http://www.newser.com/2008 - Newseren-usNewser Feed GeneratorTue, 07 Oct 2008 6:59:08 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/38969/holiday-blasts-kill-19-iraqis-near-shia-sites.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSuicide bombers targeted Shia worshipers as they left morning prayers today at two Baghdad mosques, killing 19 people and injuring 50, police say. In a separate attack, gunmen fatally shot six people as they traveled in a minibus 60 miles north of Baghdad. Attacks on Shia civilians are widely associated with Sunni extremists hoping to reignite sectarian conflict.http://www.newser.com/story/38969/holiday-blasts-kill-19-iraqis-near-shia-sites.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThu, 02 Oct 2008 7:12:00 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/38771/forces-key-to-iraq-security-lose-steam-as-us-hands-off.html?refid=rss_all_defaultAs Iraq's Shia-led government assumes greater control of security, US soldiers fear the sudden disintegration of the 54,000-strong Sunni force that had been key to improving conditions there, the Washington Post reports. The government has pledged to hire 20% of the so-called Sons of Iraq, but that still leaves the haunting prospect of thousands of young men “unemployed, with weapons,” says a US captain.http://www.newser.com/story/38771/forces-key-to-iraq-security-lose-steam-as-us-hands-off.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 30 Sep 2008 10:26:26 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/38178/sectarian-arrests-threaten-iraq-security.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSunnis of the Awakening Council, which helped the US fight al-Qaeda in Iraq, are in hiding to avoid arrest by the Shia-led government, USA Today reports. Such political harassment could allow al-Qaeda to regain footing in volatile Diyala province and elsewhere, US officials say. Iraqi government members insist their actions are motivated by security, not sectarian politics.http://www.newser.com/story/38178/sectarian-arrests-threaten-iraq-security.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 23 Sep 2008 13:09:22 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/37994/return-to-iraq-a-fragile-peace-thats-jarring.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWhen Dexter Filkins left Baghdad in 2006, it was a city of shuttered buildings and fearful citizens, in a land that looked as though it would never recover from war. But, writes the war correspondent in the New York Times, “to return now is to be jarred in the oddest way possible: by the normal, by the pleasant, even by hope”—reopened, packed shops, people outside at night, women walking alone.http://www.newser.com/story/37994/return-to-iraq-a-fragile-peace-thats-jarring.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSun, 21 Sep 2008 6:59:42 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/35840/blasts-kill-at-least-34-in-iraq.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThree blasts killed at least 34 Iraqis today, most of them in a suicide car bombing that struck a group of police recruits, the AP reports. It was one of the highest daily casualty tolls in recent months. Two of the bombs went off in Diyala province, which has been the site of much of the recent violence and a stronghold of Sunni insurgents.http://www.newser.com/story/35840/blasts-kill-at-least-34-in-iraq.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 26 Aug 2008 7:42:27 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/35641/sunni-shiite-tensions-rattle-baghdad-nabes.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSectarian violence in Iraq may be on the wane, but bitter tension between Sunnis and Shiites continue to tear apart neighborhoods, the New York Times reports. Only 7,112 of the 151,000 families who left Baghdad to escape the bloodshed have returned, and poor rural Sunnis have moved into houses and neighborhoods abandoned by Shiites. Conflicts often erupt when original owners attempt to move back to their homes.http://www.newser.com/story/35641/sunni-shiite-tensions-rattle-baghdad-nabes.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSat, 23 Aug 2008 20:06:23 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/35423/leaving-iraq-petraeus-sees-gains-as-fragile.html?refid=rss_all_defaultDavid Petraeus is leaving Iraq after 18 months, and by all measures the country is far safer than when he arrived. The "surge" of 30,000 extra American soldiers was bolstered by major domestic developments, from the Muqtada al-Sadr ceasefire to the rise of Sunni awakening councils. But in an interview with the New York Times , the departing general warned that "It’s not durable yet. It’s not self-sustaining."http://www.newser.com/story/35423/leaving-iraq-petraeus-sees-gains-as-fragile.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThu, 21 Aug 2008 4:44:47 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/34491/sadr-offers-to-trade-militia-for-set-timetable.html?refid=rss_all_defaultShiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered most of his Mahdi Army to disband today, and offered to completely dismantle it once the US agrees to a withdrawal timetable, Time reports. “The main reason for the armed resistance is the American military presence,” said a Sadr spokesman. “If the American military begins to withdrawal, there will be no need for these armed groups.”http://www.newser.com/story/34491/sadr-offers-to-trade-militia-for-set-timetable.html?refid=rss_all_defaultFri, 08 Aug 2008 11:21:27 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/33881/despite-progress-iraqi-politics-remain-stalled.html?refid=rss_all_defaultViolence in Iraq is hitting unprecedented lows, and Iraqi forces are gradually assuming command over parts of the country previously controlled by American troops. But with the summer break and Ramadan looming, politicians aren’t taking advantage of the lull in violence to pass much-needed legislation, and PM Nouri al-Maliki is consolidating his own power, the Economist reports.http://www.newser.com/story/33881/despite-progress-iraqi-politics-remain-stalled.html?refid=rss_all_defaultFri, 01 Aug 2008 15:27:48 CDT