Attacks kill 67 as Iraq mired in political crisis

2011-12-22T17:30:33Z

A wave of attacks across Iraq killed 67 people Thursday as it faced a political crisis, with its vice president accused of running death squads and the premier warning he could break off power-sharing.

Apparently coordinated blasts in the capital and the slaughter of a family of five in restive Diyala province were the first major sign of violence in a row that has thr...

Iraq pullout was "signature failure" for Obama: Romney

2011-12-22T13:00:07Z

LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Thursday attacked President Barack Obama for a "signature failure" to keep some troops in

U.S. general returns from Iraq with Baghdad flag

2011-12-20T15:00:13Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The last commander of U.S. forces in Iraq returns to the United States on Tuesday carrying the command flag that flew over Baghdad.

General Lloyd Austin...

US forces quit Iraq nine years on

2011-12-18T17:30:37Z

The last US forces left Iraq and entered Kuwait on Sunday, nearly nine years after launching a divisive war to oust Saddam Hussein, and just as the oil-rich country grapples with renewed political deadlock.

The last of roughly 110 vehicles carrying 500-odd troops mostly from the 3rd ...

Romney says US withdrawal from Iraq 'precipitous'

2011-12-18T14:30:16Z

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said in an interview aired Sunday that US withdrawal from Iraq is "precipitous" and blamed President Barack Obama for failing to leave some US forces behind.

"I think we're going to find that this president, by not putting in place a ...

For U.S. soldiers, bittersweet end to Iraq war

2011-12-18T07:02:00Z

K-CROSSING, Kuwait (Reuters) - American soldiers marked Sunday's U.S. troop withdrawal after nearly nine years in Iraq with mixed emotions, remembering lost colleagues, but hoping the country can stand on its own feet.

The war, launched in 2003 to topp...

Obama urges unity as he thanks troops after Iraq

2011-12-17T15:30:21Z

US President Barack Obama urged national unity Saturday as he expressed his gratitude to troops who fought the war in Iraq and welcomed them home at the end of the war.

"Now it is up to us to serve these brave men and women as well as they serve us," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address.

"Every day, they meet their responsibilities to their families and their countr...

Abu Ghraib remains scar on US war efforts

2011-12-16T20:30:43Z

He is now a schoolteacher, but Abu Mustafa admits he still sometimes has flashbacks to his 10 months in American custody at Iraq's most infamous prison -- Abu Ghraib.

"I cannot forget, and I cannot describe, the hell that I lived," said the 33-year-old father-of-two, who remains profoundly traumatised by his time there and, according to h...

US military hands over control of last Iraq base

2011-12-16T10:30:30Z

Iraq took control of the last American military base in the country on Friday, a day after US forces marked the end of their mission, bringing a divisive war to a low-key conclusion.

The transfer of the sprawling installation on the outskirts of the southern city of Nas...

Camp Ashraf exiles file US complaint against Iran, Iraq

2011-12-15T20:30:31Z

Four Iranian exiles have filed a complaint in US court against senior Iranian and Iraqi officials for their alleged role in an April attack on Camp Ashraf, a site for Iranian dissidents in Iraq.

The Iranians, three of whom received political asylum in the United States and another resided in the United States, claim the...

Iraq to take over last US base ahead of pullout

2011-12-15T19:31:02Z

Iraq will assume command Friday of the last US military base in the country, a day after US forces formally marked the end of their mission by bringing a divisive war to a low-key conclusion.

Baghdad's security forces will take over a sprawling installation on th...

US forces mark end of Iraq mission

2011-12-15T16:30:41Z

US forces formally marked the end of their mission in Iraq with a low-key ceremony near Baghdad on Thursday, after nearly nine years of divisive war that began with the invasion to oust Saddam Hussein.

The "casing of the colours" near the airport, the first site the US occupied in Baghdad in 2003, comes with around 4,000 US soldiers stil...

US forces to lower flag in Iraq ahead of pullout

2011-12-15T06:30:33Z

US forces will lower the flag in Iraq on Thursday, in a formal ceremony ahead of their withdrawal from the country nearly nine years after the controversial invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.

