House Touts Iraq Drawdown
www.realclearpolitics.com-August 11, 2010
The American Commander in Iraq Gen. Ray Odierno has reported to President Obama that the drawdown and end of the combat mission for U.S. Troops in that country is on target for the end of August, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Wednesday.
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After the Crackdown
www.newyorker.com-August 10, 2010
Talking to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—and the opposition—about Iran today.
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Military Implications of the Israel-Lebanon Border Incident
www.washingtoninstitute.org-August 09, 2010
The August 3 border clash between the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has important military implications, demonstrating the readiness of the IDF to respond to any border incident and revealing the potential for the LAF and the Lebanese state to become directly and substantially involved in a future conflict between Israel and Hizballah.
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Weekend Attacks Kill 69 In Iraq
www.latimes.com-August 09, 2010
Weekend bombings and shootings in Iraq left at least 69 people dead from the north to the south, intensifying fears of a possible surge of violence coinciding with the drawdown of U.S troops.
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Extremist Groups 'Very Much Alive' In Iraq
www.washingtonpost.com-August 09, 2010
On the eve of the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq, extremist groups "are very much alive," according to the U.S. Special Forces commander here.
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U.S. To Sell F-15s To Saudis
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 09, 2010
The Obama administration plans to sell advanced F-15 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia but won't equip them with long-range weapons systems and other arms whose inclusion was strongly opposed by Israel, diplomats and officials said.
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Iraqi Military Is Ready, US Says
www.bostonglobe.com-August 09, 2010
Iraq’s military is ready and able to take over security operations as the United States ends its combat role and prepares for a major troop withdrawal, the commander of US forces in Iraq said yesterday.
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Will Iraq Fall Victim To The Oil Curse?
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 09, 2010
Since America toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iraq has had three free-wheeling, relatively fraud-free national elections. Its military has been reconstituted, its soldiers and some of its police retrained. The infrastructure has been partially rebuilt. Iraq, with its 30 million people and the world's third-largest oil reserves, could one day be fabulously rich.
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A Weakened but Resourceful Iran
www.cfr.org-August 09, 2010
Recent economic sanctions are weakening Iran's economy, with gasoline imports down and European firms pulling up stakes. But Hossein G. Askari, an expert on Iran's economy at George Washington University, says sanctions' aim of getting Iran to negotiate over its nuclear program will likely prove unsuccessful, in part because of Iranian public support for its nuclear endeavors.
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The Point of No Return
www.theatlantic.com-August 09, 2010
For the Obama administration, the prospect of a nuclearized Iran is dismal to contemplate— it would create major new national-security challenges and crush the president’s dream of ending nuclear proliferation. But the view from Jerusalem is still more dire: a nuclearized Iran represents, among other things, a threat to Israel’s very existence. In the gap between Washington’s and Jerusalem’s views of Iran lies the question: who, if anyone, will stop Iran before it goes nuclear, and how? As Washington and Jerusalem study each other intensely, here’s an inside look at the strategic calculations on both sides—and at how, if things remain on the current course, an Israeli air strike will unfold.
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A Calming But Indecisive Summit in Lebanon
www.carnegieendowment.org-August 09, 2010
Last week's visit to Lebanon by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah and Syria's President Bashar al-Assad signaled a new level of cooperation between rivals who were fighting a proxy war against each other in Lebanon only a few years ago. Coming together to try to assuage heightened tensions over the looming results of the international tribunal investigating the assassination of former leader Rafik Hariri, the two leaders met with Lebanon's president, prime minister, and parliamentary speaker.
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Interview With Gen. Ray Odierno
http://abcnews.com-August 08, 2010
The commanding general of U.S. forces in Iraq talks with Christiane Amanpour.
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U.S., EU Fail To Isolate Tehran
www.latimes.com-August 08, 2010
Efforts by the United States and its European allies to build a united front to halt Iran's nuclear program are facing increasingly bold resistance from China, Russia, India and Turkey, which are rushing to boost their economies by seizing investment opportunities in defiance of sanctions imposed by the West.
