Clipmarks | merrie's 'iraq' clips

Jack Murtha Steps In It Again

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 14:21:31 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: And, Murtha still has not apologized to the 7 innocent Haditha Marines he accused of cold-blooded murder last time.

UPDATE: Murtha's opponent this year for Congress is Lt. Colonel William Russell a decorated combat veteran who has served in Desert Storm, the Iraq War, and the Pentagon on 9/11.

You can donate to his campaign HERE.

A WilleyBCoyote Video.

Murtha Makes An Outrageous Allegation

http://newsbusters.org/node/5410

Clip Source: gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

[Video]

Here is what Murtha says:

Murtha: I think they have 17 or so guidelines and they've solved 4 or 5 of them.
(Actually they've completed 15 of the 18 benchmarks.)

Murtha: I think the short term it (the Bush Surge) has reduced incidents. I'm not sure if it's because the Iraqis are just worn out but certainly the way they are doing it today it makes a big difference. It used to be we broke down doors. We went in and we killed people inadvertantly. Now they're much more careful about it.

And, just think...
This hateful boob is the national security "expert" in the Democratic Party!

Blackfive adds: "And they wonder why no one takes them seriously in those areas???"

Let's hope justice is served against this hateful man some day soon. Murtha put those Haditha Marines through hell these past few years and he isn't man enough to apologize to them.

He is a coward.

Tags: jack murtha, iraq, surge, u.s. troops, marines

Veterans Hit The Battlegrounds

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 13:09:00 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: We need to finish the job. . . . No matter who is president."

Hegseth says his group is not operating on behalf of McCain and notes that federal law prohibits the organization from coordinating the ad with his campaign. The states were chosen, he said, not because they are crucial swing states for McCain, but rather because the heightened interest in those states will give it a larger audience.

"We're going to tap into that heightened awareness," he said, noting that his organization has supported several Democratic candidates in the past year or so. "It's not an attack on anybody. We're not taking on any presidential candidates."

He said McCain has been the "strongest advocate" for the veterans of the two wars.

"We would hope that success in Iraq could benefit everybody," he said.

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Sen. John McCain is getting battleground-state help this week from Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who will appear in a television commercial aimed at convincing the public that the United States is winning the Iraq war and should stay to finish the job.

Produced by Vets for Freedom, an organization of veterans of the two wars, the ad will run in Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and on cable nationwide. The group, with about 20,000 members, will spend $1.5 million on what it says is the first of many spots during the next month.

"As an organization, we have four months here," said the group's chairman, Pete Hegseth, an Iraq veteran. "A window of opportunity of heightened awareness. We think it's crucial that the success our troops have made on the battlefield is relayed to the American public."

"We changed strategy in Iraq," one of the soldiers says in the ad. "And the surge worked. Now that's change we can believe in. We need to finish the job. . . .

Tags: mccain, iraq/afghanistan veterans, vet for freedom, michigan, new mexico, ohio, pennsylvania, virginia, nationwide cable

Optimism Grows in Iraq as Daily Life Improves

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:01:06 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead
clipper's remarks: German media - Spiegel online

Clip Source: www.spiegel.de

There is an unexpected air of normalcy prevailing in Baghdad these days, with consumption flourishing and confidence in the government growing. The progress is astonishing, but can it last?

Is the situation truly improving in Iraq? Is it possible to rely on these changes in everyday life or are they merely an illusion? According to the quarterly report that the Pentagon issued in mid-June, the number of armed incidents has declined by 70 percent since last summer

King Abdullah II of Jordan, who was opposed to the US invasion and then voiced his fears of a "Shiite Crescent" developing in Iraq, recently said something astonishing in an interview with the US magazine Newsweek: "I am actually optimistic for the first time on Iraq. It's the first time that I have felt that Iraqis have, as much as they can, bound themselves together into a unity."

It is a deep irony that moderate Sunnis now refer to Maliki, a Shiite, as "batal" -- "a hero."

Tags: war, iraq, politics

U.S. Ambassador Cites Positive Changes In Iraq

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:16:22 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: The enemy may be pushing back, the Iraqi government’s response displays intolerance for these acts and a determination to reclaim their neighborhoods from the perpetrators, the ambassador said. Leadership response to a June 24 attack in Sadr City aimed at district council members is a prime example.

On June 26, the council reconvened to hold the election that had been scheduled for the day of the attack and elected one of the members who had been wounded as its new chairman. It then denounced the attackers, publicly thanked the United States for its support, and extended sympathy to those affected by the attack, Crocker said.

“We’ve got more hard work in front of us,” he said. “The fighting is by no means over, but clearly we are in a different and better place than we were even six months ago.”

Though work remains to be completed in Iraq, Crocker said, he is certain the climate is in place for Iraqis to build their country on all fronts -- security, political and economic.

Clip Source: www.mnf-iraq.com

WASHINGTON — Iraq is enjoying some substantial political, and economic progress in addition to better security, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq said during an interview on CNN’s “Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer” June 29.

“As security has improved, the environment has changed for the better,” Ryan C. Crocker said from Baghdad. “That allows for compromises to emerge that simply were not possible before.”

He pointed to better budget execution as one piece of evidence pointing toward Iraq’s changes for the better, and also noted provincial elections are coming up. “Those elections, in the latter part of this year, will be a very significant step,” he said.

