Conflicted Iraqis face future without US troops (AP)

By REBECCA SANTANA and LARA JAKES, Associated Press Rebecca Santana And Lara Jakes, Associated Press – 1?hr?3?mins?ago

BAGHDAD – For the first time in decades, Iraqis face a future on their own, with neither Saddam Hussein's iron fist nor the United States' military might to hold them together. This has been both their dream and nightmare: They wanted American troops (the occupiers) to go, but they wanted American troops (the protectors) to stay.

Now many fear an increase in violence, growing Iranian influence and political turmoil after President Barack Obama's definitive announcement that all U.S. forces will leave by the end of the year.

In conversations with The Associated Press, Iraqis across the political, religious and geographic spectrum on Saturday questioned what more than eight years of war and tens of thousands of Iraqi and U.S. lives lost had wrought on their country. They wondered how their still struggling democracy could face the challenges ahead.

"Neither the Iraqis nor the Americans have won here," said Adnan Omar, a Sunni from the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

Rifaat Khazim, a Shiite from the southern city of Basra, said, "I do not think that this withdrawal will bring anything better to Iraq or that Iraqi leaders will be able to achieve stability and security in this country. Most of the Iraqis yearn now for Saddam's time. Now, Iraq is defenseless in the face of the threats by the neighboring countries."

Across the country there was a strong sense of disbelief. The Americans, having spent hundreds of billions of dollars, lost nearly 4,500 troops' lives and built up sprawling bases as big as many Iraqi cities, would never really leave, many Iraqis thought. Some celebrated the exit of foreign occupiers and the emergence of real sovereignty. But there was also an apprehension, almost a sense of resignation, that things will get worse.

Though greatly reduced from the depths of near civil war from 2006 to 2008, shooting and bombings rattle Iraqis daily. Significantly all the elements from those darkest days remain: al-Qaida militants, Shiite militias, Sunni insurgents. Resentment still simmers among the Sunni Muslim minority over domination by the Shiite majority, Kurds in the north still hold aspirations of breaking away. Despite years of promises of better government services, most of the country gets by on a few hours of electricity a day.

In the eyes of Iraqis, the Americans were both the cause of those woes and the bulwark against them exploding. Many blame the 2003 U.S.-led invasion for unleashing all the demons kept bottled up by Saddam's dictatorship, and allowing new ones — like al-Qaida — to slip in.

Yet at the same time, U.S. troop reinforcements helped rein them in by 2008. Many feel the powerful American presence prevents Iraqi politicians from dragging the country into the worst of sectarian reprisals and hatreds. Few believe Iraqi forces are up to keeping security or can avoid falling into the same sectarian splits.

"After the American withdrawal, the security in Iraq will definitely deteriorate. More attacks by al-Qaida are likely to happen," said Dhia Abdullah, a Shiite from eastern Baghdad. "The security elements are not loyal to Iraq but to parties and militias therefore the security situation will be very bad after the withdrawal."

Nearly 40,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, all of whom will withdraw by Dec. 31, a deadline set in a 2008 security agreement between Baghdad and the administration of then-President George W. Bush.

The Obama administration, concerned over continued violence and growing Iranian influence, for much of this year pushed to keep thousands of U.S. troops here in a significant-sized training mission. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other Iraqi officials expressed support of the idea, and they negotiated for months.

It was politically delicate for both Obama and al-Maliki, who each faced widespread opposition from their respective publics to continue a war that was never popular in either nation.

But talks ran aground over Iraqi opposition to giving American troops legal immunity that would shield them from Iraqi prosecution. Legal protection for U.S. troops has always angered everyday Iraqis who saw it as simply a way for the Americans to run roughshod over the country. Many Iraqi lawmakers were hesitant to grant immunity for fear of a backlash from constituents.

"When the Americans asked for immunity, the Iraqi side answered that it was not possible," al-Maliki told a news conference Saturday. "The discussions over the number of trainers and the place of training stopped. Now that the issue of immunity was decided and that no immunity to be given, the withdrawal has started."

