February 28, 2008

Bye-Bye! The Last Gate Post Ever.

At least a few of our readers have figured it out already, but here goes: We've been winding things down at The Gate for the last couple of weeks, and today we formally say goodbye. Actually, we prefer John McLaughlin's way of doing things, so we say: Bye-bye!

It has truly been an honor and pleasure to write for and interact with you. (Even the Ron Paul fanatics who hate us because we don't cover him enough.)

The Gate would have turned a year old next month, but we're pretty proud of the more than 1,700 posts we've churned out. Most memorable for me -- Jane Roh -- was covering the U.S. attorney firings investigation, which culminated with the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in August, and liveblogging the David Petraeus/Ryan Crocker hearings in September. It's been an intense and rewarding experience, and I'll always be grateful for those opportunities.

And then there's our campaign coverage, where I've gotten some witty and insightful assists from fellow Deputy Managing Editor Irene Tsikitas. The abundant and frequently silly MSM campaign coverage wore us out at times, but it's been a real honor covering what is likely the most pivotal presidential election of my lifetime. (Won't miss liveblogging those debates, though.)

You can tell by the accompanying photo that we had lots of fun along the way, too. Thanks to our online graphics team, Ryan Merrill and Reuben Dalke, for gamely producing myriad image requests.

As for me, I am leaving National Journal and moving on. I will still be participating in the Horserace '08 weekly radio roundtable on the campaigns, so look for me on air and online. To keep up with my whereabouts and reporting, visit me on Facebook. If you want to weigh in on the demise of The Gate, e-mail thegate[at]nationaljournal.com.

Thanks for reading along. I enjoyed writing for you.

-JANE ROH

Posted at 3:27 PM
Posted to: Attorney Scandal, Campaigns, Iraq, WH 2008
Share via

February 26, 2008

Obama-McCain Squabble Injected Into Army Readiness Hearing

A controversial anecdote relayed by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in last week's Texas debate wended its way into a Senate Armed Forces hearing on Army readiness today.

Obama claimed that he'd "heard from an Army captain who was the head of a rifle platoon" that was sent to Afghanistan grossly undermanned and underequipped. "They were actually capturing Taliban weapons, because it was easier to get Taliban weapons than it was for them to get properly equipped by our current commander in chief," Obama said during Thursday night's debate.

Lindsey Graham, who lately has been stumping hard for Republican John McCain, relayed the story to Army Secretary Peter Geren and Army Chief of Staff William Casey during the hearing. "Has Sen. Obama talked to you or anyone in the department about this?" the South Carolina Republican asked.

"I have not discussed this with Sen. Obama," Geren replied, before handing the baton to Casey.

"As we looked into this, the best we could tell was this incident occurred back in 2003 and 2004," Casey said. "We talked to the brigade commander, looked at readiness reports. The brigade was manned over 100 percent and stayed 100 percent manned when they were there."

Continue reading "Obama-McCain Squabble Injected Into Army Readiness Hearing"

Posted at 12:26 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, Democrats, Donald Rumsfeld, Iraq, John McCain, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Republicans, Robert Gates, Senate, WH 2008
Share via

February 25, 2008

Canada May Withdraw From Afghanistan In 2011

Canada's Conservative government proposed a withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan by 2011 at the open of parliamentary debate on the future of the Canadian mission there.

"It is the opinion of the House that Canada should continue a military presence in Kandahar beyond February 2009 to July 2011 in a manner fully consistent with the U.N. mandate on Afghanistan," said Royal Galipeau, the Conservative deputy chair of Committees of the Whole House.

The Canadian House of Commons is debating that country's lead role in the Afghanistan mission. Support for the ongoing mission has dwindled among Canadians, who have seen a disproportionately large number of casualties in the Afghan conflict.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has bristled at what it sees as reluctance among the other large NATO members to contribute resources and manpower to the fight against the resurgent Taliban. The patchwork-style NATO mission -- with Canadians, Britons, Dutchmen and Americans doing the lion's share of security and reconstruction work -- is facing Taliban fighters who have adopted tactics used by al-Qaida and insurgents in Iraq (e.g., suicide bombings) and a rampant opium trade that Afghan farmers are reluctant to abandon.

Ahead of a contentious NATO meeting in Lithuania early this month, Harper's government threatened to bring the Canadian mission to an end if other NATO countries did not increase their contributions. That threat still holds as the Canadian parliament hammers out its Afghanistan timeline.

Continue reading "Canada May Withdraw From Afghanistan In 2011"

Posted at 2:42 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Asia, Bush Administration, Canada, Condoleezza Rice, Iraq
Share via

February 22, 2008

Iraq: Turkish Invasion, Mahdi Cease-Fire, Troop Withdrawals

There are several big stories coming out of Iraq this morning:

Turkish troops launch ground incursion. The Turkish military announced this morning that it had begun a "cross-border ground operation" into northern Iraq "backed by the Air Force" last night. The operation, which is believed to involve thousands of soldiers, is targeting Kurdish rebels viewed as a threat to Turkey's security. The news has been met with caution and alarm by U.S. and EU officials.

Al-Sadr extends cease-fire. Recognizing a significant reduction in violence, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr today instructed his followers in the Mahdi Army militia to extend their freeze on attacks on rival groups and U.S. forces for another six months. U.S. commanders are welcoming al-Sadr's decision to prolong the truce, which began in late August 2007, as they continue to try and build on the gains of the surge strategy.

Gates says withdrawals to continue after "pause." Speaking to reporters en route to Australia, which recently announced it was pulling one-third of its troops out of Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert Gates sounded optimistic that the U.S. could continue its own withdrawals after commanders conduct a brief re-evaluation of the security situation this summer.

Can we all agree that the surge is working? Apparently not. In today's Washington Post, columnist Charles Krauthammer charges that Democrats are willfully ignoring evidence that "we are winning" in Iraq thanks to the influx of U.S. troops last year. But Michael Kinsley counters that the success of the surge should be gauged by one simple test: "Has it allowed us to reduce troop levels to below where they were when it started? And the answer is no."

Posted at 8:22 AM
Posted to: Iraq, Middle East, Military
Share via

February 21, 2008

CRS: Military Can Cover War Costs Longer Than Expected

The Pentagon has several budgetary options at its disposal to pay for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan well into August -- weeks longer than Defense Department officials have estimated, according to the latest Congressional Research Service report on war costs. Congress already has approved $70 billion to pay for the overseas military operations and another $16.8 billion to buy new mine-resistant vehicles in FY08, but senior Pentagon officials have warned they need another $102.5 billion for the wars before accounts dry up early this summer.

"Although CRS estimates also suggest that the Army's current funding will be exhausted by... early July 2008, DOD could extend that time line by one to two months -- or until mid-to-late August 2008 if necessary by using available authority to transfer additional funds to the Army," according to the Feb. 8 CRS report.

The military could make use of $7.7 billion in general transfer authority in its base FY08 budget and the $70 billion supplemental to pay for operations for an additional four weeks, the report said. Pentagon planners could also tap into $2.1 billion in excess balances in working capital funds -- umbrella accounts to pay for commercial and industrial activities -- to cover another week of operations.

Continue reading " CRS: Military Can Cover War Costs Longer Than Expected"

Posted at 8:55 AM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Bush Administration, Congress, Iraq, Military
Share via

February 19, 2008

Military Poll: Armed Forces -- And U.S. -- Highly Vulnerable

Is the military broken?

That is a question the Pentagon and Washington have been asking since late 2003, when then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld inadvertently signaled that the country was in for a "long, hard slog" in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers themselves have been generally more positive about their mission than American civilians are. A new survey of military officers shows that while most maintain that the military is not broken, it cannot persevere under present conditions for long.

More than 3,400 active and retired officers -- 10 percent of whom served in Iraq, Afghanistan or both -- were surveyed by Foreign Policy magazine and the Center for a New American Security [PDF], a centrist think tank.

Just 42 percent of respondents described the military as broken, compared with 56 percent who disagreed. But 60 percent said the military was weaker. Just 25 percent said the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan had helped the military grow stronger.

The results are largely in line with other surveys of military officers, such as those conducted by the Military Times publishing group. But as warnings from the military about its own health have intensified over the years, the strain placed on active-duty troops has only grown. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the new 15/12 deployment schedule last April, and there are no indications that those rotations will be eased this year, even as troop levels are brought back down to pre-surge levels. If anything, the Pentagon appears to be hinting that they will not.

When asked whether the war in Iraq had stretched the military "dangerously thin," a whopping 88 percent of respondents said yes. More gravely, the officers said, the military is currently ill-prepared to respond to other major conflicts. More than 80 percent said it was unreasonable to expect the military to engage in another war today. And on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 meaning completely ready, the officers gave America's readiness to go to war with Iran a 4.5.

That may be because many see the current mission in Iraq as untenable: Nearly three-quarters said the goals set for the military by civilian leadership after the fall of Saddam Hussein were unreasonable.

Continue reading "Military Poll: Armed Forces -- And U.S. -- Highly Vulnerable"

Posted at 3:35 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Asia, Bush Administration, CIA, Congress, David Petraeus, Donald Rumsfeld, Iraq, Middle East, Military, Robert Gates
Share via

February 14, 2008

Iraqi Lawmakers Break Impasse Over Three Key Bills

After months of gridlock in Baghdad, Iraqi lawmakers overcame their differences to pass three key laws yesterday, including two legislative benchmarks set by the U.S. Congress to measure the country's political progress amid the continuing U.S. troop presence there. The passage of the three bills is being hailed as a significant development toward reconciliation, particularly among Iraq's Sunni and Shiite factions, although analysts caution that serious hurdles remain.

The three measures passed yesterday include approval of the $48 million budget for 2008, an amnesty bill for Iraqi prisoners, and legislation outlining provincial powers and paving the way for elections later this year. The latter two are considered crucial benchmarks of Iraqi political progress.

To help smooth passage after months of bitter debate and political deadlock, the three provisions were bundled together into a single bill, which allowed members dissatisfied with one or more measures to accept them as a whole.

Debate on the package was not without drama, though. Several lawmakers walked out when provisions they disagreed with hit the floor. But the New York Times reports that most returned in time to cast their votes for the final package, and "the jubilation at the conclusion of the session and the atmosphere of amity contrasted sharply with the stinging accusations and walkouts that have characterized many of the negotiations in recent weeks." As recently as Tuesday, the Sunni speaker was threatening to disband Parliament over its inability to legislate effectively.

Continue reading "Iraqi Lawmakers Break Impasse Over Three Key Bills"

Posted at 11:29 AM
Posted to: Iran, Iraq, Kurds, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East
Share via

February 06, 2008

What's The Point Of NATO, Anyway?

The U.S. and Britain have been fighting an uphill battle to win deeper commitments from NATO allies in Afghanistan. With recent independent reports warning that Afghanistan may be tipping back into failed statehood, and a critical upcoming vote in Canada that could determine that country's ongoing security contributions, NATO member nations are facing a kind of do-or-die moment.

The question at hand is: What is NATO's mission in the 21st century?

NATO was formed during the Cold War to fend off the Soviet threat. It was a mutual security pact, in which an attack on one was to be perceived as an attack on all.

After the 9/11 attacks, it became clear that al-Qaida was now the biggest threat facing the West. With little debate, NATO's mission was updated for the 21st century, and forces were sent to Afghanistan.

More than six years later, the success of NATO's fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida is in dispute. The war in Iraq sapped resources from Afghanistan, and more importantly sapped confidence in the United States' and Britain's leadership roles there. Nations have withdrawn forces over the last several years, and now the fighting -- and dying -- falls disproportionately on the U.S., Britain, the Netherlands and Canada.

Member nations privately blame the U.S. and Britain for being so preoccupied with the war in Iraq -- overwhelmingly unpopular among member nations -- that they delivered a seemingly half-hearted effort in Afghanistan. Washington and 10 Downing Street vehemently deny this is the case.

Without positing it directly, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is challenging member nations to remember the point of NATO and step up their contributions. "I do think the alliance is facing a real test here. And it is a test of the alliance's strength," she said at a press conference with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband today.

Continue reading "What's The Point Of NATO, Anyway?"

Posted at 5:30 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, Europe, Germany, Iraq, Middle East, Military, Pakistan, President Bush, Robert Gates, Terrorism, U.K.
Share via

February 01, 2008

Female Bombers Hit Baghdad Pet Markets

Concurrent suicide bombings struck pet bazaars in Baghdad today. Casualty reports are varying widely, but media sources are reporting anywhere from 45 to 70 people dead and up to 80 injured.

Both bombings were reportedly carried out by women. The first detonated an explosive device beneath her traditional black garment in the al-Ghazl market, an area targeted by bombers several times before. The attack was Baghdad's deadliest since April. A government spokesman told the media that the woman was not an Iraqi.

The second bombing was carried out in a Shiite area in southern Baghdad, where a woman detonated a bomb in a crowded bird market. Authorities originally said a bomb had been hidden in a box of birds, but they later determined it was a suicide attack.

AP reports that at least four other women have carried out suicide bombings since November.

Posted at 9:35 AM
Posted to: Iraq, Middle East
Share via

January 31, 2008

Army Still Lags On Mental Health Help For Soldiers

The Army's suicide rate jumped 20 percent in 2007, an apparent indicator that the military's efforts to provide adequate mental health assistance to soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are still falling short.

According to internal reports, there were 89 confirmed suicides and 32 suspected suicides last year, which was also the deadliest year for U.S. troops in Iraq so far. AP reports that about 34 of the suicides took place in Iraq.

The number of suicide attempts and self-inflicted injuries also spiked dramatically. About 2,100 soldiers tried to kill or injure themselves last year, compared with about 350 in 2002, the Washington Post reports.

Military health care specialists have openly admitted that they were unprepared for the length and scope of the war in Iraq. The nearly five-year-long war entered a crunch phase last year, when DOD ordered longer deployment schedules with shorter breaks in between. Some soldiers are on their fourth tours in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

Continue reading "Army Still Lags On Mental Health Help For Soldiers"

Posted at 6:43 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, Robert Gates
Share via

Deficits Could Force Domestic Spending Freeze

UPDATED.

President Bush is seeking a freeze on nearly all domestic spending along with a plan to squeeze savings out of entitlement programs in his 2009 budget, AP reports.

Federal deficits are approaching the $400 billion mark this year, in part because of ongoing spending in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and in part because of a pending economic stimulus package, which is expected to cost around $150 billion and double this year's deficit.

When Bush presents his budget on Monday, he will call for $178 billion in savings from Medicare and $17 billion for Medicaid. Much of the Medicare savings would come from freezing reimbursement rates to health care providers for three years, according to AP.

The overall slowdown of the economy and an onslaught of negative economic indicators mean lower revenues this year, and the White House is expected to deliver a worse revenue prediction than a recent forecast from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Bush's budget is not likely to be well received in Congress, this being an election year. As the ripple effects of the housing bust continue to be felt in households, the new deficit estimates put Republicans running for re-election at a real disadvantage.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats appear ready to slash the price tag on their economic stimulus proposals. A stimulus package is expected on Bush's desk by Feb. 15.

Posted at 4:05 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Economy, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush, Taxes
Share via

January 28, 2008

Liveblogging President Bush's Final State Of The Union Address

End note. SOTU affairs are always a laundry list, and few expect them to deliver poetry. This year's address (full text) did lack the rhetorical punch of previous years, particularly Bush's first SOTU address following 9/11, which received very high marks.

If there is one character trait that describes this president, it is determination-bordering-on-
stubbornness. He has largely ignored polls and the punditry, and he only changed tacks in Iraq when the calls for a change in course permeated his own administration. Plenty of Americans didn't tune in to this speech tonight, on the assumption Bush is a lame duck. That is probably not the case, at least as far as the legislature is concerned.

