Steve Shickles

AFP - Last month Al-Qaeda fighters Abdul Rahman Mohammed and Ahmed Ali laid down their arms after nearly four years of fighting US soldiers in Iraq.

AFP - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Sunday that Iraqis will this year celebrate Ramadan as a victory over terrorism amid an overall drop in violence across the country.

AFP - Iraqi and US forces were on alert on Sunday in the western Sunni province of Anbar ahead of the transfer of security in the desert region from the American military to Baghdad.

AFP - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has reshuffled a negotiating team working on an agreement on withdrawal of US troops from Iraq amid worries the move may sabotage the deal, The Los Angeles Times reported on its website.

Time.com - As Washington negotiates a new status for American forces in Iraq, Baghdad poses a new test for to a longstanding U.S. military practice

Reuters - President George W. Bush’s decision to
mount a troop “surge” in Iraq last year was taken against the
initial recommendations of his top advisers, including his
field commander, The New York Times reported in Sunday
editions.

AP - As of Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008, at least 4,151 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

AP - Iraqi police in this provincial backwater got a tip earlier this month that a suicide bomber was on the loose. They were even given his name, age and a description of his car.

Time.com - As Washington negotiates a new status for American forces in Iraq, Baghdad poses a new test for to a longstanding U.S. military practice

AFP - Tension flared Saturday between Baghdad and Iraq’s northern Kurdish administration after Iraqi forces ordered Kurdish political parties to vacate their offices in Diyala province, an official said.