Word: basra
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...security gains in Iraq, where attacks by insurgents have fallen 80% since last year. But a lack of political progress in the country could trigger more violence, especially if large U.S. units pull out, Pentagon officials say. When the British pulled out of the southern city of Basra in 2007, the resulting vacuum was filled by Shi'ite militia units until the Iraqi government sent in its improving army in March and brought it under Baghdad's control. Petraeus also doesn't want to risk a security meltdown brought on by a major withdrawal just as a new U.S. President...
...that the central government in Baghdad considers illegal. Nevertheless, several smaller oil firms from Austria, Hungary, India, Canada and South Korea have signed deals with the Kurdish Regional Government. But most big players at present appear to be eyeing potential ventures in Iraq's vast oil territory around Basra instead. Years of neglect have left many oil fields there looking like junkyards. Rusting vehicles, heaps of trash and pools of spilled oil litter a hazy expanse dotted with plumes of flames from gas flares. "We need equipment; we need instruments; we need a lot of technical help," says Jabbar...
...face of an empowered Iraqi security force. Indeed, many officials allied with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government say the cleric's militia and Sadrist political movement have been substantially weakened through military crackdowns on their strongholds in Sadr City and the southern cities of Amara and Basra over the past four months. "We don't think they will try to fight again, because they are too weak now," says an Interior Ministry official. "If they start, it will be their end." Says Ali Saadi, a medical professor in the Hay al-Banook district, where the Shi'ite militia...
...street corner. Above it, a billboard on the median depicts four young martyrs - all killed fighting the Americans, according to Mohanid. One holds a gun and is draped in ammunition, and like most other martyr billboards around the neighborhood, al-Sadr's picture floats next to them. Unlike in Basra, where his portrait has been torn down from many street corners, the cleric's picture in Sadr City remains ubiquitous, and graffiti on the walls reads: "Long live al-Sadr" and "Saulat al-Sadr" - Charge of al-Sadr - the Mahdi Army's answer to Maliki's Basra offensive, which...
...decade-long conflict, and many - despite the countries' new friendship - are wary of Iran's current intentions. "We should build something like the Great Wall of China between Iraq and Iran to prevent anyone from coming over," says one soldier, driving in an army convoy from Al-Faw to Basra. To his right, an oil refinery in the Iranian city of Abadan spouts flames on the horizon...