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Sexually assaulted female troops struggle to recover
Women who are fighting for our country and the challenges they face.
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John McCain's Neverending War
John Mccain 2002 to the present his stance on war and his flip flop. be the judge.
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Sexually assaulted female troops struggle to recover
Even as women distinguish themselves in battle alongside men, they're fighting off sexual assault and harassment. It's not a new consequence of war.
But the sheer number of women serving today -- more than 190,000 so far in Iraq and Afghanistan -- is forcing the military and Department of Veterans Affairs to more aggressively address it.
Of the women veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who have walked into a VA facility, 15 percent have screened positive for military sexual trauma, The Associated Press has learned. That means they indicated that while on active duty they were sexually assaulted, raped, or were sexually harassed, receiving repeated unsolicited verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature.
from the Navy Reserves, said people typically think of sexual harassment as someone making a comment about someone's appearance, but it goes well beyond that. In a war environment, living and working with someone exhibiting harassing behavior can potentially have long-term effects on troops' health and performance.
"There's automatically this thing that sexual harassment is not a big deal, it's not as bad as rape, and indeed it often is not as distressing as a completed sexual assault, but it still can be something that highly affects a person," Best said. Research also has found that working and living environments where unwanted sexual behaviors take place have been associated with increased odds of rape.
It's unknown whether incidents of rape and assault are higher in the military population than the civilian population. One study, however, of 1991 Persian Gulf War veterans found incidents of assault, rape and harassment were higher at war than in peacetime military samples, according to the VA's PTSD center.
It's only in recent years that the military and VA have kept comprehensive statistics, and even the two agencies define military sexual trauma differently.
What is known is that the effects of a military sexual trauma can be long lasting -- particularly for those who don't seek early help.
The VA still sees veterans who experienced sexual attacks in Vietnam -- and even World War II.
Even as women distinguish themselves in battle alongside men, they're fighting off sexual assault and harassment. It's not a new conse... more -
Obama takes exit plan to Baghdad to meet Iraqi prime minister
US presidential candidate Barack Obama arrived in Baghdad today amid confusion about whether the Iraqi prime minister backs his timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq.
The Democratic contender has pledged to pull out troops within 16 months if he is elected.
In an interview with the German paper Der Spiegel, the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, appeared to back Obama's timetable.
"Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal," he was quoted as saying.
Maliki's spokesman has since claimed his comments had been "misunderstood" and "mistranslated" without denying the story.
His aides also said Maliki was not taking sides in the US election.
The clarification from Maliki's aides came after the intervention of US embassy officials in Baghdad.
Last week Maliki signed up to the more vague "time frame" agreed with US president George Bush.
Obama was expected to meet Maliki as well as General David Petraeus in Iraq, although aides provided few details because of security concerns.
The Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, has been critical of Obama's position on Iraq, saying the decision to pull out should be determined by progress, not a timetable.
McCain supports the war, and has been critical of some aspects of its handling. But he was a vocal supporter of the decision to send in more troops.
McCain's foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, said Obama "is stubbornly adhering to an unconditional withdrawal that places politics above the advice of our military commanders, the success of our troops, and the security of the American people."
"Barack Obama is wrong to advocate withdrawal at any cost just as he was wrong to oppose the surge that has put victory within reach," Scheunemann said in a statement.
US commanders have begun withdrawing some of those additional troops and Obama has argued that they should be sent to Afghanistan, which he says is the "central front" in the fight against terrorism.
McCain also supports sending troop reinforcements to Afghanistan.
"There's starting to be a growing consensus that it's time for us to withdraw some of our combat troops out of Iraq, deploy them here in Afghanistan, and I think we have to seize that opportunity. Now is the time for us to do it," Obama said in a CBS News interview broadcast yesterday after his two-hour meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
"I think it's important for us to begin planning for those brigades now. If we wait until the next administration, it could be a year before we get those additional troops on the ground here in Afghanistan, and I think that would be a mistake," Obama said in the interview. "I think the situation is getting urgent enough that we have got to start doing something now."
