Iraq Today

More Than 50 Iraqis Are Dead in Northern Attacks
The deadliest strike blasted a police station in a residential area in Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, according to police and hospital officials.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information, said 25 policemen and 20 civilians were killed. The officials also said 57 civilians and 23 officers were wounded.

Jassim Saleh, 41, who lives about 500 yards from the blast site, said he saw an explosives-laden truck carrying stones ram the police station. But other reports described it as a fuel tanker.

"It was a horrible scene. I can't describe it," he said. "The bodies were scattered everywhere. I was injured in my hand and a leg, but I took three wounded people to the hospital in my car."

14 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Helicopter Crash
Fourteen U.S. soldiers were killed Wednesday when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a nighttime mission in northern Iraq, but the military said it appeared the aircraft was lost by mechanical problems and not from hostile fire.

It was the Pentagon's worst single-day death toll in Iraq since January and indicated how forces are relying heavily on air power in offensives across northern regions after rooting out many militant strongholds in Baghdad and central regions.

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer

Iraq PM Bristles as Tensions Grow With U.S.
BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki reacted sharply on Wednesday to U.S. criticism of his government's slow progress toward reconciliation, and U.S. President George W. Bush, after earlier lukewarm comments, restated his support for Maliki.

U.S. officials voiced increasing frustration this week with Maliki's failure to advance political reform despite an increase in the number of U.S. troops to give breathing room to his fractured Shi'ite-led coalition.

Armored vehicles slow to reach US troops
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon will fall far short of its goal of sending 3,500 lifesaving armored vehicles to Iraq by the end of the year. Instead, officials expect to send about 1,500.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Wednesday that while defense officials still believe contractors will build about 3,900 of the mine-resistant, armor-protected vehicles by year's end, it will take longer for the military to fully equip them and ship them to Iraq.

Yahoo's Iraq page