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Young U.S. Soldiers In Iraq Long for Action in Afghan War
With the troop surge working in Iraq, and violence at its lowest level in months, young U.S. Soldiers are looking to the Afghan war with envy, hoping to get a chance to prove themselves in battle.
I wish I was young enough to go back and fight next to these brave soldiers. It's good to know that on the front lines of this idealogical war we have our bravest and finest young men. God bless our troops. With the troop surge working in Iraq, and violence at its lowest level in months, young U.S. Soldiers are looking to the Afghan war wi... more -
Bush may send more troops to Afghanistan
President Bush said Wednesday he is weighing whether to send more troops to Afghanistan. Bush said it has been a "tough month" in Afghanistan, where more U.S. and NATO troops died during the past two months than in Iraq.
The president told a Rose Garden news conference that one reason for the rising deaths "is that our troops are taking the fight to a tough enemy ... of course there is going to be resistance." It has also been a "tough month for the Taliban," he said.
Bush also urged Americans to pressure Congress to allow more oil exploration in the United States.
"We can help alleviate shortages by drilling for oil and gas in our own country, something I've been advocating ever since I've been the president. I've been reminding our people that we can do so in environmentally friendly ways," he said. "And yet the Congress, the Democratically controlled Congress now has refused to budge. It makes no sense."
Bush spoke ahead of a trip to Japan this weekend to participate in the annual Group of Eight economic summit.
The president sought to tamp down speculation that Israel will launch a military strike against Iran before he leaves office. He said all options are on the table but said military action would not be his first choice.
"I have made it very clear to all parties that the first option ought to be solve this problem diplomatically," Bush said. "And the best way to solve it diplomatically is for the United States to work with other nations to send a focused message — and that is, you will be isolated, and you will have economic hardship, if you continue to enrich."
Iran says its nuclear program is aimed only at generating electricity and cites its right under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to pursue uranium enrichment, a process that can produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or material for a warhead.
The United Nations has demanded that Iran suspend enrichment and has imposed three rounds of similar financial sanctions on Iranian companies and individuals. The United States and European allies have been pushing Tehran to halt enrichment and offering incentives, to no avail.
In June, militants killed more U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan than in Iraq for the second straight month. It was the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the war began.
Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates earlier this year told NATO allies that they would increase troop levels in Afghanistan in 2009 in response to the growing violence. The United States now has about 31,000 troops there — the most since the war began in October 2001 — and has been pressing allies to contribute more.
As the holiday weekend began, Bush said Congress was in part to blame for rising gas prices that have stung American consumers.
He said lawmakers continue to block his proposals, including lifting prohibitions on offshore oil drilling. The president has also called for allowing oil drilling in a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling, easing the regulatory process to expand oil refining capacity, and lifting restrictions on oil shale leasing in the Green River Basin of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
Bush even appealed to Americans to lobby their congressional representatives on the matter.
"We have got the opportunity to find more crude oil here at home in environmentally friendly ways and they ought to be writing their Congress people about it," Bush said.
Bush outlined his goals for his last G-8 summit of nations, which are the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.
The debate about what to do about global warming will be front and center in Hokkaido too, although the discussion will be on the sidelines of the actual summit. Bush is hosting a meeting of major economies to urge nations to embrace long-term commitments to reduce green house gas emissions, but he appeared to be lowering expectations.
President Bush said Wednesday he is weighing whether to send more troops to Afghanistan. Bush said it has been a "tough month" in Afgh... more -
Is this the effect of the "Surge?"
Even if the violence has declined somewhat, there doesn't seem to be any signs of a political unity forming in Iraq
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Top ten questions for General Petraeus!
When Gen. Petreaus and Amb. Crocker appear before both houses of Congress tomorrow and Thursday, Democrats should ideally position themselves through these hearings to achieve the following overarching goals:
-- Debunk the fiction that the military surge has achieved sustainable military or political objectives.
-- Undermine Sen. McCain's argument that staying the course is a patriotic duty.
-- Demonstrate to the American people that the recent Iraqi government defeat at the hands of the Mahdi Army was indeed the "defining moment" that Bush claimed it was.
-- Offer a credible Democratic approach to stay the course that logically will achieve more in the long run for American security in the Middle East than what more of the same can possibly achieve.
With this in mind, and if I were staffing the hearings, here is the list of questions I would be proposing to our Democratic inquisitors:
1. Prime Minister Maliki launched an offensive to defeat the Mahdi Army in Basra. He was forced, despite U.S. logistical and air support, to sue for a ceasefire. President Bush declared during the fighting that this was a "defining moment" for Iraq. Why shouldn't the American people view this "defining moment" as exactly what it was: a defeat for us, the Iraqi government and a victory for radical Shiite militias?
2. If the U.S. military cannot adequately defend the Green Zone from missile attack from Shiite militias, why should the American people believe that the surge has achieved tangible, and not momentary lulls in violence?
3. General Petraeus, you are proposing that the current level of military forces remain static longer than planned. Isn't this proof that the amount of troops in Iraq will never be enough to adequately reduce the level of violence against U.S. and Iraqi forces?
4. Define "victory" within the context of the current Iraqi political and military environment? Why should this not be a recipe for disaster given the inability of the Iraqi military to meet its training goals and objectives?
5. America has now suffered the loss of over 4,000 soldiers and tens of thousands wounded. How willing, General Petreaus, are you prepared to stretch the military's capability to sustain troop levels at even the 100,000 level beyond the summer and what are your specific goals and objectives? When Gen. Petreaus and Amb. Crocker appear before both houses of Congress tomorrow and Thursday, Democrats should ideally position the... more -
Iraq's PM threatens to bar Sadr from vote
Iraq's prime minister raised the stakes in his showdown with followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, saying they would be barred from elections unless their militia disbands.
