Free Republic

A proposal by Iraq's finance minister to reduce the enormous fuel and food subsidies that consume roughly a third of the government's budget and largely crush economic growth has been rejected by the cabinet after a recent similar move in Yemen set off fatal riots there. The subsidies, which artificially produce some of the lowest gasoline and heating fuel prices in the world and finance free basic foodstuffs, have been singled out by financial institutions both inside and outside Iraq as a crippling burden when the country is trying to create a free-market economy as it grapples with insurgent violence...

Iraq: Danish Soldier Killed, Two U.S. Soldiers Wounded Copenhagen, 17 August 2003 (RFE/RL) -- A Danish soldier has been killed in a clash with Iraqi gunmen in Al-Basrah, Danish Army command in Copenhagen confirmed today. The soldier, the first Danish casualty in Iraq, was killed when his patrol was shot at. Two Iraqis died in the exchange of fire. Denmark has 420 soldiers stationed in southern Iraq. In Baghdad, a U.S. military spokesman says two U.S. soldiers were shot and wounded as they left a Baghdad restaurant. The spokesman said today the attack occurred yesterday. He said the injuries were...