BBC News - Shia pilgrims flock to Iraqi city for climax of Ashura
Source: BBC News
Hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims have gathered in the Iraqi city of Karbala for the climax of the religious festival of Ashura. Final processions will take place under tight security with more than 20,000 police deployed and marksmen placed on buildings.
The Case for Illegal Mingling
Source: The New York Times
It seems to me that if the Middle East could use more of anything these days it is more mingling — if not between the sexes then at least between the sects.
Make Walls, Not War
Source: The New York Times
Iraq cannot be reconstructed as a unitary state, and the sooner we face up to this reality, the better.
Iraq after Saddam: Regrets Only?
Source: The New York Times
Years of war and murder had left Iraqis so thoroughly degraded, Makiya argued, that, once freed, they would throw off the tired orthodoxies of Arab politics and, in their despair, look to the West. "The removal of the regime of Saddam Hussein presents the U.S.
The US surge has failed - Iraqi poll
Source: BBC News
About 70% of Iraqis believe security has deteriorated in the area covered by the US military "surge" of the past six months, an opinion poll suggests.
The Former-Insurgent Counterinsurgency
Source: The New York Times
In a Sunni stronghold just south of Baghdad, the U.S.military has been persuading militants to switch sides. But it's not at all clear that the enemy's new enemy is really a friend.
Iraq to Allow Ex-Baathists to Regain Jobs
Source: The New York Times
The announcement on Sunday has been hailed as evidence of movement toward national reconciliation by the widely-criticized Shiite-led administration.
Jihad Unjustified, Illogical by Abdullah Al-Tayer
Source: The Washington Post
PBS defines Jihad as "striving in the way of God; this striving can take a number of forms, including the daily inner struggle to be a better person. However, jihad is often used to refer to an armed struggle fought in defense of Islam."