“Saddam Hussein” on The Daily Caller

In his prime-time address last night, President Obama wisely avoided many of the pitfalls that tripped up his predecessor. He did not declare victory under a “mission accomplished” banner or claim that a fully-flowered democracy had been created in Iraq. Rather, he expressed his hope that violence comes down, that Iraqi politicians will reconcile their differences, and that Iraq may someday be capable of defending itself. (more)

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the end of American combat operations Tuesday leaves his country independent and an equal to the United States and he assured his people their own security forces will protect them. (more)

The United States has more Muslim blood on its hands than al-Qaida has of non-Muslims, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the leader of the effort to build a mosque near the site of the 9/11 terror attacks in New York, told an Australian audience in July 2005. (more)

BAGHDAD (AP) — Insurgents killed six members of a government-allied Sunni militia in an ambush northeast of Baghdad on Thursday, police said, offering no respite to a nation still reeling from a spate of attacks on police and soldiers a day earlier that left at least 56 dead. (more)

New audio has surfaced of the imam behind the controversial mosque near Ground Zero allegedly telling an audience overseas that the United States has been far more deadly than al-Qaeda. “We tend to forget, in the West, that the United States has more Muslim blood on its hands than al-Qaeda has on its hands of innocent non Muslims,” Feisal Abdul Rauf said at a 2005 lecture sponsored by the University of South Australia. After discussing the U.S.-led sanctions against Iraq under Saddam Hussein, Rauf went on to argue that America is to blame for its testy relationship with Islamic countries. (more)

BAGHDAD (AP) — The number of U.S. troops in Iraq has fallen below 50,000 for the first time since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and ahead of the end-of-the-month deadline mandated by President Barack Obama, the American military said in a statement Tuesday. (more)

BAGHDAD (AP) — The nude women on the DVD cover in a Baghdad street stall say it all: Change, whether you like it or not, is afoot in Iraq. (more)

BAGHDAD (AP) — It’s not exactly Wall Street. (more)

Richard Bernstein is the author of Duped America: How Democrats And The Mainstream Media Have Duped The American People And Are Harming Our Country. The former Democrat turned Republican describes himself as “not a professional pundit, politician or celebrity, but rather an ordinary American very concerned about the future of our country.” (more)

Now that coalition forces have just recently suffered their deadliest month yet in the conflict in Afghanistan, it now has become more crucial than ever to rethink the strategy of the United States and its allies in the region.  Currently, the cornerstone of this strategy rests upon two key factors – winning over the local peoples of the region, and training local forces to carry the burden when, and if, coalition forces leave the region. (more)

Retired Marine Gunnery Sergeant Nick Popaditch is one of the few politicians who can legitimately be called a “hero.” Challenging Democratic incumbent Rep. Bob Filner for California’s 51st district, Popaditch has decided to go from arugably America’s noblest profession to one often derided for being among the slimiest. (more)

Tariq Aziz is slumped on a tattered brown sofa seat cradling his walking stick and cigarettes, his gaunt face topped, incongruously for a practising Christian, by a Muslim prayer cap. It is perhaps only the familiar black-ringed spectacles that signal to the visitor that this was Iraq’s former face to the world – Saddam Hussein’s right-hand man, his most powerful deputy. (more)

The lack of controversy over the August 31 transition ending combat operations in Iraq is a testament to the U.S. military. Though few are willing to declare it, America won the war in Iraq. Twice. (more)

BAGHDAD (AP) — Militants flew an al-Qaida flag over a Baghdad neighborhood Thursday after killing 16 security officials and burning some of their bodies in a brazen afternoon attack that served as a grim reminder of continued insurgent strength in Iraq’s capital. (more)

BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. Defense Department is unable to properly account for over 95 percent of $9.1 billion in Iraqi oil money tapped by the U.S. for rebuilding the war ravaged nation, according to an audit released Tuesday. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — General Electric Co. will pay $23.4 million to settle federal charges that some of its subsidiaries paid illegal kickbacks to the government of Saddam Hussein in order to win contracts under a U.N. program. (more)

The appointment of General David Petraeus to lead the American and allied forces in Afghanistan has revived claims that the surge he oversaw in Iraq succeeded.  Even President Barack Obama, who opposed the surge, is reported to have conceded, “it turned out to be a good thing” before announcing his own surge in Afghanistan. (more)

Seven years ago today, in a speech on the Iraq war, Sen. Ted Kennedy fired the first shot in an all-out assault on President George W. Bush’s integrity. “All the evidence points to the conclusion,” Kennedy said, that the Bush administration “put a spin on the intelligence and a spin on the truth.” Later that day Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle told reporters Mr. Bush needed “to be forthcoming” about the absence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). (more)

LONDON (Reuters) – Planning for the 2003 invasion of Iraq was inadequate and not enough troops were sent to ensure post-conflict security, the former U.S. diplomat who led the civilian occupation authority after the war has told a British inquiry. (more)

BAGHDAD (AP) — A flurry of attacks blamed on al-Qaida defied claims by the U.S. and Iraq that they dealt the militants a severe blow by killing their two leaders last month. (more)