Members Walk in Veterans’ Boots Nov 10, 2009
I was a governance officer for three towns in the western Euphrates river valley, he recalled earlier this month. Among Coffman s duties were helping the towns set up interim city councils until permanent councils could be elected and assisting with security during elections. (Roll Call)
The Army's version of the deaths of Nelson and Suarez Nov 7, 2009
"Soldiers inside building #2 believed that the tank located to the west was firing on their position," MacFarland wrote in a Dec. 20 memo in which he concurred with the report's findings, "when in actuality, it was enemy fire from a mortar position northwest of the Euphrates River.". Below is the Army's 10-page 15-6 investigation, followed by MacFarland's two-page memo in support of the findings. (Salon)
Video: Friendly fire attack in Iraq Video Nov 6, 2009
Roger Suarez-Gonzalez was killed during an exchange of fire in "building #2" close to the south bank of the Euphrates River in Ramadi, Anbar province, Iraq. This video, which was recorded from the point of view of the men in building #2 that day, appears to show an American tank firing on them, followed by an attempt to assign official blame for the death of Suarez and the injuries to Nelson to Iraqi insurgents firing mortars. (Salon)
How Israel destroyed Syria's nuclear reactor Nov 4, 2009
The mighty Euphrates river is the subject of the prophecies in the Bible's Book of Revelation, where it is written that the river will be the scene of the battle of Armageddon: "The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East.". Today, time seems to stand still along the river. (Salon)
Captured Insurgent in Iraq: I Will Fight Again Oct 11, 2009
Within days, they were driven to Rawah, a village in the flood plain of the Euphrates River in Iraq's western desert. It was early 2006 a time when insurgents virtually owned the territory. (Fox News)
Water disputes strain Turkey-Iraq ties Oct 2, 2009
The government in Baghdad has, therefore, been pressing hard for its northern neighbor to release more water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers which rise in Turkey's eastern mountains ... However, while interim diplomatic solutions have been reached, the Tigris and Euphrates River basin remains crucial for both Turkey and Iraq ... The government is, therefore, targeting a greater utilization of water potential and has set its sights on a greater exploitation of the Tigris and Euphrates... (Asia Times Online)
Severe drought affects 1.3 million in Syria Sep 19, 2009
For more generations than she can remember, her family has grown wheat in Syria's Euphrates river valley. But as a result of the drought, they left their home in the eastern part of the country. (Christian Science Monitor)
Suicide car bomb kills eight in Iraq Sep 7, 2009
Iraq's biggest province became the theatre of a brutal war focused on the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, while a string of towns along the Euphrates river valley became insurgent strongholds and later safe havens for insurgents. But since 2006 local Sunni tribes there have sided with the US military. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Drought Stuns Iraq Aug 29, 2009
Water levels in the Euphrates River have dropped dramatically over the past three weeks, halving the electricity resources in Nasiriyah, the country's fourth-largest city and forcing some towns to evacuate entirely. Experts predict that if levels drop another 8 incheswhich they are expected to over the next two weeksthe turbines currently powering Nasiriyah will shut down, and the city will experience a total blackout. (Slate)
Bombs kill 8 in Shiite area in Baghdad Aug 12, 2009
Iraq, meanwhile, accused Turkey of failing to fulfill a pledge to increase water flows down the Euphrates River to help the wartorn country relieve shortages that have threatened agriculture and other industries. Click for related content. (MSNBC -- International)
Turkey offers water for Iraqi crackdown on Kurdish rebels Aug 12, 2009
After talks in Baghdad, Turkey pledged Tuesday to release more water from the Euphrates River to its drought-ravaged neighbor ... Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said at a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Tuesday after talks in Baghdad that there was a "genuine and sincere desire to solve the water crisis." He said they planned to reactivate a mechanism dealing with water distribution between Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, which share the Tigris and Euphrates rivers ... He... (Christian Science Monitor)
Hill tries to offer honesty to Iraq Jul 22, 2009
Iraq is squabbling with its upstream neighbor Turkey over the flow of water into the Euphrates River. Turkey built a series of dams in the 1980s and 1990s along the Euphrates, which originates in Turkey and snakes through Syria and Iraq, to bolster their ability to produce low-cost energy. (USA Today)
Drought in Iraq Threatens Grain and... Jul 21, 2009