With his veto threat and the executive order coming Tuesday, Bush is asserting himself in a dramatic way. The rate of federal spending under Bush's watch is triple that of the Clinton administration. That Bush is positioning himself to put a foot down on pork-barrel spending was pretty unexpected in his final year in office. We'll be watching to see how it pans out.

As for Bush's various claims in tonight's speech, NPR's reporters have been posting fact checks all evening. See their corrections on the tax cuts, FISA, Iraq and entitlement reform. Good night.

10:27. A somewhat unexpected criticism of the president here: "In spite of the attempts to convince us that we are divided as a people, a new American majority has come together. We are tired of leaders who rather than asking what we can do for our country, ask nothing of us at all.

"We are Americans sharing a belief in something greater than ourselves, a nation coming together to meet challenges and find solutions; to share sacrifices and share prosperity; and focus, once again, not only on the individual good but on the common good."

It should come as little surprise that Sebelius has endorsed Barack Obama. This speech reflects Democrats' palpable eagerness to move the country well away from the Bush era.

Continue reading "Liveblogging President Bush's Final State Of The Union Address"

Posted at 10:47 PM
Posted to: Barack Obama, Bush Administration, Campaigns, Climate Change, Congress, Democrats, Economy, Hillary Rodham Clinton, House, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Senate, Taxes, Terrorism, Trade, Veterans, WH 2008
Share via

Troops Watch: No Answers Until Summer

When Gen. David Petraeus returns to Washington in March, he will brief Defense Secretary Robert Gates on the progress of the U.S. troop drawdown. He'll be asked how units are faring in Iraq as more of them leave, and whether the targeted reduction -- from about 160,000 to the pre-surge 130,000 by this summer -- should progress as planned.

What he won't be asked is whether troop levels can be brought down further.

On the one hand, that isn't surprising. The answer is clearly no, although the Pentagon hasn't publicly confirmed that. Violence against U.S. troops is back down to 2005 levels -- which isn't great, but it beats the carnage of 2006 and 2007.

The main U.S. objective moving forward is to help Iraq rebuild its military and security forces. In an interview with the New York Times published Jan. 15, Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qadir forecast that Iraq's military forces would not be able to fend off internal and external threats independently until at least 2018.

That lines up with many U.S. commanders' assessments that significant assistance from their own country will be required in Iraq for at least a decade. Right now, the presidential candidates are bickering over whether the surge is working. A better debating point would be whether the U.S. has a responsibility to help Iraq become a fully sovereign nation or whether Washington can live with the very real possibility that all the gains made last year could be undone if American politicians oppose commanders' recommendations.

Continue reading "Troops Watch: No Answers Until Summer"

Posted at 6:18 PM
Posted to: Barack Obama, Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, David Petraeus, Democrats, Donald Rumsfeld, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Republicans, Robert Gates, WH 2008
Share via

January 25, 2008

The New New Way Forward In Iraq

To non-hyperpartisans who've been following developments in Iraq, it's been clear for some time that there will be a significant U.S. presence there going into the next decade, regardless of which party rules the White House next year. Though both sides called a de facto truce in Congress following the anticlimactic testimony of Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker in September, lawmakers appear to be getting their sea legs back on the war debate.

A skirmish is just now brewing over the White House's negotiations with the Iraqi government concerning the longer-term American posture there. "Status of forces" agreements are standard issue with allies; we have one with more than 120 countries, according to the State Department. Iraq, of course, is not just any country, and Democrats are nervous that the new agreement will lock the U.S. into a deeper, more long-term engagement than they'd like.

It's already playing on the campaign trail. In a debate in Las Vegas last week, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama agreed to pursue legislation requiring President Bush to request congressional approval for the Iraq status of forces agreement. "I think we have to do everything we can to prevent President Bush from binding the hands of the next president," Clinton said.

Presidents usually don't have to bring those agreements before Congress, but administration officials acknowledged to the Washington Post that they might have to submit the Iraq agreement for lawmakers' approval.

Continue reading "The New New Way Forward In Iraq"

Posted at 1:08 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Barack Obama, Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, Constitution, Democrats, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Robert Gates, Terrorism, WH 2008
Share via

January 24, 2008

Mosul Police Chief Killed

A suicide bomber killed the head of the Mosul police force this morning. Brigadier Gen. Saleh Mohammed Hassan was touring the site of yesterday's massive bombing when he was approached by a man wearing an explosives vest under an Iraqi police uniform. Two officers were also killed.

Police had been investigating the three-story building destroyed yesterday due to reports that it was being used to stockpile weapons or produce bombs. It had been rigged with explosives, and because it was located in the middle of a city block, its destruction injured scores of people. At least 30 were killed and more than 130 wounded.

Mosul is becoming a "gathering point and growing target for Sunni insurgents," the Washington Post reports, and the London Guardian calls it "the last urban centre with a strong al-Qaida presence." See the stories for more details.

Posted at 7:52 AM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Iraq, Middle East, Terrorism
Share via

January 17, 2008

Gates Goes To The Media

UPDATED.

Several news items are coming from an NPR interview with Defense Secretary Robert Gates broadcast this morning. Some highlights:

No more troops sent to Afghanistan. Gates announced earlier this week that he would ask President Bush for about 3,000 Marines to be sent to Afghanistan, after EU nations would not step up their NATO commitments, but he told NPR that there were no plans to send any more U.S. troops after the additional 3,000.

Iran does not pose an immediate threat. Gates called Iran a "challenge" but not a "direct military threat" to the United States.

Iraq is a "long-term" problem. Declining to make predictions on specific troop levels, Gates said he was heartened to see the Democratic presidential candidates demur on specific numbers as well and added that his goal is to leave the next administration with a sustainable policy on the war.

In other media interviews this morning, Gates addressed NATO countries' reaction to his comments that appeared in the Los Angeles Times yesterday about their ill-preparedness for fighting an insurgency in southern Afghanistan. The paper quotes him as saying, "I'm worried we have some military forces that don't know how to do counterinsurgency operations."

The U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands was summoned to the Dutch Defense Ministry yesterday to do cleanup for Gates. (Dutch, British and Canadian forces make up most of the European NATO presence in southern Afghanistan.) Roland Arnall offered a "clarification" for Gates' comments, noting that NATO forces aren't trained for counterinsurgency fighting and Gates hadn't intended to single out a specific country for criticism. Afterward, a Dutch official told a media outlet, "We assume this was a misunderstanding... This is not the Robert Gates we have come to know. It's also not the manner in which you treat each other when you have to cooperate with each other in the south of Afghanistan."

See the full NPR and LA Times stories for more.

Posted at 10:40 AM
Posted to: Iran, Iraq, Middle East, Robert Gates
Share via

House Approves Revised FY08 Defense Authorization Bill

The House yesterday quickly approved a revised version of the FY08 defense authorization bill that addresses objections raised by the White House last month when President Bush unexpectedly vetoed the measure.

The Pentagon policy bill, which passed 369-46 on the suspension calendar, now heads to the Senate, where it is expected to encounter little opposition. That chamber, which is in recess until next week, has been closely involved in negotiations over the changes to the bill, lawmakers and congressional aides said. They hope that the Senate will take up the bill shortly after returning to Capitol Hill and quickly send it to the president's desk for his signature.

Continue reading "House Approves Revised FY08 Defense Authorization Bill"

Posted at 8:55 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, House, Iraq, Military, President Bush, Senate
Share via

January 14, 2008

Mideast Roundup: Bush's Diplomatic & Cultural Journey

President Bush arrived in Saudi Arabia today as he began to wrap up his first tour of the Middle East as commander in chief. Here's a roundup of the president's recent stops and statements in the region (in reverse chronological order):

Saudi Arabia. Although the Bush family is reportedly very friendly with the Saudi royal family, today marks President Bush's first visit to the desert kingdom, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. King Abdullah greeted the president upon his arrival in Riyadh, and the two began talks over dinner. They were expected to focus on the main themes of Bush's trip: the threat posed by Iran, the Israeli-Palestinian peace effort and the spread of democracy in the region.

Bush also came bearing gifts: the opportunity to purchase $123 million worth of "smart bomb" technology and related equipment, AP reports. The White House notified Congress of the arms sale, part of an overall $20 billion package for Persian Gulf states, this morning. According to the Los Angeles Times, "Under U.S. provisions governing such arms sales, Congress has 30 days in which it may disapprove the sale once lawmakers receive the formal notification of the administration's plans."

Continue reading "Mideast Roundup: Bush's Diplomatic & Cultural Journey"

Posted at 3:52 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Iran, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush, Saudi Arabia
Share via

As Troop Surge Recedes, Focus In Iraq Shifts To Political Arena

Cautiously confident about the troop surge's success in tamping down violence in Iraq, U.S. military leaders are shifting their focus to the political arena, the Los Angeles Times reports this morning. Specifically, commanders are working to transfer more than 70,000 men working in the Sunni guard corps, aka "Concerned Local Citizens" or Awakening Councils, to the payroll of the Shiite-dominated national government. The men, many of them former Sunni insurgents, are currently working directly under the U.S. military, helping to enforce neighborhood security.

"The day-to-day commander in Iraq, Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, believes that the Iraqi government's reconciliation with onetime Sunni fighters represents the 'primary driver of enhanced security' over the next six months, according to internal military planning documents," the Times reports.

So far, however, the effort has run into some opposition among government officials wary of letting former insurgents into the fold. Specifically, they fear that the move could pave the way for a new rival army of Sunni insurgents. American commanders, on the other hand, fear that if Shiite leaders continue to resist, members of the Sunni security groups will abandon the effort and re-enter the battlefield.

The effort to integrate the citizens groups comes amid other tentative signs of progress in the long, slow process of political reconciliation among Iraq's warring factions. Over the weekend, the Iraqi Parliament passed the Justice and Accountability Law, which allows some former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to seek government jobs and claim their pensions for the first time since the 2003 U.S. invasion.

Continue reading "As Troop Surge Recedes, Focus In Iraq Shifts To Political Arena"

Posted at 11:49 AM
Posted to: Campaigns, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, WH 2008
Share via

January 11, 2008

Christmas In Baghdad

Iraqis gratefully received a belated holiday gift today when the first snowfall in memory descended on their country.

"'When I was young, I heard from my father that such rain had fallen in the early '40s on the outskirts of northern Baghdad,'' 63-year-old Mohammed Abdul-Hussein told AP. "But snow falling in Baghdad in such a magnificent scene was beyond my imagination."

Snow is so rare in those parts that it seems some Iraqis don't have a word for it. By "such rain," Abdul-Hussein was referring to the flurries. NPR reported this morning that Baghdadis happily ran outside to snap photos of the snow with their cell phones; unfortunately, that segment isn't yet available on NPR's Web site.

"A few minutes ago, I was covered with snowflakes. In my hair, on my shoulders. I invite all the people to enjoy peace, because the snow means peace," a happy Hassan Zahar told Reuters.

The flakes melted on contact with the ground. Meteorologists told AFP that the last recorded snowfall in Baghdad was about 100 years ago, and that the flurries might be a product of climate change.

The country's mountainous north is no stranger to snow; that's where the pic in this post was taken. See the AFP story for a photo of an Iraqi couple frolicking in the Baghdad snow today. The photo in that AFP story was taken in Sulaimaniyah, in the country's northeast. AFP has switched out that photo with one taken in Baghdad. It's not great. Reuters has a much better one.

Posted at 11:27 AM
Posted to: Iraq, Middle East
Share via

Abu Ghraib Officer Cleared

The Army has dismissed charges against the only officer court-martialed in the scandal surrounding the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, erasing any criminal responsibility from Lt. Col. Steven Jordan's record. Jordan was convicted in August "of disobeying an order not to discuss the investigation of abuse at the jail" and was issued "a criminal reprimand as penalty," Reuters reports.

Yesterday, the Army reported that commanding officer Maj. Gen. Richard Rowe disapproved of the charges against Jordan. Jordan hasn't been completely excused -- he was still officially found guilty of some of the less-serious charges brought against him at the court-martial -- but he will face only an administrative letter of reprimand and not the dismissal from the Army or five years in prison he could have received.

Jordan ran an interrogation center at the notorious prison, where dramatic photos were taken of U.S. soldiers abusing and humiliating inmates. Jordan denied he had any involvement in the abuse, complained that he did not hold any authority over others at the prison and charged the military with making him a scapegoat when the international uproar about the photos hit.

Continue reading "Abu Ghraib Officer Cleared"

Posted at 8:45 AM
Posted to: Detainees, Iraq, Middle East, Military
Share via

January 10, 2008

On Surge Anniversary, New Survey Shows Different Iraqi Death Toll

On this, the one-year anniversary of President Bush's televised address announcing the so-called surge strategy, the White House and congressional backers of the surge are praising the security gains made over the past year by the increased presence of U.S. troops in Iraq.

"Conditions in that country have been utterly transformed from those of a year ago, as a consequence of the surge," Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joseph Lieberman, I/D-Conn., wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed this morning. "The number of car bombings, sectarian murders and suicide attacks has been slashed. American casualties have also fallen sharply, decreasing in each of the past four months."

During that time, Iraqi deaths have also decreased, although the numbers are still distressingly high. And a new study [PDF] published online today by the New England Journal of Medicine adds another layer of mystery to the question of just how many Iraqis have fallen since the U.S. invasion began nearly five years ago.

The new estimate, compiled by researchers from the Iraqi government and the World Health Organization, puts the death toll from violence at about 151,000 from March 2003 to June 2006. Conducted over the past two years, the survey stands in sharp contrast to a widely reported 2006 study [PDF] that estimated about 654,965 Iraqis had died in the war within a similar time frame -- a claim that quickly became a political lightning rod in the congressional elections that year.

Continue reading "On Surge Anniversary, New Survey Shows Different Iraqi Death Toll"

Posted at 3:35 PM
Posted to: Campaigns, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush
Share via

January 08, 2008

ICYMI: War In Iraq *Still On*

Hey everybody, we're still at war in Iraq! (And Afghanistan.) We know, it's easy to forget when every newspaper and news channel is focused on New Hampshire.

The Gate is going to let Granite State voters do their thing -- you know, democracy -- and will update with the results tonight when they are confirmed. In the meantime, here are some developments from Iraq that you will have missed if you're as glued to the TV as we are.

U.S. and Iraqi forces have begun a significant air and land raid in insurgent-infested Diyala River Valley. About 4,000 U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are involved in the effort, which launched overnight, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The Pentagon's new counterinsurgency strategy has successfully brought violence down, but commanders still face an uphill battle in their bid to scrub out/neutralize al-Qaida in Iraq. Part of the reason why is that militant fighters in Iraq are by now well-versed in dissipating into the general population when these U.S.-led missions begin.

According to the LAT account, "there were reports that the 50 to 60 senior insurgent leaders holed up northwest of Muqdadiya had fled."

Continue reading "ICYMI: War In Iraq *Still On*"

Posted at 5:09 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, Campaigns, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Middle East, Military, Palestinians, President Bush, Terrorism, WH 2008
Share via

January 07, 2008

Sunni Leader Killed In Blast Targeting Councils

Iraq suffered three separate suicide bombings today, one of which killed a Sunni leader in northern Baghdad. Riyadh al-Samaraie was the "well-respected" head of a local council and played a key role in efforts to reduce violence in his neighborhood, CNN reports.

The double bombing took place inside a compound of an organization managing Sunni mosques and shrines, the Sunni Endowment, which is backed by the U.S. After one bomb exploded at the entrance and people rushed to help the victims of that attack, a second suicide bomber struck with a car bomb nearby.

At least 14 others -- including more members of the "awakening councils" supported by the U.S. -- were killed in the blasts. ABC reports that the councils are credited with stemming violence in Iraq but are increasingly becoming targets for al-Qaida.

