Word: itely
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...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 takes office...
...Damascus could further distance itself from Tehran if Sarkozy can persuade Assad that he has far more to gain by being a cooperative and accountable partner to the West. That would help pursue wider U.S. interests of narrowing Iran's scope for using its ally in Lebanon's Shi'ite Hizballah movement as a proxy, and also to further isolate and raise pressure on Teheran over its nuclear program...
...military officials, who have paid and supported the fighters, hoped to see much of the movement absorbed into the Iraqi government security forces. But the predominantly Shi'ite government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has largely shunned the groups and lately taken an even harder line against them. Iraqi security forces have arrested multiple Awakening leaders and disbanded some of the bands. For a time joint patrols and checkpoints involving both Iraqi security forces and Awakening fighters allowed the groups to function essentially as paramilitaries alongside the Iraqi army and police. But the growing strength of Iraqi security forces...
...Awakening leaders attended the ceremony in Ramadi, a snub that Sheikh Natah says was intended as a clear message to the government. At heart is a power struggle between the Awakening council and the Iraqi Islamic Party, made up of Sunni exiles who are allied with the Shi'ite prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. The party holds 36 of the Anbar council's 41 seats. Those posts are up for grabs if a slow-moving electoral law is approved by Iraq's bickering parliamentarians and the provincial elections that were slated for October take place later this year...
...Things have changed in recent months, however, with al-Maliki steadily strengthening his own political footing. Through a series of battles earlier this year, the improved Iraqi security forces nearly managed to marginalize the Mahdi Army militia of powerful Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the Prime Minister's chief rival. Moreover, the Iraqi army has shown new muscle in Sunni areas of Iraq like Diyala province, even as the Prime Minister shored up Sunni support for his government in Baghdad - a delicate political process involving force and cajoling but little compromise on his part...