US presidential candidate Barack Obama arrived in Baghdad today amid confusion about whether the Iraqi prime minister backs his timeta... more -
US-led forces killed 9 Afghan police in 'friendly fire'
KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S.-led troops and Afghan forces killed nine Afghan police Sunday, calling in airstrikes and fighting on the ground for four hours after both sides mistook the other for militants, Afghan officials said.
In a separate incident, NATO said it accidentally killed at least four Afghan civilians Saturday night. A NATO soldier also was killed in the east.
The two cases of accidental killings could further undercut popular support for the government and foreign forces operating here. President Hamid Karzai has pleaded with the U.S. and other nations fighting resurgent militants to avoid civilian casualties.
In the western province of Farah near the Iranian border, a convoy of foreign forces showed up in Anar Dara district and clashed with Afghan police, killing nine of them, said provincial Deputy Governor Younus Rasuli.
He said the foreign troops had not informed local officials they were coming, and the police thought they were enemy fighters. The two sides fought from about midnight until 4 a.m. Sunday, and the foreign forces used airstrikes, Rasuli said.
The U.S.-led coalition said it was investigating the report. It said its forces, along with Afghan troops, had retaliated in defense against "a non-uniformed hostile force."
"The combined patrol signaled their status as coalition forces, but continued to receive fire," a military statement said. "Coalition forces then returned small arms fire and engaged the enemy with precision close air support."
In eastern Paktika province, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said it killed at least four civilians Saturday night when its troops fired two mortar rounds that landed nearly half a mile short of their target. NATO said it was investigating whether three other civilians also were killed in the Barmal district.
KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S.-led troops and Afghan forces killed nine Afghan police Sunday, calling in airstrikes and fighting on the gro... more -
Against the War AND the Troops
Hey all you Liberals and peaceful people,
I think it's time we stand up for our beliefs, and stop pandering to the false Patriotism that the Right Wing continually uses to beat us up.
Frankly, the war in Iraq is illegal and immoral, and I am against both the war, and the troops that are fighting there. There is no reason why we should support a volunteer armed forces, regardless of whether or not the soldiers are pro-war or not. For too long Democrats and liberals have been painted un-patriotic because they don't often believe military force is necessary.
If the Democrats in Congress had more of a backbone, they'd stand up against war, and not be pigeon-holed into a corner for being anti-war and pro-troops.
I'm against them both. Does that anger you? Am I anti-American? No, I'm not. I just use my brain. Hey all you Liberals and peaceful people, ... more -
U.S. and Iraq Agree to Set Goals for Troop Cuts
The United States and Iraq have agreed to set a “general time horizon” for the “further reduction of U.S. combat forces in Iraq” following the improvement in security conditions in the country, the White House said Friday.
The breakthrough, which was reached between President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki in discussions via video link on Thursday, could lead to the successful completion of a long-term security agreement covering American operations in Iraq — from combat missions to detaining Iraqis — by the end of this month, a White House official said.
"We’re converging on an agreement," the official said, referring to ongoing negotiations between Iraq and the United States on the deal.
The long-term agreement had been held up by differences over issues like the extent of Iraqi control over American military operations, the right of American soldiers to detain suspects without the approval of Iraqi authorities and Iraqi demands for a timetable for withdrawal.
But in a statement, the White House said Mr. Bush and Mr. Maliki had agreed “that improving conditions should allow for the agreements now under negotiation to include a general time horizon for meeting aspirational goals — such as the resumption of Iraqi security control in their cities and provinces and the further reduction of U.S. combat forces from Iraq.”
The White House offered no specific dates for troop cuts, but the inclusion of even just a reference to a time horizon is a significant concession by the Bush administration, which has long resisted setting a timetable for cuts in combat forces. It is a tacit admission that the United States’ military presence in Iraq is not endless.