The ceremony marking the closure of the US military's headquarters in Iraq comes after US withdrawal from Iraq will leave a power vacuum in the Gulf, analysts say, paving the way for Iran to increase its influence in this economic and politically strategic region, a concern echoed by America's Gulf allies.

"The US withdrawal from Iraq will no doubt create a power vacuum," said Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the

Iraqis burn US flags to celebrate troop pullout

2011-12-14T15:31:00Z

Hundreds of Iraqis set alight US and Israeli flags on Wednesday as they celebrated the impending pullout of American forces from the country in the former insurgent bastion of Fallujah.

Shouting slogans in support of the "resistance," the demonstrators held up banners and placards inscribed with phrases like, "Now we are free" and "Fallujah is the flame of the resistance."

Surrounded by the Iraqi army, demonstrators carried post...

Obama: Troops leaving Iraq with heads held high

2011-12-14T13:00:32Z

FORT BRAGG, North Carolina (Reuters) - President Barack Obama welcomed home some of the last U.S. troops from Iraq on Wednesday, marking a symbolic end to the nearly nine-year war that strained America's armed forces and damaged it...

Obama: U.S. troops leaving Iraq with heads held high

2011-12-14T11:00:22Z

Obama welcomes home troops, marks end of Iraq war

2011-12-14T11:00:11Z

Obama to honor troops to mark end of Iraq war

2011-12-14T04:30:20Z

President Barack Obama will Wednesday embrace returning troops and seek to turn the page on the divisive, bloody and costly period of modern US history stained by the Iraq war.

He will pay homage to military sacrifices and seek to move Americans towards a future unclouded by major foreign land wars and urge them to join an effort ...

Iraq has 'enduring partner' in US, Obama vows

2011-12-12T18:30:48Z

US President Barack Obama vowed an "enduring" partnership with a "self-reliant" and sovereign Iraq, touting his promise kept to end a wrenching war as he met Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Obama said the last US soldiers would leave Iraq this month "with heads held high" but left history to judge the decision to wage a conflic...

US invasion unleashed Iraqi 'creative anarchy'

2011-12-12T18:30:45Z

While the past eight-plus years of US forces in Iraq were dominated by headlines of brutal violence and fitful reconstruction efforts, Iraqis note the 2003 war has also unleashed a "creative anarchy."

From widely-circulated clips of young rappers to street races where drivers perform doughnuts with their cars, the Iraq of 2011 is in many ways a markedly different place culturally from ...

Obama, Maliki have 'failed' on security: McCain

2011-12-12T15:31:03Z

US Senator John McCain Monday accused President Barack Obama and visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of having "failed" by not agreeing on a US military presence past year's end.

"Both men have failed in their responsibilities with regard ...

Obama meets Iraq's Maliki at White House

2011-12-12T09:00:18Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama welcomed Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to the White House on Monday, showcasing the end of the American war in President Barack Obama meets Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki Monday, marking America's exit from a war launched in a aerial "shock and awe" assault that went on to deeply wound both nations.

Obama will hold talks with Maliki at the White House, have a press conference and join his visito...

NATO to halt Iraq mission at year-end: official

2011-12-11T16:30:32Z

NATO will withdraw its Iraq training mission at year-end after Baghdad refused to grant it legal immunity, Iraq's top security adviser said on Sunday, mirroring the nearly-complete pullout of US forces.

But a NATO official in Brussels denied...

Iraq PM sets off for US ahead of pullout

2011-12-11T06:30:15Z

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki headed to Washington on Sunday, for the first time as leader of a country virtually empty of foreign troops as the US withdrawal from Iraq nears its final days.

Maliki is to hold wide-ranging talks with US President Barack Obama

Seven killed in Iraq attacks

2011-12-10T11:30:26Z

A spate of gun and bomb attacks across northern and central Iraq on Saturday killed seven people and left four others wounded, security officials said.

In the disputed northern city of Kirkuk, a Shiite Turkman chemicals specialist for the state-owned North Oil Company was killed by a magnetic "sticky bomb" at...

Iraq says US hands over key air base

2011-12-07T14:30:47Z

The US army on Wednesday transferred to Iraqi forces a key military base in the western province of Anbar near the border with Jordan and Saudi Arabia, a government official said.

"Today we took control of the Al-Assad air base in Anbar province,...