Posted at 9:04 AM
Posted to: Iraq, Middle East
Share via

January 04, 2008

WH '08: A Brusque, But Not Brisk, Farewell To Iowa

We haven't matched the rest of the media's outsized coverage of the Iowa caucuses because of the very nature of the caucuses themselves. But we have to admit that what we saw last night was pretty astonishing, in part because a poll predicting the results actually turned out to be right.

Of course, that could just be a coincidence, but the Des Moines Register appears to have corrected for some of the factors that plagued surveys past. (Though it's still not without its problems, Mark Blumenthal points out.) The David-vs.-Goliath victory of Mike Huckabee (results) flew in the face of conventional wisdom, proving that a virtual unknown with hardly any money to campaign with and virtually no organization could sell himself to voters.

Huck's defeat of Mitt Romney does not, however, mean that the conventional wisdom won't prevail.

If you know anything about how the caucuses work, you know that they are unrepresentative of party voters nationwide and are undemocratic, particularly on the Democratic side (irony, irony), to boot. So of course all the attention now goes to New Hampshire (but not Wyoming, which holds its GOP caucus tomorrow), for the first primary vote of the season. New Hampshire's results will almost certainly be different from Iowa's, so a lot of comparing and contrasting will ensue.

We purposely did not devote a lot of blog space to the caucuses for good reason. But yesterday's surprising results dispelled some long-standing prognostication about the 2008 presidential election. Since dispensing with conventional wisdom can be fun (OK, we're nerds), let's take out the trash after the jump.

Continue reading "WH '08: A Brusque, But Not Brisk, Farewell To Iowa"

Posted at 5:51 PM
Posted to: Barack Obama, Bush Administration, Campaigns, Democrats, Economy, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Iraq, John Edwards, John McCain, Joseph Biden, Middle East, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, President Bush, Republicans, WH 2008
Share via

January 02, 2008

Your Feel-Good Story Of The Week

Election craziness aside, we're in a particularly grim news cycle. Between Pakistan, various hot spots in Africa, ongoing violence in Iraq and the troubled U.S. economy, it's difficult to feel optimistic, and just two days in to 2008 no less.

Meet Majs. Laura Geldhof and Eric Olson. Olson was serving in Tallil, Iraq, last year, more than 200 miles from Balad, where Geldhof was sent, according to this AP report. So imagine Geldhof's surprise when she walked into a mess hall and found Olson standing under a banner that read, "Laura, will you marry me?"

Continue reading "Your Feel-Good Story Of The Week"

Posted at 3:55 PM
Posted to: Iraq, Middle East, Military
Share via

December 28, 2007

Why We Fight

Before the Christmas break, we wrote that Americans' dwindling interest in the Iraq war might be perilous to the national interest, as Alasdair Roberts recently contended in Foreign Policy. Now the war on terrorism -- which even critics of President Bush must admit now includes Iraq -- is back in the headlines, thanks to yesterday's tragic events.

The view from Washington is that the assassination of Benazir Bhutto is a serious kneecap blow to U.S. foreign policy. To quickly review: President Pervez Musharraf, an ally by necessity, is increasingly unpopular at home and for good reason. (People who live under military dictatorships generally do not enjoy the experience.) Meanwhile, there's a virulent strain of anti-Western, Islamic fanaticism seeping through Pakistan at the moment, which means this White House's usually cherished principles of liberty and democracy do not apply.

The Bhutto-Musharraf power-sharing compromise was seen as the most feasible shot at calming Pakistan's restive populace. In Bhutto, Washington saw a more reliable and transparent ally in the war against extremism, in part because of her shady ethical past. She had something to prove.

Now that she's gone, we're back to where we were, and less than two weeks before Pakistan's elections no less. No doubt there is panic in the Beltway today, if only for the dearth of available options now.

Continue reading "Why We Fight"

Posted at 3:06 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Asia, Bush Administration, Campaigns, China, Democrats, Iraq, John McCain, Joseph Biden, Middle East, Pakistan, President Bush, Republicans, Ron Paul, Russia, Terrorism, WH 2008
Share via

December 21, 2007

...But That Won't Mitigate A Really Bad Decade In Iraq

In his year-end press conference, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that the Pentagon would not be issuing furlough notices "at this time." The branches of the military have had to lay off employees and cut corners while Congress and the White House tussle over continued war funding. The result has been piecemeal funding for the military, as anti-war lawmakers continue to pressure President Bush to accept a withdrawal deadline.

A June Center for Strategic and International Studies report [PDF] advised the Pentagon to stop requesting funding through war supplementals, which aren't included in the defense budget in order to make actual spending appear smaller than it really is. Total U.S. defense spending is only about 4 percent of GDP -- a very low war-time figure. The constantly cash-strapped military need not be so, the authors conclude, and the Pentagon should be asking for much more money with which to fight the Iraq war, the most pressing security problem facing the country.

Gates seemed to dispute the criticism that his department was lowballing Congress in order to provide political cover for the president. "I actually think we had a very thoughtful conversation with the House Armed Services Committee earlier in the year over what percent of GDP devoted to defense and securing the nation should be. I got the impression from both sides of the aisle that it ought to be about 4 percent," Gates said.

"I will be putting out a letter later this afternoon that basically acknowledges that we have to do some planning because we didn't get all the money" requested from Congress, he added.

Continue reading "...But That Won't Mitigate A Really Bad Decade In Iraq"

Posted at 5:05 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, Iraq, John McCain, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Republicans, Robert Gates, WH 2008
Share via

DOD: It Was A Pretty Good Year...

UPDATED

Thanks to the military's performance in Iraq, officials in the Department of Defense have genuine reason to clink glasses as the year winds down, though they know better than to go overboard in their celebrations.

In his year-end press briefing, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that the drawdown of five brigade combat teams (BCTs) by July 2008 was going as planned and should allow for yet more troop reductions. The first of the BCTs returned from Iraq earlier this month.

"My hope is the circumstances on the ground will continue to improve in a way that, when Gen. [David] Petraeus and the Joint Chiefs and Central Command do their analysis in March, will allow a continuation of the drawdown at roughly the same pace as the first half of the year," Gates said in the Pentagon briefing room.

Continue reading "DOD: It Was A Pretty Good Year..."

Posted at 5:00 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, Robert Gates
Share via

December 20, 2007

President Bush's Passive-Aggressive Holiday Greeting

Speaking at his final White House press conference of the year, President Bush congratulated Congress on its 11th-hour legislative achievements while making sure to backhand lawmakers for taking so long to get there.

"I thank the members of both parties for their hard work," Bush said, cheering the passage this week of the alternative minimum tax (AMT) patch, a lending crisis fix, an energy efficiency package and new defense spending. "I am pleased we are able to end this year on a high note."

Returning later to the AMT bill, the president added, "Unfortunately, Congress passed this legislation after a lengthy delay. It is going to add to the time it takes to process tens of billions in refunds. We will work hard to minimize the impact of congressional delay."

And after thanking Congress for sending him new spending for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan before the New Year, Bush noted that it was "approved at the last minute, nearly three months after the end of the fiscal year." He continued, "When Congress wastes so much time and leaves its work until the final days before Christmas, it is not a responsible way to run the government."

The president later denied that his relationship with the Democratic-led Congress was truly "antagonistic," but his annual pre-holiday address to the press corps encapsulated the testy and wearying push-pull the two branches have been engaged in all year.

Continue reading "President Bush's Passive-Aggressive Holiday Greeting"

Posted at 12:18 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, CIA, Campaigns, Congress, Democrats, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Iraq, Lebanon, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Russia, Syria, Vladimir Putin, WH 2008
Share via

December 19, 2007

Time Gets It Right With Person Of The Year

After being mocked and ridiculed for its gimmicky 2006 pick, Time magazine reverted to heft with this year's choice: Russian President (for Life) Vladimir Putin.

Continue reading "Time Gets It Right With Person Of The Year"

Posted at 12:33 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Campaigns, Europe, Iran, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush, Russia, U.K., WH 2008
Share via

December 18, 2007

DOD Nominee Gives Maliki Government An 'F'

The Bush administration's nominee to be assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs today gave the Iraqi government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki an "F" for failing to meet key legislative benchmarks.

"At this time, I would give the Maliki government an 'F'," Mary Beth Long told the Senate Armed Services Committee during her confirmation hearing today. The nascent government has not performed in an "exemplary manner" to pass needed legislation, Long said. If confirmed, Long, who has served as the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for international security for the last two years, would become a top Pentagon adviser on the Middle East, Africa and NATO. She acknowledged the Iraqi government has not yet succeeded in passing de-Baathification legislation or approving hydrocarbon laws including an oil revenue sharing agreement, among other legislative goals.

Continue reading "DOD Nominee Gives Maliki Government An 'F'"

Posted at 5:29 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Iraq, Middle East
Share via

Turkish Troops Withdraw From Iraq

Turkish troops who crossed into Iraq early this morning have pulled out, Reuters is reporting.

It is not yet clear why the 300 or so troops would withdraw so quickly, but this week's airstrikes on suspected Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) hideouts have outraged Iraqis. The Washington Post reported this morning that the airstrikes on the Kurdish separatist group, considered a terrorist organization by the U.S., were carried out with the Pentagon's assistance.

The incursion came and went as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice toured Kirkuk and Baghdad to apply pressure toward political reconciliation. Kurdish regional President Massoud Barzani refused to meet with Rice because of the Turkish assaults, BBC News reports.

Posted at 11:42 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, Iraq, Kurds, Middle East
Share via

December 14, 2007

Is The Surge Working?

We said in our liveblog coverage of the final Democratic presidential candidates debate yesterday that the military component of the "surge" strategy in Iraq was working . An Iraq war vet who is now ex-military and a foreign-policy wonk in Germany weighs in (unedited):

Primacy of the Iraq war as an issue has slipped, but not because a tapering off of violence. It is still pretty constant, just down a little from the bloodiest season we've had since Nov 04 when the second Fallujiah was going on.

Continue reading "Is The Surge Working?"

Posted at 6:27 PM
Posted to: Campaigns, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, WH 2008
Share via

Source Says Iraq IG Searched E-Mails To Find Press Leaks

Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen and his aides reviewed employee e-mails in May to see if someone in the office was leaking damaging information to the media, according to a former employee familiar with the agency's internal probe.

The former agency employee said the review of e-mails lasted two days and did not violate federal law. This source also said the method of finding the leak was consistent with an agency policy that says employees "imply their consent to disclosing the contents of files or information" on agency equipment they use. The former employee described the internal probe to counter charges by other former employees that Bowen and top aides engaged in a far more extensive open-ended review of employee e-mails over a period of months.

Some former employees said they believed their e-mails were reviewed to dig up dirt on their activities or to assess their loyalty. Those allegations and other charges have generated an FBI investigation of Bowen and other officials, CongressDaily reported. In an exclusive interview yesterday, Bowen called the charges baseless.

Continue reading "Source Says Iraq IG Searched E-Mails To Find Press Leaks"

Posted at 3:36 PM
Posted to: FBI, Iraq
Share via

Happy Holidays! Now Send Me Some Bills.

Flanked by the vice president and the rest of his Cabinet-level officials, President Bush cheerfully reminded Congress of the mountain of legislative work they must tackle before departing for the holidays.

"I thank the Senate and congratulate the Senate for passing a good energy bill," Bush said at a press conference on the White House lawn. "Now the House must act."

Bush emerged to speak with reporters this morning following his weekly Cabinet meeting. He scored a victory yesterday when the Senate overwhelmingly passed an energy package minus a Democratic-sponsored $21.8 billion provision that would have reduced tax breaks for oil companies. The overall bill remains tough on automakers, however, and is expected to make it through the House next Tuesday with relative ease.

Continue reading "Happy Holidays! Now Send Me Some Bills."

Posted at 11:44 AM
Posted to: Asia, Bush Administration, Congress, Dick Cheney, House, Iraq, Middle East, North Korea, President Bush, Senate, Taxes
Share via

FBI Probes Special IG For Iraq

The FBI is investigating allegations of misconduct against Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, according to former employees and other knowledgeable sources, indicating that a long administrative probe has widened to include the possibility of criminal wrongdoing.

The FBI is looking into claims that the former White House lawyer and aides violated federal law by accessing e-mail accounts of agency employees, several former staffers told CongressDaily. A grand jury has been empaneled in Virginia as part of the probe, the sources said.

Among the employees whose e-mail accounts were allegedly accessed is former Ambassador Robin Raphel, a respected career diplomat who worked as a deputy to Bowen until early this year. Denise Burgess, a former spokeswoman for the special inspector general's office who has filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, also has been interviewed by FBI agents, former co-workers said.

In an interview yesterday, Bowen said neither he nor anyone in his office has been notified they are targets of an investigation. He said he is legally prohibited from confirming the existence of an investigation, but he denied wrongdoing. "I am confident that this is going to amount to nothing," he said. Bowen also acknowledged the investigation has become a drag on the organization. "It takes up time and money that should be spent on Iraq oversight," he said.

Continue reading "FBI Probes Special IG For Iraq"

Posted at 9:35 AM
Posted to: FBI, Iraq
Share via

December 13, 2007

Liveblogging The Final Dem Debate Of 2007!

4:10. All over, no more debates until next year, hurray!

Up until a couple of months ago, there seemed to be a critical mass of Democratic support building behind Clinton, in part because of her metamorphosis into a suddenly "human" and likable politician and the assumption that the Clinton machine could best take on the Republican nominee next year. The political press carried on that change vs. experience debate all summer and into the early fall.

But now the nomination fight has been upended, and polls [PDF] show (subscription) that Obama and Edwards are viable in general election matchups, too. That eliminates for some voters their primary thesis for supporting Clinton, and it's why she's been struggling to stay afloat this month.

Most of us can look forward to relaxing with family in a week or so, but for the presidential contenders and Iowans it's closing arguments time. One thought to keep in mind: Part of the shifting around in this field and in the GOP as well is that the Iraq war has largely dropped out of the debate. Iraq no longer dominates the front page because of the decrease in violence and because of the campaigns. That changes in March at the latest, when Gen. David Petraeus is due back in Washington to report on the ground situation. We know the military part of the surge is working, but we are not much farther than we were in September on political reconciliation. The "what's next?" question is still hanging out there, unanswered. The GOP front-runners have more or less indicated loyalty to the Bush administration's policies, so answers will have to come from the Democratic field.

Early reactions: boring, boring, nice, snark.

Continue reading "Liveblogging The Final Dem Debate Of 2007!"

Posted at 4:10 PM
Posted to: Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Campaigns, Christopher Dodd, Democrats, Economy, Education, Health, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Iraq, John Edwards, Joseph Biden, Middle East, Republicans, Taxes, Trade, WH 2008
Share via

December 07, 2007

What Did McConnell Mean?

TPM wants to know what Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell meant when he said the following during a re-election campaign stop in Grayson County, Ky., last week.

Unfortunately, most of our friends on the other aisle are having a hard time admitting things are getting better; some days I almost think the critics of this war don't want us to win. Nobody is happy about losing lives but remember these are not draftees, these are full-time professional soldiers.

Emphasis ours. Was McConnell really shrugging off the deaths of nearly 3,890 American soldiers since the Iraq war began four-and-a-half years ago, as TPM implies? It depends on where you are on the war.

Continue reading "What Did McConnell Mean?"

Posted at 3:04 PM
Posted to: Campaigns, Congress, Iraq, Middle East, Military, Senate
Share via

December 05, 2007

Gates Urges Patience But Sees Iraq's Stability 'Within Reach'

UPDATED.

On an unannounced visit to Iraq today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he believed "that a secure, stable Iraq is within reach," but he cautioned that "much remains to be done" to bring full stability to the country.

Underscoring his pleas for patience, Gates' comments came as a car bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in Baghdad. Reuters reports that 15 people were killed in that attack and eight more were killed in bombings in three other Iraqi cities today.