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Suicide car bomber kills 8 west of Baghdad
www.washingtonpost.com-August 08, 2010
Violence across Iraq has spiked in the past month as the U.S. moved ahead with a major drawdown of its troops to be completed by the end of August, when only 50,000 will remain in the country. The upswing in violence and the U.S. pullout have raised concerns about whether Iraqi security forces are up to the job of keeping militants from destabilizing the country further at a time of political uncertainty over who will form the next government.
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U.S. hands over all combat duties to Iraq forces
www.msnbc.com-August 07, 2010
The United States handed over control of all combat duties to Iraqi security forces on Saturday in a further sign that its withdrawal is on track despite a political impasse in Iraq and a recent rise in violence.
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U.S. Considers Push For U.N. Action In Syria
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 06, 2010
The Obama administration is considering pressing the United Nations to pursue a "special inspection" of alleged Syrian nuclear sites, a senior U.S. official said Thursday, a move that could leave Damascus facing a Security Council reprimand if it doesn't comply.
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Iran Signals Defiance Over Nuclear Talks
www.bostonglobe.com-August 06, 2010
As Iran and world powers prepare for new nuclear talks, letters from Tehran’s envoys to top international officials suggest little prospect of major progress, with Tehran combative and unlikely to offer any concessions.
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Defusing Lebanon's Powder Keg
www.cfr.org-August 06, 2010
Tensions are high in Lebanon, as a UN tribunal is reportedly due to hand down indictments in the 2005 assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. Hezbollah leader Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah has said the tribunal will wrongfully finger several Hezbollah members and blames Israel for the assassination (BBC). Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said that "the possibility of war is increasing" in the region (al-Jazeera), a warning underscored by this week's deadly border clash between Israeli and Lebanon troops.
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Saddam's Deputy: US Troop Pullout Will Destroy Iraq
www.guardian.co.uk-August 06, 2010
Tariq Aziz is slumped on a tattered brown sofa seat cradling his walking stick and cigarettes, his gaunt face topped, incongruously for a practising Christian, by a Muslim prayer cap. It is perhaps only the familiar black-ringed spectacles that signal to the visitor that this was Iraq's former face to the world – Saddam Hussein's right-hand man, his most powerful deputy
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Basra a window on Iraq's ambition and dysfunction
www.latimes.com-August 06, 2010
Foreign oil companies sense postwar opportunity but are spooked by the lack of security. Residents hope they'll come; they've given up on their own leaders.
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Obama's Briefing on Iran: It's About Pressure, Not Diplomacy
www.carnegieendowment.org-August 06, 2010
The White House called in a small group of journalists this week to listen to President Obama and his top advisers give a briefing on the state of the sanctions regime against Iran. Others at the meeting have described it as "unusual," but I don't know why. Its purpose couldn't have been clearer: The president and his team wanted to take some credit for all the difficult months of diplomacy that led to the passage of the U.N. sanctions resolution in June, especially the persistent cajoling of Russia and China.
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How to Form a New Iraqi Government while U.S. Combat Forces Withdraw
www.washingtoninstitute.org-August 05, 2010
In an August 2 speech, President Obama confirmed that regardless of the status of government formation in Iraq, the U.S. military remained committed to the withdrawal of all combat forces by the month's end. Meanwhile, Iraq is still struggling to form a government in the long wake of the March elections, and the Muslim fasting period of Ramadan -- when much political and business life slows almost to a standstill -- begins next week.
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Iran Sees Regional Alliance To Counter NATO
www.reuters.com-August 05, 2010
Iran's president told the leaders of Afghanistan and Tajikistan on Thursday that the three neighbors could provide a counterweight to NATO in Asia once foreign troops quit the region.
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Obama to Amanpour: Progress on Nuclear Sanctions Against Iran
http://abcnews.com-August 05, 2010
President Obama says international sanctions against Iran are creating "disquiet" there, and he suggested that the United States would seek to sketch out a series of steps that Iran could take to reassure the world about whether it intends to become a nuclear threat.
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Neighboring countries compete for influence in Iraq
www.latimes.com-August 04, 2010
Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey are all pursuing their agendas and taking sides along a Sunni-Shiite divide. That could become dangerous as U.S. troops withdraw.