When Obama announced Friday that all American forces would leave Iraq by the end of the year, he did not mention the immunity issue, portraying the decision as the fulfillment of one of his main campaign promises to end the conflict.

The impression of the U.S. as all-powerful has always permeated Iraqi society, leaving many Iraqis assuming that the decision was purely an American one instead of an Iraqi choice.

Many, both Sunnis and Shiites, were sure the departure of American forces inevitably will lead to a rise in Iranian influence.

"The withdrawal announcement is a message to the Iranians to come and take over Iraq. The Iraqis are the real losers here because they have replaced the U.S. occupation with Iranian occupation," said Adel al-Dulaimi, a Sunni from northern Baghdad.

In an interview released Saturday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Tehran has "a very good relationship" with Iraq's government that will continue to grow.

"We have deepened our ties day by day," Ahmadinejad said in an interview Saturday with CNN.

To be sure, many Iraqis were happy. Iraqis resented years of having to pull to the side of the road when American troops drove by or putting up with raids of their homes in the middle of the night.

"The Iraqi people are the winner because a few months from now, we will walk in the streets without seeing U.S. troops and this is a source of joy to us because Iraq has restored its full sovereignty," said Saif Qassim, a Sunni from the northern city of Mosul.

Others suspicious of the U.S. questioned whether the American military would ever give up its toehold here.

"I believe that the full withdrawal will be only in the media but there must be secret deals with the Americans to keep some American forces or members of the American intelligence," said Raja Haidr, a Shiite from eastern Baghdad. "They won't leave."

Al-Maliki told reporters he still wants American help in training Iraqi forces to use billions of dollars worth of military equipment that Baghdad is buying from the United States. About 160 U.S. troops will remain at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad to help oversee training plans — a duty that is common at most American diplomatic posts worldwide.

U.S. officials, from Obama to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, stressed that Washington will continue to have a strong diplomatic relationship with Baghdad.

Michael O'Hanlon, an expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington said continued violence in Iraq was a threat whether or not U.S. troops remain.

"But it's true that their frequency may increase absent U.S. help in areas of intelligence and special operations," said O'Hanlon, who had been lobbying for a larger U.S. force to remain behind. "In addition, I do fear the residual risk of civil war goes up with this decision."

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Rebecca Santana can be reached at http://twitter.com/@ruskygal

Lara Jakes can be reached at http://twitter.com/@larajakesAP

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Reno crash raises questions about the future of air races (The Christian Science Monitor)

[UPDATE: The number of people killed in the Reno Air Races crash Friday has risen to nine, according to the Reno police. Also, a T-28 aircraft crashed on the runway during a six-aircraft routine Saturday at an airshow in Martinsburg, West Virginia, killing the pilot. There were no other casualties, according to initial reports.]

The crash at the Reno Air Races in Nevada Friday afternoon – the worst accident in the history of the event – raises questions about the future of what’s billed as “the world’s fastest motorsport.”

Have the capabilities of the high-speed aircraft flown at very low level exceeded the abilities of even the best pilots? Should age be a consideration in allowing pilots to compete? Should the race course be moved farther away from the tens of thousands of spectators who gather there each September.

Sometimes likened to the top race cars as “Formula One with wings,” racing aircraft fly at up to 500 miles an hour and less than 100 feet above the ground. The fastest categories fly an 8-mile oval course around pylons.

The Monitor's weekly news quiz for Sept. 11-16, 2011

Many of the competing aircraft started out as vintage World War II fighters, such as the P-51 Mustang and the F8F Bearcat. But they are highly modified, with larger engines and aerodynamic characteristics that have been altered to increase performance during high-G turns that can stress airframes.

Jimmy Leeward, the pilot in the crash, was flying a P-51 named the "Galloping Ghost."

Mr. Leeward, a real estate developer and owner of the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team in Ocala, Fla., was a veteran pilot who’d flown 250 types of aircraft. He was a long-time racer who’d flown at Reno since 1975, and he’d flown as a stunt pilot in such films as "Amelia," Cloud Dancer," and "The Tuskegee Airmen."

In an interview with the Ocala Star-Banner last year, Leeward talked about the P-51 – the aircraft flown in combat in World War II by famed pilot Chuck Yeager, who once shot down five enemy aircraft on a single mission.

