is this how repugs define progress in the mid-east?

Senior Iraqi General Killed in Ambush
At Least 20 Die, 50 Hurt in Renewed Violence
BAGHDAD, March 6 -- The top commander of the Iraqi army division in Baghdad was killed Monday when his car came under small-arms fire while traveling through the capital, the U.S. military said.

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Iraqi Leader Won't Abandon Election Bid
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's Shiite prime minister declared Tuesday he won't be blackmailed into abandoning his bid for a second term, and the Kurdish president bowed to Shiite pressure to delay calling parliament into session until a deadlock is resolved over who should lead a unity government.

A new video broadcast on Arab television, meanwhile, showed three of the four hostage Christian Peacemaker activists. American Tom Fox was not present.

Scattered bombings, mortar blasts and gunfire killed 16 people.

The unrelenting violence has complicated already snarled negotiations to form a government reflecting Iraq's main ethnic and religious communities, which the United States and its allies hope will stabilize the country so they can start pulling out troops.

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Israel Not Ruling Out Targeting Hamas PM
JERUSALEM - Israel's defense minister advised the incoming Palestinian prime minister Tuesday to fear for his life if Hamas militants start attacking Israel again.

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Iran faces consequences in nuclear dispute: Cheney
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran will not be allowed to have nuclear weapons and faces "meaningful consequences" if it persists in defying the international community, Vice President Dick Cheney said on Tuesday.

Cheney, speaking to the pro- Israel lobbying group AIPAC, also reaffirmed that the United States was keeping all options on the table -- including military force -- in its determination to prevent Iran from developing nuclear arms.

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Fifteen killed in blasts in Indian holy city
LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - At least 15 people were killed and scores wounded in a series of explosions which hit the Hindu pilgrimage city of Varanasi in northern India within a span of 45 minutes on Tuesday, police said.

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