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."

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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
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February 22, 2008

FP Responds To West Point

Yesterday, we published West Point's protest of a statistic found in the Foreign Policy magazine and Center for a New American Security [PDF] survey of active-duty and retired military officers released earlier this week. USMA spokesman Col. Bryan Hilferty said that 40 percent, not the 58 percent reported by FP, of the class of 2002 left active duty in 2007.

We requested a response from FP on Wednesday, and finally got one this afternoon.

"Foreign Policy fact checks every article that it publishes, ensuring that there is an objective and independent source for every statistic that appears in our pages. That is no less true of the U.S. Military Index appearing in the March/April issue of the magazine," editor Mike Boyer wrote in an e-mail today.

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Posted at 5:18 PM
Posted to: Military
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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
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February 21, 2008

West Point Disputes Attrition Rate In FP Report

On Tuesday, we wrote about a Foreign Policy magazine and Center for a New American Security [PDF] survey of active-duty and retired military officers that found growing concern about the strength of America's armed forces. We attributed the following statistic to FP's report on the survey:

According to Foreign Policy, nearly 60 percent of the West Point class of 2002 left active duty at their first chance to opt out, in 2007.

The United States Military Academy, better known as West Point, disputes that figure, calling it: "Hogwash. Gibberish. Misinformation."

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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.

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Posted at 8:55 AM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Bush Administration, Congress, Iraq, Military
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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
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February 12, 2008

From Russia, With Contempt

Gazprom will continue to pump gas into Ukraine after negotiators resolved a dispute with Russia, but energy supplies might be the least of the former Soviet satellite's concerns.

Asked about Ukraine's bid for inclusion in NATO, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "I draw your attention to the consequences that would follow. It is terrible to even think that in response to this... Russia cannot theoretically exclude aiming our offensive missile systems at Ukraine."

Putin said Moscow would not interfere with Ukraine's affairs, but warned Kiev that if it agreed to host missile systems or NATO bases, Russia would point its weapons at Ukraine. Putin has made similar threats to Poland and the Czech Republic, where the U.S. is planning to install anti-ballistic weapons systems.

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Posted at 4:49 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Military, Russia, Vladimir Putin
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February 11, 2008

AP: U.S. Navy Intercepted Russian Jets

AP is reporting that two U.S. fighter jets intercepted two Russian bombers flying too close to the USS Nimitz over the weekend.

According to a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity, a Russian Tupolev 95 swooped to a low altitude close to the Nimitz, while another "circled about 50 nautical miles out."

The incident coincides with another confrontation involving Japanese naval vessels. Japan lodged a protest against Moscow, claiming a Russian bomber violated the island nation's airspace. According to AFP, Japanese officials said a Tupolev 95 flew over "Sofugan, 650 kilometres (406 miles) south of Tokyo, for about three minutes" early Saturday morning.

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Posted at 5:25 PM
Posted to: Asia, Japan, Military, Russia
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Military Commissions To Get First Major Test

The Pentagon formally announced today it was seeking the death penalty for six Guantanamo detainees for their alleged roles in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The cases, to be tried jointly at the government's request, are the first to hit the U.S. government's as-yet-untested military tribunals system.

The creation of a separate judicial system for foreign terrorism suspects has been slowgoing, fraught with do-overs and heavily criticized around the world. Last June, the first two cases to be brought before the newly established military commissions -- under orders from the Supreme Court and Congress -- were summarily tossed out on technicalities. Now, DOD is signaling its intention of finally putting the military commissions to the test, and with its biggest fish in the war on terror so far.

The highest-profile defendant is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who as al-Qaida's No. 3 confessed to planning and facilitating the 9/11 attacks as well as personally beheading American journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan.

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Posted to: Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, Military, Terrorism
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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.
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February 04, 2008

Inside Bush's Budget: Pay Raise Disparities

President Bush proposed a 2.9 percent pay increase for civilian workers and a 3.4 percent pay boost for military personnel in fiscal 2009, according to budget documents released today.

The proposed pay raises rebuff calls for military-civilian pay parity from several lawmakers. Last week, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers sent a letter to the president, asking him to incorporate the principle of equal raises for service members and civilians in his budget request.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Military, President Bush
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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.

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Posted at 6:43 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, Robert Gates
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January 29, 2008

Yet Another Disheartening Veterans Care Story

Thanks to the Washington Post's work exposing the lapses in care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Americans are more familiar than ever with the mind-boggling bureaucratic maze returning war vets must navigate. Congress is expected to act again on the reforms outlined by the Dole-Shalala commission this year. (They were included in a defense authorization bill President Bush vetoed last month.)

Though many in the military and in Congress are on board with those reforms, it often seems that the real problem with veterans care is that it is split up by the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Departments and agencies don't do coordination too well in this town, as we now know all too well.

NPR's Ari Shapiro has a report highlighting this divide. For reasons they would not give, Army officials have instructed VA counterparts at Fort Drum in upstate New York not to assist disabled vets with DOD disabled benefits paperwork. One expert Shapiro interviewed surmised that DOD did so in order to save money on benefits. According to another expert, VA officials will generally do what DOD asks because they require DOD cooperation to reach out to disabled solders.

Truly, a head-scratcher. NPR reported on the DOD-VA separation last March; you can hear that report here.

Posted at 12:21 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Military, President Bush, Veterans
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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.

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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
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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"

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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
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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
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January 17, 2008

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.

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Posted at 8:55 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, House, Iraq, Military, President Bush, Senate
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January 15, 2008

Vetoed Authorization Bill Puts Military Bonuses On Hold

After relying heavily on financial incentives to attract recruits and retain war-weary troops, the military has had to put the brakes on awarding signing bonuses until Congress and the Bush administration resolve a dispute over President Bush's veto of the FY08 defense authorization bill.

House Democrats announced yesterday they would hold a vote tonight "disposing of" the president's veto of the annual policy measure over a provision the administration fears would tie up the assets of the current Iraqi government in court claims filed by victims of Saddam Hussein's regime.

A Democratic aide said a vote to override the veto is possible today, even though the White House contends the bill was killed by a pocket veto, a rejection that cannot be challenged by Congress. But the likely course of action, the aide said, would be to refer the bill back to the House Armed Services Committee, which would then "fix" the provision to smooth the way toward enactment.

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Posted at 9:06 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Constitution, House, Military, President Bush
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January 14, 2008

U.S.-Iran Confrontation: Just 'Monkey' Business?

Remember last week, when it seemed as if the controversy over the puzzling confrontation between U.S. naval ships and Iranian speedboats in the Strait of Hormuz couldn't get any weirder? Well, a new report from Navy Times blows that theory out of the water, so to speak.

The menacing voice coming from a radio transmission broadcast at the end of a Pentagon video of the clash may have been none other than "a locally famous heckler known among ship drivers as the 'Filipino Monkey,'" the Times reported yesterday. "Several Navy ship drivers interviewed by Navy Times are raising the possibility that the Monkey, or an imitator, was indeed featured in that video."

See the full story for more on the "mysterious but profane voice known by the ethnically insulting handle of 'Filipino Monkey,' likely more than one person, who listens in on ship-to-ship radio traffic and then jumps on the net shouting insults and jabbering vile epithets."

