World-News

Iraq's political crisis worsened Monday as five more ministers announced a boycott of Cabinet meetings - leaving the embattled prime minister's unity government with no members affiliated with Sunni political factions.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/20070806-1329-iraq.html



Iraqis suffer as Maliki's coalition govt collapses

The latest boycott - by four ministers from a non-sectarian party - brought to 17 the number of members of the Shiite-led coalition to have walked out, tendered their resignations or withdrawn from cabinet meetings.

http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=22862&cat=2


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=al-Maliki

"The British have basically been defeated in the south," the intelligence official told the Washington Post.

http://tinyurl.com/38bpym


From Information Clearing House

Lt. Colonel Gian P. Gentile writes for The Washington Post: "Some say that Iraq cannot be in a civil war because the country's major institutions are not fighting each other with conventional military forces. But this is too formulaic and restrictive for what I saw and heard. On the streets of west Baghdad, almost every person I spoke to told me of a close relative or friend who was killed by Sunni insurgents or Shiite militia members."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080707C.shtml

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/08/07/3029/

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‘Surge’ has made Iraq ‘more chaotic and dangerous than ever’
http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/6560/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

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The surge: a special report by Patrick Cockburn

It was supposed to mark a decisive new phase in America's military campaign, but six months after George Bush sent in 20,000 extra troops, Iraq is more chaotic and dangerous than ever. In a special despatch, Patrick Cockburn reports on the bloody failure of 'the surge'.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2841425.ece


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=troop+surge
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Patrick+Cockburn

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
by staff

08/06/07

In a gesture that says more to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the Bush administration that a million suicide bomb attacks could, the Sunni bloc quit the Iraqi Cabinet on Wednesday. That would be the same day that about 70 people died and 60 were injured in three attacks around Baghdad. Think about it — the Sunnis walked away from the process, taking away with them any hope of quelling sectarian violence any time in the near future, no matter how many troops we send over. That’s how fed up they are. The message is loud and clear: Take your benchmarks and … well you know the rest...

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/326313_iraqed.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=al-Maliki

A report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of the U.S. says that the country's defense department could not track record of about 30 percent of the weapons distributed in Iraq over the past three years.

http://www.rttnews.com/FOREX/gblnews.asp?date=08/06/2007&item=10


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Government+Accountability+Office

Writing for The Women's Media Center, Stacy Bannerman says, "The children of the troops serving in Iraq are experiencing significant collateral damage at home, according to two staggering new reports on the occurrence of child maltreatment, neglect, and abuse during combat-related deployments."

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/080607HA.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=collateral+damage
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Stacy+Bannerman

Phyllis Bennis of The Institute for Policy Studies writes for AlterNet: "I have spent the last five years opposing the invasion and occupation of Iraq (and before that, a dozen years opposing an earlier war and genocidal US-led economic sanctions against Iraq). I spent - and still spend - weeks and months on the road, speaking at huge demonstrations and in tiny church basements, writing articles and talking points and whatever to help build and strengthen our movement. But I never supported Saddam Hussein, who was "resisting" the US during the sanctions years, and I didn't - and don't - support what is called 'the Iraqi resistance' today. What's the difference?"

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080607T.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Phyllis+Bennis