Mammoth new U.S. Embassy marks new stage for Iraq
By Leila Fadel | McClatchy Newspapers
BAGHDAD — The U.S. flag was raised Monday over the mammoth new American Embassy in Iraq, symbolizing a new era of restored Iraqi sovereignty and reduced U.S. power, despite the fact that it's the biggest American mission on Earth.
Some have likened the pink-hued complex along the Tigris River to a prison, but Iraqi President Jalal Talabani called it a symbol of a close and growing relationship between Washington and Baghdad."This edifice that you constructed is not an edifice of just an embassy but it is of the deep friendship between the American and Iraqi peoples," Talabani said at the dedication ceremony as he stood alongside U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker. » read more
Posted on Mon, January 5, 2009
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Dozens in Iraq killed by woman wearing a bomb
By Hussein Kadhim and Leila Fadel | McClatchy Newspapers
BAGHDAD — A woman wearing an explosive belt blew herself up near an important Shiite shrine in northern Baghdad on Sunday, killing as many as 40 people — many of them pilgrims — and wounding about 76, police said.
Guards at the shrine thought the suicide bomber was a man, but that didn't change the troubling signs: The attack was the second in eight days to target people in the vicinity of the holy Imam Musa al Kadhim shrine.On Friday a bombing just south of Baghdad killed at least 30 people in a Sunni area of what had been coined the Triangle of Death, » read more
Posted on Sun, January 4, 2009
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Female bomber kills at least 40 at shrine in Baghdad
By Leila Fadel and Laith Hammoudi | McClatchy Newspapers
BAGHDAD &mash; A female suicide bomber blew herself up in Baghdad's Kadhimiyah district Sunday morning as thousands of religious pilgrims flocked to the area's holy Shiite Muslim shrine.
The attack, which killed at least 40 and wounded another 72, was the second in eight days in the district. The earlier bombing killed at least 24. On Friday, a bombing south of Baghdad killed 30.Sunday's bomber got as close to the Shiite shrine in Kadhimiyah as she could before reaching a tent where women are searched to ensure bombers can’t target visitors to the ornate shrine, the burial site of two revered Shiite imams. She detonated herself before she could be searched. » read more
Posted on Sun, January 4, 2009
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U.S. troops returning to Iraq find something new: optimism
By Adam Ashton | McClatchy Newspapers
Adam Ashton/Modesto Bee/MCT
Spc. Jeremy Calgaro, 27, of Patterson, California, in November deployed to Iraq for the third time. He says his unit is getting less mail from home, but encountering more welcoming Iraqis. The combination tells him that the war "is winding down." | View larger image
NINEVAH PROVINCE, Iraq — The violence of his past deployments in Iraq still haunts Daniel Clemons, a 32-year-old National Guard staff sergeant who's back for his third tour.
This time, however, Clemons, like a lot of returning U.S. troops, is encountering something new: political and security improvements so dramatic that he can imagine the war ending and his memories of past bloodshed dimming."I think it's winding down. I think I'll be able to let go of this place," said Clemons, who barely survived a 12-hour firefight in Baghdad's Sadr City district nearly four years ago. » read more
Posted on Sun, January 4, 2009
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Recent Iraq Headlines
- · Help wanted: As air industry grows, Iraq seeks controllers
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- · Cult-like Iranian militant group worries about its future in Iraq
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- · Iraq prison revolt leaves 16 dead; three al Qaida escape
- · Thousands of candidates may complicate Iraq's provincial elections
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Inside Iraq
Written by Iraqi journalists working for McClatchy in Baghdad and outlying provinces.
IRAQ INTELLIGENCE
- See an archive of McClatchy's Iraq intelligence reporting, dating back to 2001.
Q&A: THE THREE TRILLION DOLLAR WAR
For two weeks, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard professor Linda Bilmes, authors of "The Three Trillion Dollar War," fielded questions about the cost of the Iraq war and its impact on the U.S. economy. They're not taking new questions, but they're still posting answers to ones they've already received. Read their responses.
DAILY VIOLENCE REPORT
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Fifth anniversary of the war, 2008
- Day 1: Loss of U.S. power, prestige, influence
- Day 2: 'Worms in the water'
- Day 3: Iraq transforms the U.S. military
- Day 4: A Long, Hard Road
- Day 5: States step up to help veterans
- Jenan talks about unfulfilled expectations.
- Haider recalls the deafening bombings.
- Hussein A. lives a secretive life with fake IDs.
- Omar is a virtual prisoner because of his name.
- Nassif is looking for an escape route.
- Hussein K. had misgivings dating back to 1991's war.
- Laith watched the invasion of his country from abroad.
CONFRONTING IRAQ
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BLACKWATER
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