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As Obama Talks Peace, Many Iraqis Are Unsure
www.nytimes.com-August 04, 2010
The morning after President Obama spoke of bringing the war in Iraq to “a responsible end,” insurgents planted their black flag on Tuesday at a checkpoint they overran by killing the five policemen who staffed it. It was the second time in a week.
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Iran claims to have S-300 anti-aircraft missiles
http://news.yahoo.com-August 04, 2010
Iran has obtained four S-300 surface-to-air missile systems despite Russia's refusal to deliver them to Tehran under a valid contract, a semiofficial Iranian news agency claimed Wednesday.
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Brushfire or Spark? Incident on the Israel-Lebanon Border
www.washingtoninstitute.org-August 04, 2010
Yesterday, Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) soldiers opened fire on an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) unit removing a tree near the border security fence. In the resulting fighting, a senior IDF officer, two Lebanese soldiers, and a Lebanese journalist were killed, making the clash the most intense military engagement in the north since the 2006 war between Israel and Hizballah.
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Ahmadinezhad's Bomb Rhetoric: Opportunities for U.S. Policy
www.washingtoninstitute.org-August 04, 2010
On July 31, according to Iran's semiofficial Mehr News Agency, presidential chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashai claimed that the West had raised no objections to President Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad's open proclamation that the Islamic Republic could build a nuclear bomb. How should this surprising claim be interpreted? And what implications might it hold for Iran's domestic politics, especially when viewed alongside Ahmadinezhad's history of confrontational rhetoric?
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Uncertain Future For The Sons Of Iraq
www.understandingwar.org-August 03, 2010
In 2007, after experiencing large losses and increased violence in Iraq, the U.S. adopted a new counterinsurgency strategy that included a troop increase as well as a new emphasis on cooperation with the Iraqi population. Coalition forces succeeded in co-opting tribal leaders, alienated by al-Qaeda’s extremist ideology and brutal tactics, and “turned formerly passive supporters as well as some former insurgents into active supporters of the counterinsurgency effort.” They convinced tribal leaders to recruit young men, mostly Sunni-Arabs, and created volunteer security forces around the country.
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Can Sanctions Bring Iran to the Table?
www.cfr.org-August 03, 2010
After a ten-month delay punctuated with fresh rounds of economic noose-tightening, stalled talks over Iran's controversial nuclear program appear to have new energy. Three days after EU ministers enacted a fresh set of restrictions (DeutscheWelle) on Iranian banking and energy sector investment, Tehran's ruling mullahs called for new negotiations to discuss a proposed nuclear fuel swap. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said talks on the swap could resume as soon as September (PressTV). U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley confirmed that a fresh sit-down is likely "in the coming weeks."
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Obama Reminds Veterans He's Beginning War's End
www.washingtonpost.com-August 03, 2010
President Obama began a month-long effort Monday to remind an American electorate fatigued by war that the U.S. military effort in Iraq is about to enter its end game.
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U.S. Urges Iraqi Deal Before Pullout
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 03, 2010
White House advisers have been dispatched to Baghdad and are working against the clock to get deadlocked Iraqi politicians to form a new government before the end of August, when the U.S. combat mission ends.
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Iraqi Premier Says Opponents Want A Weak Leader
www.nytimes.com-August 03, 2010
Iraq’s prime minister said Monday that his critics wanted to install a weak leader who would leave the nation split by sectarian divisions and prey to local warlords.
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Israel More Likely To Strike Iran Than U.S., Analysts Say
www.washingtonexaminer.com-August 03, 2010
While the U.S. military has developed a first-strike plan to take out Iranian nuclear facilities, the political and security consequences of taking that step make it an unlikely option, analysts said.
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Bombers, Missiles Could End Iran Nukes
www.washingtontimes.com-August 03, 2010
A Pentagon strike against Iran would rely heavily on the B-2 bomber and cruise missiles to try to destroy the regime's ability to make nuclear weapons, analysts say, after the top U.S. military officer said a war plan is in place.
