Iraq News (25 April)

The Good: More excellent embedded reporting from Michael R. Gordon of the NY Times. This one's about our military providing medical aid to residents of the southern portion of Sadr City. On the political front, the Iraqi Accordance Front (Sunni bloc) will return their ministers to the government, since they see the Prime Minister being tough on Shia militias and not just out to marginalize Sunnis. The reconstruction of the Al-Askari mosque in Samarra is helping with reconciliation. This was the mosque bombed by terrorists in February 2006 that caused a disastrous increase in ethnic reprisal killings throughout Iraq. Oh yeah, for our Aussie allies and drinking buddies, it's Anzac Day.

The Bad: Despite progress in Basra, the plan to withdraw UK forces is on hold. One of the Marines killed in Basra was a Texas A&M alum, and there's a heart felt story here. There's tension growing in Kirkuk over who will control the city. The oil-rich city has long been a troublesome issue, as the Kurdish region thinks they should get it, but the Arabs and Turkomen think they should have authority over it as well. This was one of the key issues in the Iraq Study Report back in 2006, and it has yet to be resolved.

The Ugly: Despite Muqtada al-Sadr hanging out in Qom, the Sadrists are seeking to badmouth Iran to strengthen their nationalistic image. They have even accused Iran of sending proxies to undermine the Mahdi Army and tarnish their images. What a mess! Also, the SIGIR says the Iraqi Security Forces ain't looking too good.

A strange choice for a photo of the Prime Minister from WaPo