It’s not quite over yet, but the Iraq war is in its last days. US president Barack Obama yesterday welcomed home American troops, saying “the final work of leaving Iraq has been done.”
Iraq
Manne vs. The Australian: more needs to be said about The Oz’s coverage of Iraq’s WMD
One of the more salient – yet overlooked – aspects of Robert Manne’s Quarterly Essay Bad News is its assessment of The Oz’s coverage of the Iraq War and its aftermath, writes NAJ Taylor.
War on terror: how to calculate if it has been worth it
There’s a way to calculate how much value we’ve got from our war on terror spending. The result isn’t encouraging.
The winners from the war on terror
Our $16.7 billion spending on the war on terror had ended up in some interesting hands — and hasn’t necessarily reduced the threat of terrorism.
WikiLeaks spokesman: Guardian, NYT wanted to rush war logs
The doyens of the mainstream media were the ones flirting with danger over Wikileaks material, not the site itself, Kristinn Hrafnsson reveals. Bernard Keane and Matthew Knott report.
How to holiday in Iraq
Iraq isn’t on most people’s 10 holiday destination lists, but the Tourism Minister for Kurdistan — a renegade state of Iraq — is trying to change that. Sure, there may not be public bathrooms, but a deep sense of history and beautiful landscape makes it an interesting spot for a getaway.
Rumsfeld on Rumsfeld
Unsurprisingly, Donald Rumsfeld’s forthcoming memoirs Known and Unknown defends his legacy and its numerous controversies. On the issue of WMDs in Iraq, Rumsfeld insists neither he nor Dubya lied. “The less dramatic truth is that we we wrong,” Rummy writes.
Iraq War Iraq War Logs: the Australian contingent
Crikey has started sifting through the nearly 400,000 US military records that make up Wikileaks’ Iraq War Logs and has identified over 60 reports as most likely referring to Australian troops, writes freelance writer Luke Miller.
Crikey Clarifier: Hung parliaments around the world
Australia is in political limbo. To address the concerns Crikey takes a look at other hung parliaments around the world — and the only previous federal one in Australia — to see exactly how everyone else coped or is coping.
Political snippets: Nothing surprising about Coalition figures
That the Coalition election promises do not add should surprise no one
Obama could be turning the page on Iraq too early
Barack Obama has announced the end of the seven-year US combat mission in Iraq today. But an expert has told Crikey that the withdrawal is premature and violence in the troubled nation could escalate.
Iraqi Freedom isn’t there… yet
As the US prepares to wind back its military operations in Iraq, the Iraqi government is still a faction-filled mess. The makings of a democracy are there, now it’s time for the Iraqis to move themselves forward.
The villages still mutilating their children
A graphic but insightful look into the practice of female genital mutilation occurring in Kurdish Iraq to help “purify” young girls and their families.
Trash & treasure, Iraq style
Garage sales aren’t just limited to the junk filled house down the block. The U.S. military in Iraq are staging their own everything-must-go spring clean out — with fridges, air-cons and other items for sale while stocks last.
exposed 
Detainee torture at secret Iraqi prison
Human Rights Watch has a shocking investigation into the torture of detainees at a secret Iraqi prison in Baghdad recently: inmates were handcuffed, blindfolded, hung upside down, kicked, whipped, beaten, and once they’d passed out from pain, woken with electric shocks to the genitals.
leaked 
VIDEO: US military slays citizens and journos in Iraq
WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video which it says shows the “indiscriminate slaying” of civilians and Reuters journalists in Iraq in 2007, on a comprehensive website called Collateral Murder, including a timeline and transcript.
Iraqi police: a $6-billion black hole
The US has invested $6 billion into training Iraq’s police force — yet most are barely trained, can’t operate on their own, and the organisation is rife with corruption.
Friedman: It’s in the capable hands of the Iraqis now
The recent election in Iraq is a big deal. Iraqis overcame major sectarian disputes and voted despite the violence and bombings. This is how peace will be achieved in the region: when the citizens are prepared to fight for it. Watch out, Ahmadinejad.
Liveblogging the Iraqi election
Despite bomb and rocket attacks by insurgents, millions of Iraqis have turned out to vote in the country’s pivotal election. The NYT is liveblogging the vote, the results and the fallout as it occurs.
How social networking toppled Saddam
The first in a fascinating five part series on how the US military managed to finally capture Saddam Hussein. By changing how the military views the enemy — focusing on their social networks not just a hierarchy system — it’s become a success story for modern warfare.
Henry Kissinger: Obama needs to do more in Iraq than just leave
When it comes to Iraq, Barack Obama needs to focus on more than just withdrawing US troops. The war is shifting the whole geopolitics of the region and the future of radical Islam, writes former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
Farewell to Yasser, Times driver and unsung hero of the Iraq war
The UK Times pays tribute to its driver in Baghdad of seven years, who was killed in a recent bombing attack on the city. A touching piece that highlights the unsung heroes who make war reporting possible.
