War Glance
A police official says U.S. troops opened fire on a car in western Baghdad killing an Iraqi journalist and her husband. The official says the incident took place late Wednesday in the Tobchi neighborhood.
He says U.S. troops open fire on Aseel al-Obeidi and her husband's car but gave no further details. He spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. Morgue officials confirmed the deaths.
The U.S. military did not confirm the incident but said it was investigating killings Wednesday of two Iraqis that occurred as troops were conducting security operations in western Baghdad.
Al-Obeidi worked for Dijla television, which recently closed because of financial problems.
Police: US troops shoot Iraqi reporter and husband
Two IDF soldiers charged with using 9-year-old 'human shield' in Gaza war
The Israel Defense Forces prosecution on Thursday filed an indictment against two combat soldiers suspected of inappropriate conduct during Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip in 2008.
The soldiers, who served as staff sergeants in the Givati Brigade during Operation Cast Lead, allegedly forced a 9-year-old Palestinian boy to open a number of bags they thought might contain explosive materials. The soldiers, who breached the army's rule against using civilians as human shields during war, will be tried for violating their authority and for inappropriate conduct.
In a separate incident earlier Thursday, the military court ordered the release of Adam Malul, an IDF officer convicted in December on charges of aggravated assault and conduct unbecoming an officer after hitting a Palestinian in the West Bank.
Chaliabi in charge of candidate disqualifications in Iraq elections
The candidates were barred on election eve by a commission -- run by onetime U.S. ally Ahmed Chalabi and other Shiite politicians -- that was empowered to screen government officials for loyalty to Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath Party. Most of the 55 candidates who were disqualified belong to the Iraqiya list of former prime minister Ayad Allawi, which appears to have done well in secular and Sunni communities.
If the votes for the newly barred candidates are annulled, it could give the Iraqiya coalition powerful ammunition to allege vote-rigging by rival politicians, including some in the Shiite-led camp of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
"It will be a very violent reaction," Allawi said in an interview Tuesday. "A lot of violence will take place, and God knows how this will end. I will tell you there is already an existing feeling that there was widespread rigging and widespread intimidation."
U.S. government knows of no al Qaida arrest in Pakistan
Despite numerous news reports that Pakistan has arrested an American al Qaida operative in the port city of Karachi, the U.S. government is unaware that anyone affiliated with the terrorist network, American or otherwise, has been captured in Pakistan recently, U.S. officials said Monday.
"None of this appears to be fact at this point," said a U.S. official who asked not to be further identified because the official wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly. U.S. and international news reports that first appeared Sunday quoted unnamed Pakistani intelligence officials as saying that Pakistani agents in Karachi had arrested Adam Gadahn, a Californian who'd converted to Islam and oversees al Qaida's propaganda operations.
Gadahn, 31, is the most wanted American member of al Qaida and the first U.S. citizen since the 1940s to be charged with treason.
Iraq parliamentary election hit by insurgent attacks
Iraq's second parliamentary election since the 2003 invasion has been hit by multiple attacks, with at least 35 people being killed. Two buildings were destroyed in the capital and dozens of mortars were fired across Baghdad and elsewhere.
Despite the violence, there were long queues of voters at polling stations in a number of cities. Polls closed at 1700 (1400 GMT) but people already in line were allowed to cast their votes. An immense security operation was mounted, involving more than 500,000 Iraqi security personnel. The border with Iran was closed, thousands of troops were deployed, and vehicles were banned from roads.
UN envoy says Afghan strategy is too 'military-driven'
Hours before boarding a flight out of Kabul, Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide delivered a final warning Saturday as he wrapped up his two-year tenure as the top United Nations diplomat in Afghanistan.
"This year can become a year when negative trends are reversed, but it will require a tremendous effort and mobilization of political energy," Eide told a small women's conference. "So far, I do not see that mobilization of political energy . . . . If this does not happen, then I believe the negative trends ."
In his final weeks, Eide stepped up his push for political talks with the Taliban as the best way to end the eight-year-old war, and in his final press conference, he expressed concern that President Barack Obama's decision to send 30,000-35,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan is coming without a concurrent political surge.
One in Three Killed By Drones in Pakistan Is a Civilian
A new report from the New America Foundation states that one of every three people killed in the U.S.’s not-so-secret drone war in Pakistan is a civilian. The report also discloses that none of the strikes in 2009 targeted Bin Laden, and that they have had little impact on the Taliban’s ability to plan operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
To the contrary, the drone strikes serve as a powerful recruiting tool for the Taliban and al Qaeda.The authors note that the rapidly escalating use of drones by the Obama Administration far exceeds the rate of use by the Bush Administration, with 2009’s 51 strikes exceeding the total number of strikes under the entire Bush Administration.
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