The defense secretary has remained cautious in his assessments of the progress being made in Iraq. His visit this week, the sixth he's made since taking over for Donald Rumsfeld a year ago, comes amid a recent spate of positive news coming out of the war-torn country. Pentagon officials said Gates is on the ground to assess whether reported declines in violence and cooperation from Iran in preventing arms imports are accurate, and whether those improvements can be sustained in the long term.

"Senior defense officials said the jury is still out on both fronts, and the Pentagon is being cautious not to declare victory yet in either case," AP reported this morning.

Continue reading "Gates Urges Patience But Sees Iraq's Stability 'Within Reach'"

Posted at 3:15 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Bush Administration, Iraq, Robert Gates
Share via

Bush: U.N. Security Council On Board With Iran Policy

President Bush sought today to quell skepticism over his administration's Iran policy following a new U.S. intel report [PDF] stating that the regime most likely stopped pursuing nuclear arms four years ago.

Speaking to reporters on a snowy tarmac in Nebraska, Bush said, "On the way out here I spoke with my team, who gave me a report on conversations the secretary of state and national security advisor have had over the last couple of days with their counterparts in the U.K., Germany, France and Russia. These countries understand that the Iranian nuclear issue is a problem, and continues to be a problem, that must be addressed by the international community."

In a press conference yesterday, Bush said that his administration's policy on Iran -- that it must disclose all about its nuclear activities and cease enriching uranium or face consequences as severe as military force -- remains the status quo, despite the National Intelligence Estimate's conclusions. But the intel community's assessment that Iran stopped pursuing nukes out of fear it would meet the fate of neighboring Iraq has led analysts to conclude that Washington no longer has the leverage it requires to get its P5+1 partners in the U.N. to keep pressure on Tehran.

Continue reading "Bush: U.N. Security Council On Board With Iran Policy"

Posted at 11:03 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Iran, Iraq, Middle East, Nuclear Weapons, President Bush, Terrorism
Share via

December 04, 2007

May U.K. Hostage-Taking In Iraq Revealed

Al-Arabiya television has broadcast video of five Britons missing since May 29 in Iraq, BBC News reports. In the tape, dated Nov. 18, gunmen threaten to kill one of the hostages if British troops do not begin pulling out in 10 days.

The kidnapping is just coming to light because the U.K. Foreign Office had asked the media to back off on coverage while it negotiated the men's release, according to BBC News. The gunmen say they are from a group called the Islamic Shia Resistance in Iraq. The hostages are four guards and a computer expert.

Posted at 2:37 PM
Posted to: Europe, Iraq, Middle East, U.K.
Share via

Bush: NIE Doesn't Change Iran Policy

President Bush denied that he was aware of new intelligence that Iran had abandoned its nuclear weapons program before this week, but said the news would not change White House policy toward the "axis of evil" nation.

"Iran was dangerous, Iran is dangerous and Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon," Bush said in a White House press conference. "The NIE said Iran had a hidden, covert nuclear weapons program. What's to say they couldn't start another covert nuclear weapons program?"

Bush said that earlier this fall, when the White House was ratcheting up pressure on Tehran, he was unaware of indications that Iran had stopped its weapons program in 2003, even though the intelligence community had been working on the new report [PDF] for months. According to U.S. intelligence agencies' latest consolidated findings, Iran stopped pursuing nukes in 2003 in part because of pressure applied by the U.S. and its allies as well as the Iraq war. The report notes that Iran has never disclosed its nuclear capability, and that it would be difficult to know if they decided again to weaponize the fissile material they already possess.

"We know that they're still trying to learn how to enrich uranium," Bush said. "I view this report as a warning signal."

"This is an opportunity to rally the international community," the president continued. "The best diplomacy is one in which all options are on the table."

Continue reading "Bush: NIE Doesn't Change Iran Policy"

Posted at 11:46 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Campaigns, Iran, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush, WH 2008
Share via

December 03, 2007

Iran Watch: Over Before It Even Began?

Just when we thought war with Iran was inevitable, along comes a new National Intelligence Estimate telling us: Never mind!

"We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program," the declassified version of the report [PDF] reads. But then: "We also assess with moderate-to-high confidence that Tehran at a minimum is keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons."

What to make of all this?

The U.S. intelligence community believes "with moderate-to-high confidence" that Iran currently does not possess nuclear weapons. On the other hand, we know North Korea has as many as 10 bombs; it tested one last year. So why has the Bush administration been pointing all of its guns at Iran? Because of the neighborhood it's in. A potentially nuclear-armed Iran spells more immediate trouble for U.S. interests than a definitely nuclear-armed North Korea -- 28,000 U.S. troops on the peninsula notwithstanding.

Democrats and conservatives alike are highly critical of the different policy tracks President Bush has taken on these two problems. While the NIE indicates that the White House will have to lay off a bit on its rhetoric toward Iran, it seems that total transparency (with regard to IAEA inspectors, etc.) is still the baseline.

Continue reading "Iran Watch: Over Before It Even Began?"

Posted at 4:05 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Iran, Iraq, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East, Nuclear Weapons, President Bush, Terrorism
Share via

November 28, 2007

The Anti-War Movement Moves On

In the weeks and months following the much-anticipated congressional testimony from Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker on the progress of the Iraq war, the anti-war movement has been eerily silent.

Compared with the outcry that accompanied previous failed attempts by Congress to pass a timetable for withdrawal, the most recent vote came and went without much noise from MoveOn.org, Americans United for Change and the umbrella group Americans Against Escalation in Iraq. Aside from the occasional Code Pink outburst and angry op-ed, liberal activists seem to have refocused their energies on health care and other domestic issues.

Continue reading "The Anti-War Movement Moves On"

Posted at 4:01 PM
Posted to: Campaigns, Congress, Iraq
Share via

November 27, 2007

Mideast Summit: 'We Are Ready'

UPDATED.

Reading a joint statement issued by the international participants of the Annapolis conference on Israeli-Palestinian relations, President Bush heralded what is widely seen as a last-ditch attempt to broker a lasting peace between the two Mideast parties.

"We express our determination to bring an end to bloodshed, suffering and decades of conflict between our peoples; to usher in a new era of peace, based on freedom, security, justice, dignity, respect and mutual recognition; to propagate a culture of peace and nonviolence; to confront terrorism and incitement, whether committed by Palestinians or Israelis," Bush said before representatives of the U.N., EU, G-8 and nearly every major Arab League nation. "In furtherance of the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, we agree to immediately launch good-faith bilateral negotiations in order to conclude a peace treaty, resolving all outstanding issues, including all core issues without exception."

Seated on stage to the president's side were Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the two leaders who will do the heavy lifting in the negotiations. The joint statement was, as expected, a declaration of support from the world community of the two-state solution advocated by both parties as well as the United States. The statement also included a recommitment to the 2003 road map established by the Quartet -- the U.S., EU, U.N. and Russia -- shepherding the peace process.

But Bush also clarified the role the U.S. will play during the coming stretch of talks. While Washington won't exactly be in the thick of negotiations, it will be overseeing and assessing Israel's and the PLO's progress on the road map requirements. Exactly how much of a taskmaster the U.S. is in the process will probably be determined by the depth of involvement by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the mastermind behind the new push for a two-state solution.

Continue reading "Mideast Summit: 'We Are Ready'"

Posted at 3:03 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, Fatah, Hamas, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Palestinians, President Bush, Saudi Arabia, Syria
Share via

November 16, 2007

No End In Sight For Partisan Gridlock Over Iraq

The Senate this morning defeated both Republican and Democratic attempts to consider supplemental funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, CongressDaily reports (subscription). The Republican motion to invoke cloture on a $70 billion bill without restrictions failed 45-53, while the Democratic cloture motion on the House-passed $50 billion bridge fund with restrictions, including a plan to withdraw troops from Iraq, failed 53-45.

CongressDailyPM (subscription) has more on this story.

The Democrats' continued inability to pass legislation forcing a change in President Bush's war policies one year after their victory in the 2006 midterm elections may be frustrating to lawmakers and voters who had high hopes for the Democratic majority. But two new surveys show that the troop surge instituted last winter and Gen. David Petraeus' testimony earlier this fall have done little to change the country's deep partisan divides over the war.

National Journal's latest survey [PDF] of congressional insiders shows Republican lawmakers nearly united in their belief that the "outlook for a stable, democratic Iraq" has improved over the past year, while a majority of Democrats said it has either deteriorated or remained static. Meanwhile, a new FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll shows an American public similarly divided along party lines on whether the surge has had an impact. See today's Poll Track (subscription) for more on these polls, plus the latest numbers from the White House race.

DOD photo by Cpl. Shane S. Keller, U.S. Marine Corps

Posted at 3:10 PM
Posted to: Congress, Iraq, Senate
Share via

November 15, 2007

America To World: Howdy, Partners

The United States' lonely venture in Iraq has taken its toll on the American public, according to a new poll commissioned by the U.N. Foundation and the Better World Campaign. The bipartisan survey and follow-up focus group discussions, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies (R) and Garin-Hart-Yang (D), reveal a shift in the public's international priorities and what pollster Bill McInturff calls a "repudiation" of President Bush's "go it alone" foreign policy.

The overwhelming majority of those surveyed said America's reputation has suffered in the last few years, and 86 percent of likely voters said that, in order to achieve its foreign policy goals in the future, America needs to renew its partnerships with other countries and work through international organizations rather than act alone.

For more on the survey, including voters' foreign-policy wish list for the next president, see today's Poll Track (subscription).

Posted at 2:10 PM
Posted to: Iraq, President Bush, U.N., WH 2008
Share via

Iraq: When A Door Closes...

UPDATED.

The Washington Post has an A-1 story this morning summarizing interviews with senior military officials who concur that the biggest U.S. obstacle in Iraq is not al-Qaida or sectarian violence, but the nascent Iraqi government itself.

"The lack of political progress calls into question the core rationale behind the troop buildup President Bush announced in January, which was premised on the notion that improved security would create space for Iraqis to arrive at new power-sharing arrangements," the Post reports. Army Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the commander of day-to-day U.S. military operations in Iraq, told interviewers that the drop in attacks against U.S. troops and Iraqis has opened a window of opportunity for the Iraqi government to reach out to former enemies, but "it's unclear how long that window is going to be open."

Meanwhile, at home, Bush is facing his own closing window in the form of war funding. The House yesterday passed a bill to fund further military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, but Democrats tied it to a host of measures -- including a troop withdrawal to begin within a month and to be nearly completed within a year -- that the administration wouldn't find acceptable.

Continue reading "Iraq: When A Door Closes..."

Posted at 11:01 AM
Posted to: Congress, House, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush
Share via

November 12, 2007

Help Wanted In Baghdad

USA Today has had an ad up for an Iraq correspondent for three weeks. Why so few takers? Hmm, let's see...

Still, it's a little surprising that a major daily like USAT is having so much trouble filling this job -- if that's indeed the case. (A call to the newspaper's spokeswoman was not immediately returned.) (UPDATE: The job has been filled, said a spokeswoman who admitted that applications were not exactly pouring in.) Journalists generally don't go into this field to cover town hall meetings, even if that's where many of them start off. The way the war has been run has proved incredibly frustrating to the reporters covering it, yet those same correspondents continue to return to the line of fire again and again.

Though every moment in Iraq is a pivotal one, now seems an especially keen time to spend on the ground. The rate of rocket attacks has dropped significantly, and the government says Iraqis who fled previous violence are starting to return home.

Continue reading "Help Wanted In Baghdad"

Posted at 2:58 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Iraq, Media, Middle East, Military, President Bush
Share via

November 08, 2007

House May Take Up War Funding Tomorrow

The House could vote as early as tomorrow on a measure providing a $50 billion bridge fund to continue military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for about four months, on the condition that troops be withdrawn from combat zones in Iraq by Christmas 2008.

"This is not a blank check for the president," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The funding is a little more than one-quarter of President Bush's $189.3 billion FY08 request, and Democratic leaders hesitated to approve that much given heavy opposition to the Iraq war. But Democrats changed course under pressure from the Pentagon, which fears a significant funding shortfall in January, and from Republicans ready to pounce at any sign of "shortchanging" the troops.

The measure's target date of Dec. 15, 2008, is nonbinding, meaning it could lose support from die-hard Iraq war opponents in the House. It also faces a steep hurdle in clearing the Senate, where the measure would be open to amendment and would need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.

"I think we should take it a step at a time," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who said the Senate probably would take up the bill next week. He declined to comment on whether he expected more support from Republicans.

"I have in the past thought that we would have more Republicans than... we did. I hope so," Reid said.

Continue reading "House May Take Up War Funding Tomorrow"

Posted at 6:08 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Asia, Congress, House, Iraq, Middle East, Senate
Share via

November 05, 2007

Progress On The PKK-Turkish Front

UPDATED.

In a sign that tensions may be lessening between Turkey and Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, today freed eight Turkish soldiers who were captured last month.

Diplomatic talks have been going on for weeks to try to avert a conflict, but a massive Turkish force was still amassing on the border and PKK rebels continued to partake in skirmishes with Turkish troops in the region. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice traveled to Turkey last week to reassure the government that the PKK rebels were a "common threat."

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in Washington today to meet with President Bush. Erdogan was seeking American support for action against the PKK, while Bush sought to convince the prime minister to hold off on a full-scale incursion.

Following the meeting, Bush and Erdogan exuded a united front before the press.

Continue reading "Progress On The PKK-Turkish Front"

Posted at 4:30 PM
Posted to: Europe, Iraq, Kurds, Middle East, Turkey
Share via

November 01, 2007

Foreign Service Revolt Is Latest Headache For State

The bad news keeps mounting for the State Department this week. In addition to the furor over immunity deals granted to Blackwater USA guards in an internal agency investigation, diplomats are now staging a revolt over the department's threats of dismissal for officers who refuse to work at the massive U.S. Embassy in Iraq.

Foreign Service Director General Harry Thomas sent e-mails to diplomats around the world last week informing them that State would need to fill nearly 50 slots at the embassy next summer and that if the agency did not receive enough volunteers for the "directed assignments," it would have to begin forcing officers to serve there or face dismissal.

Tensions ran high at a department town hall meeting addressing the issue yesterday. With several hundred Foreign Service officers attending, senior officials heard many concerns about the forced Iraq postings and the agency's overall handling of its personnel in the volatile region. Diplomats complained of inadequate training and a lack of care for those who returned from service scarred by the experience of working in a war zone. They also said the embassy in Baghdad is too large and that dangerous conditions in the Green Zone mean employees must travel in heavily guarded convoys, which hinders their diplomatic efforts.

According to the Washington Post, the meeting came to an abrupt end when a man who claimed to be a 46-year veteran of the Foreign Service called Iraq "a potential death sentence" for State employees.

Continue reading "Foreign Service Revolt Is Latest Headache For State"

Posted at 3:32 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, Iraq, Middle East
Share via

The Rumsfeld Files: Flurries Of Fury

He's been gone from the Defense Department for almost a full year now, but the ghost of Donald Rumsfeld continues to haunt Washington. The Washington Post today devoted a sizable, above-the-fold portion of its front page to a report on "a series of internal musings and memos" the former defense secretary sent to his staff over the course of his six-year tenure.

The so-called "snowflakes," recently obtained by the Post, offer a treasure trove of Rumsfeldian bluster and chutzpah, focused mostly on Iraq and the war on terror. Some of the more interesting flakes center on Rumsfeld's attempts to counteract negative press about the war and the Pentagon.

Read the WaPo story here. And earlier today, Post reporter Dana Priest addressed some questions about the Rumsfeld memos during a live Web discussion.

Posted at 1:38 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Donald Rumsfeld, Iraq, Middle East, Terrorism
Share via

Iraqi Civilian Death Toll Drops

The number of civilian deaths in the war in Iraq fell again last month, hitting a new low for the year. Exact counts vary, but according to figures from the Iraqi Health Ministry, 758 civilians were killed in October compared with a high of 2,076 in January.