Living on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Sumerians developed one of the world's first irrigation systems in ancient Mesopotamia (Greek: "land between two rivers") ... At a conference in Baghdad, Ali Baban, the minister of planning said: "Our agriculture is going to die, our cities are going to wilt, and no state can keep quiet in such a situation." After extensive negotiations Turkey increased the flow of water into the Euphrates River by 130 cubic meter/second to alleviate the... (Suite101.com)
Once world's bread basket, Iraq now a farming basket case Jul 19, 2009
" Habeeb's family members have farmed the 538-square-foot plot next to a branch of the Euphrates River the same way for centuries. Except today they till with tractors, run water pumps with gasoline and spread artificial fertilizer. They plant seedlings by hand in June and July, irrigate and k 00004000 eep bugs and disease away in the summer heat, harvest by hand in October.However, their efforts haven't helped Iraqi agriculture overcome the twin disasters of war and sanctions, which have... (Fresno Bee)
Sandstorms scour U.S. troops, Iraqis Jul 10, 2009
The drought is further exacerbated by neighboring Turkey, which built a series of dams and limits the water it allows to flow into the Euphrates River, Abdullah said. For most Iraqis, the sandstorms are another hardship they could do without, said Taha Hamid Hassun, a patient at Ibn al-Nafees Hospital. (USA Today -- Weather)
Nukes and North Korea May 23, 2009
Early on September 6, 2007, explosions ripped through a nondescript building near the banks of the Euphrates River, in eastern Syria. Israels Air Force had bombed a covert nuclear reactor, which Syria was assembling to produce plutonium, with help from North Korea. (CBS News -- World)
Water rations force soldiers to take desperate measures May 13, 2009
That water was two to three times as contaminated as the water out of the Euphrates River, said former KBR employee Ben Carter. Carter, a water purification specialist, was the one to blow the whistle on it all. (KHOU.com, TX)
Three Newton friends serve in Iraq while their mothers cope at home Apr 15, 2009
Cape Cod versus the Euphrates River it s not the same. And being at home with family and friends is different than talking through satellites and cables. (Newton Tab, MA)
Saddam's palace open to Iraqi public Apr 6, 2009
From the man-made hilltop where the old palace sits, there are breathtaking views of the Euphrates River and Babylon. Saddam's initials are decoratively carved on the building and throughout the once-grand halls. (USA Today -- News)
Fallujah is test case for post-US Iraq Mar 28, 2009
AP Photo - The bridge over Euphrates river in Fallujah, Iraq, is seen Monday, March 23, 2009, through a building destroyed in an airstrike during the war. Iraqis have taken full control of Fallujah, the cradle of the insurgency, a major step in taking responsibility for their country. (Fresno Bee -- Business)
* US Army launches criminal complaint in Iraqi court Mar 24, 2009
Anzacks body was recovered from the Euphrates River 11 days later. Jimenez and Fouty remained missing for more than a year until their bodies were found and identified. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World Business)
U.S. files complaint in '07 Iraq ambush Mar 23, 2009
Anzack's body was found 11 days later near the Euphrates River, and the bodies of Jimenez and Fouty were located last July about 12. 5 miles (20 kilometers) south of the ambush site. (CNN -- World)
After suffering a traumatic brain injury in Iraq, Orange County woman turns to arts as therapy. Mar 18, 2009
It was her first deployment, and the corpsman--the Navy's version of an Army medic--had heard things were pretty quiet along this stretch of the Euphrates River ... Hooppaw was in Iraq, near a pool by the Euphrates River, when a multicolored dragonfly landed near her and stayed for an hour. (Fredericksburg.com, VA)
Ancient Sardis in Asia Minor Mar 1, 2009
In 605 BC Lydians are mentioned by the prophet Jeremiah, who commented on an important battle near the Euphrates River between Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt (Jer. 46. (Suite101.com)
Manhunt on for Iraqi lawmaker spirited from jet Feb 27, 2009
The jet left Baghdad and had just crossed the ribbon of blue indicating the Euphrates River thousands of feet below when it arced back toward the Iraqi capital Wednesday. More News. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Together in life, death Feb 18, 2009
Four of their comrades and an Iraqi translator were killed in the attack, and a fifth soldier was found dead soon afterward in the Euphrates River. But these two soldiers were kidnapped, held by their captors, and finally executed before being dumped in a shallow, dusty grave. (Boston Globe)
After Iraq elections, the next big test is acceptance Feb 10, 2009
Sitting in his tribal guest house not far from the Euphrates River, surrounded by guards, police officers, soldiers, relatives, friends and other hangers-on, the sheik spoke confidently of forging a governing coalition that would exclude the Islamic Party. On the wall are photographs of him with President George W. Bush at the White House and the current president, Barack Obama, from his visit to the region as a candidate last year, evidence of the American-sponsorship of the Awakening movement. (International Herald Tribune)
