Iraq: Security takeover within 18 months
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Wednesday that Iraqi forces are capable of taking control of security in all of Iraq within 18 months, but still need more recruits, training and equipment. Drive-by shootings killed 17 people Wednesday, including a provincial official in northern Iraq and two of his bodyguards, and authorities found the bodies of nine people who apparently had been kidnapped and tortured by death squads. Full Story