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- Bombings kill 36 ahead of Iraqi elections, U.S. pullback
BAGHDAD Bombers targeting Iraqi and U.S. security forces cut a deadly swath across Iraq on Monday, killing as many as 36 people, including 15 police cadets at a police academy in Baghdad. Also in the capital, an Iraqi army general escaped an
- Gates Vows Active Role in Staying On at Pentagon
WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Tuesday that he had no intention of being a caretaker at the Pentagon and that he agreed with what he termed President-elect Barack Obamas responsible drawdown plan for American combat troops from Iraq.
- Reluctant defense chief 'impressed' with Obama
President-elect Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates may have policy differences, but Gates said Tuesday he was "impressed" by statements Obama has already made on issues such as the Iraq War. Gates also said, "It should go without saying that I have no intention of being a caretaker secretary."
    
- Reluctant defense secretary 'impressed' with Obama
President-elect Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates may have policy differences, but Gates said Tuesday he was "impressed" by statements Obama has already made on issues such as the Iraq War.
    
- Afghan force could rise
Britain could send more troops to Afghanistan as force levels in Iraq are cut next year, the head of the UK's armed forces has indicated. Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup said the pressure of maintaining forces in two theatres means it cannot simply be
- 'Idealist' tried to halt Kurdish slaughter
Years before the first Gulf War, Saddam Hussein was slaughtering Iraq's Kurds with bombs, bullets and gas. The Reagan White House saw it as a ruthless effort to put down a rebellion by an ethnic group allied with Iran and seeking independence. But Peter Galbraith thought it was something worse.
    
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Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq became an independent kingdom in 1932. A "republic" was proclaimed in 1958, but in actuality a series of military strongmen have ruled the country since then, the latest being SADDAM Husayn. Territorial disputes with Iran led to an inconclusive and costly eight-year war (1980-1988). In August 1990 Iraq seized Kuwait, but was expelled by US-led, UN coalition forces during January-February 1991. The victors did not occupy Iraq, however, thus allowing the regime to stay in control. Following Kuwait's liberation, the UN Security Council (UNSC) required Iraq to scrap all weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles and to allow UN verification inspections. UN trade sanctions remain in effect due to incomplete Iraqi compliance with relevant UNSC resolutions.
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Defense Secretary Robert Gates signals he'll forge ahead with two priorities for the Obama administration: accelerating withdrawal from Iraq and shutting down the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
The United Nations expressed concern Tuesday about overcrowding and "grave human rights violations" of detainees in Iraqi custody — in one case, 123 men crammed into a single cell.
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