ABC News' Vija Udenans reports: Soon after the polls closed in Iraq, President Obama congratulated the Iraqi people on their “courage” and their “important milestone” in the Iraqi history as they shape their Parliament and choose a prime minister. This was the second national election since the US troops invaded Iraq in 2003; the first being in June 2005. (more)

I wrote here about the disturbing prospect that the disqualification of hundreds of Sunni candidates in the unpcoming Iraqi elections would degrade those elections and perhaps prompt a surge of sectarian violence. But now, as Max Boot reports based on statements by General Petraeus, it appears that, not for the first time, Iraqi politicians have averted the crisis through a compromise. According to Petraeus, the disqualfication list is no longer weighted against the Sunnis. (There are no doubt many Iraqi... (more)

The Washington Post reports on an upsurge of terrorist violence in Anbar province. On Thursday, fiive explosions in a city in the province killed at least eight people. A week earlier, twin explosions killed at least 24 people. There have also been approximately 40 attempted assassinations in Anbar province, according to the Post. As a result, the Iraqi government has replaced the provincial police chief. This has angered the tribal leaders. They considered the police chief ineffective, but see his re... (more)

Government officials in Iraq spoke out today against the dismissal of all charges against six Blackwater security officers by a US judge. Five of the private security officers were charged with manslaughter, of which they plead not guilty, and the sixth had admitted to killing at least one Iraqi. (more)

Insurgents in Iraq have hacked into live video feeds from unmanned American drone aircraft, US media reports say. Shia fighters are said to have used off-the-shelf software programs such as SkyGrabber to capture the footage. (more)

Captain Ed Morrissey worries that Iraq has "gone wrong in a hurry." No, it hasn't. Remember what we said when I came home from Iraq at the end of June, when I wrote:... (more)

Car bombs and and a barrage of mortars have killed at least 45 people and wounded almost 300 in the centre of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, officials say. (more)

He may be presiding over two wars and facing a terror threat at home and abroad, but you'd hardly know it from listening to President Barack Obama speak. Obama has uttered more than a half-million words in public since taking office Jan. 20 — and a POLITICO analysis of nearly every word in this vast public record shows that domestic topics dominate, so much so that Obama sounds more like a peacetime president than a commander in chief with more than 100,000 troops in the field. (more)

The 18 year mystery into what happened to missing US Navy Captain Michael “Scott” Speicher is finally over. Speicher was shot down on January 17, 1991, the very first night of the Iraq Gulf War, “Operation Dessert Storm,” in his F/A-18 Hornet. Michael “Scott” Speicher was the first combat casualty for American forces in the war. From that point forward, his status and whereabouts remained a mystery, until today. (more)

Getting an accurate reading of Iraqi public opinion is hard. It might be impossible. I've seen Iraqis cheer American soldiers, and I've seen some Iraqis hug American soldiers in Fallujah, Ramadi, and Baghdad. A few weeks ago, though, hundreds of thousands celebrated when Americans evacuated Iraqi cities as stipulated by the Status of Forces Agreement... (more)