Posted at 1:16 PM
Posted to: Iran, Middle East, Military
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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
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January 11, 2008

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.

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Posted at 8:45 AM
Posted to: Detainees, Iraq, Middle East, Military
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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
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Dems Weigh Response In Defense Authorization Showdown

Congressional Democrats are grappling with how to respond to President Bush's unexpected veto of the FY08 defense authorization bill late last month because of a provision that would allow victims of state-sponsored terrorism to sue foreign governments in U.S. courts.

One response would be to hold a veto override vote in the House as early as next week, despite White House claims that the president's action constituted a pocket veto and is not subject to a challenge. House Republican leaders have urged their Democratic counterparts to fix the provision and are expected to vote to uphold the veto. While no formal vote count has yet been taken, a House GOP aide predicted Monday that a "large majority of House Republicans" would vote with the president. Should Democrats succeed, the White House could challenge the override vote -- a move that could tie up the defense bill in a murky constitutional dispute over the definition of a pocket veto, another House aide said.

Continue reading "Dems Weigh Response In Defense Authorization Showdown"

Posted at 11:13 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Constitution, House, Michael Mukasey, Military, President Bush, Senate
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January 07, 2008

U.S.-Iran Tussle Averted, Just In Time For Bush Trip

UPDATED.

Iran has confirmed an incident in which U.S. and Iranian naval vessels appear to have come dangerously close to a military confrontation, but waved off alarm over the near-clash.

"The example that happened on Saturday was similar to previous cases and is an ordinary and natural issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said, according to Reuters. "This is an ordinary issue that happens for the two sides every once in a while and after the identification of the two sides the issue is resolved."

Earlier today, U.S. officials said that the "significant" confrontation between Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessels and three U.S. naval ships ended without a shot fired. The incident came just days before George W. Bush is due in Israel for the first Mideast visit of his presidency.

Continue reading "U.S.-Iran Tussle Averted, Just In Time For Bush Trip"

Posted at 1:51 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Iran, Israel, Middle East, Military, Palestinians, President Bush
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January 03, 2008

While Congress Is Away, Troops Go Without Bonus Pay

Don't blame lawmakers, though. Blame this guy.

Without warning, President Bush killed the FY08 Defense Authorization Act that was sent to the Oval Office on Dec. 19. On Dec. 28, with Congress long gone for the holiday recess, Bush announced that he would use a pocket veto on the bill because it contained a provision (Sec. 1083) that he said would impede reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

Seeking to explain why he was blindsiding Congress on the bill, Bush said, "While my administration objected to an earlier version of this provision in previous communications about the bill, its full impact on Iraq and on our relationship with Iraq has become apparent only in recent days. Members of my administration are working with members of Congress to fix this flawed provision as soon as possible after the Congress returns."

Most members were out of town when the White House announced Bush was not going to sign the bill. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said that lawmakers won't be able to address the problem section until the Senate is back in session, which is tentatively scheduled to happen on Jan. 22.

Through an executive order, Bush implemented a 3-percent pay raise for service members effective yesterday. That's slightly less than the raise Congress had approved. And bonus payments for Army personnel and enlistees will cease until a new bill is passed and then signed.

Continue reading "While Congress Is Away, Troops Go Without Bonus Pay"

Posted at 4:30 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Military, President Bush
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January 02, 2008

DOJ To Investigate Destruction Of CIA Tapes

UPDATED.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey announced today that the Justice Department would open a criminal probe into why the CIA destroyed videotapes of terrorism interrogations, but a top administration critic renewed calls for an outside investigation.

"It is disappointing that the attorney general has stepped outside the Justice Department's own regulations and declined to appoint a more independent special counsel in this matter," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers.

The DOJ probe follows a preliminary investigation conducted internally at the CIA after Director Michael Hayden disclosed that videos of two al-Qaida suspects being harshly interrogated were destroyed. The White House has bristled at reports that it had a role in the tapes' destruction, but officials have generally refused to clarify what they knew and when they knew it.

In a statement announcing the investigation, Mukasey said, "Following a preliminary inquiry into the destruction by CIA personnel of videotapes of detainee interrogations, the Department’s National Security Division has recommended, and I have concluded, that there is a basis for initiating a criminal investigation of this matter, and I have taken steps to begin that investigation."

The investigation would normally fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. attorney's office in the Eastern District of Virginia, but following a recusal request, a U.S. attorney based in Connecticut will handle the matter, Mukasey said. U.S. attorneys are political appointees, but questions about just how political those appointments were culminated in the resignation of Mukasey's predecessor, former AG Alberto Gonzales, last year.

Mukasey described John Durham, the first assistant U.S. attorney in the Connecticut office, as "a widely respected and experienced career prosecutor who has supervised a wide range of complex investigations in the past."

Continue reading "DOJ To Investigate Destruction Of CIA Tapes"

Posted at 5:27 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, CIA, Congress, Michael Hayden, Michael Mukasey, Military, President Bush, Terrorism
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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December 11, 2007

What Is Al-Qaida In The Islamic Maghreb?

It's too soon to know for sure, but indicators so far point to a North African Sunni terrorist group, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (QIM), as the culprit behind today's twin bombings that killed more than 60 people in Algiers. U.S. and European intelligence agencies have been tracking al-Qaida-affiliated groups in North Africa for some time because of well-founded fears that it will be the next frontier in the war against Islamic terrorism.

The current incarnation of QIM is not even a year old. In January, the Algeria-based Islamic extremist group Salafist Group for Call and Combat, known by its French initials as GSPC, announced it was changing its name because its membership in al-Qaida had been formalized.

Washington counts Algeria's democratically elected government as an ally in the war on terror, and provides financial assistance [PDF] via the State Department's Middle East Partnership Initiative. QIM counts Western-friendly Algiers as its enemy, and in May the group released an audio message telling Algerians that participation in this year's elections would make them "the traitors in this great sin" of their leaders' "tyranny and infidelity and their fight against religion." A series of bomb explosions apparently targeting the elections resulted in dismal turnout for the May 17 vote.

Continue reading "What Is Al-Qaida In The Islamic Maghreb?"

Posted at 6:45 PM
Posted to: Africa, Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, Middle East, Military, Terrorism
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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
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November 27, 2007

Iranians Claim New Missile Can Reach Israel

Government officials in Iran announced today that the country has developed a new long-range missile that can hit a target more than 1,200 miles away -- far enough to reach Israel and U.S. military bases in the Middle East. Iran already possesses a fairly wide arsenal of missiles as part of its existing arms program, which was begun in 1992 to make up for a U.S. weapons embargo.

Although it's not part of the nuclear program that negotiators are trying to wrestle Tehran into dismantling, the announcement of a new missile (regardless of whether it can live up to the hype) is likely to be a source of friction between the U.S. and Iran. Rumblings about the U.S. taking military action against Iran have persisted for several months.

Agence France-Presse has a full rundown of Iran's missile capabilities.

