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    More US troops to Iraq, raising total to about 750

    Jul 01, 2014 01:30 PM EST

    ... deployment to Iraq earlier in June. Of those 300, about 180 had arrived as of Monday, the Pentagon said. They are assessing the state of Iraqi security forces and coordinating with Iraqi authorities. The U.S. also has a permanent group of about 100 military personnel in the Office of ...

  • News Wrap: Sunni extremists declare new Islamic state in Iraq and Syria

    News Wrap: Sunni extremists declare new Islamic state in Iraq and Syria

    Jun 30, 2014 11:18 PM EST

    ... Militants in Gaza struck back by firing rockets. There was celebration and condemnation today after Sunni extremists declared a new Muslim state, or caliphate, in Iraq and Syria. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, also known as ISIS, made the announcement on Sunday. Jonathan Rugman of ...

  • Will an alternative to prime minister Maliki emerge in Iraq?

    Will an alternative to prime minister Maliki emerge in Iraq?

    Jun 27, 2014 11:41 PM EST

    ... JUDY WOODRUFF: Earlier today, Iraq's top Shiite cleric stepped up pressure on politicians to agree on the Iraq's next prime minister by Tuesday, as Nouri al-Maliki continues to lose the confidence of former allies in the fight against ISIL militants. Rod Nordland has been reporting on ...

  • Assaults on Iraqi oil fields sow worry over global gas prices

    Assaults on Iraqi oil fields sow worry over global gas prices

    Jun 27, 2014 12:30 AM EST

    rajectory that you see here, with the upheaval, with the disruptions, does it change the path that Iraq was on to greater -- even greater oil production? There were high hopes and high numbers attached to the potential for the future. GIANNA BERN: I think, for the moment, it definitely brings ...

  • Iraqis trickling back to Mosul, but bracing for more violence

    Iraqis trickling back to Mosul, but bracing for more violence

    Jun 26, 2014 01:18 PM EST

    ... or how long the Iraqis will be away from home, said Claborne. It could be awhile, he said, since the response to the conflict in Iraq appears to require a political solution -- an inclusive government that takes into account the needs of all Iraqis -- along with a military one that ...

  • News Wrap: Maliki rejects appeals for a unity government in Iraq

    News Wrap: Maliki rejects appeals for a unity government in Iraq

    Jun 26, 2014 12:33 AM EST

    ... any such move would amount to a coup, since his Shiite bloc won the most seats in April's elections. NOURI AL-MALIKI, Prime Minister, Iraq (through interpreter):  It is not a secret to Iraqis the grave intentions harbored behind the call for the formation of a so-called government ...

  • Evidence suggests Syria launched airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq

    Evidence suggests Syria launched airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq

    Jun 25, 2014 04:29 PM EST

    ... National Security Council spokeswoman. "The solution to Iraq's security challenge does not involve militias or the murderous Assad regime, but the strengthening of the Iraqi security forces to combat threats." Another U.S. official said Iran has been flying surveillance drones in Iraq. The officials spoke only on grounds ...

  • Former U.S. allies in Iraq eyed for fight against ISIL

    Former U.S. allies in Iraq eyed for fight against ISIL

    Jun 25, 2014 02:12 PM EST

    ... model for how to unite Sunni fighters against the rampant Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS -- Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) that has swept across most of the nation's north. Also known as the Sons of Iraq -- "sahwa" is Arabic for "awakening ...

  • Kurdish leader: ‘We are facing a new reality and a new Iraq’

    Kurdish leader: ‘We are facing a new reality and a new Iraq

    Jun 24, 2014 11:54 PM EST

    ... the entire region is facing, especially Iraq. This needs the support of all concerned in order to find a proper solution for the crisis that Iraq is witnessing today. After these changes, we are facing a new reality and a new Iraq. JUDY WOODRUFF: That new Iraq, in the eyes ...

  • How ISIL capitalized on vulnerabilities of Iraq's security forces

    How ISIL capitalized on vulnerabilities of Iraq's security forces

    Jun 24, 2014 11:52 PM EST

    ... JUDY WOODRUFF: For more on the situation in Iraq, we turn to two former Army officers who served in that country. Retired Colonel Derek Harvey was an intelligence officer and special adviser to the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus. He's now a professor ...