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Petraeus urges Maliki to work with Sadr :: www.uruknet.info :: informazione dall'Iraq occupato :: news from occupied Iraq :: - it WASHINGTON - The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, urged the Iraqi government to seek conciliation with Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, saying the cleric headed a "legitimate political movement" that could play a constructive role. Petraeus expressed worry that the recent clashes between Sadr's militia and government forces in Baghdad and Basra could undermine an eight-month-old truce between Sadr's Mahdi Army militia and U.S. forces that has contributed to a decline in violence. "We are concerned that the cease-fire could fray," Petraeus said. "There has to be a very, very sensitive approach as this goes forward, to make sure that folks don't feel like they're backed into a corner from which there's no alternative."

Ethiopia’s P.M. on U.S. Alliance | Newsweek International Edition | Newsweek.com : "NEWSWEEK: What is Ethiopia's plan to withdraw from Somalia? Meles Zenawi: There are two issues here. First is the threat that was posed by the Shabaab [the radical wing of the Union of Islamic Courts] to Ethiopia, when they threatened to take control of the whole of Somalia and at the same time declared jihad against Ethiopia. That threat had to be neutralized and we believe we did that the first weeks of our intervention … We were told by the African Union [AU] and others that in our withdrawal we shouldn't create a vacuum, at which point we indicated we could wait a bit longer so long as the African Union was in a position to replace our troops. That has taken an inordinate amount of time."

Making Perfunctory Preparations for Combat in Anti-American Cleric’s Stronghold - New York Times : "BAGHDAD — The two Mahdi Army fighters shuffled across the sidewalk, dragging two heavy artillery shells that they laid horizontally in the middle of the Sadr City highway, placing them tip to end like rusting batteries in a pocket flashlight."

The Daily Star - Opinion Articles - Iraq and the US economy: ills feeding off each other Some say there are two issues in the coming American elections: the Iraq war and the economy. On days when the war seems to be going better than expected, and the economy worse, the economy eclipses the war; but neither is faring well. In some sense, there is only one issue, and that is the war, which has exacerbated America's economic problems. And when the world's largest economy is sick - and it is now very sick - the entire world suffers. It used to be thought that wars were good for the economy. After all, World War II is widely thought to have helped lift the global economy out of the Great Depression. But, at least since John Maynard Keynes, we know how to stimulate the economy more effectively, and in ways that increase long-term productivity and enhance living standards.

Al Jazeera English - Focus - Interview: Mohammed Al-Douri

allAfrica.com: Somalia: 5 Ethiopian Soldiers Killed in Mogadishu Roadside Bomb (Page 1 of 1) An Ethiopian army truck driving through the Somali capital on Wednesday hit a landmine, killing at least five soldiers on board and wounding others, witnesses said. The remotely-detonated explosion completely destroyed the army truck and sent plumes of smoke into the air. Ethiopian army reinforcements rushed to the area and pulled the wrecked truck from the scene of the explosion.

Khalil regrets toppling statue of Saddam : "Baghdad - Ibrahim Khalil, who five years ago took part in the iconic toppling of a giant statue of Saddam Hussein in central Baghdad, said on Wednesday he now regrets taking part in the hugely symbolic event. 'If history can take me back, I will kiss the statue of Saddam Hussein which I helped pull down,' Khalil told reporters on the fifth anniversary of the statue's toppling. 'I will protect the statue more than my own self,' Khalil said in Firdoos Square alongside a monument erected where Saddam's statue once stood before US marines and Iraqis strung a chain around its neck and brought it crashing down."