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Dems Back Phased Withdrawal Republicans: Stay and Stay, Spend and Spend Senate Democrats have come up with two resolutions, with most of the coalescing around the vaguer one. AP describes the more popular resolution: ‘ The resolution would urge _ but not require _ the administration to begin “a phased redeployment of U.S. forces” in […]

26 Dead in Civil War 3,000 Demonstrate in Karbala Japan has announced that it will withdraw its 600 troops from Iraq over the next few weeks. The announcement was probably prompted by the plan to turn security in Muthanna province, where the Japanese soldiers are stationed, over to Iraq. Japan joins Italy in this firm […]

Friday Prayer Sermons in Iraq The USG Open Source Center translates Iraqi television’s roundup of Friday sermons on 16 June. “Iraqi Television: Roundup of Friday Sermons 16 JunIraq — OSC ReportMonday, June 19, 2006 T17:09:10Z Document Type: OSC Report At 0845 GMT Baghdad Satellite Channel in Arabic, reportedly sponsored by the Iraqi Islamic Party, carries […]

US Embassy Document A kind reader typed up and corrected some typos in the US Embassy document [pdf] published by the Washington Post on Sunday. Here it is: “a 121430Z UN 06 PM MEMBASSy BAgHDAD TO SECSTArE WASXDC 5042 INFO IRAQ COLLECTIVE UNCLAS BAGXDAD 001992 E.O. 12958: N/A TAGSt P14GM. PRE ,. ASEC. AMGT, IZ […]

Bush’s Abuse of History Snow’s Battle of Bilge The president of the United States is in some ways the nation’s leading public historian. More people hear about American history from him than from virtually any other source, with the possible exception of Hollywood. It has therefore been dispiriting to witness the falsehoods about American history […]

25 Dead in Violence US Tightens Checkpoints at Ramadi Al-Hayat says that civil war violence [Ar.] killed 25 in Iraq on Sunday. Iraqi police found 11 bodies in the streets of Baghdad and Karbala on Sunday morning. They were killed with a bullet behind the ear. Typically such killings are sectarian reprisals. The Al-Sadiq Mosque […]

Iraqi Military Experts Discuss Iraqi Army, Intelligence From the USG Open Source Center, a translation of a transcript of a disccussion in Arabic by Iraqi military experts, carried by an Arabic-language Iranian satellite channel. Note that some of the things charged here are contradictory or implausible, but this discussion is a good window on what […]

Iraq Press Highlights for 18 June Translated by the USG Open Source Center– my selection of a few telling items: Highlights: Iraqi Press 18 Jun 06 Iraq — OSC ReportSunday, June 18, 2006 T15:00:56Z Document Type: OSC Report . . . Al-Zaman carries on the front page a 240-word report entitled “Iraqi Women Demand Balanced […]

40 Killed, 90 Wounded in String of Bombings Al-Hakim Pushes for US-Iran Talks Bombings and other civil war violence took the lives of some 43 persons in Iraq on Saturday. There were 7 bombings in Baghdad. One car bomb aimed at an Iraqi security forces checkpoint in al-Alawiyah district in the center of Baghdad killed […]