FTR News and More

Palin Pick Pushes Us Women'S Group To Back Obama

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:27:00 MST

Prominent US women's rights groups on Tuesday backed Democrat Barack Obama for the White House and slammed his Republican rival John McCain for trying to lure women voters by choosing Sarah Palin as a running mate. "The nation's oldest and largest women's rights organization... the National Organization for Women (NOW), proudly endorses Senator Barack Obama for president of the United States," NOW chief Kim Gandy told a news conference held jointly with other groups claim...

Fed Boosts Support For Goldman, Morgan

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 23:13:00 MST

This is so freaking major... I don't know if anyone realizes how insane it is that the 'deregulate-em-all' Bush administration has just engineered the biggest platinum parachute for Wall Street in history. And then there were none. Federal regulators converted Wall Street's remaining stand-alone investment banks - Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley - into bank holding companies Sunday night. The move allows Goldman and Morgan to scoop up retail banks and to streamline thei...

Army Suicide Rate Could Top Nation'S This Year

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:39:00 MST

The rate of suicides among-active duty soldiers is on pace to surpass both last year's numbers and the rate of suicide in the general U.S. population for the first time since the Vietnam war, according to U.S. Army officials. As of August, 62 Army soldiers have committed suicide, and 31 cases of possible suicide remain under investigation, according to Army statistics. Last year, the Army recorded 115 suicides among its ranks, which was also higher than the previous year. Army offici...

US Military Deaths In Iraq War At 4,152

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:00:00 MST

As of Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008, at least 4,152 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians killed in action. At least 3,375 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers....

US Troops 'To Quit Iraq By 2011'

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:49:00 MST

US combat troops could leave Iraq by 2011 under the terms of a deal awaiting approval by Iraq's parliament and presidency, an Iraqi official has said. The draft security agreement also calls for US forces to withdraw from all Iraqi urban areas by June 2009. The 27-point agreement reportedly includes a compromise allowing US soldiers some immunity under Iraqi law. The final date when US troops leave will depend largely on security, the BBC's Crispin Thorold in Baghdad says. ...

Book Claims White House Ordered Faked Letter To Tie Saddam And 9/11

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:25:00 MST

A new book by author Ron Suskind alleges that the White House ordered the CIA to fabricate a letter purportedly showing links between deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and the September 11, 2001 attacks. The book, "The Way of the World," was immediately attacked by the White House, the CIA and former CIA director George Tenet who is alleged to have passed the White House order to senior CIA operators. "There was no such order from the White House to me nor, to the best of my ...

Veterans Group Hits Mccain On Troop Pullout

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:16:00 MST

A veterans group critical of the war in Iraq accuses John McCain of wanting to occupy Iraq indefinitely, against the wishes of the country's leaders, in an ad that will air later this week. The group, VoteVets.org, calls attention to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's desire for a troop withdrawal timetable. The group will spend $100,000 to run the ad on the MSNBC and CNN cable channels from Friday through the middle of next week. In the ad, Iraq war veteran Brandon Woods of Ne...

Us Troops At Risk From Shoddy Wiring In Iraq

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:46:00 MST

U.S. soldiers face death and danger from shoddy electrical work at their bases in Iraq, raising further questions about a heavy reliance on private contractors, the New York Times reported on Friday. The Pentagon knew about the problems but did little to address them until Ryan Maseth, a member of the elite Green Berets, was electrocuted in January while taking a shower, the newspaper said. The Army says 13 soldiers have been electrocuted in Iraq since the invasion in March 2003 but the Ti...

Domestic Spending Intact As House Passes War Bill

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:36:00 MST

In a pair of bipartisan votes, the House yesterday approved $162 billion to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan well into 2009 and a separate measure that would allow veterans returning from those battlefields to receive increased education benefits. The domestic spending measure, approved 416 to 12, also includes a 13-week extension of unemployment insurance for laid-off workers who have used all 26 weeks of their current benefits, and $2.65 billion for Midwest flood relief. "It...

Mccain: Troop Withdraw Date 'Not Too Important' In Iraq

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:04:00 MST

Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama heaped criticism on Republican opponent John McCain for saying it was "not too important" when American troops are withdrawn from Iraq, as Democrats leapt at the chance to attack the Arizona senator's position on the unpopular war. But Obama also took a public relations hit Wednesday when Jim Johnson, a manager of the Illinois senator's vice presidential search team, resigned under criticism over his personal loan deal...

Happy Pills Helping Us Fight War On Terror

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:07:00 MST

Among modern high-tech weapons aiding American combat troops to grapple with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, antidepressants and sleeping pills have become the lifeline for a significant yet a growing number of United States Army soldiers. According to an article published in Time magazine on Monday, citing the Army’s fifth Mental Health Advisory Team report based on an anonymous survey taken last fall, about 12 percent of combat troops in Iraq and 17 percent of those in Afghanistan ...

Former Anti-Terror Czar Clarke: Staying In Iraq 'Helps Al-Qaeda'

Tue, 27 May 2008 22:28:00 MST

Maintaining US combat troops in Iraq "helps Al-Qaeda" and Washington should pull them from the ravaged country if it wants to see progress in the war on terror, former US anti-terror czar Richard Clarke said Tuesday. "I think the best thing that we could do to hit Al-Qaeda's attractiveness to the Muslim world was in fact to get out of Iraq in an orderly way over the course of the next two or three years," Clarke said on CNN. "Our being in Iraq helps Al-Qaeda," h...

Further Cuts In U.S. Forces In Iraq Are Likely, Petraeus Says

Thu, 22 May 2008 10:15:00 MST

Gen. David H. Petraeus said he expects to recommend further cuts in the size of U.S. forces in Iraq before he gives up command in September. The military is currently cutting its forces down to 15 brigades, or about 140,000 troops. That drawdown is scheduled to be concluded by July. Last month, President Bush endorsed Petraeus' call for a 45-day pause before the troop reduction. Petraeus noted those further cuts may be small but said that he always intended to make constant reassessmen...

Iraq Party: Punish U.S. Soldier Who Shot At Quran

Mon, 19 May 2008 14:54:00 MST

Iraq's most powerful Sunni Arab political party on Monday said a U.S. soldier's desecration of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, requires the "severest of punishments," not just an apology and a military reassignment. The Iraqi Islamic Party, the movement of Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, condemned what it said was a "blatant assault on the sanctities of Muslims all over the world." An American staff sergeant who was a sniper section leader used a Quran for t...

Bbc Baghdad Bureau Is Struck By Rocket

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:51:00 MST

A rocket crashed through the roof of the BBC's bureau in Baghdad today causing structural damage but no injuries. It was one of a number of rockets fired towards the heavily fortified Green Zone by Shia insurgents taking advantage of a sudden sandstorm, which gave them cover from counter-attack by US aircraft. Patrick Howse, the BBC's Baghdad bureau chief, said the rocket impacted at 2.45pm local time, leaving a hole around 1 metre by 1.5 metres in the roof of the office. “...

House Democrats Seek To Press Ahead With Vote On War Funding Bill, But Delays Possible

Wed, 07 May 2008 17:13:00 MST

House leaders on Wednesday worked to rally rank-and-file Democrats behind a $195 billion (€126 billion) measure to pay for the war in Iraq through next spring and provide education help to veterans as well as relief for the jobless. At the same time, protests by Republicans threatened to delay a vote until next week. Democratic leaders hoped to bring the bill to a vote on Thursday, but a revolt by Republicans upset with Democrats' handling of the war funding measure left the House s...