Posted at 8:14 AM
Posted to: Iran, Israel, Middle East, Military
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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
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November 02, 2007

Enola Gay Pilot Dies At 92

Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the plane that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, died yesterday at age 92. He lived in Columbus, Ohio, where he ran an international air-taxi service after leaving the military as a brigadier general in 1966.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that Tibbets was under hospice care after being ill with heart disease. He told the Dispatch in 2005 that he wanted to be cremated and have his ashes scattered over the English Channel, although his family said final arrangements are not set.

He was 30 years old on Aug. 6, 1945, and an experienced World War II pilot who had gotten his start dropping leaflets for a candy company out of the backseat of a biplane. The Enola Gay, a B-29 Superfortress bomber, was named after his mother.

Tibbets, who gathered some media attention over the years, said repeatedly that he didn't regret the decision to drop the bomb.

Continue reading "Enola Gay Pilot Dies At 92"

Posted at 10:20 AM
Posted to: Military
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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
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October 26, 2007

Navy Looks Beyond Wars In New Strategy

The U.S. Navy is revamping its global posture for the first time in a quarter of a century through new collaboration with the Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

Calling the maritime services "a unifying force and a willing partner for global prosperity and peace," the Navy unveiled its new strategy last week at the International Seapower Symposium in Rhode Island. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead (who formally replaced now-Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen less than a month ago) said earlier this month, "We must be prepared for many future paths, many dangers and many potential threats. And that requires, above all, a long-term perspective and a long-term commitment to building a Navy capable of meeting 21st-century challenges."

The U.S. maritime focus will continue to be on support operations for the other armed forces and combat readiness, but the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard will also look past the current conflicts in the Middle East to the waters around China, Africa and South America. Humanitarian missions and sea commerce will also be of primary importance for the maritime services.

Continue reading "Navy Looks Beyond Wars In New Strategy"

Posted at 10:47 AM
Posted to: Asia, China, Military, North Korea
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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
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October 22, 2007

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
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Navy SEAL Gets First Medal Of Honor For Afghan Combat

This afternoon, President Bush will award the first Medal of Honor for combat in Afghanistan to the family of Lt. Michael Murphy, a Navy SEAL who was mortally wounded while making a radio distress call to save other members of his team who were trapped by enemy fire.

The fierce gun battle occurred on June 28, 2005, "the darkest day in the history of the Navy SEALs," according to Navy Times reporter Philip Creed, who notes that 11 special operators were killed in the Afghan mountains on that single day. Murphy and three other team members, on the hunt for terrorists, were spotted by locals, who apparently tipped off the Taliban. The fierce firefight that ensued forced the outnumbered SEALs to take shelter amid the mountain rocks, but Murphy, who was already wounded, left his position of cover to radio for help, exposing himself to enemy fire and thereby sacrificing his life to save his fellow soldiers.

Two other SEALs in Murphy's team, Matthew Axelson and Danny Dietz, were also killed and subsequently honored with Navy Crosses for aiding in the escape of the fourth member of their team -- Hospital Corpsman Marcus Luttrell, the lone survivor of the two-hour battle.

Murphy is the first Navy SEAL to earn the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War, AP reports. He was 29 years old and engaged to be married when he died. The New York Times and Newsday have profiles of Murphy, a native of Long Island.

Posted at 12:30 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Military
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October 19, 2007

Mukasey, Torture And The Responsibility Question

Cultural critics blame the proliferation of sadistic and gruesome imagery on television and in movies on Americans' psychic discomfort with their role as players in the war on terror. The phenomenon has even birthed a new category of mainstream entertainment: torture porn.

Audiences mostly comprising males in the 18-to-34 demographic are eagerly forking over $10 a pop to view the fantastical and revolting "Saw" and "Hostel" franchises. More discomfiting are the realistic depictions of torture lately seen in the film "Syriana" and on the show "24." A Foreign Affairs magazine survey (subscription) released in April found a 54-percent majority of Americans were OK with the use of torture on terrorism suspects "sometimes." Jack Bauer doesn't electrocute or nearly drown every hog-tied potential terrorist that comes his way, but when he does, the writers of the show are sympathetic to it. Bauer doesn't "always" torture, he "sometimes" tortures, and the end result is he saves the world. The "24" audience, including a former Democratic president, is apparently OK with that.

Americans may think they know what the legal definition of torture is from these images, but they probably have no idea. As we've learned in recent weeks, the business of defining torture is a difficult one, whether for national security reasons or failure of imagination. Certainly, the Bush administration is in no hurry to turn the issue into a national debate. That's problematic for this country, and not for the reasons you might think.

Continue reading "Mukasey, Torture And The Responsibility Question"

Posted at 2:33 PM
Posted to: Alberto Gonzales, Bush Administration, Campaigns, John Ashcroft, Michael Mukasey, Military, President Bush, Terrorism, WH 2008
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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
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Superpower Watch: Picking Sides, Choosing Teams

Once again, the Bush administration is reminded that while it would be preferable to have the world at its back as it attempts to stabilize the Middle East, it simply does not. Iran and Russia have sealed an agreement among the Caspian Sea nations that "under no circumstances will they allow [the use of their] territories by third countries to launch aggression or other military action against any of the member states." Doesn't take a genius to figure out which third country might top that list.

This declaration accomplishes several things, none of which bode well for Washington's push for Iran to come clean on its nuclear program.

Continue reading "Superpower Watch: Picking Sides, Choosing Teams"

Posted at 1:36 PM
Posted to: Asia, Bush Administration, China, Europe, IAEA, Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East, Military, Nuclear Weapons, President Bush, Robert Gates, Russia, Terrorism, U.N., Vladimir Putin
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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
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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
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October 05, 2007

Bush: 'This Government Does Not Torture People'

UPDATED.

The White House today signaled that it will not accede to Congress' demands for transparency on two secret memos on terrorism detainees, insisting it does not engage in torture and that key members had already learned all they needed to know.

"They have been briefed to appropriate members of Congress on the Intelligence Committee. But they are classified for a reason and they are secret," press secretary Dana Perino said during the daily briefing. "One of the reasons they are secret is because they need to be. They need to be cloaked in the classified system so that we can keep that information private so that we're not signaling to our enemies exactly what our techniques are."

Earlier, President Bush gave his first public response to revelations that CIA officers may be using tactics that might qualify as torture in a program secretly endorsed by the Justice Department.

"This government does not torture people. We stick to U.S. law and our international obligations," Bush said in a brief statement to the press this morning.

Continue reading "Bush: 'This Government Does Not Torture People'"

Posted at 5:20 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Alberto Gonzales, Bush Administration, Detainees, Guantanamo Bay, Michael Mukasey, Military, President Bush, Terrorism
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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
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October 01, 2007

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
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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
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Arsenal Of Democracy Sells To Just About Everyone

A new report finds that the United States can once again claim the dubious honor of top arms dealer to the developing world. The congressional study [PDF], released today, reports that in 2006 the U.S. sold more weapons to developing nations than any other country. The U.S. was the top seller in 2005 as well.

Total arms sales to developing nations totaled almost $28.8 billion -- a slight drop from the $31.8 billion traded in 2005. Of that total, the U.S. was responsible for 36 percent of sales. The nearest competitor, Russia, took 28 percent of the market, followed by Britain, Germany and China.

