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