Ex-Guantanamo Prisoner Took Part In Iraq Bombing

Wed, 07 May 2008 17:10:00 MST

The Pentagon confirmed yesterday that a Kuwaiti released from the US detention camp at Guantánamo Bay three years ago carried out a suicide bombing in Iraq last month. The involvement of an ex-Guantánamo detainee will make it harder for civil rights lawyers in the US and Britain, who have been fighting for the release of the remaining prisoners at the camp complex in Cuba. Abdallah Salih al-Ajmi and two other Kuwaitis are reported by their families to have taken part in an attack...

White House Admits Fault On 'Mission Accomplished' Banner

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:47:00 MST

The White House said Wednesday that President Bush has paid a price for the "Mission Accomplished" banner that was flown in triumph five years ago but later became a symbol of U.S. misjudgments and mistakes in the long and costly war in Iraq. Thursday is the fifth anniversary of Bush's dramatic landing in a Navy jet on an aircraft carrier homebound from the war. The USS Abraham Lincoln had launched thousands of airstrikes on Iraq. "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended...

Petraeus To Be Nominated To Lead Central Command

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:34:00 MST

Gen. David H. Petraeus, who has commanded United States troops in Iraq for the past year, will be nominated to head the United States Central Command, which oversees military operations across a wide swath of the Middle East, Africa and Asia, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced Wednesday....

Economists Debate Link Between War, Credit Crisis

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:57:00 MST

For House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the connection between the Iraq conflict and the U.S. economic downturn is simple: "The president has taken us into a failed war," the California Democrat said recently. "He's taken us deeply into debt, and that debt is taking us into recession." This assessment was put to powerful political effect in the latest congressional hearings on the war, when Democrats and Republicans alike told Army Gen. David H. Petraeus that the oil-rich Iraqi g...

Petraeus Urges Halt In Weighing New Cut In Force

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:21:00 MST

Telling Congress that progress in Iraq was “fragile and reversible,” the top American commander recommended Tuesday that consideration of any new withdrawals of American troops be delayed until the fall, making it likely that little would change before Election Day. Gen. David H. Petraeus, refused under persistent questioning from Senate Democrats to say under what conditions he would favor new troop reductions, adding that he would not take the matter up until 45 days after a cur...

Democrat: Report On Iraq 'Too Rosy'

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:00:00 MST

Senior Democratic senators challenged a new intelligence report's assessment of President Bush's "surge" strategy Friday, saying the troop increase in Iraq has failed to achieve its strategic goals. The classified National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, which was distributed to key lawmakers this week, sets the stage for the latest public progress report on Iraq that will be delivered Tuesday and Wednesday to congressional committees by Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. comman...

For Iraqi Women: Life Better Under Saddam

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:00:00 MST

Iraqi women say they are now worse off than they were during the rule of dictator Saddam Hussein and that their plight has deteriorated year by year since the US-led invasion in March 2003. Now they are demanding not just equal rights but the very "right to live", says Shameran Marugi, head of the non-governmental organization Iraqi Women's Committee. "The 'right to live' is a slogan that we have begun using because a women's life in Iraq is being threatened on all si...

Grim Milestone: 4,000 U.S. Service Employees Dead In Iraq War - Cnn.Com

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 21:15:00 MST

Four U.S. soldiers died in a roadside bombing in Iraq on Sunday, military officials reported, bringing the American toll in the 5-year-old war to the grim milestone of 4,000 deaths. Eight of the 4,000 killed were civilian employees of the Pentagon. Troops emerge from a bunker after receiving the "all clear" Sunday following a truck bombing in Mosul. The four were killed when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device while patrolling a neighborhood in southern Baghda...

Republican War Rhetoric Devoid Of Reality

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:15:00 MST

Defending his stay-the-course policy in Iraq, President Bush declared: "I believe the American people understand that success is necessary for the long-term security of the American people." The American people, whose mentality he claims to understand as well as he once understood Vladimir Putin's soul, will next November elect a Republican who will "keep up the fight," he predicted. The GOP nominee-in-waiting, John McCain, agrees. The American armed forces must remain ...

Experts Say Cost Of War On Terror Totals $3 Trillion

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:22:00 MST

When U.S. troops invaded Iraq in March 2003, the Bush administration predicted that the war would be self-financing and rebuilding the nation would cost less than $2 billion. Coming up on the five-year anniversary of the invasion, a new estimate from a Nobel laureate puts the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan at more than $3 trillion. That estimate from Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz also serves as the title of his new book, The Three Trillion Dollar War, which hit st...

One Iraq War –That’S $3 Trillion To You, Mr Bush

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 21:35:00 MST

What a difference a few months make. Iraq was going to be Gordon Brown’s big prime ministerial headache but since the withdrawal of British troops from Basra it has slipped well down the political agenda. Brown took the poisoned chalice left by Tony Blair and quickly poured it down the drain. He has a sea of troubles, but Iraq, for now at least, is not high on the list of them. In America, Iraq was going to dominate the presidential campaign, pundits predicted. If Barack Obama’s ...

War Costs Next Year Estimated At $170 Billion Or More

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:37:00 MST

The military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost $170 billion in the next fiscal year over and above the $515.4 billion regular Pentagon budget that President Bush has proposed, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said on Wednesday. Mr. Gates gave that estimate in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee after cautioning the panel that any estimate would be dicey, given the unpredictability of war. “Well, a straight-line projection, Mr. Chairman, of our current e...

Survey Makes New Estimate Of Iraqi Deaths Since 2003

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 17:33:00 MST

A new survey estimates that 151,000 Iraqis died of violence in the three years following the U.S.-led invasion of the country. Roughly nine of 10 of those deaths were a consequence of U.S. military operations, insurgent attacks and sectarian warfare. The survey, conducted by the Iraqi government and the World Health Organization, also found a 60 percent increase in nonviolent deaths -- everything from childhood infections to kidney failure -- during the period. The results, which will be pub...

2007 Dealiest Year for US Troops in Iraq

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 19:28:00 MST

The second half of 2007 saw violence drop dramatically in Iraq, but the progress came at a high price: The year was the deadliest for the U.S. military since the 2003 invasion, with 899 troops killed. American commanders and diplomats, however, say the battlefield gains against insurgents such as al-Qaida in Iraq offer only a partial picture of where the country stands as the war moves toward its five-year mark in March. Two critical shifts that boosted U.S.-led forces in 2007 - a self-imp...

Us Official Says Iran Restraining Shi'Ite Militias In Iraq

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 09:33:00 MST

A U.S. official says Iran has reined in the Shi'ite militias it supports in Iraq, contributing to a sharp drop in sophisticated roadside bomb attacks. In an interview with the Washington Post published Sunday, the State Department's top official on Iraq, David Satterfield, says Iran has decided "at the most senior levels" to restrain Shi'ite militants. Satterfield says the flow of roadside bombs from Iran may not have stopped, but he says the drop in their use and a dec...

Victim: Gang-Rape Cover-Up By U.S., Halliburton/Kbr

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:54:00 MST

A Houston, Texas woman says she was gang-raped by Halliburton/KBR coworkers in Baghdad, and the company and the U.S. government are covering up the incident. Jamie Leigh Jones, now 22, says that after she was raped by multiple men at a KBR camp in the Green Zone, the company put her under guard in a shipping container with a bed and warned her that if she left Iraq for medical treatment, she'd be out of a job. "Don't plan on working back in Iraq. There won't be a position...