The New York Times reports that the top buyer last year was Pakistan, with $5.1 billion worth of arms agreements, followed by India and then Saudi Arabia. But that ranking reflects the total value of arms agreements made, not the actual value of arms deliveries. Ranked by the value of arms actually delivered, Saudi Arabia was the biggest recipient, followed by China and Israel.

Continue reading "Arsenal Of Democracy Sells To Just About Everyone"

Posted at 10:50 AM
Posted to: Military
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September 26, 2007

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
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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
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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.

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

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Posted to: David Petraeus, Europe, Gordon Brown, Iraq, Military, U.K.
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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.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military
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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.

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Posted to: David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, Terrorism
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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.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, David Petraeus, Iraq, Military, President Bush
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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.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Terrorism
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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."

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Constitution, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush
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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
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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
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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.

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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
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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."

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Posted to: David Petraeus, Iraq, Military
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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.

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Posted to: Barack Obama, Bush Administration, Campaigns, Christopher Dodd, David Petraeus, Democrats, Iraq, Joseph Biden, Middle East, Military, President Bush, WH 2008
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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.

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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."

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Posted to: Congress, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military
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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.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush
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September 06, 2007

Nuclear Warheads Flown Cross-Country... By Mistake

The Air Force accidentally flew half a dozen armed nuclear warheads across the length of the United States -- from the Minot Air Base in North Dakota to the Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana -- last week on a B-52 Stratofortress bomber.

Military Times broke the story, reporting that inside sources said "the original plan was to transport non-nuclear Advanced Cruise Missiles, mounted on the wings of a B-52, to Barksdale as part of a Defense Department effort to decommission 400 of the ACMs. It was not discovered that the six missiles had nuclear warheads until the plane landed at Barksdale, leaving the warheads unaccounted for during the approximately 3 1/2 hour flight between the two bases."

Military officials wouldn't confirm the story, Military Times reports, but they did say the Air Force was "investigating an error made last Thursday during the transfer of munitions" from one base to the other.

The Air Force is doling out disciplinary rebukes over the mistake; most recently, the commander in charge of munitions at the Minot base was relieved of his duties pending investigation. See the full story for more.

Posted at 10:37 AM
Posted to: Military
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August 29, 2007

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.

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Posted at 11:20 AM
Posted to: Iraq, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Military, President Bush
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August 28, 2007

Iraq News Roundup: Karbala Violence, Abu Ghraib Trial

Government: After a series of talks, leaders from five of Iraq's political parties issued a statement on Sunday that outlines shared political and security goals.

Violence: At least 35 people have been killed and 180 wounded since yesterday after violence erupted in Karbala, where one million Shia pilgrims have flocked to celebrate a religious festival.

Abu Ghraib: Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan was found guilty of disobeying orders in discussing the investigation into the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, but was acquitted of the more serious charges of failing to control soldiers under his command. He faces up to five years in prison.

Media: Anwar Abbas Lafta, an Iraqi translator for CBS News who was kidnapped at gunpoint from his home earlier this week, was found dead.

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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.

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Posted at 2:47 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, Peter Pace, President Bush, Robert Gates
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August 22, 2007

Bush Backs Al-Maliki, Hints War Will Continue Past Petraeus Report

UPDATED.

In a speech before a room of supportive U.S. veterans, President Bush today issued a stinging rebuke to critics of political progress in Iraq.

"Maliki is a good man with a difficult job and I support him. It is not up to the leaders in Washington, D.C., to determine whether he will remain in his position. That is up to the Iraqi people who live in a democracy and not a dictatorship," the president said to thunderous applause.

Bush was referring to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has been accused of favoring the Shiite bloc in Parliament as well as turning a blind eye to the carnage Shiite militias like that run by Muqtada al-Sadr have been inflicting on Iraqi Sunnis. War critics and supporters alike have questioned al-Maliki's ability to govern, and recent news reports portrayed the president as backing away from the embattled Iraqi leader. But Bush seemed to put to bed speculation that he would accede to an attempt to have al-Maliki replaced.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush
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August 16, 2007

Army Suicide Rate Peaks Amid Deployment Strain

The stress of extended tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, coupled with mounting financial and personal problems, have lifted the suicide rate among American soldiers to its highest level in the 26 years since records have been kept, a new Army analysis shows.

According to AP, the Army has confirmed 99 suicides among active-duty service members last year for an average of 17.3 per 100,000. That's the highest total since 1991, when 102 soldiers committed suicide during the height of the Gulf War.

Several trends suggest the strain the Iraq war is putting on the U.S. military is trickling down to the individual soldier, the analysis suggests.

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Posted to: Military
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Could Rumsfeld's Resignation Have Made Difference In '06?

That's debatable. And here's why.

The revelation that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld actually resigned before the midterm elections, not after, has the chattering classes mulling over what might have been. But there's little to indicate that the outcome of the vote would have been much different.

Clarification on the timing issue does answer one lingering question: Did it really take something as earth-shifting as the GOP's loss of Congress for Bush to know Rumsfeld's time was over?

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Posted at 1:19 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, Donald Rumsfeld, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Robert Gates
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August 15, 2007

Petraeus Envisions Some Withdrawals Within A Year

Gen. David Petraeus today confirmed reports that his highly awaited September assessment on progress in Iraq would likely include some plan for troop reductions, though he was not prepared to discuss specifics.

Anti-war groups have seized upon recent comments (subscription) by Petraeus to the effect that the counterinsurgency effort could take as many as 10 years, but today he expressed cautious optimism that at least a partial withdrawal was on the horizon. "We know that the surge has to come to an end," he told reporters in Baghdad. "There's no question about that. I think everyone understands that by about a year or so from now we've got to be a good bit smaller than we are right now."

Petraeus said the troop surge had yielded some encouraging signs of success, but conceded that "there's still a lot of hard work to be done against the different extremist elements that do threaten the new Iraq." He cited yesterday's wave of suicide bombings in northern Iraq as evidence of the long road ahead.

Foreign Policy Magazine's Passport blog has more on the general's comments.

Posted at 6:37 PM
Posted to: David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military
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August 09, 2007

Bush Stays Course On Iraq, Taxes & Torture

President Bush today addressed a varied list of topics -- ranging from the nation's bridges to corporate tax cuts to Iran -- ahead of a retreat to his family's compound in Kennebunkport, Maine.

The deeply unpopular leader kicked off the news conference, broadcast by all the networks along with cable, with one of the few bright spots of his administration: education. His initiatives in this arena have managed to receive bipartisan support, including the America Competes Act, which he will sign today. The bill boosts and expands science, technology, engineering and math education, as well as research and development.

"The American economy is the envy of the world and we need to keep it that way," Bush said in his opening remarks. "The bill I will sign today will help ensure we do remain the most competitive and innovative nation in the world."

As Bush was speaking, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was slip-siding after three days of record gains. French bank BNP Paribas announced this morning that it froze three funds because of concerns about the U.S. subprime lending market, reviving American investors' panic about volatility there.

