• Sadr fighters lay down their weapons
    Published: May 15, 2008 at 10:44 PM
    BAGHDAD, May 15 (UPI) -- Forces loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr laid down their weapons Thursday as reports emerged from Iraq of relative calm in the Baghdad district of Sadr City.
  • U.S. claims Iranian weapons are in Iraq
    Published: May 15, 2008 at 10:42 PM
    BAGHDAD, May 15 (UPI) -- A spokesman for the U.S. military in Baghdad said emerging evidence suggests Iran is backing the so-called special groups targeting coalition and Iraqi forces.
  • Sadrists' political future uncertain
    Published: May 15, 2008 at 10:40 PM
    BAGHDAD, May 15 (UPI) -- The Sadrist Movement emerged as an influential force in the post-Saddam era in Iraq, but its potency may be in decline, analysts say.
» view more...
  • Analysis: Indian agencies start blame game
    Published: May 15, 2008 at 8:36 PM
    By KUSHAL JEENA
    UPI Correspondent
    NEW DELHI, May 15 (UPI) -- India's intelligence and security agencies are indulging in a blame game over a recent foiled infiltration bid by militants on the Pakistani border, with one agency accusing the paramilitary forces guarding the border of lacking alertness.
  • Iraq press roundup
    Published: May 15, 2008 at 7:20 PM
    By HIBA DAWOOD
    UPI Correspondent
    The daily Al Mashriq newspaper had an editorial Thursday titled "Last lines for the chaotic months" that said although Iraq has been in a war for five years, the government in the last few weeks has been chaotically carrying out quick military operations and offensives in many cities and areas around the country.
  • Features: More graves found
    Published: May 15, 2008 at 2:31 PM
    By RICHARD TOMKINS
    ZAHAMM, Iraq, May 13 (UPI) -- The number of human remains unearthed in an al-Qaida killing field northeast of Baghdad in Diyala province is nearing 70 with the discovery of more graves by villagers who had volunteered to search an abandoned pomegranate orchard.
  • Analysis: USAF's cyber offense capability
    Published: May 15, 2008 at 2:23 PM
    By SHAUN WATERMAN
    UPI Homeland and National Security Editor
    WASHINGTON, May 15 (UPI) -- Procurement documents from the U.S. Air Force give a rare glimpse into the Pentagon's plans for developing an offensive cyberwar capacity that can infiltrate, steal data from and if necessary take down enemy information technology networks.
  • Iraq Press Roundup
    Published: May 14, 2008 at 3:49 PM
    By HIBA DAWOOD
    UPI Correspondent
    The Association of Muslim Scholars' Al Basaer newspaper said in its editorial Wednesday that President Bush has divided the people of Iraq into five groups according to the five political groups in Iraq.
  • Feature: Iraq's killing fields
    Published: May 14, 2008 at 2:13 PM
    By RICHARD TOMKINS
    ZAHAMM, Iraq, May 13 (UPI) -- Farmers digging in part of an abandoned pomegranate orchard in the Diyala provincial village of Zahamm have uncovered the graves of more than 50 people murdered by al-Qaida-Iraq during their two-year reign of terror in the area.
» view more...

U.S. officials offer Iraq assessment


Published: March 24, 2008 at 7:44 PM
Print story
Email to a friend
Font size:
WASHINGTON, March 24 (UPI) -- U.S. senators offered varied assessments of the situation in Iraq as the president spoke with top military advisers ahead of an April progress report.

Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., spoke on CBS' "Face the Nation" following his tour of Iraq with Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

The war in Iraq "has turned a corner," Graham said.

"Sectarian violence is down by 90 percent," he said. "Our casualties are way down. We have a long way to go, but I believe the surge has worked on all fronts."

But Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., responded to Graham's assessment, noting that "the problem with Iraq is that every time you turn the corner, there is another corner," Voice of America relayed.

Speaking on CNN's "Late Edition," the Iraqi national security adviser said the status of U.S. forces in Iraq and any long-term assessments depended on "the preparedness of the Iraqi security forces."

Meanwhile, U.S. President Bush spoke with U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and the top U.S. military official there, U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, on a video conference Monday.

The Bush administration said it would consider a further drawdown of troop levels in Iraq after Crocker and Petraeus brief Congress on the progress in Iraq on April 8 and 9.

The U.S. troop level is expected to go down to the pre-surge levels of 15 brigades by this summer. "And where we go from there is going to be something that the president will decide and make public to everybody in early April," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in a news briefing Monday of the two-hour video conference.

© 2008 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
Print story
Order reprints
Email to a friend
Post comment
» Next in Emerging Threats - Briefing: Mixed review as Iraqi trading goes wired