"They're more fun. More speed, more challenge,” Leeward said of the P-51. “Speed, speed and more speed.”

Initial reports indicated that the pilot had pulled up and called a€?maydaya€

At this writing, three people (including the pilot) have died as a result of the crash and 56 were taken to local hospitals, many of them critically injured.

But given the total destruction of the aircraft, former NTSB investigator Greg Feith told MSNBC, the exact cause of the accident – perhaps a mechanical failure or a medical situation experienced by the pilot – may never be known.

Some have raised questions about Leeward’s age, initially reported as 80 but then corrected to 74. Those who knew him well reject the suggestion that he was too old to participate in such a stressful and potentially dangerous sport requiring physical strength, extraordinary reflexes, and the ability to react instantly to emergency situations including engine failure at low level.

Leeward's aviation medical records were up-to-date, and he was "a very qualified, very experienced pilot," said Reno Air Races President and CEO Mike Houghton.

Some witnesses to the crash suggested that Leeward may have maneuvered his aircraft away from the grandstands where the casualties could have been higher.

Four pilots have been killed in recent years. Over the years, there have been 19 deaths due to crashes and collisions at Reno, but none until this week had involved spectators.

Two pilots died at the event in 1994, and organizers softened two of the curves pilots negotiate after two more pilots crashed into nearby neighborhoods in 1998 and 1999, according to an Associated Press report. In 2007 and 2008, four pilots were killed at the races, prompting local school officials to consider barring student field trips to the event.

Air shows not involving races also have a long record of accidents involving pilots and spectators. There have been eight so far this year, five involving fatalities. The worst was in 2002 when a Ukrainian Air Force fighter crashed during an air show near Lviv, Ukraine, killing 77 people and injuring 543.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials have taken over the investigation in Reno. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is involved as well.

The Monitor's weekly news quiz for Sept. 11-16, 2011

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Consumer mood up but future outlook at 31-year low (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Consumer sentiment inched up in early September but Americans remained gloomy about the future with their expectations falling to the lowest level since 1980, a survey released on Friday showed.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment edged up to 57.8 from 55.7 the month before, which had been the lowest level since November 2008. It topped the median forecast of 56.5 among economists polled by Reuters.

Consumer spending is a linchpin of the U.S. economy but confidence has been badly hit as unemployment remains high and wages stagnate. Acrimonious political debate over the United States' debt ceiling dampened sentiment over the summer. So did worries the U.S. economy could fall back into recession.

"The consumer is still very frustrated with virtually everything -- 9 percent unemployment, still very tepid jobs creation and heightened job destruction," said Lindsey Piegza, economist at FTN Financial in New York.

Investors are now turning their attention to next week's Federal Reserve meeting. The central bank is expected to unveil new measures to bolster growth, though analysts expect the Fed will only be able to take modest steps.

A new jobs-creation package from President Barack Obama is also facing opposition, suggesting it is unlikely to emerge from Congress in its current form. For details, see

"It is basically an impasse in Washington as the President came out and talked about a jobs program, but it seems like more Americans are skeptical about the program than they are optimistic," said Piegza.

The economy is struggling to regain momentum after barely growing in the first half of the year. Consumer spending drives about two-thirds of activity.

The University of Michigan's gauge of consumer expectations dipped to 47.0 from 47.4. It was the lowest level since May 1980. The economic outlook for the next 12 months fell to 38 from 40, the lowest since February 2009 when the world economy was gripped by the credit crisis.

Still, the survey's barometer of current economic conditions gained to 74.5 from 68.7, and better than a forecast of 68.0.

"It was certainly nice to see the current conditions index rise again, but all we did was retake some ground to where we were in July," said Tom Porcelli, senior U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets in New York.

"I don't think this report is important for the Fed meeting next week but I do think the overall lack of consumer confidence will be very important."

There was muted reaction in financial markets immediately following the data with U.S. stocks little changed in a choppy session.

Two bellwether U.S. companies expressed confidence in the economy on Thursday.