"A decision was taken... that they no longer have a right to participate in the political process or take part in the upcoming elections unless they end the Mehdi Army," Mr Maliki said. "Solving the problem comes in no other way than dissolving the Mehdi Army," he said.
Sadr spokesman Salah al-Ubaidi rejected the ultimatum: "No one can intervene in the Mehdi Army; only those who established it and the religious leaders," he said.
Iraq's prime minister raised the stakes in his showdown with followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, saying they would be barred ... more -
Million man march in Iraq?
Enigmatic Shi'ite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr has again called for a million-man march in Iraq.
On Wednesday, April 9th, the march would mark the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Baghdad by US-led forces. Al-Sadr seeks to join all Iraq's ethnicities in a show of unity against the coalition of the increasingly unwilling, and as a rejection of signs of federalism, or sectarian division of Iraq.
'It is time you expressed your rejection of the unjust occupiers and raise your voices against them,' a message from Al-Sadr's office in Najaf stated.
Al-Sadr, in a recent interview with Al-Jazeera, rejected the idea of "liberation" because he claimed life was better under former President Saddam Hussein.
The recent cease-fire and call for peaceful demonstrations could be seen as an attempt to deescalate the recent surge of fighting; however, Al-Sadr said he supported "armed resistance" against US-led forces.
Al-Sadr has called for Million Man marches in previous years to mark the beginning of the occupation, as well as to show support for Lebanon during the July 2006 hostilities with Israel. Enigmatic Shi'ite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr has again called for a million-man march in Iraq. ... more -
75% of Baghdad now secure
Or at least that's what the military told USA Today. The paper reports that 310 neighborhoods are in the "control" category - translation: they are secure, but depend on U.S. and Iraqi military forces to maintain the peace. There are another 46 neighborhoods categorized "retain" (a more permanent fix) - meaning they have reached a level where Iraqi police and security forces can maintain order.
I don't mean to diss USA Today - they have stepped up and significantly improved their hard news coverage in recent years - but I am curious why the military chose the traditionally fluffy (and therefore less prone to ask tough questions) USA Today to share this information with. Am I being too cynical? Or at least that's what the military told USA Today. The paper reports that 310 neighborhoods are in the "control" category - transla... more -
Surge to Nowhere
As the fifth anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom nears, the fabulists are again trying to weave their own version of the war. The latest myth is that the "surge" is working. As the fifth anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom nears, the fabulists are again trying to weave their own version of the war. The l... more
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Iraq: A Surge of More Lies
A new troubling myth has taken hold in Washington and it is critical that the record is set straight. According to the mainstream media, Republicans, and unfortunately even some Democrats, the President's surge in Iraq has been a resounding success. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. A new troubling myth has taken hold in Washington and it is critical that the record is set straight. According to the mainstream medi... more
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Dr. Phil Heals Iraq
Maybe it wasn't General Petraeus's plan. Maybe it was Dr. Phil and Oprah who are responsible for quelling some of the violence in Iraq.
American TV is perhaps the greatest form of escapism and the Iraqis are apparently eating it up. But if you think its helping out our image, you might want to think again.
"They also see the news about Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan and some say they are worried about the way young girls grow up in America.
'Do you think it's a good place for daughters?' one Iraqi friend asked rhetorically.
'If I go to America, I will leave my wife and daughter here,' replied another."
Maybe it wasn't General Petraeus's plan. Maybe it was Dr. Phil and Oprah who are responsible for quelling some of the violence in Ira... more -
Good News From Iraq?
Last year, I blogged here that we should forget about all the benchmarks that attempt to measure whether the situation in Iraq is improving or deteriorating. We will know, I wrote, that things are getting better if the Iraqis themselves feel it is so and the millions who fled the country begin to return.
Today, the BBC reports that Iraqi authorities estimate that 1,000 people a day are now making there way back home. This is the latest in a sudden string of "good news" stories coming out of Iraq.
Last week, my hometown newspaper, Newsday, ran a two-page feature that began with this:
"Since the last soldiers of the 'surge' deployed last May, Baghdad has undergone a remarkable transformation.
No longer do the streets empty at dusk. Liquor stores and cinemas have reopened for business. Some shops stay open until late into the evening. Children play in parks, young women stay out after dark, restaurants are filled with families, and old men sit at sidewalk cafes playing backgammon and smoking sheesha pipes."
And yesterday, the New York Times reported that a sense of normalcy was returning to Baghdad.
"The security improvements in most neighborhoods are real. Days now pass without a car bomb, after a high of 44 in the city in February...As a result, for the first time in nearly two years, people are moving with freedom around much of this city."
Most stories credit the "surge", particularly the US's alliance with local Sunni tribal leaders to get rid of Al Qaeda types in Baghdad and the Al Anbar province.
We don't want to get ahead of ourselves here, especially since there are many great challenges to achieving peace in the country as a whole. But we can hope that these reports are a sign of shift toward better days for the Iraqi people. Inshallah.
Last year, I blogged here that we should forget about all the benchmarks that attempt to measure whether the situation in Iraq is impr... more -
Experts Doubt Drop In Violence in Iraq
The U.S. military's claim that violence has decreased sharply in Iraq in recent months has come under scrutiny from many experts within and outside the government, who contend that some of the underlying statistics are questionable and selectively ignore negative trends.-somehow this only made it on page A16... The U.S. military's claim that violence has decreased sharply in Iraq in recent months has come under scrutiny from many experts withi... more
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