General: Iraqi troops improve The top U.S. general in Iraq said Wednesday that once Iraqi government forces take the lead in the war, the insurgency can be defeated and the American troop level reduced.
| USA TODAY | Wednesday, January 26 | 11:40 pm
Parties waging a polite battle to control Najaf In this city, the holiest in Iraq to the country's Shiite Muslim majority, political rhetoric is heating up. But unlike in some places in Iraq, the debate here isn't focused on religion or historic ethnic divisions, and there's little violence.
| USA TODAY | Tuesday, January 25 | 11:34 pm
In Iraq, the question is: To vote or not to vote A recent survey by the International Republican Institute found that 80% of Iraqis say they will probably vote this weekend. But unrelenting insurgent violence, the specter of post-election sectarian strife and confusion over complex ballots threaten to snuff out democracy before it can take hold.
Female Iraqi candidates risk lives Members of Congress who traveled to the Middle East over the weekend got a harrowing lesson on the high price of democracy.
| USATODAY.com | Wednesday, January 12 | 10:57 pm
U.S.: Elections will be credible The Bush administration will consider the results of Iraq's elections credible even if most Sunni Muslims minority don't vote on Jan. 30.
Allawi: Elections will go on Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi on Wednesday rejected growing calls for postponement of the national elections set for Jan. 30.
| USATODAY.com | Wednesday, January 5 | 11:15 pm
Fallujans reluctant to return So far, Fallujans are not lining up to return to what's left of their devastated city.
| USATODAY.com | Wednesday, January 5 | 11:13 pm
More contracts steered to Iraqi firms The U.S. government is shifting more reconstruction contracts toward Iraqi companies as violence makes it harder for American contractors to work.
Gas shortage fuels resentment in Iraq Buying gasoline in Iraq is a serious undertaking. Determined motorists get up before their dawn prayers to join 2-mile-long lines. Sometimes they don't get to fill their tanks until evening. A black market is thriving.
| USA TODAY | Wednesday, December 29 | 11:47 pm
Mosul attack showcases insurgents' intelligence The implications of the audacious suicide attack in the center of a heavily guarded U.S. military base in Mosul go beyond a failure of base security.
| USATODAY.com | Wednesday, December 22 | 11:11 pm
Mosul blast hits U.S. hard A massive lunchtime explosion struck a flimsy mess tent filled with soldiers Tuesday at a military base near Mosul. It was one of the deadliest attacks yet against Americans in Iraq. Mlitary spokesmen in Baghdad and at the Pentagon said 19 U.S. soldiers were killed.
| USA TODAY | Tuesday, December 21 | 11:45 pm
Soldiers who led invasion must return Continuing insurgent attacks have forced the United States to boost its force in Iraq toward 150,000, its highest level yet.
| Gordon Trowbridge | Marine Corps Times | Sunday, December 19 | 6:41 pm
Troops can't beat deals at PX Flush with hazardous-duty pay and tax-free earnings, U.S. troops in combat zones often have more money to spend than things to buy. That's where the PX, or post exchange, comes in, providing a taste of home if only for the time it takes to eat a bag of Doritos.
| C. Mark Brinkley | Army Times | Thursday, December 16 | 11:22 pm
The U.S. military believes Iraq's rebellious Anbar province can be brought into national elections scheduled for January.
| Gordon Trowbridge | Army Times | Sunday, December 12 | 11:05 pm
U.S. military preparing restive Iraqi province for elections The top U.S. officer in Iraq's rebellious Anbar province believes the region can be settled and brought into national elections scheduled for Jan. 30. Anbar, a hotbed of insurgent unrest, stretches from west of Baghdad to the Syrian border and poses perhaps the toughest challenge to the U.S. mission in Iraq.
| Gordon Trowbridge | Army Times | Friday, December 10 | 9:09 pm
Weather wages own war in Iraq For commanders in war, fighting the enemy can sometimes be only half the battle. Weather can be just as challenging. Consider Mosul. Daily temperatures can shift 40 degrees or more, and rain clouds or dust storms can pop up without warning.
| C. Mark Brinkley | Army Times | Thursday, December 9 | 11:47 pm
Combat engineers improvise to armor troop transport There's a huge Army dump truck here that's unlike any other in the U.S. arsenal, a virtual Frankenstein's monster truck, bulging and rippling at its spot-welded seams. The soldiers from the 276th Engineer Battalion (Combat), an Army National Guard unit from Richmond, Va., know about improvising.
| C. Mark Brinkley | Army Times | Thursday, December 9 | 11:38 pm
Fallujah residents may return home within days Military officials will be prepared within days for the return of civilians to the battle-scarred city of Fallujah, and local companies will soon begin clearing the way for reconstruction, the military official responsible for rebuilding efforts said Tuesday.
| Gordon Trowbridge | Army Times | Tuesday, December 7 | 10:56 pm
Troops wary of Baghdad airport route Soldiers call the road between Baghdad and the international airport "RPG Alley," a reference to rocket-propelled grenades and the frequency of attacks.
| Steven Komarow | USA TODAY | Thursday, December 2 | 10:59 pm
Insurgency leaves Mosul ill-prepared for elections With only two months to go until Iraq's general elections, the local government in Mosul has yet to devise a plan for registering voters in one of the country's largest cities. Insurgents torched most of the city's records during an uprising last month.
