John Walcott

Iraq violence intensifies on eve of U.S.-Iranian talks

Fighting between anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadrs militias and U.S. and British forces intensified on the eve of talks between U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and an Iranian envoy about security in Iraq. The intense fighting on Saturday and Sunday, both in Sadrs Mahdi Army stronghold of Sadr City and Basra, came as large-scale U.S. naval maneuvers continued in the Persian Gulf. According to two U.S. officials in Washington, who asked not to be identified because theyre not authorized to talk about Iraq policy, the ground combat and naval exercises are intended, at least in part, to demonstrate that America still has the muscle and the will to confront Iran. | 05/27/07 03:00:00 By - Leila Fadel and John Walcott

U.S. seeks new ways to address renewed violence in Iraq

Less than five months after President Bush announced that we need to change our strategy in Iraq, his administration is preparing to change course there once again, this time emphasizing political rather than military progress. The administrations latest Iraq strategy, which military and civilian officials in Baghdad and Washington are assembling and national security adviser Stephen Hadley is coordinating, stresses efforts to strengthen the Iraqi army and the central government and weaken sectarian forces, said three U.S. officials who have firsthand knowledge of the plan. | 05/23/07 03:00:00 By - John Walcott and Jonathan S. Landay

Bush to meet with top Iraqi Shiite leader

President Bush will hold an Oval Office meeting with a key Iraqi Shiite leader Monday amid a scramble to bolster the strife-torn nations unity government before it collapses in civil war. The meeting with Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution, is considered an effort to boost support for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, with whom Bush met in Jordan last Thursday. Al-Hakim is a leading opponent of anti-U.S. Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who controls the most powerful bloc in Iraqs ruling coalition. | 12/03/06 03:00:00 By - Greg Gordon and John Walcott

Assassination stresses the dilemma Syria poses for the White House

The assassination Tuesday of a prominent Lebanese Christian politician in Beirut deepens President Bushs dilemma over what to do about Syria, which is widely believed to be helping foment Lebanons growing unrest. Despite his unimpressive military and diminutive economy, Syrias authoritarian president, Bashar Assad, has proven adept at causing major grief for the United States in next-door Iraq and Lebanon, as well as hosting a number of Palestinian terrorist groups that target Israel. | 11/21/06 03:00:00 By - Warren P. Strobel and John Walcott

U.S. encourages Iraqi government to take more responsibility

The Bush administration will intensify its efforts to prod the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki to take greater responsibility for governing and pacifying the country, senior U.S. officials said Saturday. The new plan, which is still being developed, calls for Maliki and other Iraqi leaders to agree to a series of milestones in 2007 for disarming Iraqs sectarian militias, restoring its economic infrastructure, rooting out official corruption, expanding government services and strengthening local governments, the officials said. | 10/21/06 03:00:00 By - John Walcott

Rumsfeld, Ashcroft said to have received warning of attack, 10/2/06

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and former Attorney General John Ashcroft received the same CIA briefing about an imminent al-Qaida strike on an American target that was given to the White House two months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The State Departments disclosure Monday that the pair was briefed within a week after then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice was told about the threat on July 10, 2001, raised new questions about what the Bush administration did in response, and about why so many officials have claimed they never received or dont remember the warning. | 10/02/06 03:00:00 By - Jonathan S. Landay, Warren P. Strobel, and John Walcott

In a replay of Iraq, a battle is brewing over intelligence on Iran, 9/15/06

In an echo of the intelligence wars that preceded the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a high-stakes struggle is brewing within the Bush administration and in Congress over Irans suspected nuclear weapons program and involvement in terrorism. | 09/15/06 03:00:00 By - Warren P. Strobel and John Walcott