The administration on Friday insisted that it had not shifted its position. It said that the move was simply a reflection of the changing nature of conditions in Iraq.
“These are aspirational goals, not artificial timetables based on political expediency,” said Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman, who was traveling with Mr. Bush in Tucson, Ariz., where Mr. Bush was attending a fund raiser.
The Democrats, including Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, have long pushed for a specific timetable for troop withdrawals.
Mr. Obama’s Republican rival, Senator John McCain of Arizona, on Friday said the agreement was evidence that the addition of tens of thousands of combat troops to Iraq last year — the so-called surge, which he supported from the start — had worked.
“Withdrawal is possible because of a successful surge strategy that senator Obama opposed, campaigned against, railed against during the process of running for the Democratic nomination and now, fortunately for everyone, he will enjoy the benefits of that successful strategy,” said Nicolle Wallace, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCain.
In the statement, the White House insisted there would not be “an arbitrary date for withdrawal,” and again reiterated what has been Mr. Bush long-standing opposition to what he has called “an artificial timetable for withdrawal.”
The United States and Iraq have been trying to negotiate a long-term security agreement that would clear the way for American troops to operate in Iraq after a United Nations mandate expires at the end of the year.
But the negotiations have been deadlocked. The United States and Iraq have agreed to set a “general time horizon” for the “further reduction of U.S. combat forces in Iraq” follo... more -
Americans being electrocuted in Iraq 'on an almost daily basis'
Among the seemingly innumerable scandal-worthy stories which have so marked the war in Iraq is one growing tragedy which has been largely ignored: shoddy electrical work by U.S. contractors at military bases leading to numerous electrical fires, troops receiving painful shocks, and even death by electrocution.
In January 2008, Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a 24-year-old weapons expert, was electrocuted while showering in Baghdad's green zone. According to a criminal investigation by the Army, an electrical water pump on the building's roof shorted out from not being properly grounded when installed. On March 19 his parents sued the contractor, KBR Inc., for Sgt. Maseth's death.
According to the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette:
"The Defense Contract Management Agency, we believe, authorized [the contractor] to the tune of millions of dollars to make the repairs. And they never made the repairs," Mr. Cavanaugh said. "And we don't know why. A simple repair -- just ground the building -- and Ryan would be alive today."
On July 1, New York Times Investigative Reporter James Reisen, author of the 2006 book "State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration," took up the subject. According to Reisen, General David Petraeus stated to Congress that 13 Americans had been electrocuted since the invasion of Iraq: 12 soldiers and one contractor.
As recently as July 11, KBR Inc. electricians told a Senate panel tasked to investigate the deaths that their employer used inexperienced, non-English speaking workers to install electrical systems. Many experienced contractors, they claimed, were dismissed after raising cautions over the work.
According to the Associated Press:
"Time and again we heard, `This is not the states, OSHA doesn't apply here. If you don't like it you can go home,'" said Debbie Crawford, a journeyman electrician with 30 years experience.
Army Times reports that the shoddy wiring and electrical risks have brought about the deaths of 11 service members and two U.S. civilians.
However, a follow-up report by James Reisen in the New York Times on July 18 states that the problem is far worse than General Petraeus stated, and the military has known about the systemic problems since 2004.
Since the invasion, over 283 electrical fires on US bases have been reported, along with two deaths in 2006 at a base in Tikrit, the death of Sgt. Maseth, and innumerable painful shocks dealt to Americans.
A log of complaints compiled early in 2008 found soldiers living in just one Baghdad building complex were complaining of painful electrical shocks 'on an almost daily basis.'
In public statements, Pentagon officials have not addressed the scope of the hazards, instead mostly focusing on the circumstances surrounding the death of Sergeant Maseth, who lived near Pittsburgh.
But the internal documents, including dozens of memos, e-mail messages and reports from the Army, the Defense Contract Management Agency and other agencies, show that electrical problems were widely recognized as a major safety threat among Pentagon contracting experts. It is impossible to determine the exact number of the resulting deaths and injuries because no single document tallies them up. (The records were compiled for Congressional and Pentagon investigators and obtained independently by The Times.)