U.S. Military Plans Case Against Award-Winning Associated Press Photographer

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 07:49:00 MST

The U.S. military plans to seek a criminal case in an Iraqi court against an award-winning Associated Press photographer but is refusing to disclose what evidence or accusations would be presented. An AP attorney on Monday strongly protested the decision, calling the U.S. military plans a "sham of due process." The journalist, Bilal Hussein, has already been imprisoned without charges for more than 19 months. In Washington, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell explained the decis...

Us Democrats Vow Not To Be Bullied By Bush On Iraq

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 16:03:00 MST

Democrats who lead Congress likened President George W. Bush on Thursday to a bully on Iraq war policy and vowed to spend no more on combat without a deadline for bringing U.S. troops home. "He damn sure is not entitled to having this money given to him just with a blank check," Sen. Harry Reid, the Democrats' Senate leader, told reporters. "Americans need someone fighting for them taking on this bully we have in the White House." Reid's tough tone came toward the e...

House Passes Iraq Bill Demanding Troops Out By December '08

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 22:11:00 MST

The Democratic-controlled U.S. House Wednesday approved a war-funding bill with a timeline for troop withdrawal from Iraq and substantially less funds to conduct the war than President Bush has requested. Sen. Harry Reid says restrictions must be part of the bill or "the president won't get his $50 billion." The 218-203 vote was largely along party lines. Fifteen Democrats joined Republicans in voting against the bill while four Republicans voted in favor of it. The vote wa...

Us Military Deaths In Iraq At 3,860

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 08:50:00 MST

As of Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007, at least 3,860 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,144 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The AP count is five higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Thursday at 10 a.m. EDT. The British military has reported 171 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Pola...

Democrats Consider More Money For War

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:18:00 MST

Democrats are debating whether to approve up to $70 billion more for Iraq and Afghanistan, only a down payment on President Bush's $196 billion war spending request but enough to keep the wars afloat for several more months. Such a move would satisfy party members who want to spare the Pentagon from a painful budget dance and show support for the troops as Congress considers its next major step on Iraq. But it also would irritate scores of other Democrats, who want to pay only to bring...

Iraq, Afghanistan Could Cost $2.4 Trillion

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 10:56:00 MST

The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and anti terrorist efforts abroad could cost the country $2.4 trillion over the next ten years, according to a report Wednesday. The money, over 70 percent of which would go to support operations in Iraq, includes the estimated $600 billion spent since 2001, Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag said in testimony before the House Budget Committee. That estimate includes projected interest, since the government is borrowing most of the funds required. ...

Iraq Drawdown To Begin In Volatile Area

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:54:00 MST

Commanders in Iraq have decided to begin the drawdown of U.S. forces in volatile Diyala province, marking a turning point in the U.S. military mission, The Associated Press has learned. Instead of replacing the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, which is returning to its home base at Fort Hood, Texas, in December, soldiers from another brigade in Salahuddin province next door will expand into Diyala, thereby broadening its area of responsibility, several officials said Tuesday. In th...

Sanchez: Iraq War 'A Nightmare With No End In Sight'

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 00:07:00 MST

A former commander of coalition forces in Iraq issued a harsh assessment of U.S. management of the war, saying that American political leaders cost American lives on the battlefield with their "lust for power." Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, coalition commander in 2003 and 2004, called the Iraq war "a nightmare with no end in sight," for which he said the Bush administration, the State Department and Congress all share blame. Sanchez told a group of military reporters i...

Bush’S Trillion Dollar Failed Adventure In Iraq.

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 07:53:00 MST

Based on the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) current spending estimates for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Iraq war will probably cost a minimum of one trillion dollars ($1,000,000,000,000.00). If Bush is correct in predicting that the U.S. will remain in Iraq for one or more decades, the cost will probably eventually reach two trillion dollars. The total cost of this war cannot even be estimated. The annual costs are increasing so dramatically, along with increasing U.S. ...

Concerns About Private Security Ignored, Officials Say

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 19:38:00 MST

The State Department, which is facing growing criticism of its policy on private security contractors, overlooked repeated warnings from U.S. diplomats in the field that guards were endangering Iraqi civilians and undermining U.S. efforts to win local support, according to current and former U.S. officials. Ever since the contractors were granted immunity from Iraqi courts in June 2004 by the U.S.-led occupation authority, diplomats have cautioned that the decision to do so was "a bomb th...

Blackwater Portrayed As Out Of Control

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:19:00 MST

Blackwater USA is an out-of-control outfit indifferent to Iraqi civilian casualties, according to a critical report released Monday by a key congressional committee. Among the most serious charges against the prominent security firm is that Blackwater contractors sought to cover up a June 2005 shooting of an Iraqi man and the company paid, with State Department approval, the families of others inadvertently killed by its guards. Blackwater has had to fire dozens of guards over the past thr...

Texas Oilman Pleads Guilty In Iraq Oil/Food Case

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 10:44:00 MST

Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one of five charges against him for his role in the U.N. oil-for-food scandal. Wyatt was accused of paying millions of dollars in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's government to win oil contracts from Iraq. Pending his sentencing on Nov. 27, he remains free on bail, but is not allowed to leave the country. Under the terms of the plea agreement, he could face 18 to 24 months in prison. "I did not want ...

Civilian Casualties of War on Terror

Sat, 29 Sep 2007 21:45:00 MST

The US military Saturday put down to its "war on terror" the deaths of civilians in a series of airstrikes in Baghdad and southern belts this week that also killed a senior Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq. "We regret when civilians are hurt or killed while coalition forces search to rid Iraq of terrorism," US military spokesman Major Brad Leighton told AFP. Iraqi officials claimed that 13 civilians died in an air strike by US helicopters early Friday on a building in Baghdad's ...

Bush, Maliki Hold Sensitive Talks

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:49:00 MST

President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki met Tuesday to discuss broad issues related to the war, but were forced to confront the latest irritant in their relationship: a deadly shooting last week involving employees of Blackwater USA, a U.S. security firm protecting American diplomats. The talks between the two leaders took place during the meeting of the U.N. General Assembly and came as the Iraqi Interior Ministry prepared legislation that would strip local and foreign security ...

Iraq, Afghanistan Wars To Cost U.S. $190 Bln In 2008

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:46:00 MST

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will cost at least $190 billion in 2008, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, making it the most expensive year in the conflicts since they were launched by President George W. Bush. Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked Congress to approve the funding after Bush this month beat back demands from Democrats for a quick end to the Iraq war and said the U.S. presence there would go on after he leaves office in 2009. Gates said he hoped longer-term for a much smaller...

US Snipers 'Bait' Iraqis: Report

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:58:00 MST

US military snipers in Iraq are "baiting" Iraqis by scattering items such as detonation cord, plastic explosives and ammunition, and then ambushing and killing those who pick them up, The Washington Post reported Monday. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman declined to comment on the Post story, which reported such actions were being taken at the urging of Pentagon experts on special operations. But Whitman did say the US military rules of engagement "certainly recognize and reflec...

Blackwater Investigation Expands

Sat, 22 Sep 2007 10:56:00 MST

Iraq's probe into a deadly shooting by Blackwater USA in Baghdad last weekend has expanded to include allegations about the security firm's involvement in six other violent episodes this year that left at least 10 Iraqis dead. Iraqi officials say these violent encounters have made them increasingly frustrated with Blackwater's conduct in Iraq, but the government backed away Friday from its attempt to expel the company. Blackwater has said its guards acted appropriately in the week...

