Brit Convicted of Selling Fake Bomb Detectors, Many in Iraq Still Using Them
Oli Scarff/Getty Images(LONDON) — An antenna on a black hinge was once a silly, useless gift for anyone trying to find lost golf balls. But British businessman Jim McCormick claimed the device could detect bombs, drugs, even ivory, turning a piece of…
Birth Defects Plague Iraq, But Cause Unknown
iStockPhoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The Iraq War may be over, but the casualties continue for Iraqi couples trying to have children without life-threatening birth defects.An apparent rise in Iraqi birth defects has left parents, doctors and researchers…
Kerry Urges Iraqis to Stop Iranian Aid to Syria
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza(WASHINGTON) — Secretary of State John Kerry made his first visit to Iraq on Sunday as America’s top envoy in an effort to convince leaders there that they must stop Iran from using Iraqi airspace to transport m…
Deadly Car Bomb Blast in Southern Iraq
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — Ten years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq to depose then-dictator Saddam Hussein, violence still plagues the country.A car bomb explosion in the southern port city of Basra Sunday killed at least 10 people and wounded…
US May Have Wasted $8 Billion in Effort to Rebuild Iraq
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Almost ten years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, an accounting of the $60 billion the U.S. spent to help rebuild the country has determined that at least $8 billion of it may have been wasted, a figure equal to 1…
US Says Iraq Looking the Other Way as Iran Ships Weapons to Syria
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The U.S. is losing patience with Baghdad for allegedly permitting Iran to use its airspace for flights to Syria.An unidentified American official complained that Iranians are supplying weapons to government forces in…
Senate Panel Grills Candidate to Head Central Command
PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The general assigned to head the U.S. Central Command in the Middle East was grilled on Thursday about Afghanistan and Iraq by members on the Senate Armed Services Committee.As it happened Army Gen. Lloy…
Iranian Refugees in Iraq Killed by Mortar Attack
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — The Iraqi government is being pressed by U.S. and United Nations officials to conduct an investigation into Saturday’s attack on a refugee camp on the outskirts of Baghdad that killed at least six Iranians and wounded…
Dozens Killed, Wounded in Attack on Police Compound in Northern Iraq
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) – At least 30 people were killed and dozens more wounded on Sunday when suicide bombers and gunmen launched a major attack in the semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq.The assault on a police headquarters occurred in t…
Bombing in Northern Iraq Kills 35, Wounds 100
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — A bombing targeting a mosque in northern Iraq late Wednesday brought back painful memories of when sectarian tensions were at their worst in the country during the nine-year war.Authorities in the town of Tuz Khurmato…
Nearly Two Dozen Shiites Killed by Car Bomb in Southern Iraq
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — Iraq is still not immune from sectarian violence as evidenced by a deadly assault on Shiite pilgrims Thursday who were returning home from commemorating Arbaeen, the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, a…
Iraqi President to Be Treated for Stroke in Germany
Hadi Mizban-Pool/Getty Images(TEHRAN, Iran) — Described in grave but stable condition, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani will receive treatment in Germany for a stroke he suffered earlier this week.The 79-year-old, who is from Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurd…
Iran Alleges US Deploying Thousands of Troops to Iraq
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(TEHRAN, Iran) — Iran’s Press TV is claiming that the U.S. has secretly deployed 3,000 troops in Iraq, suggesting that it might have something to do with the ongoing conflict in Syria.According to Press TV, American forces have b…
Iraq Reneges on Huge Arms Deal with Russia
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — Iraq might be playing one important ally off another as it tries to stock up its military arsenal.By all signs, Baghdad had a deal with Moscow last month to purchase $4.2 billion worth of weapons that included helicop…
Bombings in Baghdad and Vicinity Kill 31
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — Iraq suffered its deadliest day in a month on Saturday when at least 31 people were killed in a string of attacks throughout the country.Most of the deaths occurred in and around Baghdad as people celebrated the Musli…
Iraq Endures Day of Violence Ahead of Holiday
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — Fatalities from insurgent-related violence are picking up once again in Iraq as Muslims prepare to celebrate the Eid al-Adha holiday beginning Friday.As in previous years, Islamic militants are particularly active ahe…
Father in Iraq Watches Birth of Twins Via Skype
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WHITEFISH, Mont.) — No mountain was high enough, no river was wide enough, and no valley was low enough to keep one Montana man from watching the birth of his baby twins on Sept. 25 at North Valley Hospital in Whitefish, Mont.Jo…
Iraq Suffers Deadliest Month in Two Years
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — Iraqi security forces are still having problems handling a revived al Qaeda and insurgency as the September death toll from militant violence reached 365, the highest monthly casualty figure in two years.According to …
Dozens Killed in Latest Round of Violence in Iraq
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — At least 34 people were killed and many others wounded in Iraq Sunday by a series of car bomb attacks mostly targeting Shiites.It was the deadliest day of violence in weeks as Iraqi security forces continue to deal wi…
Dozens of Iraqis Killed and Hundreds Wounded in 13 Cities
Hemera/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — A wave of bomb and gun attacks throughout Iraq Sunday left more than 90 people dead and well over 360 people wounded in one of this year’s most violent days.No group claimed responsibility for the assaults in 13 citie…