Protesting that he was not an economist, Bush refused to detail what he thought should be done about the subprime lending problem, but did seem to draw the line at a federal bailout. He also said that because many of the defaulting homeowners "didn't understand what they were signing up for," it would be a "proper role for government to enhance education initiatives," and again pointed to the America Competes Act.

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Posted to: Alberto Gonzales, Bush Administration, CIA, Campaigns, Congress, Detainees, Europe, France, Iran, Iraq, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Taxes, Terrorism, WH 2008
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August 08, 2007

The Surge May Be Working. But Is It Too Late?

UPDATED.

After four years of hearing that the U.S. had turned the corner and whittled down the enemy to a few "dead-enders" in Iraq, Americans may be in no mood to look at the situation there with fresh eyes. And who can blame them? Evidence that the war in Iraq is a hopeless disaster seems insurmountable: more than 3,600 U.S. troops killed and 26,000 wounded, an untold number of civilians [PDF] killed and wounded, more than 2 million Iraqis displaced, among other depressing statistics.

But recent assessments from critics of President Bush's war strategy see signs that the so-called surge is actually working.

Continue reading "The Surge May Be Working. But Is It Too Late?"

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, David Petraeus, Middle East, Military, President Bush, WH 2008
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August 06, 2007

GAO: U.S. Arms Missing In Iraq

When U.S. and Iranian officials met today to discuss security issues in Iraq, one of the topics of discussion may have been the frequent U.S. assertions that Tehran is helping to arm and train the insurgents wreaking havoc in the war-torn nation. But a new U.S. government report has raised concerns that American weapons, too, may be falling into the wrong hands in Iraq.

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Posted to: Iraq, Military
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August 01, 2007

Rumsfeld Admits No Wrongdoing In Tillman Case

In his first appearance before Congress since he resigned last November, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today denied any knowledge of a cover-up or any involvement in the military's botched handling of an Army Ranger's death by friendly fire in Afghanistan.

Testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rumsfeld took no personal responsibility for the Pentagon's handling of the April 2004 friendly fire death of Pat Tillman, a former pro football player who joined the Army after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The House committee is investigating how military and White House officials handled the aftermath of Tillman's death, since it was first reported that he died by enemy fire.

"The concealment of Corporal Tillman’s fratricide caused millions of Americans to question the integrity of our government, yet no one will tell us when and how the White House learned the truth," committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said at the hearing.

Rumsfeld maintained that he knew "of no evidence that there has been a cover-up." "I know that I would not engage in a cover-up. I know that no one in the White House suggested such a thing to me. I know that the gentlemen sitting next to me are men of enormous integrity and would not participate in something like that," the former secretary said of the four retired generals who appeared with him before the panel.

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Posted to: Donald Rumsfeld, Military, Pat Tillman
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U.S. Casualties Shrink, Iraqi Deaths Rise In July

After a spike in military casualties this spring, the U.S. death toll in Iraq for July fell to its lowest level for the year. This morning, the New York Times reported that 74 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq last month, but as of press time, its source -- a Web site called Iraq Coalition Casualty Count -- had upped the number to 78.

The U.S. toll hovered just above 80 in the first quarter of the year and then rose dramatically from April through June, when a total of 331 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq.

Military commanders and President Bush acknowledged the second-quarter spike in combat deaths and attributed it to the influx of troops in the most dangerous areas of the country. "We're going to expect heavy fighting in the weeks and months," Bush said back in May. "We can expect more American and Iraqi casualties."

Indeed, just as American fatalities rose in the earliest months of the surge, so too have Iraqi deaths. But while U.S. casualties declined last month, Agence France Presse reports that the number of fallen civilian Iraqis actually rose by one-third to at least 1,652 in July, "according to figures compiled by the Iraqi health, defense, and interior ministries."

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Posted to: Iraq, Military
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July 25, 2007

Ex-Army Recruiters Ordered Back To Work

More than 1,100 former Army recruiters have been ordered to report back to duty immediately, Army Times is reporting.

The military came well short of recruiting goals in May and June, which officials acknowledge is attributable to the unpopularity of the Iraq war. More than 3,600 American service members have died in the four-year-long operation, and more than 25,000 have been wounded.

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Posted at 2:43 PM
Posted to: Iraq, Middle East, Military
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July 24, 2007

Bush To War Critics: It's Al-Qaida, Stupid

President Bush delivered a stern challenge to anti-war Americans: Admit that leaving Iraq is the same as walking away from the war against al-Qaida.

Speaking before airmen at the Charleston Air Force Base, Bush used newly declassified portions of the latest National Intelligence Estimate [PDF] to beat back critics demanding he commit to withdrawal from Iraq.

Compared with other insurgent elements, "al-Qaida in Iraq stands out for its extremism, unmatched operational strength, foreign leadership, and determination to take the jihad beyond Iraq's borders," Bush said, quoting from the report. Reminding audience members that U.S. military commanders in Iraq and intelligence agencies at home consider al-Qaida to be "public enemy No. 1," Bush said, "There's a good reason they are called al-Qaida in Iraq. They are al-Qaida. In Iraq."

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Posted to: Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, Congress, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Terrorism
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July 19, 2007

Pentagon Not Endorsing Clinton Anytime Soon

Like the rest of her competition for the Democratic presidential nod, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton wants U.S. troops out of Iraq. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, she's in a particularly good position to pressure the Bush administration on the war.

So it's a little surprising that the Pentagon would rebuke her for simply asking a few questions.

"Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq,'' Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman scolded in a written response to the senator.

Oh no he didn't!

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Posted to: Campaigns, Democrats, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Iraq, Middle East, Military, WH 2008
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July 17, 2007

VA Secretary Nicholson Steps Down

The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today that Secretary Jim Nicholson has tendered his resignation and will return to the private sector. Nicholson sounded an upbeat note on his departure.

"It has been an honor and privilege to lead the VA during this historic time for our men and women who have worn the uniform. We have accomplished so much and the VA is always striving to improve our services to veterans," Nicholson said in a press release.

The Vietnam veteran and former Ambassador to the Vatican was tapped by President Bush in late 2004 as part of a second-term shuffle. Nicholson noted that he will turn 70 this February, and said he wanted "to get back into business... while I still can."

Administration departures at the end-stages of a presidency are not unusual. Nicholson does leave with a cloud over his head, however, because of the Walter Reed scandal. (The hospital serves wounded veterans, but it is run by the Pentagon and is not part of the VA system.)

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Posted to: Military, Veterans
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July 12, 2007

House Votes To Withdraw Troops By April

The House approved a bill this evening that orders President Bush to draw down most troops in Iraq by April of next year. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the 223-201 tally to cheers in the gallery.

The bill calls for Bush to begin pulling out troops within 120 days. Just four Republicans sided with Democrats on the bill; 10 Democrats defected from their party and joined the Republicans.

The Senate is also considering similar legislation, but Democratic leaders there are proceeding cautiously. They have put off a vote on the Senate version, dubbed the Levin-Reed amendment for its co-sponsors, until next week. That decision buys them more time to drum up the GOP support they will need to survive a cloture vote.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, David Petraeus, House, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Senate
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Bush Sees Glass Half Full In Iraq

UPDATED.