US Senate Rejects Measure To Cut Off Funding For Iraq War

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:06:00 MST

The U.S. Senate has rejected, by a 28 to 70 vote, a Democratic-sponsored measure to withdraw troops from Iraq and cut funding for the war. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill. The measure, proposed as an amendment to a defense bill, called for most U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq by next June and cutting off financing for military operations. Senator Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat who sponsored the legislation, argued the war in Iraq is taking attention and resources aw...

Tug-Of-War Over Iraq Intensifies In Congress

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 19:40:00 MST

The tug-of-war over Iraq policy intensified in the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, as Democrats renewed their efforts to step up troop withdrawals while an influential Republican senator offered a compromise. A week after Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus announced gradual troop reductions in Iraq through next summer, Senate Democrats seeking a faster pullout pledged to hold a vote soon on a proposal they think is their best chance to influence the course of the war. Sen. James Webb, a Virgini...

Greenspan Memoir Links Iraq War To US Thirst For Oil

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 07:08:00 MST

Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, for years an inscrutable seer on the economy, is causing a stir by alleging in his new memoir that "the Iraq war is largely about oil." Greenspan, who as head of the US central bank was famous for his tight-lipped reserve, is uncharacteristically direct, also accusing President George W. Bush of abandoning Republican principles on the economy. "I'm saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows...

Petraeus Encounters Opposition Even Among Some Superiors

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 09:43:00 MST

For two hours, President Bush listened to contrasting visions of the U.S. future in Iraq. Gen. David Petraeus dominated the conversation by video link from Baghdad, making the case to keep as many troops as long as possible. Adm. William Fallon, his superior, argued instead for taking more risks to have enough forces available to confront other potential threats. The discussion this month masked a sharper clash over the U.S. venture in Iraq, one that has been building since Fallon, chief of U...

Bush-Linked Texas Company Signs Oil Deal With Iraqi Kurds

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 11:10:00 MST

Earlier this month, the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq announced that it had signed a production-sharing deal with Texas-based Hunt Oil. The move is an indication that Western oil companies, frustrated over the delay in the passage of a national oil law by the Iraqi government, are moving to make deals with regional bodies to get access to Iraq’s vast oil reserves. As significant as the deal itself is the identity of the company involved. Ray Hunt, the CEO and president of pr...

Iraqi Government Has Made No Progress, Us Concludes

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 20:51:00 MST

The White House yesterday issued a new report admitting Baghdad had made almost no new progress in achieving stability and reconciliation between the country's feuding factions, just hours after President Bush argued on national television for a continuing massive US troop presence in Iraq. The report suggests that over the last two months the Iraqis had advanced on just two of the 18 so-called "benchmarks" to that end. As such, the document underlines how difficult it will be for...

A Bush Speech That Could Backfire

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 20:49:00 MST

President George W. Bush's decision to give a major speech on Iraq in prime time Thursday night made sense on one level. The news has been relatively positive for a change, what with the stabilization in Anbar province and parts of Baghdad. Earlier in the week, Bush and the Congress got a cautiously upbeat report from Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker that recommended a drawdown of some troops over the next nine months. So after months of asking Americans for patience, the Pres...

Bush To Adopt Petraeus' Troop Withdrawal Recommendations

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 15:37:00 MST

President George W. Bush will tell the nation this week he plans to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq by about 30,000 by next summer, but will condition those and further cuts on continued progress, the Associated Press has learned. In a prime-time television address, probably Thursday, Bush will endorse the recommendations of his top general and top diplomat in Iraq, following their appearance at two days of hearings in Congress, administration officials said. The White House plans ...

Petraeus, Crocker Reports Fuel Debate

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 14:03:00 MST

The reports by the top U.S. military officer in Iraq and the U.S. ambassador provided fuel to both supporters of the current policy and its opponents. VOA Pentagon Correspondent Al Pessin spoke to some of them and filed this report. General David Petraeus said he needs to keep nearly all the 160,000 U.S. troops he has in Iraq until next spring, but probably can move forward with reductions at that time. Ambassador Ryan Crocker said there has been progress among Iraqi politicians, but some of ...

Us Advised To Reduce Number Of Iraq Troops

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 15:08:00 MST

An independent commission has recommended that the US withdraw some troops from Iraq despite concluding that the Iraqi security forces will not be able to operate independently over the next 18 months. Led by retired General James Jones, the panel of 20 former senior military and police officers concluded that the level of US forces and military installations in Iraq, particularly in Baghdad, created the impression of a permanent occupation. "What is needed is the opposite impression: ...

If Iraq Falls

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 08:57:00 MST

While we don't disagree with this... unfortunately, Bush's terrible mishandling of the region seems to have put us in an unwinnable situatoin. Pullback and containment may be the best alternative. In contrast to President Bush's dark comparison between Iraq and the bloody aftermath of the Vietnam War last week, there is another, comforting version of the Vietnam analogy that's gained currency among policy makers and pundits. It goes something like this: After that last hel...

Edwards: Congress Should Use All Tools To Demand Troop Withdrawal

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 08:38:00 MST

Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards said Sunday that Congress should continue to push for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq regardless of what top military advisers say in their progress report next month. The former North Carolina senator started the last day of his four-day bus tour of New Hampshire outside Manchester's City Hall, where he told several hundred people that they should ask themselves two key questions when the report is released. First, has Iraq made progress to...

Al-Maliki'S Government Ineffective, Key Report Says

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 14:25:00 MST

A National Intelligence Estimate released yesterday said that U.S. troops are making some progress in Iraq, but it cast doubt on the effectiveness of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government. The report's key findings, the only unclassified portion of the document, concluded that "Iraqi political leaders remain unable to govern effectively," adding that the nation's government "will become more precarious over the next six to 12 months" because of internal...

Iraq Government Incompetence

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:53:00 MST

Iraq's political leaders still can't govern effectively and the level of sectarian violence in the nation will remain high over the six to 12 months, according to a new report by U.S. intelligence agencies. The addition of about 30,000 U.S. troops in recent months has had some success in curbing violence and there have been ``modest improvements in economic output,'' yet ``Iraq's sectarian groups remain un-reconciled,'' and al-Qaeda ``retains the ability to conduc...

Bush Campaigning To Sustain 'Surge'

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 08:18:00 MST

Opening a new campaign to sustain his "troop surge" strategy in Iraq, US President George W Bush on Wednesday compared Washington's ongoing struggle there to both World War II and the Vietnam War, in the latter of which, he said, Washington's withdrawal led to disaster for "millions of innocent citizens". Speaking in the state of Missouri to the perennially hawkish Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention, Bush also reiterated strong support for Iraq's increasin...

U.S. Military Deaths In Iraq At 3,674

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 21:31:00 MST

As of Monday, Aug. 6, 2007, at least 3,674 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 3,010 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The AP count is 14 more than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Monday at 10 a.m. EDT....

Large Numbers Of U.S. Weapons Delivered To Iraq Gone Missing

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 21:17:00 MST

The U.S. Defense Department has lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols delivered to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, The Washington Post reported Monday. The newspaper, citing a new government report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), said U.S. military officials do not know what happened to 30 percent of the weapons the United States distributed to Iraqi forces from 2004 through to early this year as part of an effort to train and equip troops. The...

