4 Jul 2009 at 4:25am

AP - Vice President Joe Biden pressed Iraqi leaders Friday to do more to foster national reconciliation and offered U.S. assistance in achieving that, as concerns grow that a lack of political progress is fueling violence in Iraq.

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,322
(AP)

4 Jul 2009 at 12:30am
AP - As of Friday, July 3, 2009, at least 4,322 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Biden urges Iraqis to heal divisions
(Reuters)

3 Jul 2009 at 11:10pm

Reuters - Iraq has a hard road ahead if it is to heal the divisions that spurred six years of bloodshed and achieve lasting peace, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said during a trip there on Friday.

Biden warns of ‘hard road ahead’ as he visits Iraq
(AFP)

3 Jul 2009 at 10:50pm

AFP - Vice President Joe Biden on Friday warned Iraqi officials that Washington would politically disengage if sectarian and ethnic strife resumed as he warned of a hard road ahead.

Biden’s visit to Iraq raises questions about Iraq’s future
(McClatchy Ne…

3 Jul 2009 at 7:51pm
McClatchy Newspapers - BAGHDAD — Vice President Joe Biden’s surprise two-day visit this weekend to Iraq was meant to re-establish contact with leaders here, but some Iraqis bristled at the messenger more than the message.

Saddam stayed in Baghdad until city fell: FBI
(AFP)

3 Jul 2009 at 4:45pm

AFP - Saddam Hussein stayed in Baghdad until just hours before it was clear the city was about to fall after the US-led 2003 invasion, according to newly released FBI interviews with the deposed Iraqi dictator.

FBI notes: Saddam Hussein sought familiar refuge
(AP)

3 Jul 2009 at 6:59am

AP - After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein stayed in Baghdad until he saw the city was about to fall. Months later, he was caught hiding at the same farm where he had fled in 1959 after taking part in an attempt to kill the country’s prime minister.

Mich. soldier in Iraq sworn in as lawyer by video
(AP)

2 Jul 2009 at 10:56pm
AP - Army Reserve Maj. Miles Gengler didn’t hesitate as he repeated the oath during his swearing-in as an attorney. His words just had to travel more than 6,000 miles from Baghdad’s Green Zone to Michigan to be heard.

U.S. declares Iraq-based group foreign terrorist organization
(Reuters)

2 Jul 2009 at 9:25pm
Reuters - The U.S. government on Thursday said it has declared Kata’ib Hizballah a foreign terrorist organization, saying the group is linked to Lebanon’s Hezbollah and has posed a threat to stability in Iraq.

US infantry learns to adapt after Iraq pullback
(AFP)

2 Jul 2009 at 9:24pm

AFP - It is business as usual for Camp Warhorse after the US military pullout from Iraqi towns and cities — troops must follow orders and adapt to non-combat tasks in one of Iraq’s most dangerous regions.

Iraqi top Shiite clerics are silent on Iran
(AP)

2 Jul 2009 at 8:05pm

AP - There is no place outside Iran that has closer links to Tehran’s ruling establishment than Iraq’s holy Shiite city of Najaf, where the silence during Iran’s post-election crisis says much about the deep complexities of their cross-border bonds.

US puts sanctions on Iraq Shiite group, Iran adviser
(AFP)

2 Jul 2009 at 7:20pm

AFP - The United States imposed financial sanctions Thursday on an adviser to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a Iraq-based Shiite group Kata’ib Hezbollah, branded a foreign terrorist outfit.

French PM seeks to raise business profile in Iraq
(AFP)

2 Jul 2009 at 6:27pm

AFP - French Prime Minister Francois Fillon made a lightning visit to Baghdad on Thursday with a delegation of officials and business leaders seeking to raise France’s profile in Iraq.

Biden on surprise trip to Iraq
(AFP)

2 Jul 2009 at 6:05pm

AFP - US Vice President Joe Biden was visiting Iraq Thursday in a surprise trip just days after US forces completed their pullout from Iraqi cities, the White House said.

White House: VP Biden has traveled to Iraq
(AP)

2 Jul 2009 at 5:55pm

AP - The White House says Vice President Joe Biden is in Iraq.