Charles Recknagel is standards editor for RFE/RL.
(file photo) The Pentagon yesterday acknowledged that some of the abuse of Iraqis at Baghdad's Abu Ghurayb prison was in violation of the Geneva Conventions. The acknowledgement adds fuel to a growing debate in the United States over the extent to which the U.S. administration has loosened observance of the Geneva Conventions to pursue terrorists and whether that may have confused operating procedures in Iraq.
Abuse in Iraqi prisons by U.S. forces The challenges in Iraq for the U.S. administration have never been greater. Among the toughest are coping with a crisis of confidence generated by the photos of abuse of Iraqi prisoners and quelling the insurgency of radical Shi'a cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
The beheading of a U.S. civilian by a group with suspected ties to Al-Qaeda is the latest shocking image to emerge from Iraq. The group claims to have executed its captive in response to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghurayb by some U.S. soldiers. But the group also appears to be hoping that the graphic videotape will fan anger at Washington even as it revolts the public.
The United States is stepping up military pressure on Muqtada al-Sadr, including destroying his headquarters in Baghdad. The moves against al-Sadr and his militia come as mainstream Shi'a religious leaders appear to be exasperated with the radical cleric and might be ready to isolate him politically.
The scandal over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by some U.S. soldiers continues to grow. There are new suggestions that Washington may have known about such incidents months ago, but did not take remedial action. Today, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is due to answer questions before the U.S. Congress as some opposition lawmakers demand he be fired for irresponsibility.
Aid groups say Sudan faces a humanitarian crisis as fighting in the west of the country continues to displace hundreds of thousands of people. The situation is prompting new world attention to events in the African nation.
The U.S. military has dropped its plans to appoint a former Republican Guard general to head an Iraqi security force for Al-Fallujah, opting instead for a formerly exiled intelligence officer. But the circumstances surrounding the last-minute change are unclear -- as are the odds the new candidate will be able to end the Al-Fallujah crisis.
Fighters for al-Sadr There are mixed reports from Al-Fallujah today, with U.S. troops pulling back from some areas amid signs a new security deal may have been struck with local leaders. The latest developments come as U.S. forces in Iraq have suffered their costliest month ever, with more soldiers killed in April than during the invasion a year ago.
A year after U.S. President George W. Bush declared major combat over in Iraq, it is clear that ousting Saddam was easier than administering the occupied country. The second part of a two-part series looks at how U.S. policy is evolving as it searches for new approaches to establishing a democratic Iraq.
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.
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