President Bush dug in his heels today and told the American public he would not reconsider the current Iraq war strategy until a final report on progress there is delivered in September.

"I believe we can succeed in Iraq and I believe we must," the president said, in a rare televised press conference that was carried live on all the broadcast networks.

Bush said that his goals for Iraq -- that its government be able to "protect its people, deliver basic services and be an ally in this war against extremists and radicals" -- had not budged. He recognized the tidal wave of opposition to the war he faces, but said that the United States could not afford the chaos that would overtake Iraq if U.S. forces withdrew "precipitously."

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush
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July 10, 2007

Bush Stands Firm On Iraq Despite Political Weakness

UPDATED.

In remarks delivered to a pre-selected audience at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, President Bush sought to repel a storm of attacks on his Iraq war policy.

"I'm doing my best to educate people about the perils of the world in which we live, and that we have an active strategy to deal with it," Bush said, after asking the audience to consider him the "explainer in chief."

Referring to al-Qaida in Iraq, Bush said, "They believe as strongly in their ideology as I believe in ours. They will kill a Muslim, a child, or a woman at a moment's notice to achieve their objectives."

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Posted at 6:40 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Terrorism
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July 09, 2007

White House: No Debate On Iraq Pullout

Six words are coming back to haunt President Bush this week.

You break it, you own it.

That was the advice given to him by Colin Powell, his first secretary of state and apparently the only administration official who sought to convince Bush not to go to war against Iraq.

White House press secretary Tony Snow denied a report in the New York Times that administration officials are engaged in an "intensifying" debate about how to draw down troops.

"There's no debate right now on withdrawing forces from Iraq going on at all within the White House," Snow said, according to a report by CNN's Ed Henry.

No debate? At all?

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Posted at 10:44 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Robert Gates
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July 06, 2007

Trying To Get Beyond The Politics Of War

The reaction to yet another Republican defection from President Bush on Iraq says a couple of things about where we are on the war right now.

One: Politically, it is no longer possible to be openly optimistic about the war's outcome and be taken seriously. There may be pockets around the country where this does not hold but for the most part it seems true. The Democrats chanting for an exit out of Iraq no longer temper their remarks with the "I hope I'm wrong" caveat. The new conventional wisdom is that the war is no longer winnable.

That leaves Republican lawmakers who back the war but really want to be re-elected next year with one choice: stop backing the war. That isn't to say that changes of heart on the GOP side are all the result of cold, political calculation. Sens. John Warner, Richard Lugar and George Voinovich were skeptical about Bush's war strategy before it was politically popular to be.

Unfortunately for New Mexico's Pete Domenici, he wasn't.

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Posted at 3:44 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, David Petraeus, Democrats, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Terrorism, WH 2008
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June 28, 2007

Bush Nominates New Chairman Of Joint Chiefs

President Bush officially nominated Navy Adm. Michael Mullen as the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff this morning.

"He was with me after the attacks of Sept. 11," Bush said, expressing confidence in Mullen's experience.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced in early June that the current man in the job, Gen. Peter Pace, would not be nominated for a second stint in the post.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Military, Peter Pace
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June 15, 2007

Hunter Pressures Navy On Catamaran

In a move sure to upset the admirals, House Armed Services ranking member Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., is pushing the Navy to transform an experimental catamaran developed in San Diego and long opposed by the service into an integral part of the fleet with a defined mission.

Hunter, whose wife christened the ship in 2005, inserted $22 million into the House-passed FY08 defense authorization bill for upgrades to L-3 Communications Corp.'s Sea Fighter catamaran, the latest in a series of earmarks he has added to defense bills to develop, build and deploy the vessel, formerly called the X-Craft.

But this year, Hunter went a step further. He tucked language into the committee report accompanying the bill to urge the Navy to take the ship from research to real-world operations.

NationalJournal.com has the full story for free; see CongressDaily (subscription) for more of today's news.

Posted at 10:22 AM
Posted to: Congress, House, Military
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June 04, 2007

Video Of Missing U.S. Soldiers Released

The al-Qaida-linked Islamic State of Iraq said in a newly released video that two U.S. soldiers missing for more than three weeks were dead, but offered no proof of its claim.

Instead, in a 10-minute, 41-second-long video obtained by the SITE Institute and released to The Gate, the military ID cards of Spc. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, and Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, are shown, along with credit cards and U.S. dollars. But no names can be made out on the credit cards, and images of the ID cards are manipulated to flip back and forth. In other words, the ID cards are not shown as physical objects, as they would had they been filmed lying on a table, for instance.

A DOD spokesman said he could not comment on how difficult it would be to obtain or replicate an image of an Army ID card. The Pentagon said today that the search for Jimenez and Fouty would continue, and in a statement, a spokesman for the Multi-National Force-Iraq said, "We are further analyzing the video, however, it doesn’t appear to contain any definitive evidence indicating the status of our missing soldiers."

Also in the video, masked gunman are shown planning an attack in the woods. Later, footage of what is apparently a nighttime attack is shown, though few specifics can be made out. Nowhere are the bodies of Jimenez or Fouty shown.

Militant chanting is played throughout the clip, and during the apparent attack scenes, a man can be heard quietly weeping as he prays to "Allah." President Bush is also seen near the beginning of the clip, waving a conductor's baton. Later on, the following message appears in Arabic: "Bush is responsible for the captured."

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Posted to: Iraq, Middle East, Military
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May 29, 2007

May Becomes 2007's Deadliest Month For U.S. Troops

UPDATED.

The deaths of eight more soldiers in Iraq on Monday -- six in roadside bombings and two in a helicopter crash -- brings this month's death toll for U.S. troops to over 110. That's the highest recorded number for any month this year.

Reuters cites November 2004 as the conflict's deadliest month for U.S. troops, with 137 killed. The military's count [PDF] showed 3,450 casualties since the war began in March 2003.

In other Iraq news, five British citizens were kidnapped in Baghdad this morning when armed gunmen stormed a ministry building. News reports originally claimed that three Germans were abducted, but diplomatic sources now say that citizens of other nationalities weren't involved.

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Posted to: Iraq, Middle East, Military
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May 22, 2007

Iraq Troop Level Could Top 200K

According to an analysis by Hearst Newspapers, the number of combat troops could double by the end of the year, to 98,000. And Democrats who envisioned they would be able to pull U.S. troops from Iraq following the takeover of Congress last fall are in for a rude awakening: the total number of troops in Iraq could surpass the 200,000 mark by the end of the year, Hearst reports.

Because Army deployments have been lengthened to 15 months while home rotations are capped at a year, there will be overlap as brigades move in and out. Moreover, troop levels are expected to go up this summer when the fifth and final brigade arrives to complete the Baghdad Security Plan.

But it is unclear that many Americans, particularly those who are pushing to see troop levels go down, are prepared to see that big an increase in U.S. forces there.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Iraq, Middle East, Military
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May 18, 2007

Pentagon IDs Fourth Soldier Killed In Ambush

DOD announced this afternoon that it had identified the fourth soldier killed last weekend in an ambush south of Baghdad. Sgt. Anthony J. Schober, 23, of Reno, Nev., had been listed as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown along with three other soldiers who were missing after the attack. An al-Qaida-linked group claims to be holding the soldiers; U.S. and Iraqi forces have undertaken a massive hunt for them.

