Word: iraqi
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...city and province of Basra have sustained deep wounds over almost 30 years. British forces and government agencies based in Basra after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion became a magnet for militia attacks and struggled to deliver on promises of reconstruction and development. But in March 2008, the Iraqi army launched an operation code-named Charge of the Knights to disperse the militias. Since autumn, violence has been replaced by an uneasy calm, and with Britain preparing to withdraw all but a small rump of its 4,100 troops in southern Iraq by May 31, Basra is daring to dream...
...before dark. Now, on a balmy February evening, they linger in the amusement park overlooking the Shatt al-Arab waterway and discuss their children. Mahmoud has five, ranging in age from 19 to 7; Abdalhussein has just one, a son born in 1981 not long before her husband, an Iraqi conscript, was killed fighting Iran. "We're always talking about the future of the children and what it holds for them," says Mahmoud. "We have been through many wars as a generation. We hope our children will have happier lives...
Mahmoud voted in the regional elections in January for candidates she felt could best realize her dreams for "sustained security, jobs for young people and a better Iraq." Voting went off without violence in Basra (the only incident to mar the process came when an overenthusiastic Iraqi policeman fired a gun into the air to encourage voters into a polling station). The bloc affiliated with Iraq's Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, reaped benefits from his strong action against the militias; in Basra, messages of national unity played better with the electorate than did religious or sectarian appeals. "We have...
...Saturday, the top official in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq voiced anger over what he described as provocative troop movements by the central government around Kirkuk, the disputed oil-rich city. The Associated Press reported that the Kurdish prime minister, Nechirvan Barzani, denounced a move by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to deploy Iraqi soldiers ahead of the provincial balloting on the outskirts of Kirkuk, which both the Iraqi central government and Kurdistan regional authorities claim. The Iraqi government denied the accusation, saying its movements in the area were routine. Then on Sunday Shi'ite worshippers...
Speaking to reporters in Baghdad, General Austin said the northern city of Mosul and the eastern province of Diyala remained trouble spots where Sunni militants continued to wage an insurgency despite the best efforts by U.S. and Iraqi forces to stamp out the rebellion. "They still have some capability," Austin said of Sunni militants still actively organizing in parts of Iraq. "We are still working to degrade the network...