Word: iraqi
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...Iraqi government is blaming a new alliance of religious extremists and Baathists for the violence, though it is hard to assess that claim at the moment. There is a feeling of disbelief among Iraqis as they see images of twisted metal and bodies on their TV sets. Many had thought that the bad times were finally behind them. The violence dramatically punctuates the fact that Iraq is amid a critical and highly charged political season - one in which the country's instabilities are conflating with the activity of political parties and accompanying militias, creating alliances as they head for elections...
...politician's gauge in the competition for who is the biggest Iraqi nationalist. Indeed, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki this week approved a referendum on the U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). If approved by parliament, it would be on the same ballot as candidates in the parliamentary elections set for January. SOFA has thus far reduced U.S. control over key areas - such as Baghdad's Green Zone - and prohibited U.S. forces from entering Iraqi cities in most circumstances. President Barack Obama has pledged to withdraw U.S. forces by December 2011. But if Iraqis vote down the agreement...
...photos of prison life inside an Iraqi detention center...
...explosive nature of day-to-day security in Baghdad. Blue Sky stands in front of a minimall that sells clothes and toys on busy Rubaie Street, the main drag of the mixed-sect, middle-class Zayuna neighborhood. Reflecting on the news, Hussam is impressed by the drop in Iraqi fatalities: just 240 deaths in July 2009, an 86% drop from the same month in the bad year of 2007. "It's a large difference," Hussam says. "Better than two years ago." The paint in his restaurant is bright and fresh. Meanwhile, young couples dine while flat-screen TVs blast modern...
...waste of lives? Reese argues, correctly, that the 2007 surge and a policy of hiring nearly 100,000 ex-Sunni insurgents have isolated al-Qaeda inspired extremists, many of them fanatics from abroad itching to martyr themselves by killing U.S. soldiers. He also says that despite the Iraqi government's corruption, nepotism and ineffectiveness, its security forces are restoring some semblance of order...