U.S. Squad Leader Convicted In Iraqi Killing

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 21:11:00 MST

A U.S. Marine squad leader who told his men "We just got away with murder" after they kidnapped and killed an Iraqi grandfather in Iraq last year was found guilty Thursday of unpremeditated murder, larceny, making a false official statement and conspiracy. Marine Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III was found not guilty of kidnapping, assault, housebreaking and obstruction of justice. The conspiracy conviction includes conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit larceny, conspiracy to...

'Slain' Al-Qaida Target In Iraq Was Fictional

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 20:02:00 MST

In March, he was declared captured. In May, he was declared killed, and his purported corpse was displayed on state-run TV. But Wednesday, Omar al-Baghdadi, the supposed leader of an al-Qaida-affiliated group in Iraq, was declared nonexistent by U.S. military officials, who say he is a fictional character created to give an Iraqi face to a foreign-run terror group. In reality, an Iraqi actor has been used to read statements attributed to al-Baghdadi, who since October has been identified as t...

U.S. Ambassador: Word In Iraq Is 'Fear'

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:53:00 MST

Iraq is a nation gripped by fear and struggling to meet security and political goals by September, U.S. officials cautioned from Baghdad on Thursday, dashing hopes in Congress that the country might turn a corner this summer. They said not to expect a solid judgment on the U.S. troop buildup until November. "If there is one word, I would use to sum up the atmosphere in Iraq - on the streets, in the countryside, in the neighborhoods and at the national level - that word would be 'fe...

Bush Says Iraq Hasn't Met Any Benchmarks

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 10:58:00 MST

The Iraqi government has not yet met any of 18 goals for political, military and economic reform, the Bush administration said Thursday in an interim report certain to inflame debate in Congress over growing calls for a U.S. troop withdrawal. In an assessment required by Congress, the administration accused Syria of fostering a network that supplies as many as 50 to 80 suicide bombers per month for al Qaeda in Iraq. It also said Iran continues to fund extremist groups. The report said th...

White House Rejects Gop Call On Iraq

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 10:47:00 MST

The White House on Sunday rejected a call by two leading Republican senators to submit plans to start redeploying U.S. troops from Iraq by year's end, saying that doing so would be premature before military commanders present a major progress report in September. "They've done a useful service in indicating the kinds of things that we should be thinking about. But the time to begin that process is September," national security advisor Stephen J. Hadley said on ABC's "T...

Bush Says He'd Veto Iraq Deadline

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 10:35:00 MST

President Bush threatened yesterday to veto legislation that would set a date for a troop withdrawal from Iraq, despite growing bipartisan calls in Congress for an end to U.S. participation in the war and sharp criticism of Iraq's government. U.S. officials, meanwhile, told the Associated Press that the administration, in a 23-page classified report, would point to limited progress being made by the American-backed government in Baghdad while acknowledging benchmarks were unmet. The int...

Iraq War Support at New Low

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:27:00 MST

new low of 30 percent of Americans say they support the U.S. war in Iraq and, for the first time, most Americans say they don’t believe it is morally justified, a poll released Tuesday said. In the poll, which was carried out Friday through Sunday, 30 percent of respondents said they favor the war in Iraq; 41 percent said they oppose it because they think the 2003 decision to go to war was a mistake; 26 percent said they oppose it because they think it has been mismanaged; and 3 percent...

Petraeus' Perspective On Iraq

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 08:12:00 MST

The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David Petraeus, does not believe that the situation there will be sufficiently stable by September to allow a drawdown of U.S. forces. Yesterday he hinted that the U.S. military will likely be engaged on the ground in Iraq for at least a decade. "There are some very serious centrifugal forces here in Iraq," Petraeus said on Fox News Sunday, warning that the administration and Congress need to have "very clear eyes about what can happen, wh...

Battle Over Bush Oil Law Proposal

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 21:26:00 MST

The threat of violence is of course a major concern for Iraqis, but so too is how to handle the country's oil resources. The Bush administration claims its plan to privatize production is the best way to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure. But representatives from Iraq's oil industry say the plan gives too much control to foreign interests. They're touring California right now to convey that message. Most of the Iraqi oil wells which were destroyed during the first Gulf War and in ...

U.S. Military Death Toll In Iraq Passes 3,500

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 23:00:00 MST

The four-year U.S. military death toll in Iraq passed 3,500 on Thursday after a soldier was reported killed in a roadside bombing the day before in Baghdad. A British soldier was also shot to death Thursday in southern Iraq as Western forces find themselves increasingly vulnerable under a new strategy to take the fight to the enemy. Suicide attackers and car bombs struck targets in central, western and northern Iraq, leaving at least 26 people dead and 42 wounded, Iraqi security officials ...

It's too soon to say if the United States and its coalition partners are winning the war on terror

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:57:00 MST

It�s too soon to say if the United States and its coalition partners are winning the war on terror, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here yesterday. Gates comments came as federal authorities in the United States announced they had broken up a suspected terrorist cell planning attacks at New York�s John F. Kennedy International Airport. Gates, here for the International Institute of Strategic Studies� Asia Security Summit, cited �heartening developments...

Is This How The Iraq War Ends?

Tue, 29 May 2007 22:38:00 MST

This is how the war in Iraq will end: Not with a sudden vote in Congress or a new president in the White House, but with a gradual process of disengagement. That process will begin this fall, but it will likely last into the next administration. Disengagement will be driven not only by anti-war sentiment on the left, but by misgivings among conservatives. And it will be led, in critical ways, by the judgments of key commanders in the field. Looking back on the last five months, it was neve...

Cindy Sheehan Calls It Quits, Anti-War Activist And Mom Of Killed G.I. In Iraq Resigns Role As "Face" Of Movement

Tue, 29 May 2007 07:35:00 MST

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan announced Monday she is giving up her role as the "face" of the American anti-war movement. "I've been wondering why I'm killing myself and wondering why the Democrats caved in to George Bush," Sheehan told The Associated Press by phone Tuesday while driving from her property in Crawford to the airport, where she planned to return to her native California. "I'm going home for awhile to try and be normal," she said. S...

Bush Administration Failing To Achieve Its "Benchmarks" In Iraq

Tue, 29 May 2007 07:30:00 MST

US President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have all personally warned Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that time is running out. Deadlines have gone or are fast approaching. Still, the Bush administration is no closer to achieving the “benchmarks” it demanded of the Iraqi government on January 10 and linked to the success of its current military “surge”. The benchmarks are intended to pressure the Shiite- and Kurdish-domin...

Bush Signs Iraq War Bill

Sat, 26 May 2007 10:48:00 MST

US President George W Bush on Friday signed into law a bill committing 100 billion dollars to the war in Iraq and handing him a rare political victory over Democrats looking to end the war. "Congress voted on Friday to provide our troops with the funding and flexibility they need to protect our country, and I was pleased to sign the bill today," Bush said in a statement released by the White House. "Rather than mandate arbitrary timetables for troop withdrawals or micromanage...

Democrats Turning Toward Cutting of War Funding

Tue, 15 May 2007 23:09:00 MST

Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) announced yesterday that they will support a symbolic vote to cut off funding for combat troops in Iraq within a year, an important shift for both Democratic presidential candidates as the war debate on Capitol Hill intensifies. The funding vote is expected in the Senate today, as one of four test votes on Iraq that Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) had scheduled in advance of final talks with the House and the Bush admi...

