Charles Recknagel is standards editor for RFE/RL.
Prague, 10 April 2004 (RFE/RL) -- The violence in Iraq is causing a widening rift between Washington and the Iraqi Governing Council -- the likely nucleus of the new sovereign government due to take political power on 30 June.
Koizumi (right) is in a delicate position Japan joined the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq with the provision that its soldiers would carry out a purely humanitarian mission by helping with reconstruction. Now, Tokyo finds itself ever more embroiled in Iraq's violence as a group of militants has taken three of its nationals hostage and threatened to kill them unless all Japanese troops leave the country. The kidnappers have given Tokyo three days to decide what to do.
The violence in Iraq is testing some members of the U.S.-led coalition. Several, including Ukraine and Japan -- deployed for what they thought would be light peacekeeping or humanitarian missions in southern Iraq -- now find themselves in the midst of an expanding insurgency.
Muqtada al-Sadr As armed supporters of Shi'a cleric Muqtada al-Sadr continue to battle with coalition forces, the young cleric has almost overnight become the most visible symbol of Iraq's insurgency. How much influence does the young cleric have in the Shi'a community, and could his appeal grow further?
As coalition forces seek to crack down on new waves of violent resistance to the U.S.-led authority in Iraq, the unrest is having political repercussions around the globe. In the United States, it has sparked new debate over whether Washington can turn over power to a sovereign Iraqi government by 30 June. And in Europe, Madrid is hardening its demands for the United Nations to take charge in Iraq if Spanish troops are to remain beyond this summer.
What was Saddam Hussein concealing? As U.S. teams continue to search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, they are increasingly focusing on proving that Saddam Hussein intended to develop such weapons, even if no stockpiles can be found. The shift in emphasis comes as the U.S. administration finds itself on the defensive over criticism that it overestimated the threat from Hussein's weapons programs as a reason to go to war last year.
Iraqi oil officials say the country's oil sector is now routinely producing close to 2.5 million barrels per day -- about the same amount Iraq produced just before last year's war. That is good news for Washington, which is counting on Iraqi oil revenues to fund much of the country's reconstruction. But it remains uncertain how much further output can grow before the dilapidated state of many oil fields forces engineers to slow down and make further repairs.
Deminers say they have cleared 1 million mines and pieces of unexploded ordnance in northern Iraq since the toppling of Saddam Hussein a year ago. That is noteworthy progress toward removing a menace that today kills or injures at least 20 people a month in the area. But it also is a measure of how much still remains to be done.
A major U.S. proposal to foster democracy in the Mideast, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan has run aground amid angry criticism from key Arab rulers and doubts in Europe. Now, Washington is reported to be revising its approach in hopes of still finding a way to unveil some version of its Greater Middle East Initiative at the G-8 summit in June.
One year after the start of the Iraq war (20 March 2003), the U.S.-British decision to jointly topple Saddam Hussein remains a divisive subject. Proponents of the action argue that Washington and London acted as liberators, while critics say their unilateral operation smacked of imperialism. But even as the debate continues, the world community is increasingly coming to terms with the war's results.
The U.S.-led coalition can look back with satisfaction at the ease with which it overwhelmed Saddam Hussein's forces in the first weeks of the Iraq war. But things have not gone so smoothly since. In the first of a four-part series on the first anniversary of the start of the war (20 March 2003), RFE/RL reports that coalition troops continue to have difficulties suppressing a postwar insurgency launched by Hussein loyalists and Islamic extremist groups.
Prague, 15 March 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Spain's Socialist Party members are celebrating victory as the official vote count from yesterday's election shows they have ousted the conservative party of former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.
The United States is stepping up preparations to prosecute former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and other top members of his regimes for war crimes and crimes against humanity. This month, some 50 American lawyers, investigators and prosecutors began heading to Iraq to organize evidence and provide other technical support for a tribunal.
Prague, 12 March 2004 (RFE/RL) -- The editorial pages of the world's newspapers are filled with expressions of outrage, shock, and defiance over the terrorist bombings in Madrid which killed almost 200 people yesterday. Some commentators also debate whether U.S. plans to build democracy in Iraq and the Mideast are realistic.
U.S. officials are blaming a Jordanian extremist leader operating in Iraq for planning this week's deadly attacks on Shi'a celebrating their holy day of Ashura in Baghdad and Karbala. RFE/RL looks at the evidence against Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi and what his rising profile may mean for the war against terrorism.
The bomb attacks that killed more than 140 Shi'a in Iraq yesterday are sparking a fierce new debate over whether U.S.-led forces are able to provide adequate security in the country. RFE/RL looks at the row and whether it is likely to cause the coalition to change tactics.
Simultaneous attacks today on Shi'a devotees in Baghdad and Karbala killed more than 100 people, making this one of the bloodiest days in Iraq since the U.S. toppled Saddam Hussein last year. RFE/RL correspondent Charles Recknagel looks at possible motivations for the bombings and at why such attacks are so hard to prevent.
Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council has agreed on an interim constitution. The document, known as the Transitional Administration Law, establishes an operating framework for the sovereign government due to take power by 30 June. RFE/RL looks at some of the issues the document resolves -- and some of those it does not.
IAEA head Muhammad el-Baradei (file photo) New revelations regarding the extent of the global black market in nuclear technology are raising concerns that international terrorist groups could have greater access to such materials than previously thought. In Part 2 of a two-part series, RFE/RL looks at the difficulties of putting nuclear black marketeers out of business.
Suspected nuclear facility in Iran New revelations regarding the extent of the global black market in nuclear technology are raising concerns that international terrorist groups could have greater access to such materials than previously thought. In Part 1 of a two-part series, RFE/RL looks at what is known about the network and the kinds of secrets being sold.
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