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What If Iran Already Has The Bomb?
www.washingtontimes.com-August 03, 2010
In June, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates reassured America that there was still time for sanctions to compel Iran to abandon pursuit of an "Islamic bomb." U.S. policy toward Iran is founded on the assessment, unquestioned by anyone in the press, that Iran does not yet have nuclear weapons.
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In Speech On Iraq, Obama Reaffirms Drawdown
www.nytimes.com-August 02, 2010
President Obama on Monday opened a monthlong drive to mark the end of the combat mission in Iraq and, by extension, to blunt growing public frustration with the war in Afghanistan by arguing that he can also bring that conflict to a conclusion.
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Obama Speech Begins Effort to Highlight Iraq Drawdown
www.nytimes.com-August 02, 2010
Nearly eight years after he denounced what he called a “dumb war” in Iraq and nearly two years after he won the White House promising to end it, President Obama on Monday plans to mark the formal end of the combat mission there.
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Obama to Reaffirm Iraq Exit Plan Despite Violence
htttp://online.wsj.com-August 02, 2010
President Barack Obama on Monday will reiterate the U.S.'s determination to end the U.S. combat mission in Iraq by Aug. 31, despite a surge in violence there last month and continued political deadlock in Baghdad.
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US has Iran strike plan, Mullen says
www.bostonglobe.com-August 02, 2010
Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said yesterday that the US military has a plan to attack Iran, although he thinks such a strike is an undesirable option.
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Shiite Bloc Suspends Maliki Talks, Seeks Substitute Candidate For Iraq's Top Job
www.washingtonpost.com-August 02, 2010
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's chances of keeping his job suffered a setback Sunday when a coalition of Shiite parties that appeared to represent his best hope of staying in office broke off talks with his slate.
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In Iraq, An Impasse As U.S. Troops Draw Down
www.latimes.com-August 02, 2010
Negotiations for an elected government remain deadlocked; many fear instability with the American combat role set to end Sept. 1. Conflicting casualty figures for July underscore the uncertainty.
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American And Iraqi Versions Differ In Latest Chapters Of War's Story
www.nytimes.com-August 02, 2010
When gunmen ambushed Iraqi security checkpoints in a large Sunni neighborhood of Baghdad last Thursday, terrorized residents said the attack reminded them of the worst days of the war. The United States military said it was unaware of any gunfighting.
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A Benchmark Of Progress, Electrical Grid Fails Iraqis
www.nytimes.com-August 02, 2010
Ikbal Ali, a bureaucrat in a beaded head scarf, accompanied by a phalanx of police officers, quickly found what she was out looking for in the summer swelter: electricity thieves. Six black cables stretched from a power pole to a row of auto-repair shops, siphoning what few hours of power Iraq’s straining system provides.
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Obama: U.S. combat role in Iraq is ending
www.msnbc.com-August 02, 2010
President Barack Obama will tell Americans on Monday he is on track to carry out his campaign promise of ending the Iraq war as he marks a milestone in winding down major combat operations there this month.
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Leaving Iraq?
www.carnegieendowment.org-August 02, 2010
After seven years, the United States is in the final stages of exiting Iraq. Only 50,000 U.S. troops will remain by the end of August, but the country is far from stable. Nearly five months after the parliamentary elections, Iraq is gridlocked by political squabbling over who should be prime minister. The parliament has yet to elect a speaker and has postponed its session indefinitely. Iraqis are frustrated by the failure of their leaders to make real progress, the economy is in shambles, and violence is once again rising.
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I came, I saw, I withdrew from Iraq
www.economist.com-August 02, 2010
IN A big speech today Barack Obama said that American combat operations in Iraq will end as promised at the end of this month, by when he will have brought home more than 90,000 troops since taking office. This is not likely to do the Democrats much good in the mid-term elections, since the war in Afghanistan has meantime grown more bloody and controversial, but it is a landmark worth noting.
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Obama Says U.S. Will Leave Iraq 'On Schedule'
www.npr.org-August 02, 2010
President Obama declared Monday that the Iraq war was nearing an end "as promised and on schedule," touting what he called a success of his administration though it comes amid persistent instability and uncertainty in Iraq.
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