The condition of Schober's badly burned body following the assault delayed his identification. The three soldiers still missing are Specialist Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass.; Pfc. Joseph J. Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, Calif.; and Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich.

Posted at 4:32 PM
Posted to: Iraq, Middle East, Military
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Iraq: Why September Could Be A Mirage

Republicans are warning President Bush that he could lose their support on the Iraq war if they don't see results by September, but as the New York Times noted earlier this week, no one is really defining what they mean by progress. Meanwhile, the White House made clear again today that it will not accept a timeline for withdrawal as top Democrats said they would not budge on pulling out the troops.

Bush's standoff with Congress has less to do with what progress might look like than with whether it's even still possible. Both Bush and his commander on the ground, Gen. David Petraeus, have said that quelling the sectarian strife in Iraq is feasible. But it is useful at this point to look back to when Bush announced the Baghdad Security Plan, on which the future of this war and Republicans' support for the president hinge.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, David Petraeus, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Robert Gates
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May 15, 2007

Reports: Army General Tapped As 'War Czar'

Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, a three-star general currently posted at the Pentagon, has been chosen to oversee coordination among federal agencies in Washington and commanders on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, news agencies are reporting.

According to Army Times, the 30-year veteran "served much of his early career in Germany during the Cold War," and also served in the first Gulf War and in Kosovo. Should he pass scrutiny in the Senate, Lute will assume the title of "Special Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan Policy and Implementation."

AP and Bloomberg have more on Lute.

Posted at 7:25 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Bush Administration, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush
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May 11, 2007

U.S. General: I Need More Troops

UPDATED.

In a live video briefing from Iraq this morning, Maj. Army Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon spoke frankly about the need for more troops in the restive Diyala province.

"I do not have enough soldiers right now in Diyala province to get that security operation moving," he said. The briefing was broadcast at the Pentagon this morning.

Diyala province, located northeast of Baghdad, has seen some of the most intense sectarian fighting in Iraq, attributed in part to the presence of Al-Qaida In Iraq terrorists. The Iraqi government said yesterday that 11,200 people had been killed in Diyala since 2004. Nearly 17,000 of the province's children have been orphaned, a parliamentary committee report said.

The Pentagon today announced that one soldier was killed and nine others wounded in an explosion yesterday in Diyala. Officials have not yet responded to Mixon's remarks.

DOD's Web site has a transcript.

Posted at 12:28 PM
Posted to: Iraq, Military
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Leaks From The Top

The Army is cracking down on soldiers' blogs, fearing they'll breach "Operational Security" by spilling battlefield secrets onto the Internet. But the worst OPSEC violators are Pentagon officials, says Dorlon Elliott, a former Navy intelligence specialist who uses headquarters' press releases to track the location of U.S. infantry units in Iraq on the popular Web site billroggio.com.

"The Pentagon acts as if it is not at war, and the leaks emanating from Arlington are enormous," he wrote recently. For example, the Pentagon routinely announces the movement of U.S. brigades from Kuwait's staging areas into Iraq, he told National Journal. Other violators are the northern Iraq headquarters and the central and Baghdad headquarters, he said. Compared with them, military bloggers are as closed-mouthed as Special Forces, he said.

Maj. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to respond to Elliot's comments, but said, "We obviously take OPSEC very seriously and make every effort to make sure the information we're providing corresponds to our policy on operational security."

-Neil Munro, National Journal

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Posted to: Military
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May 09, 2007

Bush Threatens To Veto Next Iraq Bill

White House spokesman Tony Snow today said President Bush would veto a proposal House Democrats are hammering out on funding for the Iraq war. The threat comes little more than a week after Bush used the second veto of his administration to kill a war supplemental that included a timeline for troop withdrawal from Iraq.

"The bill that was at least being whipped yesterday contains elements of the bill the president vetoed already, and if it were to come to his desk, it would be vetoed," Snow told reporters aboard Air Force One. The aircraft was en route to Kansas, where Bush toured a town devasted by a tornado last weekend.

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Posted to: Congress, Iraq, Military, President Bush
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Letter From Baghdad: Send $$

Speaking at a press conference in the heavily fortified Green Zone, Vice President Dick Cheney, Amb. Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus sent a message to Congress: Send money now.

"Our people need the tools to get the job done, and the tools in this case are money," Crocker, the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq, said. "We need to get the money out here so we can start making a difference on the streets."

The vice president, accompanied by Crocker, landed in Baghdad today unannounced, as is the norm for administration officials who visit the country. Cheney is there to pressure rival factions in the Iraqi government to hammer out a political compromise in the coming months. Republicans in Congress have said that they will rethink their support for the war if marked progress is not seen by the fall.

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Posted at 12:34 PM
Posted to: David Petraeus, Dick Cheney, Iraq, Military
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May 08, 2007

Thwarted Terror Plot Targeted Troops

UPDATED.

Six men believed to be Islamic radicals were arrested early this morning for plotting an attack on soldiers in Fort Dix, N.J., and were scheduled to appear in district court in Camden this afternoon.

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie confirmed at a press conference this afternoon that his office had brought complaints against the six men. He emphasized that the threat against Fort Dix "had been taken care of" through the efforts of police and the FBI: "We were able to do what American law enforcement is supposed to do in the post-9/11 era, and that is to be one step ahead."

Surrounded by a host of officers, FBI agents, attorneys and other personnel, Christie called the investigation and arrests "the model for the post-Sept. 11 era."

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Posted to: Military, Terrorism
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10 Army Brigades Called Up To Iraq

The Pentagon today notified 35,000 Army soldiers that they would be heading to Iraq beginning this August. This is not, however, part of the so-called surge. Rather, the additional troops will allow DOD to maintain existing troop levels throughout the end of the year.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, on Sunday said that Republicans who are backing the Baghdad security plan may reassess their support depending on progress made by the fall. In a nod to public pressure, Army Gen. David Petraeus has promised President Bush a report on the progress of the plan in early September.

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Posted to: Iraq, Military
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May 07, 2007

Petraeus Says DOD Must Combat GI Abuses

The top U.S. commander in Iraq suggested that a "redoubling of our education efforts" in the military was called for following a survey of service members that found many would not report the killing or wounding of an innocent civilian by someone in their unit.

“We can never sink to the level of the enemy,” Gen. David Petraeus said via video link at the Associated Press' annual meeting. "We have done that at times in theater and it has cost us enormously."

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Posted at 6:36 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Asia, Iraq, Military
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May 04, 2007

More Invisible Costs Of War

The burden on soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan got a little less bearable last month when Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that active-duty Army units would have tours extended to 15 months, with just 12 months at home. That is a far cry from the normal deployment ratio -- two years at home or on base for one year in combat.

More time in the line of fire and less time with family and loved ones spells harm beyond the physical for troops: a DOD task force is issuing an "urgent" warning that more than a third of returning veterans have mental health problems like post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, and that neither the military nor federal government is currently equipped to provide adequate care for them.