Military fatalities also dropped down to 36, about half of September's figure and the lowest since March 2006.

Officials are giving credit to multiple sources for the decrease in casualties. One is the U.S. military surge, implemented last summer, which flooded Iraq with about 30,000 more American troops. Another is more success from Iraqi security forces in quelling insurgents and militia groups.

The Los Angeles Times posits some darker reasons, too. Sectarian segregation is growing, with once-mixed neighborhoods now fully Sunni or Shiite, so opportunities for violence are decreasing. Baghdad is also emptying out, with scared civilians fleeing the sectarian violence. About 2.25 million are internally displaced within Iraq and 2 million more have left the country, the Times reports, and the refugee crisis doesn't show signs of abating.

Posted at 9:00 AM
Posted to: Iraq, Middle East
Share via

October 30, 2007

Immunity Deal For Blackwater Guards Hampers FBI's Efforts

UPDATED.

In an apparent deal that could impede the government's ability to prosecute Blackwater guards suspected of being involved in a shooting that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead last month, AP reports that State Department investigators granted immunity to employees of the private security contractor in exchange for statements they made regarding the case.

"As a result, it will likely be months before the United States can -- if ever -- bring criminal charges in the case that has infuriated the Iraqi government," AP wrote when it broke the story yesterday.

But CNN is reporting today that, according to two anonymous State Department officials, State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security did not offer "blanket immunity" to the guards that would prohibit the FBI from pressing criminal charges. "We want to see anyone who violated laws or broke rules held accountable," said one official, who claimed to lack authorization to speak on the matter. "Nothing that was done prevents anyone from being prosecuted if they broke the law."

But according to ABC News, the exact language of the "use immunity" agreement included at the beginning of each guard's sworn statement is as follows:

I understand this statement is being given in furtherance of an official administrative inquiry.... I further understand that neither my statements nor any information or evidence gained by reason of my statements can be used against me in a criminal proceeding, except that if I knowingly and willfully provide false statements or information, I may be criminally prosecuted for that action under 18 United States Code, Section 1001.

Continue reading "Immunity Deal For Blackwater Guards Hampers FBI's Efforts"

Posted at 3:30 PM
Posted to: FBI, Iraq
Share via

Bush Vows 'Three Veto Bill Pileup'

President Bush is seeking to get out ahead of negative headlines this week by accusing the Democratic Congress of holding U.S. troops and poor children "hostage" as part of a "cynical" political strategy.

"They haven't seen a bill they could not solve without shoving a tax increase into it," Bush said derisively. He called the brief press conference outside the White House following a meeting with the top Republican House leaders: John Boehner, Roy Blunt and Adam Putnam.

The president's press conference ushered in the annual appropriations tug-of-war between the White House and Congress, an autumn rite by no means unique to this administration. Tensions are superheated this year, though, because the bills concern an increasingly unpopular war with the prospect of yet another unpopular war and renewal of health care funding for poor children.

Bush also plans to veto a $23.2 billion water resources bill that he says is excessive. The bill is overwhelmingly popular in both chambers, however, and it is all but guaranteed an override if Bush follows through on his threat by the end of this week.

Continue reading "Bush Vows 'Three Veto Bill Pileup'"

Posted at 9:49 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Economy, House, Iran, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush
Share via

October 29, 2007

Operation Venti Non-Fat Soy Macchiato

Sent from a soldier with the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, which is in Kuwait awaiting its third deployment to Iraq since 2003.

"I live in Clarksville, third largest city in Tennessee behind Nashville and Memphis.* It has a military base (Ft. Campbell) and a large college (APSU). The population of Clarksville is appx. 150,000. Clarksville has 2 Starbucks.

I am now deployed for OIF [Operation Iraqi Freedom] and in Camp Buehring Kuwait. Buehring is a training post in the middle of a desert. It is where units spend about two weeks waiting to go into Iraq. Average population appx. 5,000 Soldiers, sometimes less. Camp Buehring has two Starbucks."

*Clarksville is actually the fifth-largest city in Tennessee with a population of about 115,000.

Posted at 10:32 AM
Posted to: Iraq, Middle East, Military
Share via

October 26, 2007

Iraqi & Turkish Officials Continue Diplomatic Talks On PKK Crisis

Diplomatic efforts to mend a rift between the governments of Iraq and Turkey over how to deal with Kurdish rebels near the countries' border continued today amid airstrikes by Turkish forces on rebel positions in northern Iraq.

U.S. and Iraqi officials are hoping that the talks will help stave off a major Turkish incursion into Iraq to fight the Kurdistan Workers Party, a rebel separatist group that Turkey claims has been using northern Iraq as a safe haven from which to launch attacks. The Turkish parliament has already voted to approve such an incursion, and the government has assembled about 100,000 troops at the border already.

Today in Ankara, Iraqi diplomatic and defense officials met with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and Interior Minister Besir Atalay; U.S. officials were also present. Turkey has been pressuring Iraq and the United States to step up their efforts against the PKK. U.S. officials, meanwhile, have been pushing for a diplomatic solution rather than a Turkish invasion, which they fear could further hinder the already formidable task of stabilizing war-torn Iraq.

Continue reading "Iraqi & Turkish Officials Continue Diplomatic Talks On PKK Crisis"

Posted at 1:32 PM
Posted to: Iraq, Kurds, Middle East, Turkey
Share via

October 24, 2007

State Department Security Chief Resigns

Richard Griffin, the State Department official in charge of diplomatic security, announced his resignation today.

According to an internal e-mail read to AP, Griffin gave no reason for his departure upon making the announcement at a weekly staff meeting.

A review panel created after the Sept. 16 shooting of several unarmed Iraqi civilians by Blackwater USA security guards concluded that there was insufficient oversight of private contractors by State Department security personnel. Griffin, the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, effectively employs the private guards hired to protect U.S. diplomatic employees in Iraq.

Following the shootings, which prompted the Iraqi government to order Blackwater employees out of the country, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ordered new operating guidelines for contractors. Yesterday, the State Department announced that future incidents involving contractors could be referred to the Justice Department, and that the ground rules for security guards would be brought closer in line to those of the U.S. military, according to Jane's Defence Weekly.

Earlier this month, Rice ordered all Blackwater convoys to be outfitted with cameras and accompanied by a State Department security official.

Posted at 2:45 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, Iraq, Middle East
Share via

Reports: Eight Turkish Soldiers Captured, Iran Seizes Opportunity

U.S. and Iraqi officials are working quickly to appease an angry Turkish government after tensions on its southern border boiled over this week. Efforts to negotiate an end to the fighting, however, are further complicated by reports that Kurdish separatists have captured eight Turkish soldiers and that Tehran is leveraging resentment toward Washington and Baghdad to its advantage.

Photos of the alleged captives have been published by several news outlets. The Turkish government has not confirmed the claims by a group of Kurdish fighters that the soldiers, missing since an ambush on Sunday, were captured. Turkey authorized a cross-border incursion earlier this week against militants with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, who have been launching discrete attacks on Turkey for years. Forty-two Turkish civilians and soldiers have been killed by PKK fighters this month alone, Bloomberg News reports.

Turkey has been warning its allies in the U.S. and Iraq that if they did not clamp down on the PKK's attacks, the Turkish military would be sent to do the job. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have sought to persuade Ankara to approach the problem diplomatically, but in Turkey's view neither ally has acted forcefully enough. In August, the Pentagon admitted that American weapons issued to Iraqis had been used by PKK rebels in cross-border attacks against Turks.

Continue reading "Reports: Eight Turkish Soldiers Captured, Iran Seizes Opportunity"

Posted at 12:50 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, Europe, Iran, Iraq, Kurds, Middle East, Turkey
Share via

October 23, 2007

'We're Going To Lose You'

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Michael Mullen is getting an earful from soldiers who are stressed by the 15/12 deployment schedule for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

"That year we're back, it's just not good enough," an Army captain told Mullen during a stop on a two-day tour of bases.

Army Times reports that the press withheld the soldiers' names so that they could speak freely in the Q&A session at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. The resounding message was that the military has to restore the 1:3 or 1:4 deployment schedule to give soldiers sufficient time to train and be with their families.

Continue reading "'We're Going To Lose You'"

Posted at 6:15 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Asia, Iran, Iraq, Michael Mullen, Middle East, Military
Share via

Reports: State Dept. Lax In Monitoring Security Contractors

The increased scrutiny on security contractors in Iraq in the wake of last month's shooting involving Blackwater USA is shifting focus to the State Department, with two new reports offering fresh criticism of the agency's oversight of the private firms that help protect its personnel in war zones.

The New York Times reports this morning that an internal State Department evaluation "assails the department for poor coordination, communication, oversight and accountability involving armed security companies like Blackwater USA." Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ordered the internal review of security practices following the Blackwater shooting, but the probe did not deal directly with that incident.

Continue reading "Reports: State Dept. Lax In Monitoring Security Contractors"

Posted at 9:00 AM
Posted to: Condoleezza Rice, Iraq, Robert Gates
Share via

October 22, 2007

Bin Laden Urges Iraqi Muslims To Unite

In a new audio recording purportedly made by Osama bin Laden, the terrorist mastermind called on warring Islamic factions to look past their differences.

"Some of you have been lax in one duty, which is to unite your ranks," bin Laden says, in a tape broadcast by Al Jazeera. "Beware of division... The Muslim world is waiting for you to gather under one banner."

The recording, titled "A Message To The People Of Iraq," seems directed at Sunni and Shiite extremists. The U.S. maintains a heavy presence in Iraq four years after the fall of Baghdad largely because of ethnosectarian violence between the groups. Al-Qaida in Iraq, a particularly violent Sunni Muslim group, has so alienated many Iraqi Sunnis that they have joined forces with U.S. fighters in the Anbar province. More recently, Iraqi Shiites have begun distancing themselves from Shiite militias, led by the Mahdi Army.

Continue reading "Bin Laden Urges Iraqi Muslims To Unite"

Posted at 4:45 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Iraq, Middle East, Terrorism
Share via

Bush Pressures Congress To OK $196B War Budget

Seeking to head off a fight that hasn't yet begun, President Bush warned Democratic lawmakers not to resist new emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as he tacked on $46 billion to the $150.5 billion the White House had already requested for the new fiscal year.

Recalling recent reports on progress in Iraq, Bush said that the extra funding was "crucial to maintaining this policy of success." General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker appeared on Capitol Hill in September to tell lawmakers that the "surge" strategy was making headway in Iraq, and that as a result troops could be safely drawn down back to pre-surge levels.

Continue reading "Bush Pressures Congress To OK $196B War Budget"

Posted at 3:28 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Asia, Bush Administration, Congress, David Petraeus, House, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush
Share via

October 17, 2007

Bush: Who You Calling Lame?

Vowing to "sprint to the finish" during his remaining 15 months in office, President Bush went before the White House press corps this morning armed with a laundry list of complaints about Congress' performance on domestic matters. Reporters, on the other hand, came armed with a flood of questions focused mainly on the president's own foreign policy agenda.

"There's little time left in the year," Bush warned in his opening statement. "And Congress has little to show for all the time that has gone by." He listed eight areas where Congress has either failed to act or compromise with the White House: health care, intelligence, the budget, education, housing, trade, veterans care and the judiciary.

Specifically, Bush urged the Democratic leadership to compromise with the White House on two contentious bills -- the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program and the authorization of a controversial wiretapping program. The former has already earned a presidential veto, and the White House issued a fresh veto threat for the latter yesterday.

Continue reading "Bush: Who You Calling Lame?"

Posted at 1:55 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Health, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East, Palestinians, President Bush, Russia, Vladimir Putin
Share via

October 16, 2007

DOD Opposes Afghan Reconstruction Oversight Measure

The Pentagon is urging House-Senate conferees on the FY08 defense authorization bill to drop a provision in the House measure that would create a special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction. The office would be modeled largely on the independent investigator examining rebuilding efforts in Iraq, where billions of dollars of contract waste and fraud have been uncovered.

In May, House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., called the proposal one of his bill's most significant provisions, and stressed that the inspector general in Afghanistan would "ensure even greater accountability" of efforts there. But in a package of appeals on the authorization measure sent last week to the House and Senate Armed Services committees, DOD officials said they viewed the appointment of an Afghanistan investigator as a redundant move that would deplete the Pentagon's inspector general, who already is tasked with oversight there, of necessary personnel.

The Senate version of the bill also created the Afghanistan inspector general, but the Pentagon did not address that provision.

Continue reading "DOD Opposes Afghan Reconstruction Oversight Measure"

Posted at 5:54 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Asia, Congress, Iraq, Middle East, Military
Share via

Iraqi Crisis Envoy Dispatched To Turkey

In an effort to stave off a looming incursion of Turkish forces into his country, Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi crossed the border today to meet with Turkey's prime minister and new president.

Turkey has been threatening to stage assaults on separatists operating in Iraqi Kurdistan. According to the Turkish government, those separatists (called the Kurdistan Workers Party or the PKK, which the EU and the U.S. have classified as a terrorist group) operate in northern Iraq without interference. Iraq had promised to address the group in a late September resolution; Turkey claims nothing has been done and that the PKK is becoming emboldened.

Continue reading "Iraqi Crisis Envoy Dispatched To Turkey"

Posted at 8:50 AM
Posted to: Europe, Iraq, Kurds, Turkey
Share via

October 12, 2007

Let's Talk Before The Whole World Ends

A group of Muslim spiritual leaders and scholars from countries including Iran and Pakistan are reaching out to their Christian counterparts amid boiling conflicts between those two worlds. In an open letter [PDF] addressed to church leaders including Pope Benedict XVI, the Muslims warn that "the future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians."

Muslims and Christians are enjoined to worship but one God and love their neighbors, the letter notes, and a 13-page treatise written by the scholars lists comparable passages of the Q'uran and the Bible. "Love of the [neighbor] is an essential and integral part of faith in God and love of God because in Islam without love of the [neighbor] there is no true faith in God and no righteousness," they write. "Without giving the [neighbor] what we ourselves love, we do no truly love God or the [neighbor]."

The document, released yesterday, already has its skeptics among those who believe Islam's leaders are unwilling to rid their institution of violent fundamentalists. Yet it is an unprecedented call for reconciliation at a time when the turbulent Middle East is the fulcrum of instability around the globe.

Continue reading "Let's Talk Before The Whole World Ends"

Posted at 6:27 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Iraq, Middle East, Terrorism
Share via

October 11, 2007

Could Marines Salvage Mission In Afghanistan?

The Los Angeles Times and the New York Times are reporting that the U.S. Marines Corps is requesting redeployment from Iraq to Afghanistan, where Taliban fighting has increased considerably. The reasons are not officially explicated, but there are a few obvious possibilities.

Now that Anbar province is relatively calm, the Marines sent there to wrest back control from Sunni insurgents seem mostly to be serving in an overwatch and training capacity, a role better suited for the Army. The LAT obtained an e-mail from one officer there, Lt. Col. Beau Higgins, noting the dramatic drop in attacks on U.S. forces. Higgins concluded, "It's critical that we stay here to continue to assist... but our role as fire fighters in the zone moving from hot spot to hot spot has truly gone."

The hallmarks of the USMC are rapid readiness and targeted strikes, not occupation. In 2004, for instance, the Marines were sent to calm the spiraling-out situation in Fallujah. The LAT reports that the 2nd Battalion, 5th Regiment returned from Anbar on Monday after a seven-month deployment without having lost one of their number; in an earlier deployment, the unit suffered 15 deaths.

The current military mission in Iraq is to replicate the successes of Anbar elsewhere. It's not clear what the mission now is in Afghanistan, mostly because it isn't talked about as much.

Continue reading "Could Marines Salvage Mission In Afghanistan?"

