Iraq

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CIA Bought Chemical Arms From Secret Iraqi Seller: Report

Agency reportedly studied, destroyed weapons to keep them from militants

(Newser) - Just months after a New York Times exposé in which US troops alleged serious injuries from chemical weapons in Iraq, a new story has emerged about US efforts to acquire these arms—and the secret source from which they were culled. The CIA, with military help, reportedly purchased at least...

Iraq Army Fends Off ISIS Fighters in Iraqi Uniforms

US forces were far from attack on airbase

(Newser) - Some 20 to 25 ISIS fighters clad in Iraq Army uniforms descended on an Iraqi base yesterday, but Iraqi forces were able to defeat them, ABC News reports. An ISIS group wearing suicide vests were first to attack the base; CBS News reports that eight suicide bombers made their way...

Assad: Syria's in the Loop on Anti-ISIS Airstrikes

But there's no dialogue with the US, Syrian president says

(Newser) - Bashar al-Assad says his government is receiving messages from the US-led coalition about airstrikes against ISIS taking place in his country. In a BBC interview today, the Syrian president admits that there hasn't been direct cooperation, and the messages are coming from third parties—including Iraq—not the US...

After a Decade, Baghdad Curfew Gets Lifted

But violence continues, with bombs killing at least 40 today

(Newser) - Baghdad's decade-old nightly curfew ended after midnight local time, hours after bombs exploded in and around the Iraqi capital, killing at least 40 people in a stark warning of the dangers still ahead in this country under attack by ISIS. The deadliest of today's bombings happened in the...

Dysentery? Floating Body? Williams' Claims Under Fire

Now NBC anchor's Hurricane Katrina stories are under the microscope

(Newser) - Brian Williams has been apologizing for falsely recalling being on a helicopter that came under fire in Iraq. Now, more controversy regarding the NBC anchor's memory issues: The New Orleans Advocate says claims he made while covering Hurricane Katrina in 2005—including an account of contracting dysentery and watching...

Baghdad's Only Cinema Yanks American Sniper

Despite sellout crowds, some audiences fume over portrayal of Iraqis

(Newser) - Baghdad's only cinema has stopped showing American Sniper. The movie was bringing in money, says the theater's owner—many screenings were in fact sold out, GlobalPost notes—but its portrayal of Iraqis was met with anger, including from the government, the Washington Post reports. "The film makes...

Angelina Jolie: We Must Help Syria, Iraq Refugees
Angelina Jolie: We Must
Help Syria, Iraq Refugees
OPINION

Angelina Jolie: We Must Help Syria, Iraq Refugees

We're not doing nearly enough, actress writes

(Newser) - The suffering in the Middle East is the worst since Angelina Jolie first started visiting refugee camps in Iraq in 2007, she writes in a New York Times column today. She tells stories of "displaced Iraqis and Syrian refugees are desperately seeking shelter from the fighting that has convulsed...

Kerry: We've Killed Half of ISIS' Leaders

Thousands of militants killed, he says after coalition meeting

(Newser) - The US and its allies sought to put a good face on the coalition's deliberate campaign to roll back ISIS yesterday, boasting of having killed thousands of militants while acknowledging that ousting the group from key cities remains a distant aspiration. Speaking to reporters in London alongside the British...

'They Did Bad Things:' ISIS Releases 200 Yazidis

Mostly elderly, in poor health, showing signs of abuse

(Newser) - The Islamic State group released about 200 Yazidis held for five months in Iraq, mostly elderly, infirm captives who likely slowed the extremists down, Kurdish military officials said today. Almost all of the freed prisoners are in poor health and bore signs of abuse and neglect. Three were young children....

Saudis Building Anti-ISIS 'Great Wall'

600-mile barrier on Iraq border designed to keep militants out, Mecca safe

(Newser) - If ISIS wants to infiltrate Mecca and Medina (Muhammad's burial location), it may have to find another way in other than crossing the Iraqi border. Since September, Saudi Arabia has quietly been erecting a 600-mile east-west barrier between itself and its northern neighbor, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The...

Victims Face 'Terrorists' on Reality TV Show

But Iraqi program raises ire of human-rights activists

(Newser) - A popular Iraqi reality TV show depicts victims of ISIS attacks facing apparent terrorists who confess for the cameras—a "surreal" program designed to shore up interest in the war against Sunni militants, the AP reports. Amid cartoons, PSAs, and dozens of other pro-war programs, In the Grip of ...

Western Journo Visits ISIS: It's 'Much Stronger' Than We Think

'Hundreds' arrive daily to join group: Jürgen Todenhöfer

(Newser) - The first Western journalist to receive wide access to ISIS-controlled territories says the group is "much stronger and much more dangerous" than the West knows, the Independent reports. The ground it controls has "dimensions larger than the UK," Jürgen Todenhöfer, who has returned to Germany...

Kurds Break ISIS Mountain Siege

Yazidis still on Sinjar can now flee

(Newser) - Iraqi Kurdish forces battling ISIS militants managed to open up a key corridor yesterday so that thousands of people from the country's Yazidi minority who have been trapped on a mountain can flee, a senior Kurdish official says. The development was an incremental step in the battle to retake...

Pentagon: Iran Bombed ISIS Targets in Iraq

But they're not welcome to join coalition, US says

(Newser) - Iran has launched airstrikes against ISIS militants in eastern Iraq, according to the Pentagon. Rear Adm. John Kirby says the US believes this may be the first time Tehran has launched manned aircraft from inside Iran to strike targets in Iraq. The Pentagon spokesman says the US has not coordinated...

Iraq Army Finds 50K 'Ghost Soldiers'

Corrupt officers claimed their salaries, PM says

(Newser) - Investigators in Iraq have uncovered one of the reasons some military units seemed to melt away in the face of ISIS advances earlier this year: Many of their soldiers didn't exist. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told lawmakers yesterday that 50,000 fake names were uncovered on military payrolls when...

80% of Terrorism Deaths Occur in 5 Countries

Global Terrorism Index shows big jump overall from last year

(Newser) - If it feels like deadly attacks by terror groups such as the Islamic State are in the headlines every day, new numbers from the Global Terrorism Index might explain why. The survey attributes about 18,000 deaths last year to terrorism, a rise of 60% from the previous year, reports...

Top US General Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq

Martin Dempsey there to assess fight against ISIS

(Newser) - America's top military leader arrived in Iraq today on a previously unannounced visit, his first since a US-led coalition began launching airstrikes against the extremist Islamic State group. The visit by Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, came just two days after he...

Iraqi Officials: ISIS Leader Wounded in Airstrike

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was hurt, they say, without elaborating

(Newser) - Iraqi officials said today that an airstrike wounded the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi—but Pentagon officials say they have no immediate information on such a strike or al-Baghdadi being wounded. Iraq's Defense and Interior Ministries issued statements saying al-Baghdadi had been wounded, without elaborating....

Airstrikes Likely Hit ISIS Bosses: Officials

Unclear whether top figure was among them

(Newser) - US airstrikes have hit a convoy of trucks which, officials believe, were carrying some ISIS leaders, US officials tell the AP . Rumors have suggested that the group's top figure, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, may have been among the leaders, the New York Times reports; neither Iraqi nor US officials could...

Obama Doubles US Presence in Iraq

Authorizes 1.5K more troops for non-combat roles against ISIS

(Newser) - The US is about to double the number of American troops serving in Iraq, reports the Washington Post . President Obama has authorized deployment of another 1,500, though their mission will be to advise and train Iraqi and Kurdish troops in the fight against ISIS, not take part in combat....

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