US hands key base over to Iraqi control

2011-12-02T16:30:31Z

The United States on Friday handed over to Iraqi control the sprawling Victory Base Complex near Baghdad, the main base from which the US-led war in Iraq was commanded, a US military spokesman said.

"The Victory Base Com...

Shared sacrifices allow Iraq war to end: Biden

2011-12-01T16:31:12Z

US Vice President Joe Biden, in Iraq as the last American soldiers prepare to depart, thanked troops from both sides for their shared sacrifices, saying they helped to end the war.

But even as Biden spoke of the conflict drawing to a close, 18 people were killed in attacks in Diyala province, north of Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday the United States and Iraq are embarking on a new phase in their ties as Washington keeps its promise to pull all of its troops out of the country.

Biden, President Barack ...

Packing and patrolling, U.S. troops roll out of Iraq

2011-11-30T09:30:51Z

CAMP ECHO, Iraq (Reuters) - Camp Echo's dusty motorpools are empty, its private contract caterers have long gone home and murals depicting the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York's twin towers have been painted over.

One of the last seven BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday in a visit to mark the end of the U.S. war in Iraq as troops complete withdrawal by year-end.

Biden's trip spotlights the fulfillment of a key pledge by Iraq's disputed oil-rich Kirkuk province may turn into fertile ground for militant groups including Al-Qaeda after the US withdrawal, officials from the province warn.

Ethnically divided Kirkuk lies at the centre of a tract of territory which Kurdish leaders want to incorporate in their autonomo...

Up to 763 contractors to train Iraqi forces: US

2011-11-23T16:30:31Z

A maximum of 763 civilian contractors and 157 US military personnel will train Iraqi security forces post-2011, if the Iraqi government gives its approval, a US officer said on Wednesday.

US President Barack Obama announced on October 21 that US troops would depart

US forces kill Iraqis after bombing: officials

2011-11-19T16:30:23Z

US forces shot dead two Iraqi civilians south of Baghdad on Saturday following a bomb attack on their convoy, Iraq security officials said, while the US military denied its soldiers opened fire.

"A roadside bomb hit a US convoy in Yusifiyah on the road to Hilla," an interior ministry official said. "American forces opened fire rando...

Iraq's Kirkuk faces uncertainty without U.S. troops

2011-11-16T07:00:39Z

KIRKUK, Iraq (Reuters) - In Iraq's northern oil city Kirkuk, home to a volatile mix of Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen, politicians and residents fear a possible explosion of ethnic conflict when American troops leave.

With prospects that U.S. forces will leave Iraq by December 31, the city turns uncertainly to Iraqi and Kurdish...

Defense chief clashes with senators over Iraq

2011-11-15T14:00:37Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta rejected accusations at a heated Senate hearing on Tuesday that U.S. politics helped drive the decision to completely withdraw from Iraq this year without leaving any troops behind as trainers.

The October...

Iraq Violence

2010-12-27T06:31:31Z

Iraqi security forces inspect the scene of two suicide bombers attacks in Ramadi, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 27, 2010. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up on Monday, killing and wounding scores of people at the government compound in the provincial capital of Ramadi, officials said. (AP Photo)

Copy...

Iraq Sons of Iraq

2010-12-16T10:33:23Z

In this Monday, Oct. 6, 2010 photo, an armed Sunni militiaman wearing an Iraqi Army patch, left, and a U.S. Army soldier patrol in Samarra, 60 miles (95 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq. The man is part of Samarra's Sahwa _ Arabic for Awakening, or...

Iraq Traffic Accident

2010-12-03T11:37:24Z

Victims of a traffic accident lie injured at a Hospital in Hillah, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Dec. 3, 2010. Dozens of people including Iranian pilgrims visiting Shiite holy sites in Iraq, died Friday when two buses collided head-on south of Baghdad, official and eyewitnesses said. (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)

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Iraq Politics

2010-11-13T05:01:15Z

Iraqi Army soldiers dance and chant slogans to celebrate the end of an eight month political impasse in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

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Iraq Security

2010-11-10T04:31:42Z

An Iraqi policeman adjusts the blindfold on a suspected terrorist during a joint operation in al-Shaheed village in Kirkuk province, north of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010. The man was detained during a sweep by Iraqi police and

American War in Iraq