Word: iraq
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Turkey has attracted a lot of attention lately thanks to a series of political crises--from armed forays into neighboring Iraq in pursuit of autonomy-seeking Kurdish militants to an atavistic attempt by Turkish prosecutors to ban the country's own ruling party. The political intrigue has created a speed bump--or maybe a stop sign--for an economy that had been striding with determination toward inclusion in the European Union and recharging its ancient trade links with the Middle East...
Turkish businesses, meanwhile, invested $28 billion in Russia last year, up from $15 billion in 2005. They are poised to take advantage of the $1 trillion that Russia says it will spend on infrastructure by 2020. And while Turkey refused to permit U.S. troops to invade neighboring Iraq from its territory in 2003, Turkish construction and retail companies have since invested up to $10 billion in the war-torn country...
...months now, top U.S. military commanders have been trumpeting the growing strength of Iraq's 559,397-strong security forces, trained and armed by the U.S. military at a cost of $20.4 billion. Iraqi military competence is critical to U.S. plans to withdraw by July the last of five combat brigades sent to Iraq as part of General David Petraeus' "surge" strategy. But on the battlefield, the Iraqis are frequently found wanting and often have to be rescued by U.S. troops. A damning April 25 report by the Department of Defense's special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction says...
This bodes ill for Iraq's security environment, which has deteriorated sharply since the start of the year. Many of the gains of the surge have already been lost; suicide attacks are up, and the rate of Iraqi and U.S. casualties has climbed. American troops, stretched to the limit, need the Iraqis to do more of the heavy lifting...
...commanders continue to offer assurances that Iraqi forces are up to the challenge, emphasizing progress made over the recent setbacks. "As we look to [Basra] ... we see a much improved Iraqi security force," Lieut. General Lloyd Austin, the No. 2 military commander in Iraq, told journalists in Baghdad on April 23. But soldiers working with Iraqi units on the ground say the praise is exaggerated. In Hilla, a dusty town south of Baghdad where a bloody battle raged in the streets at the end of March, some soldiers of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, say their efforts...