Posted at 1:23 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Asia, Bush Administration, Donald Rumsfeld, Iraq, Middle East, Military, Robert Gates
Share via

October 10, 2007

The Armenian Genocide: When Purity Meets Pragmatism

Let's get this detail out of the way: The United States does not brook genocide. Maybe this country does not always go far enough to stop genocide where it occurs (Rwanda, Sudan), but it has not ignored, let alone denied, the mass extermination of an ethnic group since World War II. What the U.S. always does do in reaction to genocide is condemn the killing wherever it occurs.

So why the opposition to a nonbinding House resolution that compels the U.S. government to formally recognize the 1915-17 mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide -- something George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush did not do as commander in chief?

The answer, of course, is Turkey's resistance to the resolution. Almost anywhere else in the world, official government condemnation of genocide is an easy position for Washington to take. Not so with the Armenian genocide, because Turkey holds many cards, and the U.S. is in no position to strong-arm anyone it might still count as an ally in the war on terror.

Continue reading "The Armenian Genocide: When Purity Meets Pragmatism"

Posted at 3:50 PM
Posted to: Bill Clinton, Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, Congress, EU, Europe, France, George H.W. Bush, House, Iraq, Israel, Kurds, Middle East, President Bush, Robert Gates, Senate, Turkey
Share via

October 09, 2007

Soldiers Snatched In May Ambush Still Missing

The Fort Drum-based 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, is on its way back from Iraq -- but without two soldiers who've been missing for five months.

Spc. Alex Jimenez, 25, and Pvt. Byron Fouty, 19, were captured in an insurgent ambush on May 12, south of Baghdad. They have not been seen since then. Americans killed in captivity have been a prime source of propaganda for al-Qaida in Iraq, suggesting there is some chance that Jimenez and Fouty are still alive. In the face of little evidence indicating otherwise, the search for the missing soldiers continues.

"This is still our brigade's No. 1 priority," the brigade's commander, Col. Michael Kershaw, said of the missing soldiers on Friday. In June, the al-Qaida-linked Islamic State of Iraq claimed in a video that Jimenez and Fouty had been killed in the ambush. The soldiers' military ID cards were shown, but there was otherwise no proof that they were dead or even captured.

Continue reading "Soldiers Snatched In May Ambush Still Missing"

Posted at 5:02 PM
Posted to: Iraq, Middle East, Military
Share via

Contractors Fight Could Pose True Test Of Iraqi Sovereignty

Iraqi police are reporting that two women have been killed by private security guards for a civilian convoy in central Baghdad. The incident comes two days after the Iraqi government issued a report finding a Sept. 16 attack that killed 17 civilians and wounded 22 others was unprovoked.

Worrisomely for the Bush administration, the Iraqis seem determined to prosecute the Blackwater USA guards involved in that shooting, potentially setting a precedent for all future incidents, including today's.

Continue reading "Contractors Fight Could Pose True Test Of Iraqi Sovereignty"

Posted at 2:20 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Iraq, Middle East
Share via

October 05, 2007

Rice Implements New Rules For Blackwater

Following a preliminary report on the Sept. 16 shootings of several Iraqi civilians, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has ordered that all Blackwater convoys be outfitted with cameras. In addition, State Department security agents will accompany the convoys.

Rice's order only applies to Blackwater, not to other State contractors in Iraq including Triple Canopy and DynCorp. The FBI and State are both investigating the incident.

Reuters and CNN have more details.

Posted at 4:22 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, Iraq, Middle East
Share via

October 03, 2007

Polish Ambassador Injured In Baghdad Bombing

A car bomb hit a convoy of three SUVs carrying Polish officials this morning in a downtown Baghdad neighborhood, wounding Ambassador Gen. Edward Pietrzyk and several security guards. A bodyguard and an Iraqi civilian were killed in the blast.

CNN reports that Pietrzyk is in stable condition at the U.S. military hospital in Baghdad, and officials in Warsaw said the ambassador was not seriously injured.

Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said today that his country would not withdraw its force in response to the attack. Poland has between 900 and 1,000 troops in Iraq, and its president announced last year that it would extend its military commitment there in support of the U.S.

Posted at 8:50 AM
Posted to: Iraq, Middle East
Share via

October 02, 2007

Blackwater CEO Confident -- And For Good Reason

In his testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Blackwater USA chief Erik Prince defended his employees as patriotic veterans tasked with protecting Americans in hostile zones.

"Blackwater personnel supporting our overseas missions are all military and law enforcement veterans, many of whom have recent military deployments," said Prince, who founded Blackwater and is himself a former Navy SEAL. "No individual ever protected by Blackwater has ever been killed or seriously injured. There is no better evidence of the skill and dedication of these men."

The Democrats on the panel cited various reports in their portrayal of Blackwater as a lawless army whose hired guns have killed innocent civilians without repercussions. Indeed, Blackwater, which has a contract with the State Department, is not beholden to either Iraqi law or U.S. military law. And that's because Congress either forgot or did not bother to make it so.

Continue reading "Blackwater CEO Confident -- And For Good Reason"

Posted at 4:50 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Asia, Congress, Crime, David Petraeus, House, Iraq, Middle East, Military
Share via

Wyatt Admits To Role In Oil-For-Food Scandal

Jurors got a surprise yesterday in the trial of Oscar Wyatt: Well into the third week of testimony, the Texas oil mogul pleaded guilty to charges that he'd paid kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's government.

The octogenarian billionaire accepted a deal of an 18- to 24-month sentence for admitting to one count of wire fraud -- as opposed to the 70-year sentence he would have been handed if found guilty on all five counts. Wyatt had maintained his innocence since he was arrested in Houston two years ago.

Continue reading "Wyatt Admits To Role In Oil-For-Food Scandal"

Posted at 7:41 AM
Posted to: Iraq, Middle East, U.N.
Share via

October 01, 2007

Congressional Report Paints Harsh Picture Of Blackwater

In anticipation of tomorrow's hearing on Blackwater USA's activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has released a preliminary report detailing the private security contractor's alleged recklessness in several shootings and its attempts, sometimes with the help of the State Department, to cover up those incidents.

The report [PDF], compiled by the committee's Democratic majority staff, claims that Blackwater "has been involved in at least 195 'escalation of force' incidents in Iraq since 2005 that involved the firing of shots by Blackwater forces," and that while the company's government contract stipulates that it should only "engage in defensive use of force," Blackwater employees fired the first shots" in more than 80 percent of the shooting incidents.

Continue reading "Congressional Report Paints Harsh Picture Of Blackwater"

Posted at 4:22 PM
Posted to: Congress, House, Iraq
Share via

Changing Of The Guard At The Joint Chiefs

With the departure of Gen. Peter Pace and installment of Adm. Michael Mullen as the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top leadership of the Iraq war now looks very different from 2003, when the initial invasion was launched.

Following former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, former Joint Chiefs Chairman Richard Myers and retired Gen. John Abizaid, Pace this morning became, in the words of NPR's Tom Bowman, the "last of the senior Pentagon officials who helped plan and carry out the Iraq war" to leave the Defense Department. Back in June, Defense Secretary Robert Gates decided not to renominate Pace because he feared it would lead to a "backward-looking instead of forward-looking and contentious" confirmation hearing.

During his term as Joint Chiefs chairman, Pace largely escaped the scrutinizing eye of war skeptics in Washington, which made Gates' announcement something of a surprise. The most controversial aspect of Pace's tenure seems to have stemmed from his position on homosexuality and gays in the military, not the Iraq war.

Indeed, the strongest criticism lodged against Pace -- that he was too passive in the face of faulty leadership -- seems to say more about his superiors than his own judgment. "It goes back to, do you think you were effective in advising the secretary of Defense and the president," Pace's predecessor, Gen. Myers, told NPR last week. "I think the answer is yes in both our cases. I think we were trusted advisers. Does it mean that civilian authorities were always going to follow your advice? No, it does not."

Continue reading "Changing Of The Guard At The Joint Chiefs"

Posted at 3:30 PM
Posted to: Iraq, Michael Mullen, Military, Peter Pace
Share via

Civilian And Military Deaths Down In Iraq

The number of violent deaths in Iraq has fallen to the lowest levels since February 2006, according to new reports from the Iraqi government and the U.S. Department of Defense.

The number of Iraqi civilians killed in September dropped to 884, less than half of the August count. That makes September the least violent month in Iraq since the bombing of the Golden Mosque, a sacred Shiite religious site, in February 2006 that set off waves of sectarian violence across the country.

Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 commander of U.S.-led forces in Iraq, told reporters in Baghdad in late September that there has been a 50-percent drop in violence in Baghdad since January "and the trend continues to be down."

Continue reading "Civilian And Military Deaths Down In Iraq"

Posted at 10:57 AM
Posted to: Iraq, Middle East, Military
Share via

September 27, 2007

The N.H. Democratic Debate: Blurring The Lines Of Distinction

The longer the seemingly endless presidential primary season drags on, the more it's beginning to look like there's not much, substantively or ideologically, to distinguish the top tier of Democratic contenders.

Indeed, front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton more or less admitted in her numerous television appearances over the weekend that she and her fellow Democrats were united on the subject of universal health care, and that her much-vaunted plan wasn't even all that different from those proposed by John Edwards and Barack Obama.

And when it comes to the issue most voters claim is the most important to them -- the war in Iraq -- last night's Democratic debate in New Hampshire further blurred the lines of distinction among the top three. Debate moderator Tim Russert of NBC News pulled no punches, kicking off the event with a specific and pointed question for all the candidates: Will you pledge to remove all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of your first term in January 2013?

The answer from Clinton, Edwards and Obama was a resounding "no," which suggests that all three of them now have at least one eye on the general election, not on winning over anti-war activists and the left-wing netroots.

Continue reading "The N.H. Democratic Debate: Blurring The Lines Of Distinction"

Posted at 4:20 PM
Posted to: Campaigns, Democrats, Iraq, WH 2008
Share via

War-Funding Request Rises; Dems Ponder Delay

Even as the House approved stopgap funding yesterday to keep the federal government operating beyond Monday, the Bush administration upped its emergency war-funding request to $192.8 billion and counting. Increasingly frustrated by the impasse over spending bills as well as a lack of specificity from the White House on its amended war budget, Democrats are considering delaying the supplemental request until early next year. "It is being discussed," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., confirmed.

See CongressDaily (subscription) for the full story.

Posted at 7:48 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Iraq
Share via

September 26, 2007

Senate Approves Biden's Plan To Partition Iraq

When the Democratic presidential candidates gather in New Hampshire tonight for yet another debate, don't be surprised if Joseph Biden walks on stage with an extra spring in his step. The Delaware senator just scored a fairly significant victory on the issue that has dominated his campaign: Iraq's political future.

Today, the Senate overwhelmingly passed an amendment "calling for creation of a federal system of government in Iraq with regions divided along ethnic lines," CongressDaily reports. The measure, sponsored by Biden, marks the first Democratic amendment calling for a change in Bush's war policy to clear Senate negotiations of the defense authorization bill. And it passed with a bipartisan, 75-23 majority.

Continue reading "Senate Approves Biden's Plan To Partition Iraq"

Posted at 3:15 PM
Posted to: Campaigns, Democrats, Iraq, Joseph Biden, WH 2008
Share via

DOD Team To Investigate Security Contractors

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered a Pentagon investigation of security contractors in Iraq after a deadly gunfight involving Blackwater employees raised questions about oversight of foreign contractors in Iraq.

AP reports that in a briefing today, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said the initial round of answers to Gates' questions about the military's relationship with private contractors has "not been satisfactory" and that he is seeking a deeper probe into the matter.

Although he would not elaborate on the specifics of Gates' dissatisfaction with the investigation thus far, Morrell did say that a five-person team has already been sent to Iraq and "will talk to all the key players" there, including top U.S. commanders Gen. David Petraeus and Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno. The team is expected to report back to Gates by the end of the week.

Continue reading "DOD Team To Investigate Security Contractors"

Posted at 1:28 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, House, Iraq, Middle East, Military, Robert Gates
Share via

U.N. General Assembly: Like Last Year, Only Worse

The astute Brits at the Economist called it.

By granting so many interviews to curious American journalists and agreeing to take questions from college students at Columbia, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made sure that this year's meeting of the U.N. General Assembly would revolve around him. It helps that his BFF in these parts, Venezuelan firebrand Hugo Chavez, sat this one out, which means Ahmadinejad's "no gays in Iran" statement remains the craziest (and most sinister) thing said all week.

Ahmadinejad put on his "serious" face (no smiling) yesterday when he delivered his U.S.-centric speech before the General Assembly. The American delegation didn't bother to stick around for its entirety, such was its predictability. If this scenario reminds you of last year's meeting at the U.N., it should. The bottom line for the Security Council has been no nuclear material for Iran, period. Yesterday, Ahmadinejad ensured that the U.N. will act to shut him down, one way or another.

Continue reading "U.N. General Assembly: Like Last Year, Only Worse"

Posted at 1:15 PM
Posted to: Asia, Bush Administration, Chechnya, China, Condoleezza Rice, Hugo Chavez, IAEA, Iran, Iraq, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East, North Korea, Nuclear Weapons, President Bush, Russia, Terrorism, U.N.
Share via

September 25, 2007

Bush's Other Legacy On Display At U.N.

President Bush called on the U.N. General Assembly to renew its focus on human rights, as he reminded increasingly distant member nations of America's outsized role in humanitarian work around the globe.

Placing the spotlight on the U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Bush told the audience, "The nations in this chamber have our differences. Yet there are some areas where we can all agree."

The president ticked off a laundry list of ills, some of them ancient, still plaguing the globe, from malaria to HIV/AIDS, starvation to closed markets, impositions on the freedom of speech and assembly, and "tyranny and violence."

The Universal Declaration is not being upheld, Bush said, "when innocent people are trapped in a life of murder and fear" or "when millions of children starve to death or die from a mosquito bite."

"Changing these underlying conditions is what the declaration calls the work of underlying freedom," he said.

Bush then turned his attention to the representatives of Myanmar.

Continue reading "Bush's Other Legacy On Display At U.N."

Posted at 12:17 PM
Posted to: Asia, Bill Clinton, Bush Administration, China, Climate Change, HIV/AIDS, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East, President Bush, Russia, Terrorism, U.N.
Share via

Suicide Bombing Targets Iraqi Reconciliation Effort

The relative quiet that had befallen Iraq during this holy month of Ramadan was broken when a series of bombings left dozens of people dead and scores wounded over the past 24 hours.

Agence France-Presse reports that the death toll currently stands at 37 from several attacks, including a suicide bombing in a village mosque in Baquba, a city north of Baghdad; a double car bombing outside a bank in Baghdad; and a suicide bombing outside the police headquarters in the southern city of Basra.

The Baquba attack last night came as local Sunni and Shiite officials taking part in a political reconciliation meeting were breaking their daily Ramadan fast for an evening meal that was designed to show unity among the two Muslim groups.

Continue reading "Suicide Bombing Targets Iraqi Reconciliation Effort"

Posted at 10:03 AM
Posted to: Iraq
Share via

September 21, 2007

Blackwater Returns Amid Questions About Private Contractors

UPDATED.

Blackwater USA, the private security contractor involved in a Baghdad shooting incident last weekend, is reportedly going back to work as normal this weekend.

Activity from the company had been suspended after an incident Sunday, during which U.S. and Iraqi officials agree that eight or more Iraqi civilians were killed by Blackwater guards who were trying to protect a diplomatic convoy. But that's where the stories diverge: U.S. officials claim the guards were responding to an attack on the convoy. (An American report is still pending, and officials are refusing to comment until the investigation is complete.)

The Iraqi government, on the other hand, claims the attack was unprovoked. In a new report on the incident, which the New York Times obtained yesterday, Iraq's Ministry of Interior says guards immediately began firing on a car that drove through a signal to stop in Baghdad's Nisour Square.

