A big milestone was hit in Iraq yesterday, yet I doubt the media will talk about it too much: Iraqi commandos showed off skills they learned from U.S. military forces, who Saturday formally handed over control of combat operations to Iraqi security forces. The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. Raymond Odierno, was on hand […]
That’s what InstaIdiot Glenn Reynolds is pushing right now, along with his factually impaired cohorts on the right. Here’s a news story from yesterday: An Iraqi soldier shot and killed two U.S. soldiers and wounded at least six others yesterday in Mosul, the American military said. As the shootings occurred in northern Iraq, violence continued […]
It looks like Iraq wants us out by date certain now: Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Monday no security agreement with the United States could be reached unless it included a “specific deadline” for the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq. Last week, U.S. and Iraqi officials said the two sides had agreed tentatively […]
The biggest failure with the Iraq War has been the total lack of planning. The people who laid out good plans lost their jobs, and instead the administration has decided to wing the entire thing. That deadly mentality is continuing: The administration lacks an updated and comprehensive Iraq strategy to move beyond the “surge” of […]
The Green Zone has been hit yet again: Shiite militants are hammering the U.S.-protected Green Zone with rockets and mortars for the fourth day this week. Thick, black smoke is billowing from inside the heavily fortified home to the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi government. And Shiites are protesting in huge numbers: Tens of thousands of […]
Of course the cable news networks is still relatively silent on this (except Olberman last night): Iraq’s prime minister on Wednesday gave gunmen in the southern oil port of Basra a three-day deadline to surrender their weapons and renounce violence as clashes between Shiite militia fighters and Iraqi security forces erupted for a second day. […]
Via Kevin Drum RECONCILIATION WATCH….Ever since we embraced the Anbar Awakening a year ago, the Army has been busily forming Sunni police forces called Concerned Local Citizens. The Shiite government of Nouri al-Maliki hasn’t had much choice but to go along, but at the same time they’ve resisted taking over the CLCs from the Americans […]
Twelve Army captains that have served in Iraq penned an op-ed in today’s Washington Post calling for the immediate withdrawal of our troops. Here are some highlights from it: What does Iraq look like on the ground? It’s certainly far from being a modern, self-sustaining country. Many roads, bridges, schools and hospitals are in deplorable […]
That’s exactly what this is: A small group of Republicans facing election fights next year have rallied around war legislation they think could unite the GOP: call for an end to U.S. combat in Iraq, but wait until President Bush is out of office. The legislation was deemed essentially a nonstarter by Democrats Friday and […]
Look at this progress: The portion of Baghdad in which Iraqi security forces are in control with minimal help from the American military has grown only slightly in recent months, to just over 8 percent. That occurred despite an overall decline in insurgent violence in the capital, a senior U.S. commander said Friday. Gee thanks […]