Summary: A car bomb exploded at an open-air market in the Shiite town of Khalis, northeast of Baghdad, killing 23 people and wounding more than 50. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on May 21, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that a series of bombings hit Baghdad and the northern Iraq city of Kirkuk, killing at least 25 people (including three U.S. troops) and wounding dozens more (including nine American soldiers), one day after a car bomb exploded near a group of restaurants in a Shiite neighborhood of northwest Baghdad, killing 41 people and injuring more than 70.

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Summary: Al-Qaida in Iraq is warning Shiites that “dark days soaked with blood” lie ahead with a new campaign of violence yet to come, with many Iraqis fearful that the current wave of bombings and shootings may revive the all-out sectarian warfare that ravaged the country in 2006 and 2007. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on May 14, 2009, Aubrey Immelman featured five reasons liberals love Michele Bachmann, the only politician — with the possible exception of North Korea’s Kim Jong-il — who flaunts universal, all-encompassing expertise that including such disparate specialties as theology, science, chemistry, finance, world affairs, and even sexual dysfunction.

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Summary: A cascade of bombings and shootings hit at least 10 cities and towns in Iraq, killing at least 100 people — mostly in Shiite areas — in Iraq’s deadliest day of 2010. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on May 10, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that CNN’s John Avlon, in the inaugural edition of American Morning’s “Wingnuts of the Week” segment, named U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann a charter member of the Wingnut Hall of Fame.

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Summary: There are mothers who will spend Mother’s Day missing sons and daughters fighting overseas. There are women who have lost children in those wars, for whom Mother’s Day will never be the same. And then there is Eva Briseno, mother of wounded warrior Joseph “Jay” Briseno Jr. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on May 9, 2009, Aubrey Immelman examined the likelihood of Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) being defeated in the 2010 U.S. House of Representatives election in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District. He concluded that Bachmann was vulnerable to defeat, but not by a Democrat in the general election. Instead, Bachmann was found to be most vulnerable in the primary election against a Republican challenger — the reason being Minnesota’s open primary system. Specifically, with no party registration in Minnesota, self-identified Democrats and Independents are able to vote in the Republican primary against Bachmann, joining forces with disaffected Republican voters. The fact that Bachmann did not receive a majority of the votes in either the primary (47.2%) or the general election (46.4%) in 2008 underscores her vulnerability to a primary challenger with cross-partisan support.

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Summary: The two top-ranking leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri, were killed in a joint U.S.-Iraqi operation on Sunday, April 18, 2010, in what Vice President Joe Biden called a “potentially devastating blow” to the terrorist operation. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 21, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that the U.S. Senate confirmed President Barack Obama’s pick for U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Hill, after debate over whether he mismanaged international disarmament talks with North Korea. Meanwhile, suspected militants shelled Baghdad’s protected Green Zone in the first such bombardment in more than three months.

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Summary: Three car bombs shook central Baghdad in quick succession on Easter Sunday, killing at least 35 people. Pope Benedict XVI’s Easter message to the city and the world, Urbi et Orbi. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 4, 2009, Aubrey Immelman provided an update on the security situation in North Korea and reported that Rep. Michele Bachmann announced forums in St. Cloud and Woodbury to debunk global climate change and President Obama’s proposed carbon “cap and tax” plans, featuring Chris Horner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

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Summary: Iraq’s political disarray has deepened, with potential kingmaker Muqtada al-Sadr withholding his support from the two biggest election winners — the blocs of Ayad Allawi and Nouri al-Maliki — and saying he would ask his supporters to make their choice in a referendum. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on March 31, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that Baitullah Mehsud, commander of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for a deadly assault on a Pakistani police academy and said the group was planning a terrorist attack on the White House that would “amaze” the world.

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Summary: “Iraq is still being devastated by bombings, assassinations, corruption, millions of evictions, and continued infrastructure destruction. Yet the world that caused all this is trying to draw a rosy picture of the situation in Iraq,” according to Iraqi political analyst Maki al-Nazzal. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on March 17, 2009, Aubrey Immelman featured a report from Oprah magazine regarding the personal qualities of President Barack Obama: “‘Boring’ might not be the first adjective that comes to mind to describe [Obama], but it was ‘No Drama Obama’ who assured the nation with his steady composure and won the White House. Aubrey Immelman, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at the College of St. Benedict / St. John’s University in Minnesota, says the variable that most distinguishes Obama from the two previous presidents is conscientiousness.”

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Summary: Despite bombings, mortar rounds, and grenades that claimed at least 36 lives, Iraqis voted on Sunday, March 7, 2010 in an election that will ultimately show whether Iraq can overcome the sectarian divisions that have defined it since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on March 8, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that a suicide bomber had killed 32 people at the entrance of Baghdad’s main police academy in a chilling reminder of the nation’s still-shaky security. The blast — the second major attack to hit Iraq in three days and the deadliest to strike Baghdad in nearly a month — was a bloody reminder of the ability of insurgents to defy security improvements and stage dramatic attacks as the U.S. begins to draw down its forces.

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Summary: Weekly report of U.S. military deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), compiled from U.S. Department of Defense News Releases. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on February 9, 2009, Aubrey Immelman featured live streaming video of the trial to decide the winner of the Coleman-Franken contest for U.S. Senate, courtesy of The UpTake.

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