Iraq
Bush’s “victory” visit to Iraq meets with contempt and protest
By Bill Van Auken, December 16, 2008
After years of the Bush administration’s attempts to control the images of the Iraq war, an Iraqi journalist turned the tables Sunday through an act of protest that drew broad popular support throug...
Security agreements mean Iraq occupation will continue to 2012 and beyond
By James Cogan, December 4, 2008
The Iraqi parliament’s ratification of a status of forces agreement and “Strategic Framework” with the US on November 27 ensures the ongoing occupation of the country and formalises its status a...
US-Iraq security agreement set to be ratified
By James Cogan, November 19, 2008
The cabinet of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has accepted the final draft of a bilateral security agreement with the United States and it will be voted on in the parliament next Monday.
Iraqi cabinet stalls on US security agreement
By James Cogan, October 31, 2008
Progress toward the signing of a bilateral US-Iraqi security agreement sanctioning a continued American military presence in Iraq has halted again.
Iraqis protest against proposed security agreement with US
By James Cogan, October 21, 2008
Tens of thousands of Iraqis marched from the working class districts of Sadr City to the centre of Baghdad on Saturday to denounce moves by the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to fi...
Iraq parliament enacts partial provincial election law
By James Cogan, October 3, 2008
Any global economic downturn will inevitably deepen the social divide, setting the stage for volatile eruptions of political discontent and opposition against both the US presence and all the factions...
Iraq: Handover in devastated Anbar hailed as a victory
By James Cogan, September 6, 2008
The ceremony held last Monday to formally transfer Anbar province to Iraqi government forces is being held up by the most vociferous defenders of the Iraq war as the crowning glory of the Bush adminis...
Provincial election delay in Iraq heightens ethnic tensions in Kirkuk
By James Cogan, August 20, 2008
On August 6, the Iraqi parliament adjourned for a five-week summer break without passing the legislation needed to hold provincial elections by the scheduled date of October 1. At the heart of the imp...
Perle returns to the scene of the crime
Former Bush administration official seeks cut of Iraqi oil deal
By Tom Eley, August 4, 2008
Richard Perle, the “neocon” defense analyst who played an outspoken role in building the fraudulent case for the invasion of Iraq, is now poised to take a position with a private oil firm ...
Bush speech signals stepped-up troop withdrawals from Iraq
By James Cogan, August 2, 2008
President George Bush made a brief four-minute statement on Thursday morning to announce that the last of the five army brigades and three marine regiments sent to Iraq as part of last year’s &l...
Iraq: Kirkuk on edge following suicide bombing
By James Cogan, July 30, 2008
A female suicide bomber detonated an explosion on Tuesday in the midst of a demonstration by over 5,000 Kurdish residents of the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk. The carnage was horrific. Seventeen p...
US military admits soldiers killed unarmed Iraqi civilians
By David Walsh, July 29, 2008
American military officials acknowledged Sunday that three civilians killed by US soldiers June 25, described as “criminals” in an original press release, were “law-abiding” ci...
