Three senators who are considered potential swing votes on war policy said that a weekend visit to Iraq left them discouraged about prospects for political reconciliation.
Security is deteriorating in southern Iraq as rival Shiite militias vying for power have stepped up their attacks after moving out of Baghdad to avoid U.S.-led military operations, according to the latest quarterly Pentagon report on Iraq released yesterday.
Iraq on Monday ordered the cancellation of US security firm Blackwater's operating licence after it was involved in a shootout in Baghdad that killed eight people and wounded 13, a senior official told AFP.
Iraq announced on Monday it had withdrawn the license of a U.S. security firm and would prosecute employees it said were involved in a Baghdad shooting in which 11 people were killed.
Rep. John Murtha predicted Monday that Democrats will not be able to pass any meaningful legislation to end the Iraq war until presidential primary elections are over next year
As of Monday, Sept. 17, 2007, at least 3,782 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 3,086 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
Democrats are poised to delay money for the Iraq war by several weeks, giving them time to calculate their next move and see if Republican support for President Bush's policies deteriorate.
The Pentagon reported to Congress Monday that political progress in Iraq remains stalled despite a surge in US forces, and warned that improvements in security were not enough to win the war.
Former top US central banker Alan Greenspan abandons his trademark reserve Monday, in a new book which takes swipes at the White House for everything from its motives for invading Iraq to its unbridled spending.
Iraq hopes to train enough security personnel by July to make up for a planned partial pullout of U.S. forces, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Monday.