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Posted at 2:13 PM
Posted to: Iraq, Military, Robert Gates
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May 03, 2007

A Long, Hard Slog, With Or Without Dead-Enders

Defense Secretary Robert Gates today expressed sympathy for Americans who are frustrated with the progress of the Iraq war, but said that being the most powerful nation in the world meant America could not back away from the unrest there.

"We simply cannot escape the responsibilities and burdens of global leadership; they will always follow us home," said Gates, speaking before the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce.

Gates also seemed to revive the idea of the war on terror as a "long war." That phrase was coined after 9/11 by the Bush administration, as a way to emphasize the unconventional nature of battle against a fragmented enemy not tied to flag or geography. The "long war" seemed to be a nod to a global landscape dramatically changed by the 9/11 attacks, but recently, some in the Pentagon and in Congress have come to believe the phrase has become either meaningless or a license for the administration to answer to no other power on the Iraq conflict.

Continue reading "A Long, Hard Slog, With Or Without Dead-Enders"

Posted at 3:59 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Iraq, Military, Robert Gates
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May 02, 2007

Après Veto, Le Deluge

Barring catastrophe, today's news cycle will be all about Iraq.

First, let's take a look at what's happening on the ground there. AP reports that the cavalry has arrived in Baghdad, in the form of 4,000 U.S. troops. That leaves one brigade and five months to go before Gen. David Petraeus assesses the efficacy of the Baghdad Security Plan.

More boots on the ground has had a quelling effect on sectarian violence, but not on mass-casualty bombings. Attacks using improvised explosive devices -- the booby traps of the current conflict -- are up fourfold from 2003, and in the past year have killed 425-plus American soldiers, according to Army Times. That figure does not include IED-related fatalities in the other military branches.

Suicide bombings, most of which are carried out by foreign fighters and al-Qaida-linked groups, continue to bedevil Pentagon strategists. Moreover, the bombings no longer seem directed at U.S. troops, making it uncertain that they will cease if or when coalition forces withdraw. Petraeus has been frank in addressing the dilemma, and when he says that a political solution is also required in Iraq, he likely has this in mind.

But Iran has a solution for the attacks on U.S. troops: Get out.

Continue reading "Après Veto, Le Deluge"

Posted at 11:45 AM
Posted to: Congress, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush
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April 25, 2007

Bush Wants Accountability In Tillman Case

Tuesday's emotional testimony before Congress from Pat Tillman's family cast a long shadow on the actions of the military around the time of the former football player's friendly fire death in Afghanistan three years ago. Tillman's mother and brother both accused the government of "deliberate and calculated lies" in covering up the nature of the Army Ranger's death.

Toward the end of a press briefing today, a reporter asked White House spokeswoman Dana Perino whether the president had reviewed the testimony.

Perino said that Bush had not, and that he hadn't known about the military's actions at the time of the incident: "There's no indication that the President got any word that there was questions surrounding his death, other than what had been reported in the paper.... I never asked him if he felt personally deceived, but obviously he's glad that the Department of Defense is trying to find out what happened, and to hold people accountable for it."

Posted at 3:48 PM
Posted to: Military
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April 12, 2007

Zell Miller: Abortion Key To Military Crisis

Reports of a U.S. military "stretched thin" by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have dominated the media in recent days, but former Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga., was calling attention to the problem a month ago. In a speech delivered in Macon, Ga., on March 6, Miller offered his own explanation for the troop shortage: Roe v. Wade.

The 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion has contributed to a shortage of U.S. citizens who could be fighting wars and alleviating the potential Social Security crisis, Miller told an anti-abortion group.

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Posted at 10:49 AM
Posted to: Abortion, Military
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April 11, 2007

DOD Extends Active Army Tours To 15 Months

The Pentagon confirmed today that active-duty Army units serving in Iraq and Afghanistan will have their tours extended to 15 months from a year, and will also be guaranteed a year at home. The decision was made to provide a "more predictable and dependable schedule of deployment for soldiers and their families," top military commanders said.

"Effective immediately, active Army units now in the Central Command area of responsibility and those headed there will be deployed for not more than 15 months and will return home to home station for not less than 12 months," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at a hastily announced press conference.

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Posted at 2:57 PM
Posted to: Iraq, Military, Robert Gates
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April 03, 2007

Bush To Congress: Come Back And Do Your Job

Congressional Democrats have been piling the criticism on President Bush this year, about everything from the Iraq war to the federal deficit to, most recently, the firings of U.S. attorneys late last year. But today in the Rose Garden it was Bush's turn to return fire, as the U.S. military faces a potentially crippling funding shortage while heavily engaged in two conflicts overseas.

"Congress' failure to fund our troops on the front lines will mean that some of our military families could wait longer for their loved ones to return from the front lines. And others could see their loved ones headed back to the war sooner than they need to. That is unacceptable to me, and I believe it is unacceptable to the American people," Bush said, with a pointed intensity not seen from the besieged White House in some time. "Get home, get a bill passed and get it to my desk," Bush told lawmakers, who are in recess for at least a week.

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Posted at 11:07 AM
Posted to: Congress, Iraq, Military, Terrorism
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March 26, 2007

Iraq: Bombing Prevention Still Puzzles Pentagon

Since U.S.-led forces implemented a new security plan for Baghdad and other restive parts of Iraq, targeted killings of individual civilians are down, according to the Pentagon. But mass-casualty bombs remain a menace to the population, as evidenced by recent large-scale attacks on civilians, as do roadside bomb explosions, which on Sunday alone claimed five U.S. soldiers and injured four others.

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Posted at 11:09 AM
Posted to: Military
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March 21, 2007

Walter Reed Story 'Overblown,' Ohio Rep. Says

After touring facilities at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital, Ohio Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt said she found "the situation at Walter Reed to be overblown by both politicians and the media."

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Posted at 11:03 AM
Posted to: Military, Veterans
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March 13, 2007

Pace: Gays Still Immoral

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Peter Pace won't apologize for remarks in which he said homosexual acts were "immoral," AP reports. Aides, speaking on anonymity, told AP that "the general was expressing his personal opinion and had no intention of apologizing."

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Posted at 11:13 AM
Posted to: Military
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March 12, 2007

Temporary Head Of Walter Reed Resigns

"Acting Secretary of the Army Pete Geren asked" Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley "to submit his retirement papers, which he has done. The move is supported by Defense Secretary Robert Gates," ABC News reports.

Posted at 12:47 PM
Posted to: Military, Veterans
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March 05, 2007

Chastened Commanders Pledge Walter Reed Reforms

Humiliated by media investigations into outpatient care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, senior military commanders who once ran the facility apologized to soldiers, and vowed before lawmakers that "we will do better."

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Posted at 5:12 PM
Posted to: Military
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March 02, 2007

Army Sec'y Resigns; Bush Orders Walter Reed Probe

Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey has resigned in the wake of growing outrage over combat veterans' care. Defense Secretary Robert Gates also announced that a replacement for Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, who was fired as commander of Walter Reed Army Medical Center yesterday, would be named today.

Continue reading "Army Sec'y Resigns; Bush Orders Walter Reed Probe"

Posted at 3:59 PM
Posted to: Military, Veterans
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