The 2007 safety survey was ordered by the top official in Iraq for the Defense Contract Management Agency, which oversees contractors, after the October 2006 electrical fire that killed two soldiers near Tikrit. Paul Dickinson, a Pentagon safety specialist who wrote the report, confirmed its findings, but did not elaborate.
READ THE REST.
Among the seemingly innumerable scandal-worthy stories which have so marked the war in Iraq is one growing tragedy which has been larg... more -
Ex-CIA Ray McGovern on Obama's 'new world'
Is Obama realistic about pulling troops out of Iraq and will he face up to 'big oil'?
McGovern: "The game is over with Iraq and so the question is how does this strategic change affect the real players in the area. The Israeli right wants a confrontation with Iran to keep US forces in the region. The US military leadership is against a "third front" but has to contend with Cheney.
Raymond McGovern is a retired CIA officer. McGovern was a Federal employee under seven US presidents for over 27 years, presenting the morning intelligence briefings at the White House for many of them. McGovern was born and raised in Bronx, graduated summa cum laude from Fordham University, received an M.A. in Russian Studies from Fordham, a certificate in Theological Studies from Georgetown University, and graduated from Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program. Is Obama realistic about pulling troops out of Iraq and will he face up to 'big oil'? ... more -
Bush Warned He Might Send Troops To Darfur
DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegal's president said on Thursday George W. Bush told African leaders at one stage the United States might send troops to Sudan's Darfur if they did not act to halt what he saw as genocide there.
President Abdoulaye Wade said Bush, who has lobbied strongly for robust international action to end the five-year-old conflict in Darfur, had made the warnings to him, but he did not specify when or in what circumstances.
Commenting on the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor's move this week to seek a war crimes arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, Wade said Bush had "always proclaimed loudly and clearly that the United States considered Bashir had committed genocide in Darfur".
"I've had to transmit to President Bashir and to my other African colleagues President Bush's warnings that if Africa didn't do anything to end the tragedy in Darfur, the United States could bypass the (United Nations) Security Council and send contingents to Darfur," the Senegalese leader said in a statement issued in Dakar.
"Myself and other African colleagues tried to dissuade him from this and to convince him to leave us to try to sort out this problem among us Africans," he added.
The United States has supported the deployment of a joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur and has even helped to airlift international peacekeepers to and from the violence-torn western Sudanese region.
However Washington, stretched by heavy military commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, has stopped short of sending its own troops to Darfur, where foreign experts estimate 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been driven from their homes in five years of political and ethnic conflict. DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegal's president said on Thursday George W. Bush told African leaders at one stage the United States might send t... more -
Two suicide bombers kill 20 at Iraq army base
Two suicide bombers blew themselves up at an Iraqi army base north of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people and wounding 55, a security official and a medic said.
The attack took place at the Al-Saad base east of the city of Baquba in the restive province of Diyala, a security official said.
He said the two bombers detonated their explosives-filled vests at a recruitment centre in the base where young men had arrived to join the army.
Doctor Ahmed Alwan from Baquba hospital confirmed the casualties.
Earlier, a local police officer said the attack was carried out by a single suicide bomber.
Two suicide bombers blew themselves up at an Iraqi army base north of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people and wounding 55, ... more -
Long Stay in Afghanistan, Spending Bill Suggests
Congress has quietly used fiscal 2008 legislation on military construction to signal that it plans on a long-term military presence in Afghanistan.
In the recently approved supplemental funding bill for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, legislators approved construction of a $62 million ammunition storage facility at Afghanistan's Bagram Air Base, where 12 planned "igloos" will support Army and Air Force needs.
"As a forward operating site, Bagram must be able to provide for a long term, steady state presence which is able to surge to meet theater contingency requirements," the Army said in requesting the money.
