Word: shied
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...presence in Iraq) will certainly help a Prime Minister under pressure from both his own electorate and his influential neighbor, Iran, to refrain from authorizing an extended U.S. presence. Neutralizing the presence of the Americans as an election issue will help al-Maliki fend off the challenge of rival Shi'ite parties...
...players being those connected with some form of politically aligned military muscle and the prize being control over power and resources. As a result, elections tend to exacerbate rather than resolve tensions, and next year's races will likely see sharp political (and occasionally even military) battles between rival Shi'ite parties in the south and Baghdad; between Sunni and Shi'ite blocs in some parts north of Baghdad, such as Diyala province, as well as between the government (including the Sunni parties that have participated in it, until now) and the U.S.-backed Sunni Awakening movement of former insurgents...
...been becoming increasingly rare in today's nominally safer Iraq. But on Monday, multiple bombings just minutes apart tore up parts of Baghdad during the morning rush hour. While alarming because there hadn't been a major attack for a while, the bombs that exploded in the predominantly Shi'ite neighborhood of Kasra are unlikely to herald a return to the bad old days, according to security officials. Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups, they say, have been severely weakened and are merely shadows of their former selves, too hamstrung to conduct extended campaigns of terror. (See pictures of Iraq...
There were conflicting reports about the nature and number of attacks in Kasra, which is part of the mixed Sunni and Shi'ite district of Khadamiya. The district's police chief issued a statement saying that there were twin car bombs. The Interior Ministry had a different view. In the first blast, the ministry said a car bomb planted in or near a mini-bus ferrying schoolgirls exploded. It was rapidly followed by a suicide bombing targeting onlookers rushing to help, according to an Interior Ministry official. The estimates numbered the dead from 25 to 31, with some 70 people...
...squadrons won't be fully up and flying until 2015. The former insurgents who joined the "Awakening" movement or neighborhood watch programs are being partially integrated into the Iraqi security forces, but this remains a point of tension amid continuing mutual mistrust between these Sunni groups and the Shi'ite-dominated government. Al-Qaeda in Iraq, meanwhile, continues to find sanctuary in and around the northern city of Mosul...