United Parcel Service Inc said the company was on track for record results this year despite the economy's "bumpy ride". General Electric's chief executive said he sees "good, decent economic growth everywhere."

Friday's data showed consumer confidence in economic policies near historic lows. Three out of four consumers expected bad times for the economy in the year ahead. Only half of respondents said the same at the beginning of the year.

The survey's one-year inflation expectation rose to 3.7 percent from 3.5 percent, while the survey's five-to-10-year inflation outlook was at 3.0 percent from 2.9 percent.

Separate data showed a measure of future U.S. economic growth was little changed in the latest week, while the annualized growth rate fell to its lowest level in a year.

The Economic Cycle Research Institute, a New York-based independent forecasting group, said its Weekly Leading Index dipped a hair to 122.4 in the week ended September 9 from 122.5 the week before. That was originally reported as 123.0.

The index's annualized growth rate slumped to minus 7.1 percent from minus 6.6 percent to fall to its lowest level since mid-September 2010.

(Additional reporting by Emily Flitter in New York and Jason Lange in Washington; Editing by Andrew Hay)

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On last day in jail, Anthony's future uncertain (AP)

ORLANDO, Fla. – Casey Anthony is spending her last day in jail Saturday preparing for an uncertain future after nearly three years behind bars.

Orange County Jail officials planned to release Anthony sometime Sunday under circumstances they refused to disclose. One of her attorneys, Cheney Mason, said Friday that Anthony is scared to leave jail, given numerous threats on her life and the scorn of a large segment of the public that believes she had something to do with the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.

Anthony was acquitted of first-degree murder in Caylee's death earlier this month. She was found guilty of four counts of lying to police, but with time served and good behavior credits, she didn't have to serve out her four-year sentence.

Another attorney, Charles Greene, said Friday that Anthony was "emotionally unstable" and needed "a little breathing room" after the draining two-month trial.

However, that "breathing room" may be hard to come by given that Anthony's first steps of freedom will be under the glare of the media spotlight. Scores of reporters, cameramen and protesters were expected to be outside the jail when she is released. Local television stations were going live with coverage starting late Saturday night.

And the vitriol directed at Anthony has been pointed: After the verdict, anger spilled onto social networks like Facebook and Twitter from people who had spent weeks watching the trial on local and cable television networks. On Friday, Anthony's legal team said it had received an emailed death threat with a manipulated photo showing the 25-year-old woman with a bullet hole in her forehead. It has been forwarded to authorities. Officials had said earlier this week that they had not received any credible threats, but they did not return a call Friday about that email.

Security experts have said Anthony will need to hole up inside a safe house protected by bodyguards, perhaps for weeks, in case someone tries to make good on one of those threats. Ideally, several SUVs with tinted windows will pull up to the jail to whisk her away, probably in the middle of the night, the experts said. Jail officials have not disclosed when she will be released.

Exactly where she will go also remains unclear. It's unlikely she'll return to the home she once shared with her parents, as the trial left her family fractured. Defense attorney Jose Baez argued during the trial that Caylee accidentally drowned in the family pool and that Casey Anthony's father, George, covered it up to make it look like a homicide. Baez also argued that George Anthony molested his daughter when she was a child — which resulted in psychological issues that caused her to lie and act without apparent remorse after Caylee went missing.

"Most of the time you can always go home, but she doesn't have that option," said Daniel Meachum, an Atlanta lawyer who has represented football star Michael Vick and actor Wesley Snipes. "Baez has to have somewhere for her to go for her to get herself together."

Casey Anthony was convicted of telling detectives several lies in July 2008, when Caylee's disappearance was reported. She said that Caylee had been kidnapped by a nonexistent nanny, among other things.

Caylee's skeleton was found that December in some woods near the home Casey Anthony shared with her parents.

While defense attorneys argued that Caylee's death was an accident, prosecutors alleged that Anthony suffocated her daughter with duct tape because motherhood interfered with her lust for a carefree life of partying with friends and spending time with her boyfriend. Jurors have told various media outlets that prosecutors didn't prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt as required for a conviction — although most have added that they don't think Anthony is innocent.

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