When he initially sought the funds last year, Adm. William J. Fallon, then commander of U.S. Central Command, described Bagram as "the centerpiece for the CENTCOM Master Plan for future access to and operations in Central Asia."
In another sign that U.S. troops will be there a long time, the Army requested, and Congress provided, $41 million for a 30-megawatt power plant at Bagram. It is capable of generating enough electricity for a town of more than 20,000 homes.
On the other hand, Congress eliminated the Army's request for $184 million to build power plants at five bases in Iraq. Those are to be among the final bases and support locations where troops, aircraft and equipment will be consolidated as the U.S. military presence is reduced.
In his testimony last year, Fallon said: "As smaller contingency operating sites are closed and forces are consolidated on contingency operations bases, the latter will need significantly more electricity." At present, the military uses diesel generators to power the bases.
But Congress "did not want to do anything in Iraq that seemed long-term, and the power plants would have taken up to two years to complete," said one Senate staff member familiar with the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak for lawmakers.
The funding plan also shows preparations to shut down Iraqi military facilities. Money was approved to build landfills, at $880,000 apiece, at five forward operating bases scheduled to be closed, including ones at Fallujah and Ramadi.
"These landfills are required to ensure we meet environmental, base camp closure, and property disposal procedures," the Army said in asking for the money.
Congress did approve $11.7 million to build a facility for juveniles held by the United States at an Iraqi army base on the outskirts of Baghdad, called Camp Constitution. A former U.S. forward operating base, it has been turned over to the Iraqi Army, which uses it as an adult detention center. Within it, however, the United States will run what it calls a Theater Internment Facility Reintegration Center for the juveniles.
Marine Maj. Gen. Douglas M. Stone, who until recently ran the U.S. detention program in Iraq, told reporters last June 9 that he separated the younger detainees at Camp Cropper each day and bused them to Camp Constitution, where they were provided schooling and athletic opportunities. That took them away, for a time, from the hardened fighters who had recruited them.
Congress has quietly used fiscal 2008 legislation on military construction to signal that it plans on a long-term military presence in... more -
Bush admin considers early troop drawdown
For years, many Americans have seen the government paralyzed by partisan politics and unable to implement a new direction in the Iraq war.
Iraq may now be making the choice for us.
Conflicting reports about the negotiations of long-term US troop levels in Iraq have rebounded between wire services and newspapers, some suggesting that the Bush administration may now withdraw additional soldiers as early as September.
But the president's change in attitude, which has long been to set no withdrawal time for US troops, is more a necessity stemming from the Iraq CBS' Bob Schieffergovernment's increasing demands for autonomy than a choice.
Bush has vowed that the United States would leave Iraq if asked to by the Iraqi leadership, but now that negotiations seem to be at a standstill because of Iraqi demands for a time table for withdrawal, Bush is in no hurry to exit, Agence France Presse reported.
The Iraqi's newfound confidence both pleases and worries US officials who wonder if Iraq is ready for independence from US forces and might opt for military rule once they are gone, the Associated Press reported.
The Washington Post reported that the two nations had quit talks for prolonged troop presence indefinitely and left the outcome of further US involvement in Iraq to the next president.
That report was rejected by Iraqi official Muwaffaq al-Rubaie, who said The Washington Post was "missing the point" on the protracted negotiations, and that talks would continue to try to achieve a pact.
For years, many Americans have seen the government paralyzed by partisan politics and unable to implement a new direction in the Iraq ... more -
Brits 'to pull troops out of Iraq by mid-2009’
The government is aiming to pull the vast majority of British troops out of Iraq by the middle of next year, defence sources have revealed.
While there are no plans to withdraw before George W Bush hands over to the new American president at the turn of the year, the decision is now expected to be made “in the first half of 2009”.
Only troops training Iraqi military or police and special forces are likely to stay, unless there is a sharp change for the worse.
