Current Events and the Psychology of Politics
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Aug 26th, 2010

Summary: A day after the number of American troops in Iraq fell to its lowest level since the war began in 2003 — fewer than 50,000 — insurgents launched more than two dozen attacks across the country, killing at least 56 Iraqis. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on August 26, 2009 — a day four U.S. soldiers died in Aghanistan –Aubrey Immelman reported that a coordinated multiple-vehicle bomb attack in Kandahar killed more than 40 civilians in one of the largest insurgent bombings since the start of the Afghanistan war in 2001.


May 5th, 2010

Summary: Iraq’s two largest Shiite electoral blocs announced they have formed an alliance that gives them a strong chance of setting up the next government, heavily supported by neighboring Iran. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on May 5, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that Iraq’s government ruled out allowing U.S. combat troops to remain in Iraqi cities after the June 30, 2009 deadline for their withdrawal, despite concern that Iraqi forces might not be able to cope with the security challenge following a resurgence of bombings.


Apr 26th, 2010

Summary: A review panel has invalidated votes cast for 52 candidates in Iraq’s election, throwing into doubt the slim lead of former prime minister Iyad Allawi’s cross-sectarian, Sunni-backed Iraqiya alliance over Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s State of Law coalition and setting the stage for a possible spike in sectarian violence. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 26, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced a public health emergency in connection with the H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak that had already killed dozens in Mexico and sickened 20 in the U.S.


Mar 31st, 2010

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.


Mar 26th, 2010

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.


Mar 8th, 2010

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.


Mar 6th, 2010

Summary: Emboldened by the prospect of an Iraq free of the U.S. military and by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s decision to join a Shiite-led alliance that may become the single largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament after the 2010 election, ex-Mahdi Army militia members are starting to return ahead of Sunday’s elections. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on March 6, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that a car bomb exploded in a livestock market in Iraq’s southern Babil province, killing 12 people, wounding 40, and shattering a peace that had held in the area for some time, while insurgents attacked a main U.S.-Iraqi base in the northern city of Mosul, killing one American soldier and striking directly at the Iraqi command center for an offensive against the militants.


Feb 25th, 2010

Summary: The political movement of Iraq’s best-known anti-American cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, is emerging as a major contender in the March 7, 2010 national elections, raising the specter that the next prime minister of Iraq could be openly hostile to the United States and friendly toward Iran. Further complicating the situation, Iraq’s main Sunni party has said it is dropping out of the elections. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on February 25, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that four U.S. soldiers and an Afghan civilian working for them were killed in southern Afghanistan when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb, while in Iraq two policemen opened fire on U.S. soldiers visiting a police station, killing an American soldier and an Iraqi interpreter, wounding three Americans, and raising concerns about insurgent infiltration among the ranks of Iraqi police.


Aug 30th, 2009

Summary: Bombs struck Baghdad and remote communities in northern Iraq on August 29, 2009 as the visiting Iranian foreign minister warned that Iraq’s instability affected the whole region. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 47th day of his campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination as House of Representatives candidate in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman, in line with his campaign focus on national security issues, issued his statement opposing the war in Iraq.


Aug 27th, 2009

Summary: U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) announces a joint “town hall” forum in St. Cloud, Minn., with Rep. Ron Paul as her guest. … Robert H. Reid of the Associated Press reports that it’s been a summer of setbacks for the U.S. and its allies in Afghanistan, with rising casualties, a divisive election, and growing public doubt about the war. … Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, who wielded enormous influence after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq as head of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, has has died, exacerbating the growing political upheaval among Iraq’s majority Shiites. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 44th day of his campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination as House of Representatives candidate in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman traveled to White Bear Lake to record a candidate statement for the Ramsey / Washington County Suburban Cable Commission, through its Government Television Network (GTN). Immelman also reported on the high human and economic cost of the Iraq war.