Oct 07 2008 - Seattle PI
by JOHANN HARI
John McCain is desperate to talk about the surge rather than the splurge.
His Iraq war is set to cost one trillion dollars, and his deregulation–mania has cost hundreds of billions. So in order to maintain his facade of being "tough on spending," he needs to shift the subject.
That's why he has tried to shrink the debate about the Iraq War to one small question. Not: Did Saddam have weapons of mass destruction? Not: Did Saddam have links to 9/11? Not: Why do 70 percent of Iraqis think the presence of U.S. troops make them less safe and they should go home now?
Editor's Comments:
Far out. bbm
Nov 20 2008 - Seattle PI
by TOM TEEPEN
Last rites have been performed often during the Age of Irony, the recent run of years wherein no matter seemed grave enough to rate much more than a wry and wised–up grin. Most recently the era was declared to be done in by the worldwide economic collapse, demanding a return to gravity.
But irony rises still. It turns out that the very issue that catapulted Barack Obama into presidential contingency probably will be moot by the time he gets to the office to which he has been elected, in part thanks to that issue.
The chances have leapt to near–certain that before year's end Washington and Baghdad will sign a status–of–forces agreement which will remove U.S. military forces from Iraq by the end of 2011, and from Iraq's cities and suburbs by the middle of '09.
Editor's Comments:
Oh, the rationalizations. Victory, where have you been Teepen? And when you look back 20 years from now, you might think what Bush has accomplished is pretty significant. bbm
Nov 20 2008 - Seattle PI
BAGHDAD –– A heated parliamentary debate on the U.S.–Iraq security treaty was called to an early close Wednesday as lawmakers loyal to anti–U.S. cleric Muqtada al–Sadr scuffled with guards for the foreign minister and the speaker of the legislature and his two deputies.
Nov 20 2008 - Washington Times
BAGHDAD (AP) – Opposition lawmakers shouted and pounded their desks in protest Thursday in a second day of emotional debate in parliament over a proposed agreement with the U.S. that would allow American forces to stay in Iraq for three more years.
Nov 17 2008 - Washington Times
BAGHDAD (AP) – Iraqi lawmakers Monday began debate over a pact with the United States that will allow U.S. forces to remain for three more years, while an Iranian official close to that country's leadership praised the Iraqi Cabinet for approving the deal.
Nov 17 2008 - Seattle PI
BAGHDAD –– Iraq's Cabinet on Sunday overwhelmingly approved a proposed security agreement that calls for a full withdrawal of American forces from the country by the end of 2011.
Nov 15 2008 - Washington Times
BAGHDAD (AP) – U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have agreed on a draft of a security pact that would allow American troops to stay in Iraq for three more years after their U.N. mandate expires Dec. 31, a senior aide to Prime Minister Nouri al–Maliki said Saturday.
Nov 15 2008 - Washington Times
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that "the situation in Iraq is not positive at all," contrary to U.S. claims of progress after five years of conflict.
Nov 15 2008 - Washington Times
BAGHDAD (AP) – The U.S. military says a suicide car bombing in the northern city of Tal Afar has killed 10 Iraqis and wounded 20 people
Nov 14 2008 - Seattle PI
BAGHDAD –– They are usually no bigger than a man's fist and attached to a magnet or a strip of gummy adhesive –– thus the name "obwah lasica" in Arabic, or "sticky bomb."
Nov 14 2008 - San Francisco Chronicle
BAGHDAD, (AP) ––Shiite leader Muqtada al–Sadr on Friday renewed threats to resume attacks on U.S. forces, and the country's top Shiite cleric was quoted as saying he would intervene if a proposed U.S.–Iraqi security pact infringed on Iraqi sovereignty.
Nov 13 2008 - Michael Yon
by Michael Yon
The Iraq war is over. Barring the unforeseen, the darkest days are behind, though we are still losing soldiers to low–level fighting with enemies that are true “dead–enders.” Last month we lost seven Americans in combat in Iraq. Peace, however, is not upon us. Another thirty or so Iraqis died today in suicide attacks. Nobody suffers more at the hands of Islamic terrorists than other Muslims.
A new President will soon begin to make critical decisions about Iraq and Afghanistan, the economic crisis at home, and countless other matters. While the Iraq war began, then boiled and finally cooled before President–elect Obama will be sworn into office on January 20th, 2009, the Afghanistan–Pakistan spectacle is just getting started. He was always a fierce opponent of our involvement in Iraq. And, as with so many Democrats in the Senate, he argued frequently, during the campaign, that we should have been focused on Afghanistan all along, because it is the real incubator of the international terrorist threat. Timing being everything, our new President will get his wish. Afghanistan now moves to center stage. The conflicts in Afghanistan and between Afghanistan and Pakistan have the simmering potential to overshadow anything we’ve seen in Iraq. Here are a few things I hope he understands:
Nov 12 2008 - San Francisco Chronicle
BAGHDAD, (AP) ––A series of bombings shook Baghdad for the third straight day Wednesday, killing 17 people and wounding more than 70, police said. The attacks were part of an upswing of violence in the capital this month that has set back recent security gains.
Nov 12 2008 - Washington Times
BAGHDAD (AP) – The U.S. military says two American troops are dead and six wounded in a shooting in Mosul.
Nov 11 2008 - Seattle PI
BAGHDAD –– A suicide bomber struck a crowd rushing to help schoolgirls trapped in a bus by an earlier bombing Monday, and the Interior Ministry said that at least 31 people were killed. It was the deadliest in a string of blasts that raise doubts about Iraqi security forces as the U.S. prepares to reduce troop levels.
Nov 11 2008 - Seattle PI
BAGHDAD –– Iraq's government spokesman said Monday that proposed U.S. changes to a draft security agreement were "not enough" and asked Washington to offer new amendments if it wants the pact to win parliamentary approval.
Nov 11 2008 - Washington Times
BAGHDAD (AP) – A bridge linking Sunni and Shiite neighborhoods that was barricaded shut three years ago reopened Tuesday, offering the latest sign of improving security in the Iraqi capital despite near–daily scattered attacks.
Nov 10 2008 - Washington Times
BAGHDAD (AP) – The proposed U.S.–Iraqi security pact removes language authorizing Iraq to ask U.S. soldiers to stay beyond 2011 and bans cross–border attacks from Iraqi soil, according to a copy of the draft obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
Nov 06 2008 - Washington Times
BAGHDAD (AP) – A series of bomb blasts across Baghdad killed six people and injured more than 20 others Thursday, police said, in the fourth consecutive day of heightened violence in the Iraqi capital.
Nov 06 2008 - San Francisco Chronicle
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) ––Romania's defense minister says the country's 501 peacekeepers in Iraq will all leave by the end of the year.
Nov 06 2008 - Seattle PI
WASHINGTON –– Spurred on by a continued decline in violence, the U.S. military will reduce its presence in Iraq to 14 combat brigades this month –– at least two months earlier than originally planned.