In an indication of Britain’s keenness to withdraw, Des Browne, the defence secretary, emphasised last week that Iraqi troops were better able to keep southern Iraq peaceful than British soldiers. The Iraqi military had broken the grip of militias controlling the southern city of Basra, he said on a visit to the United States. If British troops had tried to oust the militias, “we would still be fighting”, Browne told the Brookings Institution in Washington.
His comments followed the leaking of an army report that criticises the Treasury for fuelling unrest in southern Iraq by failing to fund reconstruction quickly enough. The government is aiming to pull the vast majority of British troops out of Iraq by the middle of next year, defence sources have reve... more -
Pakistan: U.S. can't hunt bin Laden on its turf
Pakistan's top diplomat said Saturday there are no U.S. or other foreign military personnel on the hunt for Osama bin Laden in his nation, and none will be allowed in to search for the al-Qaida leader.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said his nation's new government has ruled out such military operations, covert or otherwise, to catch militants.
"Our government's policy is that our troops, paramilitary forces and our regular forces are deployed in sufficient numbers. They are capable of taking action there. And any foreign intrusion would be counterproductive," he said Saturday. "People will not accept it. Questions of sovereignty come in." Pakistan's top diplomat said Saturday there are no U.S. or other foreign military personnel on the hunt for Osama bin Laden in his nat... more -
US considers increasing pace of Iraq pullout
The Bush administration is considering the withdrawal of additional combat forces from Iraq beginning in September, according to administration and military officials, raising the prospect of a far more ambitious plan than expected only months ago.
Such a withdrawal would be a striking reversal from the nadir of the war in 2006 and 2007.
One factor in the consideration is the pressing need for additional American troops in Afghanistan, where the Taliban and other fighters have intensified their insurgency and inflicted a growing number of casualties on Afghans and American-led forces there.
More American and allied troops died in Afghanistan than in Iraq in May and June, a trend that has continued this month.
Although no decision has been made, by the time President Bush leaves office on Jan. 20, at least one and as many as 3 of the 15 combat brigades now in Iraq could be withdrawn or at least scheduled for withdrawal, the officials said.
The desire to move more quickly reflects the view of many in the Pentagon who want to ease the strain on the military but also to free more troops for Afghanistan and potentially other missions. The Bush administration is considering the withdrawal of additional combat forces from Iraq beginning in September, according to admin... more -
U.S. Troops in Iraq Face Flying I.E.D.'s
BAGHDAD, July 9 -- Suspected Shiite militiamen have begun using powerful rocket-propelled bombs to attack U.S. military outposts in recent months, broadening the array of weapons used against American troops.
U.S. military officials call the devices Improvised Rocket Assisted Munitions, or IRAMs. They are propane tanks packed with hundreds of pounds of explosives and powered by 107mm rockets. They are often fired by remote control from the backs of trucks, sometimes in close succession. Rocket-propelled bombs have killed at least 21 people, including at least three U.S. soldiers, this year.
The latest reported rocket-propelled bomb attack occurred Tuesday at Joint Security Station Ur, a base in northeastern Baghdad shared by U.S. and Iraqi soldiers. One U.S. soldier and an interpreter were wounded in the attack.
U.S. military officials say IRAM attacks, unlike roadside bombings and conventional mortar or rocket attacks, have the potential to kill scores of soldiers at once. IRAMs are fired at close range, unlike most rockets, and create much larger explosions. Most such attacks have occurred in the capital, Baghdad.
The use of the rocket-propelled bombs reflects militiamen's ability to use commonly available materials and relatively low-tech weaponry to circumvent security measures that have cost the U.S. military billions of dollars. To combat roadside bombs, known as improvised explosive devices or IEDs, U.S. and Iraqi troops have set up scores of checkpoints throughout the capital, increased patrols and purchased hundreds of armored vehicles that can resist such attacks.
A June report on the Web site Long War Journal called the explosives-filled propane tanks "flying IEDs."
