In a move to show that Washington is normalizing its relationship with Iraq, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is coming to the White House today. The two leaders have plenty to talk about: Iraq's security, continuing ethnic tensions and, of course, oil. Al-Maliki's trip comes just three weeks after the U. S. military withdrew from Iraqi cities after years of occupation. Violence has been increasing across Iraq. The Takeaway talks to Jim Muir, the BBC's Baghdad correspondent, and Alyssa Rubin, the former New York Times Baghdad bureau chief who has just left Iraq.
Yesterday a roadside bomb killed an American serviceman north of Baghdad. And on Friday, five U.S. soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which is the largest number of U.S. troops to die in a single incident in many months. In the midst of the tentative peace that has been become almost normal in Iraq, these bombings are violent reminders that Iraq is still a treacherous place. In the wake of this violent display, is President Obama's timetable for American withdrawal still realistic? Joining The Takeaway is David Phillips, a former member of the State Department’s “Future of Iraq” project and now at the Atlantic Council and Jim Muir from the BBC joins us from Baghdad, Iraq.
"It's important to recognize that in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States is not going to achieve a so-called victory. At best we're going to be able to create an end-state that's reasonably stable and that can justify the draw-down of U.S. troops." —David Phillips, former member of the State Department's "Future of Iraq" on Obama's proposed withdrawal
The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former U.S. President George W. Bush went to court today. He's charged with assaulting a foreign leader and faces a maximum sentence of 15 years, but he was greeted as a hero by supporters in the courtroom. The trial was almost immediately adjourned until March while the court sought the government's clarification on a point of order. For more on the man whose shoe was heard around the world, the BBC's Jim Muir joins us.
Lebanon's prime minister is condemning rocket attacks on Israel and has called for investigations by both the army and the United Nations. This has not stopped Lebanese guerrillas from firing a second barrage of rockets into northern Israel, striking a nursing home and injuring two people. Israel responded with artillery fire. The attacks threaten to open a northern front in Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip. Jim Muir is covering this story from Beirut for our partner, the BBC, and he joins us now live.
In the fourth day of violence along the Gaza Strip, Hamas and Israel each claim wins and losses. The Israeli military is continuing its campaign of air strikes against targets in Gaza. A Gaza official puts the Palestinian death toll at more than 360 with 1400 wounded. Rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli cities killed four people yesterday. Meanwhile, the international community, led by the United Nations, calls for an immediate ceasefire as civilian casualties mount up in the densely-populated region. From the protests in Syria to the pleas from the United Nations, Ethan Bronner, Jerusalem bureau chief with at the New York Times, and Jim Muir, the Beirut bureau chief for the BBC, give us a road map to the global reaction to the ongoing strife.