Continue reading "Blackwater Returns Amid Questions About Private Contractors"

Posted at 2:33 PM
Posted to: Iraq, Middle East
Share via

September 20, 2007

Bush Riffs On Iran, MoveOn And 'Missing' Rumsfeld

Proving yet again that his lame-duck status is the media's gain, President Bush treated the White House press corps to a freewheeling Q&A session this morning, in which the explainer in chief talked about the threat of war with Iran, that MoveOn ad, the GOP's record on race relations -- and even his feelings.

Before taking questions, though, the president scolded Democrats for failing to promptly renew a federal health insurance program for low-income children. "Unfortunately, instead of working with the administration to enact this funding increase to children's health care, Democrats have passed a bill they know will be vetoed."

Congressional negotiators are working to reconcile the House and Senate bills under threat of veto from Bush for provisions that raise the income ceiling for eligibility.

"One of the [Democratic] leaders said a veto would be a victory," Bush said, visibly irked. He was referring to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, who said this week that a White House veto of final SCHIP legislation might be read as opposition to insuring poor children, which would be a "political victory" for Democrats.

Bush said that he has backed SCHIP since his days as governor of Texas, but that he opposed offering federally funded health care to children from families earning $80,000. The income ceiling is actually not that high in either the Senate or House bills, though some states are permitted to issue waivers to families earning around that much. Democrats want to roll back a policy introduced by the White House last summer that prohibits SCHIP coverage for households earning two and a half times the poverty level, or $51,625 for a family of four. They contend that private insurance is prohibitively expensive for some middle-income households.

The president also said he opposed all new taxes, including the cigarette tax hike that would help fund SCHIP. "There's no need to raise taxes. I believe this is a step toward federalization of health care," Bush said. "Their proposal is beyond the scope of the program."

Continue reading "Bush Riffs On Iran, MoveOn And 'Missing' Rumsfeld"

Posted at 11:23 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, David Petraeus, Donald Rumsfeld, Economy, Iran, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Republicans, Taxes, WH 2008
Share via

September 19, 2007

Webb Amendment Restricting Length Of Deployments Defeated

UPDATED.

A bill sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., that would have put strict limits on the duration of troop deployments garnered 56 votes in a voice vote this afternoon, four short of the 60 needed to reach cloture.

The legislation, an amendment to the defense authorization bill, had provided a glimmer of hope for war opponents one day after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, citing Republican intransigence, nixed a bipartisan effort to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq.

The legislation would have given troops serving in Iraq at least as much time stateside as they spend on their combat tours. It was defeated in a cloture vote in July but had since resurfaced as the Democrats' last hope of changing course in Iraq -- and ducking the anger of anti-war voters.

Continue reading "Webb Amendment Restricting Length Of Deployments Defeated"

Posted at 6:23 PM
Posted to: Congress, Iraq, Military, President Bush, Robert Gates, Senate
Share via

September 18, 2007

Petraeus & Crocker Take Report To U.K.

After a grueling week of testimony, interviews and close public scrutiny in their home country, the top U.S. military and diplomatic officials in Iraq flew to the United Kingdom to face an even tougher crowd.

Even though Britain's contribution in manpower and money to the war in Iraq has been far less than America's, resentment over the war and its costs arguably runs deeper across the pond. Tensions have grown worse since the departure of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, a staunch supporter of President Bush's foreign policies, and the pullout of nearly all British troops from Basra, their last stronghold in Iraq.

But in talks with new Prime Minister Gordon Brown today, U.S. Gen. David Petraeus had nothing but praise for the British armed services and their dedication to the fight in Iraq.

Continue reading "Petraeus & Crocker Take Report To U.K."

Posted at 2:15 PM
Posted to: David Petraeus, Europe, Gordon Brown, Iraq, Military, U.K.
Share via

September 17, 2007

Blackwater Incident Highlights U.S. Dependence On Contractors

One question immediately comes to mind following the Iraqi government's decision to give U.S. contractor Blackwater USA the boot: Can they do that?

Iraq's government is pretty much sovereign in name only, despite what anyone says, because of its existential dependency on the United States. The U.S. relies heavily on contractors like the North Carolina-based Blackwater, which provides security for American diplomats there, including Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

If the U.S. wants those services continued, the trick will be to dissuade the Iraqis from revoking Blackwater's contract without appearing to have bullied them into a reversal.

Continue reading "Blackwater Incident Highlights U.S. Dependence On Contractors"

Posted at 5:04 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military
Share via

September 14, 2007

Bush's Iraq: The Future Is Now

The closest most Americans get to a frontline view of the war are the accounts of journalists on the ground. Increasingly, reporters are having trouble keeping their anger and frustration over the state of affairs in Iraq below the surface.

Last night, CNN's Michael Ware could not contain his disbelief after President Bush's address to the nation on the war.

"My first impression is -- wow," Ware responded after host Anderson Cooper asked for reaction to the speech. "It's one thing to return to the status quo, to the situation we had nine months ago with 130,000 U.S. troops stuck here for the foreseeable future. It's another thing to perpetuate the myth" of a stabilized Iraq.

The Aussie native proceeded to swiftly rebut some claims the president made during his prime-time address. "Let me go down this list of what the president said. That 'if America were to be driven out of Iraq, extremists of all strains would be emboldened.' They are now. 'Al-Qaida could gain new recruits and new sanctuaries.' They have that now. 'Iran would benefit from the chaos and be encouraged in its efforts to gain nuclear weapons and dominate the region.' It is now. 'Iraq could face a humanitarian nightmare.' It does now. And that 'we would leave our children to face a far more dangerous world.' That's happening now. That's 'wow.'" (Here's the YouTube video.)

Ware, for you cable news haters, was Time magazine's Baghdad bureau chief before joining CNN in June 2006, smack-dab in the middle of the raging insurgency that nearly engulfed the entire country.

Continue reading "Bush's Iraq: The Future Is Now"

Posted at 6:19 PM
Posted to: David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, Terrorism
Share via

WH: Iraq Meeting Half Its Benchmarks Of Progress

Last night, President Bush told the American people that the surge is working and that, as a result, "Iraq's national leaders are getting some things done." The White House followed up that assessment with a report [PDF] today showing that Iraqi leaders have made "satisfactory progress" toward achieving nine out of 18 benchmarks of progress established by Congress -- that's one more benchmark than they had met as of July [PDF], according to the White House.

Despite Bush's words of praise for Iraq's security forces and political leaders in his address last night, the report indicates their work is, at best, only halfway done. "The government has not met its own legislative benchmarks," Bush acknowledged last night, "and in my meetings with Iraqi leaders, I have made it clear that they must."

Continue reading "WH: Iraq Meeting Half Its Benchmarks Of Progress"

Posted at 3:12 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Iraq, President Bush
Share via

Bush: Aiming For 'Return On Success' In Iraq

As expected, President Bush faced the nation in a televised address last night and announced he was endorsing the recommendations of Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, for a gradual reduction of U.S. forces there during the first half of next year.

"The principle guiding my decisions on troop levels in Iraq is 'return on success.' The more successful we are, the more American troops can return home," Bush said. "And in all we do, I will ensure that our commanders on the ground have the troops and flexibility they need to defeat the enemy." The V-word ("victory") was notably missing from his speech.

Continue reading "Bush: Aiming For 'Return On Success' In Iraq"

Posted at 7:24 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, David Petraeus, Iraq, Military, President Bush
Share via

September 13, 2007

Sunni Leader And U.S. Ally Killed In Iraq

A key Sunni leader who cooperated with the U.S. was killed by insurgents in Iraq today. AP reports that Sheik Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha and two of his personal bodyguards died when a roadside bomb exploded near his home in Ramadi, capital of Iraq's Anbar province.

Abu Risha was the leader of the Anbar Salvation Council, also called the "Anbar Awakening," an alliance of Sunni Arab tribes that have joined with American forces and the Iraqi government in an effort to reclaim the overwhelmingly Sunni province from al-Qaida in Iraq. The group has helped restore peace and order to Anbar, once considered by the U.S. to be firmly in the hands of the insurgency.

The group has been heralded by supporters of the war as an example of success in Iraq and a role model for the rest of the country. Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, testifying this week before Congress, frequently cited Anbar as evidence of a new bottom-up reconciliation process that they hope will spread to other provinces.

Continue reading "Sunni Leader And U.S. Ally Killed In Iraq"

Posted at 1:27 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Terrorism
Share via

September 12, 2007

Not An Open-Ended Commitment. Just Really Bloody Long.

President Bush is expected to confirm tomorrow night that he will follow Gen. David Petraeus' and Ambassador Ryan Crocker's recommendations for the Iraq war. Get ready for a long, hard slog through this political season.

The dominant feeling on the Hill today is that after an agonizingly long five months of waiting for the Petraeus-Crocker report to arrive, nothing has changed with regard to a way out of Iraq. The "surge" strategy is working, lawmakers were told, but only in part. The missing link is national political reconciliation, and we still don't know how to get there. In summary: Give us more time.

Not good enough, appears to be the conclusion of most Democrats and even some Republicans. Their objection is twofold.

Continue reading "Not An Open-Ended Commitment. Just Really Bloody Long."

Posted at 7:53 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Constitution, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush
Share via

A U.S. Mission Shift In Iraq?

In his testimony before House and Senate panels this week, Army Gen. David Petraeus urged a deliberative approach for shifting security responsibilities to the nascent Iraqi army, but it is not clear he will have the last word on timing.

Some top military and civilian officials are privately advocating that the Iraqis be given greater control over the primary U.S. mission in Iraq -- securing the population from insurgent and sectarian attacks -- on a faster timetable than Petraeus appears ready to embrace, reports Elaine M. Grossman of Global Security Newswire.

Grossman's article on a potential U.S. mission change in Iraq is available at NationalJournal.com for free. And in today's Poll Track (subscription), a new survey reveals Americans are resistant to a rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Photo: Liz Lynch

Posted at 12:58 PM
Posted to: David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military
Share via

Bush To Back Drawdown Plan

AP reported late yesterday that President Bush planned to endorse Gen. David Petraeus' recommendation of a gradual withdrawal of up to 30,000 troops during the first half of next year. The plan would bring U.S. troop levels down to pre-surge levels by summer 2008.

Bush's enactment of the plan would be contingent upon events on the ground, specifically the continued success of the surge as reported by Petraeus in his testimony before Congress this week. The president plans to announce his intentions in a 15-minute televised address at 9 p.m. EDT Thursday. The White House will also present a written status report on the surge on Friday.

This morning, the Washington Post reports that Bush's support of Petraeus' recommendation is already drawing fire from congressional Democrats and some Republicans who are seeking a more rapid withdrawal from Iraq.

Posted at 8:01 AM
Posted to: Congress, David Petraeus, Iraq, Military, President Bush
Share via

September 11, 2007

Liveblogging The Other Senate Iraq Report Hearing

[Senate Foreign Relations hearing] [Joint House hearing]

End note. March is the new September. Petraeus has made it crystal clear he's not discussing an ultimate drawdown until that month next year. Reid and Pelosi have promised a super-charged challenge to Bush, which he is expected to ignore or squash. For now, it doesn't look like we'll get the GOP insurrection Democrats have been praying for, and we'll know for sure soon enough. Check back tomorrow for reaction from the White House and Hill. Good night.

7:33. Crocker on the spending: "It's something we have to do, because we don't have enough people in the State Department, and they [private contractors] do it very well."

7:28. The former auditor says the amount of U.S. money spent in one month in Iraq could buy health insurance for 800,000 American children. Expect to see more of that stat this election cycle.

7:22. McCaskill also wants to send Tony Soprano to Baghdad. Crocker responds, "We can facilitate. We can pressure to some degree. Ultimately, national reconciliation has to be an Iraqi process." He continues with words that both hurt and help him: "This is a long, slow, hard grind, that could become easier" in the improved security environment.

7:19. Oh thank God. McCaskill's back.

7:17. Oh golly. Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill, who hasn't gotten to ask questions yet, and Chairman Levin are both away for a vote. The committee is going to wait for them, and in the meantime Warner is asking follow-up questions. This really is starting to get torturous.

7:07. A parachute for fence-sitters, courtesy of Crocker. Frustrated Republicans, including Tennessee's Bob Corker it seems, want to know why U.S. officials don't simply strong-arm Iraqi politicians, Tony Soprano-style. Crocker's testimony indicates he doesn't buy into this approach, which possibly hands certain Republicans looking for a credible way to break with the administration a means to do so.

Continue reading "Liveblogging The Other Senate Iraq Report Hearing"

Posted at 7:50 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, David Petraeus, Democrats, Donald Rumsfeld, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Iran, Iraq, John McCain, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Republicans, Senate, WH 2008
Share via

Senate Lunch Chatter: Stances On Iraq Harden

On the anniversary of 9/11, the talk in the halls outside the Senate weekly caucus lunches centered on the future of the war in Iraq. Sandwiched between hearings before the Foreign Relations Committee and Armed Services Committee in which Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker asked for more time for U.S. forces in Iraq, the lunch chatter revealed a general hardening of positions on each side of the aisle.

Democrats stuck to their calls for a timeline for withdrawal, albeit one that could have a goal rather than a deadline for the drawdown of troops to a much lower level for limited purposes. Republicans said they were inclined to stick with Petraeus' plans. A few senators, such as Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, talked up possible bipartisan compromises, but Gordon Smith, R-Ore., said a road to a bipartisan agreement looked rocky.

Continue reading "Senate Lunch Chatter: Stances On Iraq Harden"

Posted at 2:20 PM
Posted to: David Petraeus, Iraq, Senate
Share via

The Petraeus Report: How's It Playing In Baghdad?

In the coming days and weeks, Washington (and Iowa and New Hampshire) will no doubt be abuzz with reactions to the Iraq status report being delivered by Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker on Capitol Hill this week. But American politicians and policy wonks aren't the only ones hanging on the officials' every word. Iraqis, too, are watching.

Following yesterday's testimony in the House, AP and Agence France Presse informally surveyed some Iraqis for their reactions.

The results ranged from the hopeful ("The government will improve when the Americans stays to monitor the political and military process in order for Iraq to reach peaceful shores") to the disappointed ("I don't think this will change anything in our country because the Americans will never leave Iraq") to the downright snarky ("If the Americans can't make their own microphones work, how can they may things work in Iraq?").

Reuters, meanwhile, reports on the reaction of Iraqi leaders in Baghdad, who expressed hope that "in the near future... our need will be diminished for the multinational forces to conduct direct combat operations."

Posted at 2:10 PM
Posted to: David Petraeus, Iraq, Military
Share via

Liveblogging The Senate Iraq Report Hearing

[Senate Armed Services hearing] [Joint House hearing]

1:59. John McCain and Susan Collins are filing in for the Armed Services hearing. C-SPAN expects this round to last about as long. Good lord -- forget the sandwich Biden advised, get these gentlemen an IV. We're going to follow the Armed Services hearing in a new post, and will only report anything new-ish that happens there.

1:56. Biden wrapping up. He lays praise on them before concluding that without details on the final drawdown, there's nothing new here. Good bet many of his fellow panelists feel the same way.

1:53. Happily, he closes with a question nearly everyone in the military wants answered re the deployment schedule. In case anyone's forgotten, the rationale for staying in Iraq seems to have gotten gradually farther away from a national self-interest; meanwhile, American troops are serving repeat and longer tours with less time at home.

Continue reading "Liveblogging The Senate Iraq Report Hearing"

Posted at 2:00 PM
Posted to: Barack Obama, Bush Administration, Campaigns, Christopher Dodd, David Petraeus, Democrats, Iraq, Joseph Biden, Middle East, Military, President Bush, WH 2008
Share via

September 10, 2007

Liveblogging The House Iraq Report Hearing

[Senate Foreign Relations hearing] [Senate Armed Services hearing]

6:45. It's over, it's really over. Tomorrow, on the sixth anniversary of 9/11, Petraeus and Crocker are due back on the Hill at 9:30 EDT to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Senate hearing will be shorter than today's (mercifully), and as we said earlier might be a little more uncomfortable for Crocker and Petraeus thanks to the presidential aspirations of Joseph Biden, Christopher Dodd and Barack Obama, who sit on the committee. We'll be following the proceedings. See you tomorrow.