U.S. Military Deaths In Iraq At 3,383

Fri, 11 May 2007 11:47:00 MST

As of Thursday, May 10, 2007, at least 3,383 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,761 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The AP count is one higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Thursday at 10 a.m. EDT. The British military has reported 148 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Pol...

Differences Continue Delay Of Iraq War Bill

Thu, 10 May 2007 23:28:00 MST

Congressional leaders and representatives of the White House are putting off tough decisions on the Iraq war until a handful of House and Senate negotiators work out details of a funding bill they'll try to send to President Bush by Memorial Day. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has been meeting with White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., about a funding compromise. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Thursday that...

Majority Of Iraqi Lawmakers Now Reject Occupation

Wed, 09 May 2007 21:33:00 MST

On Tuesday, without note in the U.S. media, more than half of the members of Iraq's parliament rejected the continuing occupation of their country. 144 lawmakers signed onto a legislative petition calling on the United States to set a timetable for withdrawal, according to Nassar Al-Rubaie, a spokesman for the Al Sadr movement, the nationalist Shia group that sponsored the petition. It's a hugely significant development. Lawmakers demanding an end to the occupation now have the upper ...

Pentagon Tells 35,000: Prepare To Deploy

Tue, 08 May 2007 13:03:00 MST

The Pentagon has notified more than 35,000 Army soldiers to be prepared to deploy to Iraq beginning this fall, a move that would allow commanders to maintain the ongoing buildup of troops through the end of the year if needed. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Tuesday the deployment orders, which have been signed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, do not mean that the military has made a decision to keep the increased level of 20 brigades in Iraq through December. A brigade is roughly 3,5...

Boehner Says GOP Will Want Results In Iraq

Mon, 07 May 2007 10:05:00 MST

A key Republican House leader said Sunday that if President Bush's current strategy in Iraq is not working by fall, members of Congress will demand to know what the White House's next plan is. Rep. John A. Boehner of Ohio, the House minority leader, said the troop buildup had shown some success and noted that it was not yet complete. But he embraced the idea of setting benchmarks for the Iraqi government and requiring Bush to assess the Iraqis' progress on a monthly basis. "...

Iraqi Blocs Opposed To Draft Oil Bill

Thu, 03 May 2007 19:30:00 MST

Kurdish and Sunni Arab officials expressed deep reservations on Wednesday about the draft version of a national oil law and related legislation, misgivings that could derail one of the benchmark measures of progress in Iraq laid down by President Bush. The draft law, which establishes a framework for the distribution of oil revenues, was approved by the Iraqi cabinet in late February after months of negotiations. The White House was hoping for quick passage to lay the groundwork for a politi...

Bush Veto Forces Dems To Weigh Difficult Concessions

Wed, 02 May 2007 10:05:00 MST

President Bush's veto of an Iraq war spending bill that set timelines for U.S. troop withdrawals puts new pressure on Democrats in Congress to craft a compromise even as their caucus grows more fractious on the topic. The party's most liberal members, especially in the House, say they will vote against money for continuing the war if there's no binding language on troop drawdowns. Bush and almost all congressional Republicans continue to insist on a spending bill with no strings a...

Bush Vetoes War-Funding Bill With Withdrawal Timetable

Tue, 01 May 2007 17:37:00 MST

Four years to the day after standing on the deck of an aircraft carrier and declaring "major combat operations" in Iraq as being over, President Bush on Tuesday vetoed a war-spending bill that calls for the start of a withdrawal of American combat troops from the now-unpopular conflict. "It makes no sense to tell the enemy when you plan to start withdrawing. All the terrorists would have to do is mark their calendars. ... Setting a deadline for withdrawal is setting a date for fa...

Shadowy Iraq Office Accused Of Sectarian Agenda

Tue, 01 May 2007 11:33:00 MST

Iraq's prime minister has created an entity within his government that U.S. and Iraqi military officials say is being used as a smokescreen to carry out an extreme Shiite agenda that is worsening the country's sectarian divide. The "Office of the Commander in Chief" has the power to overrule other government ministries, according to U.S. military and intelligence sources. Those sources say the 24-member office is abusing its power, increasingly overriding decisions made by ...

Widening Dissent in US Military over Iraq

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 23:00:00 MST

An army officer has published a report blaming US generals for botching the Iraq war and misleading the US congress about the situation there. "America's generals have repeated the mistakes of Vietnam in Iraq. The intellectual and moral failures . . . constitute a crisis in American generals, “stated Lt. Col. Paul Yingling, Iraq veteran and deputy commander of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. His article, “General Failure”, featured in the US publication Armed ...

Tenet Details Efforts To Justify Invading Iraq - Washingtonpost.Com

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 22:51:00 MST

White House and Pentagon officials, and particularly Vice President Cheney, were determined to attack Iraq from the first days of the Bush administration, long before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and repeatedly stretched available intelligence to build support for the war, according to a new book by former CIA director George J. Tenet. Although Tenet does not question the threat Saddam Hussein posed or the sincerity of administration beliefs, he recounts numerous efforts by aides to Cheney an...

Senate Approves War Funding Bill, Timeline For Iraq Troop Pullout

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 14:11:00 MST

The U.S. Senate, following the lead of the House of Representatives, has approved a compromise bill that funds military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. But it also sets a goal of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq by early next year - a provision that President Bush says will force him to veto the measure as soon as he receives it. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill. The Democratic-led Senate voted largely along party lines to approve the legislation, which is a compromise be...

Republicans Pledge To Uphold Bush Iraq Veto

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 10:30:00 MST

Senate Republicans promised Thursday to uphold President Bush's veto on a bill that would order troops home from Iraq. Democrats said they would pass it anyway. "The president has failed in his mission to bring peace and stability to the people of Iraq," said Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.V., chairman of the Appropriations Committee. He later added: "It's time to bring our troops home from Iraq." The Senate vote comes a day after the House passed the measure by a 218-208 ...

House Panel Votes To Subpoena Rice On Iraq

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 13:27:00 MST

U.S. Democratic lawmakers voted on Wednesday to subpoena Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to testify about administration justifications for the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. On a party-line vote of 21-10, the House of Representatives' Oversight and Government Reform Committee directed Rice to appear before the panel next month. Republicans accused Democrats of a "fishing expedition." But Democrats said they want Rice to explain what she knew about administration's warn...

Obama Accuses Giuliani Of Fear-Mongering

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 09:26:00 MST

Democrat Barack Obama rebuked Republican White House rival Rudy Giuliani Wednesday for suggesting the United States could face another major terrorist attack if a Democrat is elected in 2008. Obama, an Illinois senator, said the man who served as New York mayor's during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks should not be making the serious threat that faces the country into "the punchline of another political attack." "Rudy Giuliani today has taken the politics of fear to a...

Walls Will Increase Violence, Specialists Say

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 11:51:00 MST

Baghdad specialists and citizens have hit out against the US strategy of building walls around Sunni districts that are surrounded by Shia areas. They say such barriers would worsen the lives of thousands of Iraqis and would increase violence. "When they build barriers, automatically they are assuming the existence of religious and ethnic differences in Iraq, reinforcing the fighting groups' beliefs," Jassem al-Rheiri, a sociology professor at Baghdad University, said. Prime ...

