
Iraqi Shi'ite assassination teams are being readied in four locations in Iran, with the mission to return to Iraq and
kill specific Iraqi officials before targeting US and Iraqi troops. The info comes from captured militia fighters and sources within Iraq. A senior US military intelligence officer confirmed the story under the condition of anonymity, acknowledging that disclosing the info is an attempt to pressure Iran to suspend the training and prevent militia fighters from returning to Iraq.
Iraqi Shi'ite Cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr To Disarm If US Withdraws On Timetable Influential Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr would dissolve his Mehdi Army militia if the United States starts withdrawing troops according to a set timetable, a spokesman said. The statement comes at a crucial point in talks between Baghdad and Washington over a new security pact that will provide a legal basis for U.S. troops to operate in Iraq
Open Door Policy? More Than 10,000 Detainees Released in Iraq The US military said Saturday it has released more than 10,000 detainees in Iraq so far this year — more than in all of 2007 — as it continues to try phase out its running of Iraqi prisons. The military said about 21,000 people remained in custody, and it is currently releasing about 45 detainees and detaining 30 a day.

Is the hope of Obama supporters, entirely too audacious? Perhaps so, according to one of Obama's own senior aides. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph in the midst of Obama's big trip abroad, it appears like that famous hope has become a burden wrapped in unrealistic expectations of what Obama can actually achieve if he becomes president.