Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

29 Jun 2011 18:03

tags

U.S.: Cost of last decade’s wars much higher than Obama said

  • $3.7 trillion cost for the United States’ post-9/11 wars source
  • » The wages of war: When President Obama referred to a $1 trillion price tag for America’s wars in the last decade, he clearly hadn’t spoken to the folks running the Costs of War project at Brown University’s Watson Institute. The project determined the above figure through calculations that included future costs, such as health services for wounded veterans returning home, as well as counting what’s generally referred to as our “secret” war in Pakistan.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Jun 2011 18:07

tags

World: Bloody day in Iraq for Iraqis, U.S. military

  • five American soldiers killed by a rocket attack on a joint Iraqi-U.S. base today, the single deadliest incident for the U.S. military in two years
  • 18 Iraqis killed today in a series of violent incidents — a car-bombing and suicide bombing feared to be the work of al-Qaeda in Iraq source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Mar 2011 10:14

tags

World: Did Iraq’s al-Maliki take offices away from protest leaders?

  • cause In recent weeks, protests against Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s government have increased, along with protests across the entire Middle East. It’s a trend or something.
  • reaction? Suddenly, two of the political parties protesting were forced to close their offices by security forces controlled by al-Maliki. They didn’t explain why they took the offices from the parties. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Feb 2011 11:32

tags

World: Iraq’s “Day of Rage”: Economic strife leads to massive protests

  • Now it’s Iraq’s turn to be angry. Today’s “Day of Rage” in the nation perhaps most changed by American intervention comes with great sacrifice for many of the protesters. Already, 13 have been killed during the protests, which many people took part in despite an official curfew. In Baghdad alone, many protesters had to walk for miles to get to the city’s Tahrir Square, after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki imposed a curfew so stringent that it forced bikes off the road. Yeah. Bikes. Let alone cars. Bikes. The protests have had some effect – a handful of local governments have stepped down in the wake of protester demands. Many of the protesters are upset about bad living conditions, including few jobs, low wages, no electricity, lacking water quality, and underwhelming medical benefits. All things that, honestly, we can get behind. (Photo by Karim Kadim/AP) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Feb 2011 00:33

tags

World: Shoe-throwing journalist arrested in Iraq

Muntazer Alzaidi
Remember the guy who threw his shoe at G.W. Bush? He was arrested today in for encouraging protestors in Baghdad. Frankly, we’re surprised he’s not in a detainment cell somewhere. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Jan 2011 11:22

tags

World: United States, Turkey, Iraq encourage citizens to leave Egypt ASAP

It’s certainly not under the best of circumstances, what with the protests and all. The U.S. had previously suggested avoiding travel to the country. This is a step further than that. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jan 2011 12:36

tags

World: High deathtoll for Shi’ites, police following bombing in Iraq

  • 48+ people killed by bombs targeting Shi’ites, police source
  • » A horribly bloody week in Iraq Following a particularly devastating attack on police recruits in Tekrit, the sectarian bombings and targeting of Shi’ites and Iraqi forces continue. There’s not much that can be said to add significance to this. It’s the definition of terrorism, cold and stark.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

18 Jan 2011 10:12

tags

World: Iraqi suicide bomber attacks police recruits waiting in line

  • 45+ killed in the attack on a line of police recruits waiting for jobs in Saddam Hussein’s hometown, Tikrit
  • 100+ wounded in the attack that’s the worst since Nuri al-Maliki was reappointed Prime Minister source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Nov 2010 21:41

tags

World: Iraq needs to rally around contested prime minister, quick

  • 30 days for Nuri al-Maliki to form a government in Iraq source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Nov 2010 20:30

tags

World: Finally? Maybe: Iraq appears to finally agree on its leadership

  • It’s been kinda like a soap opera with politics. Over the entire Spring and Summer and part of the Fall, Iraqi leaders have been in a huge debate over who the Prime Minister was going to be. And it appears that we’ve finally gotten to a point where Nouri al-Maliki will get his second term as Prime Minister. And second-place guy Ayad Allawi will get a little bit of power sharing but not much. Here’s how long it took to finally get everyone to get on the same page:
  • 248 number of days Iraq’s already-fragile leadership was in flux
  • eight number of months it took for Iraq to agree on its leadership
  • seven number of hours today’s meeting to decide Iraq’s leader lasted source
  • » Hurt feelings: In the time that Iraq’s leadership has remained contested, there were many points of contention. First off, Nouri al-Maliki’s party did not win the popular vote (Ayad Allawi’s party won two more seats in parliament), and both the prime minister and president are chosen by a parliamentary vote. Secondly, there were fraud allegations throughout the entire process. Thirdly, nearly 500 parliamentary candidates (mostly Sunnis) were banned from running for ties to the Ba’ath Party. Finally, it’s Iraq and there are terror attacks all over the place. Hopefully deciding on a leader will help encourage peace in the war-torn region. If we don’t get that, let’s hope the fight over Alaska’s Senate seat lasts nearly as long. (*Fingers crossed*)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>