Deadlock Over War Spending Bill Continues - Los Angeles Times

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 09:58:00 MST

Hours before House and Senate negotiators were scheduled to begin writing a compromise bill to provide about $100 billion to prosecute the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, President Bush today reiterated his demand that the legislation include no timetable for withdrawing the troops. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), in a written copy of a speech he planned to deliver later in the day, said Congress would soon send Bush a bill including "a fair and reasonable timetable" for...

Senate Leader Says 'War Is Lost' In Iraq

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 09:37:00 MST

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday the war in Iraq is "lost," triggering an angry backlash by Republicans, who said the top Democrat had turned his back on the troops. The bleak assessment -- the most pointed yet from Reid -- came as the House voted 215-199 to uphold legislation ordering troops out of Iraq next year. Reid said he told President Bush on Wednesday he thought the war could not be won through military force, although he said the U.S. could still pursue pol...

No Budge On Iraq War Funding Bill

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:07:00 MST

Moving closer to a showdown over funding the war in Iraq, President Bush and congressional Democratic leaders emerged from a much-anticipated White House meeting Wednesday without progress toward ending an impasse over an emergency spending bill. Despite Bush's veto threat, the Democrats continued to press ahead with legislation that would force the administration to begin withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq. "We cannot give the president a blank check," House Speaker Nancy Pelos...

US Military Death Toll Tops 3.300 In Iraq

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 11:47:00 MST

As of Monday, April 16, 2007, at least 3,308 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,682 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The AP count is 12 higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Monday at 10 a.m. EDT. The British military has reported 142 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, ...

Majority Expect U.S. Will 'Lose' In Iraq

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 09:49:00 MST

A bare majority of Americans for the first time believe the United States will lose the war in Iraq, and a new high — two-thirds — say the war was not worth fighting. Yet the public divides on setting a deadline for withdrawal. That mix of sentiments — unhappy with the war, unclear what to do about it — is keeping George W. Bush in deep disfavor. Just 35 percent approve of his job performance overall, a scant two points above his career low. And just 29 percent like h...

Bush Urges Democrats Set Aside Iraq Pullout Date

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 14:16:00 MST

President George W. Bush and Democrats in charge of the U.S. Congress set themselves on a collision course on Monday over Bush's $100 billion funding request for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Ahead of crucial White House talks on Wednesday, Bush set conditions for discussions with Democrats on the request, saying he would not consider a troop withdrawal deadline nor billions of dollars in extra spending. "I hope the Democratic leadership will drop their unreasonable demand for a p...

Stretched Thinner: Army Extends Iraq Tours To 15 Months

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 21:50:00 MST

Stretched thin by four years of war, the Army is adding three months to the standard yearlong tour for all active-duty soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, an extraordinary step aimed at maintaining the troop buildup in Baghdad. The change, announced Wednesday by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, is the latest blow to an all-volunteer Army that has been given ever-shorter periods of rest and retraining at home between overseas deployments. Rather than continue to shrink the at-home interval...

Bush Invites Party Leaders To Discuss War Bill, But Dems Decline

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 20:11:00 MST

President Bush today invited congressional leaders of both parties to the White House next week to talk about legislation to pay for the war in Iraq, but Democrats promptly dismissed his offer because it carried a condition that Congress drop a timetable for withdrawing American forces from Iraq. "The clock is ticking for our troops in the field," Bush told an American Legion post in this suburb about 20 miles west of the White House. Without quick action by Congress, he said, the mi...

Senate Dems Up Ante On Bush After Veto Threat

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:57:00 MST

The Senate's top Democrat is threatening to spearhead an effort to end most of the Iraq war funding if President Bush follows through on a promise to veto a loosely worded timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops. Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada is joining Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin, in sponsoring a new Iraq bill that would end the majority of Iraq war funding after March 31, 2008, the day Senate Democrats originally proposed pulling troops out of the war-ravaged nation. The b...

Bush, Democrats Dig In Over Iraq

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 09:01:00 MST

The Democrat-controlled U.S. Congress and President George W. Bush are now dug into intractable positions over the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, guaranteeing a confrontation that carries huge risks for both. The U.S. Senate formally approved a spending bill yesterday that would begin troop withdrawals within 120 days of its passage and sets a goal of one year from tomorrow for the end of combat operations in Iraq. It joins the House of Representatives, which passed a bill last w...

Saudi King: U.S. Military Presence In Iraq 'Illegitimate Occupation'

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 09:03:00 MST

King Abdullah denounced the American military presence in Iraq as an "illegitimate foreign occupation" and called on the West to end its financial embargo against the Palestinians. The Saudi monarch's speech Wednesday was a strongly worded lecture to Arab leaders that their divisions had helped fuel turmoil across the Middle East, and he urged them to show unity. But in opening the Arab summit, Abdullah also nodded to hardliners by criticizing the U.S. presence in Iraq. "In...

Iraq Withdrawal Date Stays In Senate Bill

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 09:45:00 MST

The Senate insisted that the date for the proposed withdrawal from Iraq remain in a Bill despite indications from the White House that President Bush might veto any such bill. The Iraq spending bill worth $122 billion contains a withdrawal date of March 31, 2008. The Democrat-controlled Senate voted 50 to 48 to keep the date in the bill despite attempts to erase it. Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi, who is the Republican on the Appropriations Committee, had offered an amendment to erase t...

U.S. Military Deaths In Iraq At 3,241

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:40:00 MST

As of Monday, March 26, 2007, at least 3,241 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,613 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The AP count is six higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Monday at 10 a.m. EDT. The British military has reported 134 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Polan...

Family Cites 'Conspiracy' In Tillman Death Inquiry

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 09:42:00 MST

The family of Cpl. Pat Tillman said Monday the Army investigation into the former NFL player's death by friendly fire in Afghanistan suggests a "conspiracy" and vowed to pursue a congressional investigation into how the death was handled. Military officials had said earlier that nine officers, including four generals, will face "corrective action" for making critical mistakes in the aftermath of Tillman's death. The NFL player was killed in Afghanistan in 2004 after...

An Antiwar Tide On The Rise

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 23:40:00 MST

Within three weeks, the United States could face a constitutional crisis over President Bush's war policy in Iraq. The president and his allies seem to want this fight. Yet insisting upon a confrontation will be another mistake in a long line of bad judgments about a conflict that grows more unpopular by the day. Last week's narrow House vote imposing an August 2008 deadline for the withdrawal of American troops was hugely significant, even if the bill stands no chance of passing in t...

US Republican Sees Iraq Troop Withdrawal Passing

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 16:17:00 MST

President George W. Bush is likely to lose a first-round fight with Democrats over a critical funding bill that sets a date for American troops to withdraw from Iraq, the U.S. Senate's Republican leader said on Monday. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky predicted legislation similar to that already passed by the House of Representatives would eventually get through the Senate, which is more narrowly controlled by Democrats. "The final bill is likely to have the offending language in it,&#...

If Congress Won'T Stop The Iraq War, Who Will?

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 15:47:00 MST

The new congress, swept into power by a surge of angry anti-war sentiment, has finally drafted the long awaited item of contention and is nearing a vote. The measure would remove troops from Iraq by September 2008 provided the threatened presidential veto yields to the American majority. Polls show more than 2 in 3 Americans want troops out of Iraq, but we have to ask ourselves a simple, honest question: does it really matter what the American people want? 77% of Americans favor universa...