| C. Mark Brinkley | Army Times | Wednesday, December 1 | 11:39 pm
Mosul's militants fight mostly from shadows About 40 dead bodies turned up across Mosul last week. The message from insurgents to the public was simple: We're here, and we're watching.
| C. Mark Brinkley | Army Times | Sunday, November 28 | 10:17 pm
| Gordon Trowbridge | Army Times | Thursday, November 25 | 10:46 pm
Police lack training, firepower in fighting insurgency Iraq's fledgling police force has enough to do battling crime, but it is also on the front lines of an insurgency. When police chase off criminals or insurgents, the suspects reappear before the cops return to their station.
| USA TODAY | Thursday, November 25 | 10:35 pm
U.S. sees no pressure to return civilians to Fallujah Fallujah has been freed from ``a sick, depraved culture of violence,'' but it is unclear when the thousands of residents who fled the city in recent weeks can return to their homes, Marine officials said Sunday.
| Gordon Trowbridge | The Army Times | Sunday, November 21 | 9:43 pm
Marines find enemy GPS device After a fierce firefight between the Marines of Alpha Company's 3rd Platoon and more than 30 anti-U.S. insurgents in Fallujah, one Marine discovered a gold mine: a detailed layout of the enemy's defenses. A handheld Global Positioning System receiver apparently left by fleeing rebels.
| Gordon Trowbridge | The Army Times | Thursday, November 18 | 10:58 pm
| Gordon Trowbridge | The Army Times | Sunday, November 14 | 7:28 pm
Wedding bells ringing for more Iraqis Iraq is a dangerous place, but not all the shooting is hostile. Much of the noise on weekends comes from wedding celebrations.
| USATODAY.com | Thursday, November 11 | 10:45 pm
U.S., Iraqi forces gear up to retake Fallujah An imminent offensive to break the resistance in Fallujah, a rebel stronghold about 35 miles west of Baghdad, could be one of the most decisive battles since the fall of Baghdad 18 months ago.
| USA TODAY | Wednesday, October 20 | 11:50 am
Put to test, 300 Iraqi troops fled About 300 Iraqi soldiers abandoned their 750-man unit after being deployed to Samarra last month for a joint U.S.-Iraqi operation to retake the militant-controlled city, according to a British coalition official.
| USA TODAY | Tuesday, October 19 | 11:48 pm
Iraqi TV delivers twists on reality and reality shows "Caricateera" — or Caricatures — is Iraq's answer to "Saturday Night Live," a variety show driven by biting political satire. It's must-see TV for millions of Iraqis.
| USA TODAY | Thursday, October 14 | 12:32 am
Iraq water treatment plants to go online After 12 years without sewage treatment, Baghdad's water treatment plants will be soon be in operation — a big step toward addressing health problems caused by contaminated water.
| USA TODAY | Friday, October 1 | 7:07 pm
Security is deteriorating in Baghdad, some say Some people who live and work in Iraq's capital — including U.S. civilian contractors, security firms and charity groups — see a deteriorating security situation.
| USA TODAY | Tuesday, September 28 | 11:37 pm
Travel is still far away for many in Iraq The right to travel was one of the most enticing of the freedoms Iraqis looked forward to after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime. It has also been one of the most agonizingly elusive.
| USA TODAY | Thursday, September 16 | 11:20 pm
Dozens dead after synchronized attacks shake Iraq Insurgents hammered central Baghdad on Sunday with one of their most intense mortar and rocket barrages ever in the heart of the capital, heralding a day of violence that killed nearly 60 people nationwide as security appeared to spiral out of control.
Iraq hospitals under siege When Iraqi physician Mahmud Thamer stepped down from the U.S. military helicopter that carried him into Baghdad on June 6, 2003, after 34 years of exile, he found Iraq's health system in shambles — wrecked not only by war, but by decades of neglect and corruption.
| USATODAY.com | Wednesday, August 18 | 11:35 pm
Chaotic picture of Abu Ghraib emerges No one disputes that chaotic conditions existed at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq before the prisoner-abuse scandal erupted there.
| USATODAY.com | Sunday, August 8 | 11:15 pm
Al-Sadr's intentions, ambitions unclear Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his spokesmen have been issuing conciliatory statements about working with the interim Iraqi government which took power two weeks ago. But it is still unclear whether the firebrand cleric is willing to play a constructive role or to disband his Mahdi Army.
| USATODAY.com | Thursday, July 15 | 11:02 pm
Iraqi police collar hundreds of criminal suspects More than 500 criminal suspects were in jail Tuesday after Iraqi police launched the largest anti-crime offensive since the country regained sovereignty two weeks ago.
| USATODAY.com | Tuesday, July 13 | 11:28 pm
Fight for Ramadi exacts heavy toll on Marines In a violent city where more Marines have died than anywhere else in Iraq, one was thought to be blessed with good fortune. Until the day his luck ran out.
| USATODAY.com | Tuesday, July 13 | 11:26 pm
U.S. troops face deadly challenges in Iraqi city of Ramadi Ramadi may be the most dangerous city in Iraq. Though battles in places such as Fallujah and Najaf have gotten more attention, the Marine battalion in this provincial capital has encountered the most deadly combat fighting and logged the highest number of casualties of any U.S. battalion since the war in Iraq began.
| Gregg Zoroya | USA TODAY | Monday, July 12 | 10:40 am
| USA TODAY | Wednesday, January 26 | 11:40 pm 
