Clipmarks | earnric's 'iraq' clips

A distant "ally"

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:52:17 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: As I've said before, when the dust settles, Iran and Iraq will be closer allies than the US and Iraq...

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Top Iraqi officials are calling for a radical reduction of the U.S. military's role here after the U.N. mandate authorizing its presence expires at the end of this year. Encouraged by recent Iraqi military successes, government officials have said that the United States should agree to confine American troops to military bases unless the Iraqis ask for their assistance, with some saying Iraq might be better off without them.

In Iraq, the willingness to consider calling for the departure of American troops represents a major shift for members of the U.S.-backed government. Maliki this week visited Iran, where Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, urged him to reject any long-term security arrangements with the United States.

Tags: iraq, us military

More of the same?

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:03:28 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: I don't think it's true, but it amazing that McCain is viable considering the economy, Katrina response, Iraq and ever other thing this administration has touched.
I realize McCain has distanced himself from a lot of this, but he certainly hasn't done so on Iraq...

Clip Source: www.truthdig.com

The Man Who Would Be Bush

Are Americans unusually stupid or is it something our president put in the water? ? As millions surrender their homes and sacrifice other standards of our nation’s economic and political reputation to the caprice of the Bush-Cheney imperium, a majority of voters tell pollsters that they might vote for a candidate who promises more of the same.

Assuming that likely voters are not now thinking of yet another Republican president simply because John McCain is the only white guy left standing—an excuse as pathetic in its logic as the decision four years ago to return two Texas oil hustlers to the White House because they were not Massachusetts liberals—must mean that tens of millions of Americans have taken leave of their senses.

Remember - YOUR tax $$$ are paying for this...

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:35:47 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: And you're paying interest (a lot to the Chinese, who lend us the money by buying US securities) on these purchases too.

I think anyone could think of better ways to help and protect our nation with the billions that are going to Iraq each month...

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

BAGHDAD — An $833 million Iraqi arms deal secretly negotiated with Serbia has underscored Iraq’s continuing problems equipping its armed forces, a process that has long been plagued by corruption and inefficiency.

The deal was struck in September without competitive bidding and it sidestepped anticorruption safeguards, including the approval of senior uniformed Iraqi Army officers and an Iraqi contract approval committee. Instead, it was negotiated by a delegation of 22 high-ranking Iraqi officials, without the knowledge of American commanders or many senior Iraqi leaders.

The deal drew enough criticism that Iraqi officials later limited the purchase to $236 million. And much of that equipment, American commanders said, turned out to be either shoddy or inappropriate for the military’s mission.

The Shia problem...

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:56:06 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: We traded a Sunni tyrant for a Shia majority in Iraq that will be closely aligned with Iran...
Both the Mahdi army and the Badr corps are funded, trained and have close ties to the Iranian Qods force...

Although Maliki is attempting to do the right thing banning armed militia parties from government (they can be only one "army" in a nation-state), the effort is likely to cause his downfall.

Iraq is simply not ready to be a representative democracy. These people place far more importance on religious matters than political reconciliation. The fast we realize this and get out the better...

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

The measure, approved by Maliki's cabinet, would prevent political parties with militias from running in provincial races slated for October. That means politicians loyal to Sadr, who include at present a sizable bloc in parliament, would be ineligible because of their connection to Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. Some observers, however, were skeptical the measure would go anywhere, since one of the other key Shi'ite parties, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, has its own militia, the Badr Brigade.

The cost of deployments...

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 23:22:50 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: We are simply asking too much from our brothers in uniform... a cost that is being paid for a low probability of an outcome in our national interest.
When will we stop gambling with our military?

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

WASHINGTON — Army leaders are expressing increased alarm about the mental health of soldiers who would be sent back to the front again and again under plans that call for troop numbers to be sustained at high levels in Iraq for this year and beyond.

Among combat troops sent to Iraq for the third or fourth time, more than one in four show signs of anxiety, depression or acute stress, according to an official Army survey of soldiers’ mental health.

Another of the unmeasured costs of war

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 16:44:16 GMT

clipped by: earnric

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

IN a measured voice, Maj. Levi Dunton explained to the small circle of Army officers and their spouses what had gone wrong in his marriage since he returned home from Iraq in 2005. He had trouble being involved with his family, he said. He didn’t find joy in being a parent to his two boys, 3 and 5 months. Little things made him angry.

Study Group Recommendations - Troop Withdrawal

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 03:55:34 GMT

clipped by: earnric

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Announce a plan for American forces to begin pulling back, whether the Iraqis are ready or not, to signal to the Iraqis that Washington would not prop up the Iraqi government with military forces endlessly.

Gradually pull back the 15 American combat brigades now in Iraq, starting next year and ending by the first quarter of 2008. Afterward, American combat forces could be deployed “only in units embedded with Iraqi forces.” While numbers are still approximate, phased withdrawal of combat troops over the next year would leave 70,000 to 80,000 American troops in the country, compared with about 150,000 now, for a long time to come.

Special operations forces would remain to battle Al Qaeda in Iraq.

Link American withdrawal to the performance of the Iraqi military, leaving open the possibility that American troops would stay longer if the Iraqi government takes on the militias, but threatening accelerated withdrawal if the Iraqi government fails to act decisively and control the violence.

Significantly increase the number of American military personnel supporting and embedded with Iraqi troops. As this proceeds, United States combat forces can begin leaving Iraq.

“The Iraqi government should accelerate assuming responsibility for Iraqi security by increasing the number and quality of Iraqi Army Brigades.”

Tags: iraq, troops, study, group