6:42. Calif. Democrat Loretta Sanchez also accuses Petraeus of cherrypicking. Were they saving the hostile committee members for last?

Sanchez does get to a very good question, though: If life is improving in Iraq, why are Iraqis so miserable? She points to a new poll on Iraqis' attitudes, which shows most of them are miserable, frightened and deeply pessimistic about their future. Crocker, whose central thesis is that Iraqis are far too traumatized and so new to democracy that nation-building will be a protracted and messy affair, says he hasn't seen the poll, and doesn't have much of an answer beyond that.

6:31. The blame-the-Iraqis tack some U.S. pols have adopted in recent months has always seemed a little too convenient. Crocker appears to agree. Missouri Republican Todd Akin asks why Petraeus and Crocker haven't been harder on Iraqi politicians today, and Crocker's measured response is among the more credible arguments for keeping the surge going. "A tremendous amount has happened in a very short time," he says of improvements in some provinces. Crocker adds that in some of the newly stabilized regions, Iraqi leaders are working on restoring law and order. More important, they know that their funding comes from Baghdad, and are showing cooperation with the central government as a result, he says.

Continue reading "Liveblogging The House Iraq Report Hearing"

Posted at 6:56 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, Congress, David Petraeus, House, Iran, Iraq, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Syria, Terrorism
Share via

MoveOn.org 'Betray Us' Ad Infuriates GOP

A full-page MoveOn.org print ad run in the Monday edition of the New York Times has ignited a firestorm among Republicans. The ad, set to coincide with the Gen. David Petraeus' hearings before Congress, accuses the top general in Iraq of "cooking the books for the White House" and asks if he shouldn't be called "General Betray Us."

"General Petraeus will not admit what everyone knows: Iraq is mired in an unwinnable religious
civil war," the ad charges. While Petraeus has hinted that he might call for a small reduction of U.S. troops at the end of this year, "we won’t hear what Americans are desperate to hear: a timetable for withdrawing all our troops."

Continue reading "MoveOn.org 'Betray Us' Ad Infuriates GOP"

Posted at 1:29 PM
Posted to: Iraq, Middle East
Share via

Petraeus Testimony Unlikely To Yield Surprises

An Iraq-focused week for Congress kicks off today with the first reports from Gen. David Petraeus. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker will also head to the Hill this week.

The long-awaited assessments come after the Bush administration asked legislators in May to wait through the summer to cast judgment on the effects of the troop surge. President Bush plans a public address at the end of the week to announce plans for the future in the wake of the reports.

Congressional Democrats have tried to blunt the impact of the current assessment. On FOX News Sunday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., reminded viewers that Petraeus is not "an independent evaluator" and is tied closely to the Bush administration. White House spokesman Tony Fratto hit back, accusing Democrats of letting liberal group MoveOn.org -- which is running an ad in the New York Times today on "General Betray Us" -- "write their talking points."

Continue reading "Petraeus Testimony Unlikely To Yield Surprises"

Posted at 9:00 AM
Posted to: Congress, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military
Share via

September 07, 2007

Bush Says We're 'Kicking Ass' In Iraq. Discuss.

That the commander in chief and military leaders must keep an upbeat tone about a war in which thousands of Americans have died is understandable. But this particular commander in chief certainly has a way of sticking his foot in it.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, when asked by Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile how the president's recent trip to Iraq went, Bush responded, "We're kicking ass."

Bush, of course, is in Australia for the APEC summit, far from the eyes and ears of Beltway reporters gearing up for next week's Iraq report from General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Whether the U.S. actually is "kicking ass" in Iraq is clearly debatable: Next week, Petraeus and Crocker are expected to validate Bush's "surge" strategy on the heels of two independent reports that find little payoff from efforts to transition Iraq into an independently functional democracy.

Continue reading "Bush Says We're 'Kicking Ass' In Iraq. Discuss."

Posted at 5:00 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush
Share via

September 06, 2007

The FOX Republican Debate; Thompson's Tease On Leno

Last night, the GOP candidates for president once again gathered before the podiums -- this time in New Hampshire -- to talk Iraq, immigration, the economy and more. As always, The Gate was watching.

Score a few for McCain. It's hard to envision the Arizona senator getting much further in this race after the losses he's suffered this summer, and yet it's equally hard to accept that John McCain's candidacy might be over so soon. He has the most storied military and foreign policy experience out of everyone on that stage, and all the change vs. experience talk this cycle has obscured the fact that this election is really about both.

Experience is the change. The Iraq war was planned and managed by civilians with no substantive military experience who ignored the advice of the Colin Powells and Brent Scowcrofts of the nation. Yes, McCain supported the invasion, but he was among the first to spot flaws in the postwar planning, and he says he's committed to leaving Iraq better than it was, which means he's both critical and supportive of ongoing operations there.

Whereas his earlier platform on Iraq too closely echoed the perceived blindness from the White House, costing him independent voters, McCain seems to have found a more credible argument for the war. "The people in New Hampshire are sad and angry over our failures in Iraq," McCain said last night. "I want our troops home. But I want them home with honor, otherwise we will face genocide and catastrophe in the region." The first point is clearly true, and voters may be coming around to the second point. Just ask the Democrats, who've been forced to temper their get-out-now calls.

Continue reading "The FOX Republican Debate; Thompson's Tease On Leno"

Posted at 10:38 AM
Posted to: Campaigns, Fred Thompson, Iraq, John McCain, Middle East, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Republicans, Ron Paul, Rudy Giuliani, Sam Brownback, Tom Tancredo, WH 2008
Share via

September 04, 2007

GAO Iraq Report More Positive Than Expected, But Still Grim

According to the new Government Accountability Office report [PDF] on progress in Iraq, 11 of the 18 political and security benchmarks set by Congress have not been met. That's a welcome development, considering an earlier draft indicated efforts on 15 fronts were failing.

According to the report, analysts revised their draft assessments after some back-and-forth with the State Department and DOD. For instance, GAO had initially characterized goals for the training and readiness of Iraqi brigades in Baghdad as "not met." But after "the U.S. commander embedded with the units attested to their fighting capabilities," and with the help of additional data, GAO upgraded its rating to "partially met."

An AP report earlier said GAO revised its ratings after "substantial pushback" from the White House. A GAO spokeswoman denied that was the case, and pointed to the report's explanation that the ratings were changed based on new or overlooked information. AP has since swapped the "pushback" characterization to "substantial resistance."

While recent developments such as the tentative power-sharing compromise did help shape the final product, the overall picture remains predictably grim.

Continue reading "GAO Iraq Report More Positive Than Expected, But Still Grim"

Posted at 6:06 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Iraq, Middle East
Share via

While You Were In Nantucket...

Welcome back, Beltway! Summer in the swamp is officially over, and the 2008 campaign season is, well, still under way, it having gone official months ago. It's less than 15 months until Election Day, a little longer than that before President Bush U-Hauls himself back to Texas. There's a lot of work ahead and a fast-diminishing amount of time to get it done. Let's take a quick look at what you missed over the long Labor Day weekend, and what to watch for in the weeks ahead.

Don't be gay, or get out of the way. The Republican Party dispensed with problem senator Larry Craig like so much used Kleenex. On Saturday, the Idaho legislator announced he would step down on Sept. 30. Craig conceded defeat just days after vehemently denying he had solicited sex in a men's bathroom and that he was gay.

The GOP knows that its brand is in trouble, and the last thing it needs is another Mark Foley-type scandal -- lack of evidence notwithstanding. The ever-judicious Arlen Specter is one of the few, if not only, fellow Republicans to point out that there's no proof beyond anonymous accounts that Craig's wide-stance toe-tapping was definitely a come-hither invite to the undercover officer in the stall next door.

Continue reading "While You Were In Nantucket..."

Posted at 1:11 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, Iraq, Larry Craig, Middle East, President Bush, Senate
Share via

August 30, 2007

GAO Draft Complicates Reports Of Iraqi Progress

UPDATED.

A new assessment of the situation in Iraq conducted by the Government Accountability Office paints a far gloomier picture of progress there than the White House's own preliminary findings, released last month. A draft of the report leaked to the Washington Post found that Iraq has met only three of the 18 military and political benchmarks set by Congress in order to measure progress there, while two others have been "partially met."

The Pentagon was quick to dispute that account. Today, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said that after reviewing the draft, military officials "made some factual corrections" and suggested the GAO change some of its grades. "We have provided the GAO with information which we believe will lead them to conclude that a few of the benchmark grades should be upgraded from 'not met' to 'met,'" he said.

Evaluating the progress in Iraq, the draft concludes that, "Overall, key legislation has not been passed, violence remains high, and it is unclear whether the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion in reconstruction funds." Elsewhere, it states simply, "The capabilities of Iraqi security forces have not improved."

Continue reading "GAO Draft Complicates Reports Of Iraqi Progress"

Posted at 1:00 PM
Posted to: Iraq, Middle East
Share via

August 29, 2007

Iraq News Roundup: War Funding, Karbala Curfew, Cholera Outbreak

War Spending: The Washington Post reports that President Bush will request up to $50 billion in additional funding for the war in Iraq. The president plans to wait until after Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker deliver their September progress reports to present his request to Congress. This signals that the administration is confident it can resist calls for troop withdrawal.

Militias: Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is suspending the activities of his Mahdi Army militia for the next six months in order to "rehabilitate" and "reorganize".

Karbala: Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki imposed a curfew in the city of Karbala after fighting on Tuesday left dozens killed and wounded. Calm has been restored to the city, but Radio Free Europe reports that the clashes in Karbala were between rival Shiite militias and that this "may mark the beginning of a new phase of fighting" in southern Iraq.

Health: Officials are reporting a breakout of cholera in northern Iraq. Over 4,000 patients have been treated for the disease and it is being blamed for eight deaths. Health officials warn that without aid from the international community, the outbreak could spread.

Posted at 12:53 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush
Share via

Iranian Delegates Released By U.S. Military

The U.S. military has released eight Iranians and their seven-man Iraqi security detail after taking the group into custody on Tuesday and holding them overnight for questioning at a military base. The delegation's convoy of four cars was stopped at a security checkpoint, where American and Iraqi forces found that they were carrying unlicensed weapons.

Members of the group were allowed to continue on to their hotel, but shortly after they arrived, U.S. military personnel entered their rooms and confiscated a laptop computer, cell phones and a briefcase full of U.S. and Iranian money. The Iranians were led out blindfolded and handcuffed.

Two of the Iranians were embassy staffers and were carrying diplomatic credentials. The other six were Energy Ministry officials. The group had been invited to Baghdad by the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, to help set up a new power plant. The Iranians were released by the U.S. military after consultations with the Iraqi government.

Continue reading "Iranian Delegates Released By U.S. Military"

Posted at 11:20 AM
Posted to: Iraq, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Military, President Bush
Share via

August 27, 2007

Bush Stands By Al-Maliki, But For How Long?

En route to a GOP fundraiser in Albuquerque, President Bush made an unscheduled statement about a new tentative Iraqi political accord.

"I congratulate Iraq's leaders on the agreement reached yesterday in Baghdad," Bush said after disembarking from Air Force One. "While yesterday's agreement is an important step, I reminded them, and they understand, much more needs to be done."

Yesterday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced a deal that would move the central government closer to unity after a meeting with President Jalal Talabani, who is Kurdish, Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who is Sunni, Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi, who is Shia, and Massoud Barzani, president of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. Included in the package were an agreement to release detainees held without charge, the majority of whom are Sunni, and a consensus on oil, gas and water distribution. Many of the 18 benchmarks laid out by Congress had been worked out, the leaders said.

Continue reading "Bush Stands By Al-Maliki, But For How Long?"

Posted at 3:46 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush
Share via

August 24, 2007

How To Force Bush To End The War

Here's some hopeful news for you anti-war protesters out there: By the middle of next year, it may be impossible to keep current operations going in Iraq.

Obviously, there really isn't anything hopeful or positive about this development. Officials inside and outside the Pentagon have been saying for at least a couple of years that the military was nearing its breaking point. According to Joint Chiefs Chairman Peter Pace, everything goes poof in 2008 unless forces in Iraq are reduced by almost half, the Los Angeles Times reports.

There's good reason to suspect that so long as U.S. forces continue to make some gains on the ground, as is currently the case, President Bush will continue to say that the U.S. is winning and should keep at it until Iraq is a semblance of a self-sustaining nation. Probably the only thing that could compel Bush to order a withdrawal is being told that unless he and the rest of the Bush clan are willing to take up arms and fight the war themselves, keeping it going is a physical impossibility.

Continue reading "How To Force Bush To End The War"

Posted at 2:47 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, Peter Pace, President Bush, Robert Gates
Share via

Saudi Embassy Protest Highlights Role In Iraq

UPDATED.

About a hundred Iraqi-Americans rallied this morning outside the Saudi Embassy -- and across the street from The Gate -- in protest of the kingdom's support for Sunni insurgents and terrorists in their home country. Bearing signs and banners that read "Saudi Are Behind 9/11 And Iraqi Suiside Bombing [sic]" and "Wahhabi Saudi Money Kill Our Children," the protesters traveled from across the country to send Saudi Arabia a message.

(Click here, here and here for photos of the protest.)

"The muftis of Saudi Arabia send fighters to kill the Iraqi people for their religion," said Abdul al-Mayahi of New Orleans. With protesters shouting "No bomb!" and "Down with Wahhabi!" in Arabic behind him, he continued, "We ask Saudi Arabia to act against those people who import terrorism, who come to Iraq. They need to live in peace."

But aren't the Saudis our allies in the war on terror, you ask?

Not quite.

Continue reading "Saudi Embassy Protest Highlights Role In Iraq"

Posted at 2:30 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, Iran, Iraq, Middle East, Robert Gates, Saudi Arabia
Share via

NIE: Political Gains In Iraq Have Been 'Elusive'

A new report from U.S. intelligence officials paints a dim picture of Iraq's political future, calling the prospects of reconciliation "elusive" and predicting a "challenging road ahead" for those wishing to bring stability to the war-torn nation. The National Intelligence Estimate [PDF] released yesterday also recognizes "measurable but uneven" progress in the country's security.

But while they predict the political situation will become more "precarious" over the course of the next year, intelligence officials are not advocating a change of course similar to the one many members of Congress and Democratic presidential candidates have been suggesting.

"We assess that changing the mission of Coalition forces from a primarily counterinsurgency and stabilization role to a primary combat support role for Iraqi forces and counterterrorist operations to prevent" al-Qaida "from establishing a safe haven would erode security gains achieved thus far," the report warns.

Continue reading "NIE: Political Gains In Iraq Have Been 'Elusive'"

Posted at 9:30 AM
Posted to: Iraq
Share via

August 23, 2007

Conservative Group Launches Pro-War Grassroots Campaign

With Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker set to deliver their highly anticipated reports on Iraq in about three weeks, groups on both sides of the aisle are seeking to frame the debate on the war and to ensure that their message prevails.

Yesterday, a new conservative group with ties to the White House launched a multimillion-dollar campaign to pressure lawmakers to stand behind the president. Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary and now spokesman for Freedom's Watch, told USA Today, "We want to get the message to both Democrats and Republicans: Don't cut and run, fully fund the troops, and victory is the only objective."

Over the past year, ads criticizing the war have far outpaced pro-war campaigns. Yesterday's debut coincided with a new effort by President Bush to revive support for operations in Iraq. The spots are running in more than 20 states, and feature Americans who have been injured in or lost loved ones to the war or 9/11. In one sp