“The 30,000 additional troops that I am announcing tonight will deploy in the first part of 2010 – the fastest pace possible – so that they can target the insurgency and secure key population centers. They will increase our ability to train competent Afghan Security Forces, and to partner with them so that more Afghans […]
It looks like what happened in Iraq is starting to spread: Afghanistan’s president has sent a list of demands to the United States government about troop conduct ahead of the arrival of more U.S. forces next year. President Hamid Karzai said in a speech in the capital Thursday that he sent the missive last month […]
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 […]
That’s how a new report is characterizing the Iraq War: Newly declassified statistics on the frequency of insurgent attacks in Iraq suggest that after major security gains last fall in the wake of an American troop increase, the conflict has drifted into at least a temporary stalemate, with levels of violence remaining constant from November […]
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 […]
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 […]
George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and the rest of the administration, along with their supporters have continuously championed how the Iraqi security forces are standing up. Well guess what? That was just more lies from an administration that has never told the truth: Retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, who led a 20-member panel […]