Present conflict reminiscent of Israel's 1982 incursion into Lebanon

When Israels chief of military intelligence flew to Washington and outlined an ambitious plan to send Israeli forces all the way to the outskirts of Beirut to destroy a terrorist organization, the secretary of state was intrigued. Some people in the U.S. administration thought the terrorists in Lebanon were part of an international struggle against the West, so an Israeli blow against them would be a victory in that global war. Other officials in the State Department and the intelligence community, however, were appalled. There are a million Shiite Muslims between the Israeli border and Beirut, one State Department official told the secretary of state. The U.S. Embassy in Beirut sent cable after cable to Washington, warning that another Israeli attack on Lebanon would provoke more terrorism and undermine Americas standing in the Arab world. Washington never responded to any of them. On June 6, 1982, Israel Defense Forces crossed the border into Lebanon. Eight days later they arrived at the outskirts of Beirut, trapping their quarry, Yasser Arafats Palestine Liberation Organization. Operation Peace for Galilee had accomplished its mission, or so it appeared. Three months later, Israels and the Reagan administrations hopes for a new order in Lebanon went up in smoke. Lebanese Christian leader Bashir Gemayel, the man Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon had been counting on to unify his country and make peace with Israel, was killed by a bomb that a Syrian agent had planted. It would be 18 years before the Israelis extricated themselves from Lebanon. They were driven out, in part, by a terrorist group that their invasion had helped to create, one that drew its strength from three sources: the Shiite faith, Irans Islamic revolution and Lebanons downtrodden Shiites. It called itself Hezbollah the Party of God. | 08/02/06 03:00:00 By - John Walcott and David C. Martin

Bush administration refrains from shuttle diplomacy in the Mideast

In a departure from almost 60 years of American Middle East policy, the Bush administration hasnt intervened to stop the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah or made a serious effort to negotiate a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The White House instead has sought to transform the region by ousting or isolating regimes that support terrorism and by promoting democracy. It argues that past administrations attempts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East have failed and that more radical change is needed. | 07/19/06 03:00:00 By - William Douglas and John Walcott

Zarqawi's death not a severe blow to al-Qaida, experts say

The death of terrorist leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi, while a major tactical success, is unlikely to have a significant impact on the struggle against al-Qaida and its far-flung terrorist network of spin-offs and imitators, current and former U.S. counterterrorism officials said Thursday. President Bush termed Zarqawis death in a strike coordinated by U.S., Iraqi and Jordanian security forces a severe blow to al-Qaida. But a half-dozen officials, who have decades of experience tracking and analyzing Islamic militants, offered a more cautious view. | 06/08/06 03:00:00 By - Warren P. Strobel

There's little agreement on what to do about Iran

The evidence that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons is stronger and more widely accepted internationally and within the U.S. government than the Bush administrations flawed case about Iraqs alleged weapons of mass destruction four years ago. But the question of what to do about Irans nuclear ambitions is, if anything, more hotly contested. Thats particularly true because 150,000 U.S. troops are tied down next door in Iraq and Afghanistan. | 04/14/06 03:00:00 By - Warren P. Strobel

U.S. officials: Iraqi insurgents educating Afghan, Pakistani militants

Islamic militants in Iraq are providing military training and other assistance to Taliban and al Qaida fighters from eastern and southern Afghanistan and Pakistans tribal areas, U.S. intelligence officials told Knight Ridder. A small number of Pakistani and Afghan militants are receiving military training in Iraq; Iraqi fighters have met with Afghan and Pakistani extremists in Pakistan; and militants in Afghanistan increasingly are using homemade bombs, suicide attacks and other tactics honed in Iraq, said U.S. intelligence officials and others who track the issue. | 03/31/06 03:00:00 By - Jonathan S. Landay and John Walcott

CIA missile hits compound thought to contain bin Laden deputy

A CIA-controlled unmanned aircraft fired a missile Friday into a compound just inside Pakistans border with Afghanistan after the CIA received intelligence that Osama bin Ladens top lieutenant and other senior al-Qaida members were inside, U.S. intelligence officials said. At least 17 people were killed, but it couldnt be immediately confirmed if al Qaidas No. 2 leader, Ayman Zawahri, or other top members of the Islamic terrorist network were among them, or were even present at the time, the officials said. | 01/13/06 03:00:00 By - John Walcott and Jonathan S. Landay

Questions about Chalabi pose dilemma for Bush administration

When Iraq's controversial deputy prime minister, Ahmad Chalabi, arrives in Washington on Tuesday for an eight-day visit, he'll bring a lot of baggage and a tough question for the Bush administration: Is Chalabi with us or against us? | 11/06/05 03:00:00 By - John Walcott

Letter from bin Laden lieutenant outlines hopes, strategy in Iraq

A 6,000-word letter from Osama bin Ladens second-in-command to al-Qaidas leader in Iraq outlines the terrorist groups strategy to oust American troops from Iraq, create a militant Islamic state there, use that as a base to overthrow the governments of other Muslim nations and finally destroy Israel. John D. Negroponte, the new director of national intelligence, on Tuesday released a U.S. translation of the July 9 letter from Ayman al-Zawahiri to Jordanian-born terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and took the unusual step of posting it on his offices Web site. | 10/11/05 03:00:00 By - John Walcott

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