Summary: Twin suicide bombings kill nearly 50 people in Iraq as U.S. combat troops prepare to withdraw by the end of August. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 18, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that Iraq’s top commanders told their U.S. counterparts to “stop all joint patrols” in Baghdad, raising fresh concerns about the safety of U.S. troops in Iraq.

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Summary: Former U.S.-backed prime minister Ayad Allawi and his secular, anti-Iranian coalition narrowly won Iraq’s parliamentary elections in final returns Friday, edging out the bloc of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and a coalition that includes anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, which finished a strong third and could end up playing the role of kingmaker. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on March 26, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that the military was scrambling to inspect more than 90,000 U.S.-run facilities across Iraq to reduce a deadly threat troops face far off the battlefield: electrocution or shock while showering or using appliances.

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Summary: An Afghan soldier killed a U.S. service member and wounded two Italian soldiers in western Afghanistan. … Pakistani authorities appealed for calm after a bombing against a Shiite Muslim procession marking the holy day of Ashoura killed 43 in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, setting off riots and igniting fears of sectarian unrest. … Gunmen killed five Sunni security guards — members of the Sons of Iraq, or Awakening Councils — in a gruesome pre-dawn slaying at a village checkpoint north of Baghdad. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on December 29, 2008, Aubrey Immelman reported that 8,300 to 9,000 civilians were killed in Iraq in 2008, bringing the total number of civilian deaths since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 to at least 98,400, according to figures released by Iraq Body Count.

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Summary: According to NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel, there have been five different wars in Iraq, with the sixth war under way — America’s exit strategy. The first five war phases were Shock and Awe (March-April 2003), Nation-Building (2003-2004), Insurgency (2004-2005), Civil War (2006-2007), and The Surge (2007-2008).

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Summary: Provincial election results in northern Iraq could heighten ethnic tensions between Sunnis and Kurds.

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Summary: Tensions are mounting between Sunni Arabs and Kurds in the Iraqi city of Mosul, where political violence is increasing ahead of provincial elections. … A suicide bomber blew himself up at a luncheon gathering at a tribal leader’s home, killing at least 23 people and wounding dozens.

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Summary: Between 8,300 and 9,000 civilians were killed in Iraq in 2008, bringing the total number of civilian deaths since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 to at least 98,400, according to Iraq Body Count.

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Summary: The Taliban has long operated its own shadow government in the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan, but its power is now spreading north to the doorstep of Kabul. More than seven years after the U.S.-led invasion, the Islamic militia is attempting to reconstitute the government by which it ruled Afghanistan in the late 1990s. … Grim statistic: 2008 has been the deadliest year yet for NATO soldiers in Afghanistan. … At least 22 people were killed and 50 wounded after a bomb tore through a busy square in a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad.

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Summary: Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets to demand the release of Muntadhar al-Zeidi, a reporter who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush, as Arabs across the Middle East hailed the journalist as a hero and praised his insult as a proper send-off to the U.S. president upon leaving office.

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Summary: On the 16th day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman, in line with his focus on national security, reported on a speech at the United Nations by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, in which he decried civilian casualties in his country from foreign bombing raids, telling world leaders that innocent deaths can seriously hurt legitimate efforts to fight terrorism. Immelman also reported on continuing violence in Iraq and threats by militants in Pakistan to escalate the violence in that country if Pakistan did not stop cooperating with the United States.

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