Both Us And Iraq Citizens Give War A Thumbs-Down

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:12:00 MST

On the eve of the fourth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, polls in both countries reflect a dissatisfied electorate. In Iraq, citizens feel that their lives have been "torn apart" -- due to street violence and a sputtering economy. Half believe that the country is either in a state of civil war or close to it. In the US, half of Americans in the "50 and over" age group now oppose the war, contrasted with only 15 percent four years ago. Four years ago, almost three-qu...

Senate Rejects Democrats’ Call To Pull Troops

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 21:43:00 MST

The Senate on Thursday rejected a Democratic resolution to withdraw most American combat troops from Iraq in 2008, but a similar measure advanced in the House, and Democratic leaders vowed to keep challenging President Bush to change course in Iraq. The vote in the Senate was 50 against and 48 in favor, 12 short of what was needed to pass, with just a few defections in each party. It came just hours after the House Appropriations Committee, in another vote largely on party lines, approved an ...

Anti-War Dems Ponder Bold Action On Iraq

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 22:47:00 MST

The closest thing Congress has to a peace movement - 71 liberals who want to yank Iraq funding and bring troops home swiftly - faces a dilemma: The lawmakers can back a Democratic plan they think is too weak, or they can block it and risk an embarrassing defeat for their cause. It falls to one of their strongest allies, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. - whose San Francisco district is passionately against the war - to persuade them to accept a less aggressive stance. Pelosi is working...

Ted Koppel Tells Shocking Truth About Iraq And War On Terror

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 18:53:00 MST

Not sure how "shocking" some of this stuff is, but it's interesting... Former “Nightline” anchor Ted Koppel was one of Tim Russert’s guests on Sunday’s “Meet the Press.” As amazing as it might seem, he made some truly shocking and compelling statements about the Iraq war and the war on terror that virtually no Democrat or media member is willing to accept or report: First, Koppel made it clear that America’s premature departure from Ira...

Reports Of Progress In Iraq Challenged

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 10:53:00 MST

President Bush on Tuesday cited "encouraging signs" of military and political progress in Iraq as his new strategy gets underway. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice noted that "things are going reasonably well." And on Thursday, Rice's special coordinator for Iraq, David M. Satterfield, described a "dramatic decrease" in sectarian attacks in Baghdad since Bush's plan was announced in January. But a number of analysts and critics said this week th...

Democratic Bill Would Have Troops Out Of Iraq By Fall 2008

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 10:44:00 MST

House Democrats proposed legislation Thursday that would have U.S. combat troops out of Iraq by August 2008 -- or sooner if certain benchmarks of progress aren't met. The troop withdrawal timetables are embedded in appropriations legislation that provides money for care of wounded troops, money for better equipment and training and money for expanded operations in Afghanistan. The plan will "refocus our military efforts on Afghanistan and fighting the war on terrorism where it bega...

No Military Solution To Iraq

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 09:09:00 MST

The new commander of U.S. troops in Iraq has warned that military force alone will not be enough to quell the country's violent insurgency. Speaking publicly Thursday for the first time since taking charge in Baghdad last month, General David Petraeus said military action was necessary to improve security in Iraq but "not sufficient" to end violence altogether. "There is no military solution to a problem like that in Iraq, to the insurgency of Iraq," Petraeus told a pre...

Rights Group Lashes U.S. On Status Of Iraq Women

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:27:00 MST

When two Iraqi women made highly public allegations of rape against Iraqi security forces last month, they drew international attention to a subject that usually is taboo in their war-torn country: sexual assault. Sexual assault and other forms of violence against women, topics surrounded by cultural silence, are on the rise in Iraq, according to a report released today by Madre, an international women's human rights organization in New York. And the United States, according ...

U.S. Military Deaths In Iraq At 3,184

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:27:00 MST

As of Tuesday, March 6, 2007, at least 3,184 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,562 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The AP count is eight higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Tuesday at 10 a.m. EST. The British military has reported 133 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Po...

McCain: Wasted American Lives in Iraq

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 10:30:00 MST

Republican presidential contender John McCain, a staunch backer of the Iraq war but critic of how President Bush has waged it, said U.S. lives had been "wasted" in the four-year-old conflict. Democrats demand the Arizona senator apologize for the comment as Sen. Barack Obama did when the Democratic White House hopeful recently made the same observation. "Americans are very frustrated, and they have every right to be," McCain said Wednesday on CBS' "Late Show With Da...

Democratic Leaders Revamp Anti-War Plan

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 11:42:00 MST

House Democratic leaders are developing an anti-war proposal that wouldn't cut off money for U.S. troops in Iraq but would require President Bush to acknowledge problems with an overburdened military. The plan could draw bipartisan support but is expected to be a tough sell to members who say they don't think it goes far enough to assuage voters angered by the four-year conflict. Bush "hasn't to date done anything we've asked him to do, so why we would think he would do...

Unacceptable Death Toll In Iraq, Say Americans

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 11:10:00 MST

Adults in the United States are disappointed with the human cost of the coalition effort, according to a poll by Ipsos-Public Affairs released by the Associated Press. 77 per cent of respondents believe the number of U.S. military casualties and Iraqi civilian casualties has been unacceptable. The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein’s regime was launched in March 2003. At least 3,160 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and more than 23,600 troops have been wou...

Don't Micromanage War, White House Tells Congress

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 09:29:00 MST

The White House said it does not want Congress to micromanage U.S. commanders in Iraq by limiting the 2002 resolution that authorized President Bush to invade that country, as Democratic senators have proposed. "I've not heard anybody say that they want to amend the resolution so nothing will change," White House spokesman Tony Snow said Monday. "Instead, amending that language seems to be a device by which members of Congress themselves would try to get involved in microma...

U.S. Military Overstressed

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 10:54:00 MST

Many Iraq war soldiers, veterans and their families are not getting needed psychological help because a stressed military's mental health system is overwhelmed and understaffed, a task force of psychologists found. The panel's 67-page report calls for the immediate strengthening of the military mental health system. It cites a 40 percent vacancy rate in active duty psychologists in the Army and Navy, resources diverted from family counselors and a weak transition for veterans leav...

Senate Democrat Aims For U.S. Troop Limits In Iraq

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 09:42:00 MST

A top U.S. Senate Democrat said on Sunday his party aims to limit the role of the nearly 140,000 American troops in Iraq and withdraw most of them from the war-torn country within a year. But Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said it was unclear if enough Senate Republicans would break ranks with President George W. Bush to allow the effort to proceed. Levin said Democrats do "not yet" have the needed 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to clear an anticipated roadb...

Democratic Senators Consider Limiting War Authorization In Iraq

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 09:04:00 MST

Senate Democrats pledged renewed efforts Sunday to curtail the Iraq war, suggesting they will seek to limit a 2002 measure authorizing President Bush's use of force against Saddam Hussein. > The top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said the proposal had little chance of succeeding. “I think the president would veto it and the veto would be upheld,” said Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana.
A day after Republicans foiled a Democratic bid to r...

Senate Gridlocks On Iraq War Resolution

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 09:57:00 MST

The Senate gridlocked on the Iraq war in a sharply worded showdown yesterday as Republicans foiled a Democratic bid to repudiate President Bush's deployment of 21,500 additional combat troops. > The 56-34 vote fell four short of the 60 needed to advance a nonbinding measure identical to what the House passed Friday.
Democrats swiftly claimed victory anyway. "A majority of the United States Senate is against the escalation in Iraq," said Majority Leader Harry Reid of ...