Militia members and insurgents have at times increased the sophistication of their weapons, but the rocket-propelled bombs are makeshift devices that also have been used in recent years by insurgents in Colombia. Propane tanks are ubiquitous in Iraq, where the fuel is widely used for cooking, making it hard for security forces to stop production of the bombs.
U.S. military officials in Baghdad have noted the use of rocket-propelled bombs in press releases in recent months. But they have not publicly discussed their use or their concerns about the weapons at length because most of the information about them is classified, U.S. military officials said.
"IRAM attacks could be very tragic against us," said Col. William B. Hickman, the commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division, which operates in northwestern Baghdad. "We take them very seriously."
As the number of U.S. soldiers in Baghdad has begun to drop with the end of the "surge" of additional forces, U.S. military officials are placing a higher percentage of their troops in small outposts in densely populated neighborhoods. U.S. military officials say this is crucial to ensure the continued training of Iraq's security forces, win the trust of the capital's residents and improve local governance. But deployments in small outposts -- some are manned by just one platoon -- also have made soldiers more vulnerable.
To counter the threat posed by rocket-propelled bombs, soldiers have stepped up patrols around outposts, fortified their buildings and offered tens of thousands of dollars for information about networks that use the weapon.
The weapon first emerged as a threat here last fall and has become a top concern in recent months following a series of deadly attacks.
Most such attacks have been carried out during the day and some have been videotaped and aired on the satellite television station operated by Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia and political movement. U.S. military officials said they have found Iranian-made 107mm rockets at some of the blast sites, which they said suggests the weapons -- or parts -- may have come from Iran.
BAGHDAD, July 9 -- Suspected Shiite militiamen have begun using powerful rocket-propelled bombs to attack U.S. military outposts in re... more -
US rejects Iraqi demand for troops' withdrawal timeline
The United States on Tuesday rejected a demand from Iraq for a specific date for pullout of US-led foreign troops from the country, saying any withdrawal will be based on conditions on the ground.
"The US government and the government of Iraq are in agreement that we, the US government, we want to withdraw, we will withdraw. However, that decision will be conditions-based," State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said.
Iraq said on Tuesday it will reject any security pact with the United States unless it sets a date for the pullout of US-led troops.
"We will not accept any memorandum of understanding if it does not give a specific date for a complete withdrawal of foreign troops," national security advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie told reporters in the holy city of Najaf.
The controversial demand from Baghdad's Shiite-led government underlines Iraq's new hardened stand in complex negotiations aimed at striking a security deal with Washington.
The United States on Tuesday rejected a demand from Iraq for a specific date for pullout of US-led foreign troops from the country, sa... more -
Iraq vets debate over timetable.
Iraqs Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki' calls for immediate withdrawal or a timetable.
Two Iraq vets debated the issue on Hardball last night. Iraqs Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki' calls for immediate withdrawal or a timetable. ... more -
McCain wants much larger U.S. military
Republican presidential candidate John McCain wants the U.S. military to be much larger than current expansion plans envision, an adviser to the Arizona senator said this week.
The Bush administration has begun expanding the U.S. Army and Marine Corps to create a combined strength of around 750,000 active duty troops -- a process backed by McCain's Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.
But McCain believes an Army and Marine Corps with a combined strength of up to 900,000 troops is necessary, said Randy Scheunemann, an adviser to the candidate on foreign policy and national security.
"Sen. McCain feels the proposed increases are not sufficient. They need to be more, to fully address the challenges we face in the 21st century," Scheunemann told Reuters in a telephone interview.
The U.S. Army and Marines have been severely strained by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many troops have served multiple tours in the war zones and currently spend only 12 months at home before they deploy again for another year.
As a member of the U.S. Senate's armed services committee, McCain has built a reputation for scrutinizing the costs of big weapons programs and he has pledged to pursue that approach in the White House if he wins November's election. Republican presidential candidate John McCain wants the U.S. military to be much larger than current expansion plans envision, an advi... more
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Troops
