Salem-News.com Iraq articles Page 2

Sources: Militants Capture 3 Western Iraqi Towns

On Sunday, Sunni militants led by ISIL expanded their grip to the towns of Rawa and Ana along the Euphrates River east of al-Qaim.

(ANBAR Iraq) - An al Qaeda splinter group thrust east from a newly-captured Iraqi-Syrian border post on Sunday, taking three towns in the western Anbar province in a push to evict Iraqi security forces from Sunni Muslim areas.

Militants Kill 30 Iraqi Troops; Seize Iraq-Syria Border Crossing

The capture of the Qaim border crossing deals a further blow to prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's government.

(BAGHDAD, Iraq) - Sunni militants have seized an Iraqi crossing on the border with Syria after a daylong battle in which they killed some 30 Iraqi troops, security officials said on Saturday.

Police and army officials said the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and allied militants seized the crossing near the border town of Qaim, about 200 miles west of Baghdad, after battling Iraqi troops all day Friday.

President Obama to Send 300 Troops to Iraq

The military personnel would be sent to Iraq to examine how to train and equip Iraqi forces.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Firmly ruling out the possibility of American boots on the ground in Iraq in the face of escalating sectarian violence there, U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Thursday that he would nevertheless be sending 300 “military advisers” to Baghdad.

The President explained that the military personnel would be sent to Iraq to examine how to train and equip Iraqi forces, and this would come on the heels of Washington’s steps to increase its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations to better understand the threats to Baghdad.

Yet Obama appeared determined to hold firm to the view that U.S. combat troops would not return to Iraq as that could not resolve the core issues the country is currently facing.

Iraqi Forces, ISIS Battle for Control of Baiji Oil Refinery

If the Baiji refinery falls, ISIL and its allies will have access to a large supply of fuel to add to the weaponry.

(TIKRIT, Iraq) - Iraqi government forces battled Sunni rebels for control of the country's biggest refinery on Thursday as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki waited for a U.S. response to an appeal for air strikes.

U.S. Starting to Fly Missions Over Iraq

Republican Senator John McCain, speaking in the Senate, called for the use of American air power, but also urged Obama to "make it make very clear to Maliki that his time is up."

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - President Barack Obama came under pressure from U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday to persuade Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to step down over what they see as failed leadership in the face of an insurgency threatening his country.

As Obama held an hour-long meeting with congressional leaders on U.S. options in Iraq, administration officials joined a chorus of criticism of Maliki, faulting him for failing to heal sectarian rifts that militants have exploited.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Maliki had not done enough "to govern inclusively and that has contributed to the situation and the crisis that we have today in Iraq."

The United States` Tragic Role in Iraq

"It is particularly bizarre that some of the very people who supported the illegal and unnecessary invasion of Iraq are now trying to somehow blame Obama for the unfolding fiasco."

(SANTA CRUZ, Calif.) - The dramatic rise of the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)—which even al-Qaeda deemed too extreme to remain part of its network—is a tragedy by any measure. It would also be tragic if we allowed the very forces that created this mess to explain it away.

Despite claims by the Bush administration and its supporters to the contrary, outside of a few dozen fighters in a remote valley of the Kurdish autonomous region, there was no Al-Qaeda or related Salafi extremist presence in Iraq under the Saddam Hussein regime. But now, thanks to the U.S. invasion and occupation, the extremists control most of the northern and western parts of the country, including Iraq’s second largest city.

U.S. Says No to Military Action in Iraq with Iran

The White House and Pentagon later ruled out any military co-operation in comments that were at odds with those of Kerry.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - The United States has ruled out coordinated military action with Iran as one of the options being considered to thwart radical Islamic extremists in Iraq as Sunni Muslim fighters seized another Iraqi city.

US secretary of state John Kerry raised the possibility of military co-operation with Iran to prevent Iraq being torn apart by sectarian conflict when he said in response to a question that he “wouldn’t rule out anything”.

U.S. Does Not Rule Out Working With Iran to End Violence in Iraq

ISIL fighters captured the mainly ethnic Turkmen city of Tal Afar in northwestern Iraq overnight after heavy fighting on Sunday.

(BAGHDAD, Iraq) - The United States is contemplating talks with its arch-enemy Iran to support the Iraqi government in its battle with Sunni Islamist insurgents who routed Baghdad's army and seized the north of the country in the past week.

The stunning onslaught by militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant threatens to dismember Iraq and unleash all-out sectarian warfare across a crescent of the Middle East.

Arab Foreign Ministers to Meet to Discuss Iraq, ISIL

Oil prices have risen to the highest level this year over fears of the violence disrupting exports from OPEC member Iraq.

(BAGHDAD, Iraq) - The insurgent offensive that has threatened to dismember Iraq spread to the northwest of the country on Sunday, when Sunni militants launched a dawn raid on a town close to the Syrian border, clashing with police and government forces.

As the rapid advance south by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) towards Baghdad appeared to slow over the weekend, fierce fighting erupted in the town of Tal Afar 40 miles west of Mosul near the Syrian border.

Iraq on The Brink of Bloody Civil War; No Word Yet on U.S. Airstrikes

Any push by the ISIS south towards Baghdad, however, is likely to face significant resistance as it has a much larger Shia population.

(BAGHDAD, Iraq) - Leading Shi’ite cleric Grand ­Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called on Iraqis to take up arms against Sunni extremists as thousands volunteered to bolster the capital’s defenses.

The deteriorating situation in the key global oil supplier reverberated through financial markets yesterday, sending oil prices sharply higher, pushing US stocks lower and igniting the latest rally in safe-haven bonds.