Crocker acknowledged that the United States’ work in Iraq is not over when asked about the increase in casualties in some areas since May.

“We’re up against some resilient and determined enemies [who] have the capacity to hit back, and that’s what we’re seeing, both from al-Qaida and its allies and from Shiia militias.”

Tags: ryan crocker, baghdad, sadr city, election, council members

McCain vs. Obama On National Security

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:31:41 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: that espouses the destruction of the State of Israel as its fondest wish and pledges undying enmity to the United States to possess the weapons to advance their malevolent ambitions." He also rejects "unconditional dialogues" with Iran.

Obama has delivered messages on Iran that were more mixed. But that only makes diplomacy more important. If we must use military force, we are more likely to succeed, and will have far greater support at home and abroad, if we have exhausted our diplomatic efforts." In the same speech, however, Obama promised: "aggressive, principled diplomacy without self-defeating preconditions....Obama missed a vote on a controversial amendment offered by Sen. Jon Kyl and Lieberman that proposed labeling Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. Obama called the amendment a repeat of the mistakes that led to war in Iraq; however, he had cosponsored an earlier bill declaring the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization

Clip Source: newsblaze.com

IRAQ WAR

John McCain cosponsored the 2002 vote to authorize the use of force against Iraq, arguing at the time that Saddam Hussein was "a threat of the first order." Although he was a vehement critic of the administration's "mismanagement and failure" during the early war years, he advocated the surge of additional troops to Iraq and the need to stay as long as necessary to win the war.

In 2002, when he was an Illinois state senator, Barack Obama opposed the war. However, after he was elected to the U.S. Senate, he voted against early proposals by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) and others to set a timetable for withdrawal; now Obama votes consistently in favor of establishing a timetable. Obama's plan for exiting Iraq would send home one or two combat brigades a month, with most combat troops out by the end of 2009.

IRAN POLICY

McCain has been clear about his position on Iran. In February 2008, he told an audience: "I intend to make unmistakably clear to Iran we will not permit a government

Tags: mccain, obama, iraq, iran, missile defense, nuclear weapons, north korea, guantanamo bay

Facts: 5 Years Later: New Strategy Improving Security In Iraq

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:17:23 GMT

clipped by: missjackson

Clip Source: www.whitehouse.gov

The past five years have been a critical time in history. U.S. troops should be proud of their partnership with Iraqis and the progress in Iraq.

The battle in Iraq is noble, necessary, and just.

Defeating the enemy in Iraq will make it less likely we will face this enemy here at home.

Because we acted against Saddam Hussein, the world is better and America is safer.

The "Surge" Strategy Has Produced Dramatic Results In Iraq

The U.S. is carrying out a new strategy in Iraq based on providing population security.

The surge is working.

More than 90,000 concerned local citizens are now helping to protect their communities from terrorists, insurgents, and extremists.

As we have fought al Qaeda, Coalition and Iraqi forces have also taken the fight to Shia extremist groups – many of them backed, financed, and armed by Iran.

The U.S. has doubled the number of provincial reconstruction teams in Iraq.

Political Progress Is Taking Place In Iraq

Iraq Opens 8 Oil, Gas Fields To International Bidding

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:39:24 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: He said even the longer-term contracts would include cash compensation and not a share of oil production.

"We don't see a need to allow anyone to share our oil," al-Shahristani said.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Monday that there is no American influence on the Iraqi government's oil decisions.

"Politics does not come into this," al-Dabbagh said. "There is no preferential treatment for anyone, no matter who."

State Department spokesman Tom Casey confirmed a small number of U.S. advisers were providing "technical support" to the Iraqi Oil Ministry. But he said "they are not there to try and give the Iraqis any kind of specific requests or to make decisions or to even push in an individual direction."

Casey said the decision by the Iraqis not to announce contracts for several Western firms Monday was their own and not influenced by Washington.

Clip Source: biz.yahoo.com

AP Photo: Iraq's Oil Minister, Hussain al-Shahristani, gestures as he speaks at a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, June 30, 2008.

Iraq opened international bidding for eight enormous oil and gas fields Monday, paving the way for investment in a nation with some of the world's largest petroleum reserves.

But Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani told a news conference Monday that the Iraqi government was still negotiating with the companies, which he did not identify. He said the firms were demanding a share of oil production while Iraq wants to pay in cash.

The firms he named included seven from the U.S., three from Britain and others from Russia, China and other countries.

Al-Shahristani said the companies would be invited to bid on the oil fields of Rumeila, Zubair, Qurna West, Maysan, Kirkuk and Bay Hassan and the natural gas fields of Akkaz and Mansouriyah.

"These fields were chosen because their production can be raised in a short time and at a low cost," said al-Shahristani.

Tags: iraqi oil minister al-shahristani, spokesman al-dabbagh, international bidding, u.s., britain, russia, china

General recounts 3rd Infantry Division's Iraq deployment

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:29:42 GMT

clipped by: missjackson

Clip Source: www.coastalcourier.com

Special to American Forces Press Service
Posted: June 30, 2008 10:37 a.m.

Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch

the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division helped to make history during their 15-month deployment to Iraq,

Lynch expressed his pride in and appreciation for the "Rock of the Marne" soldiers whose dedication and sacrifice helped secure and improve life for the Iraqi people, and he recognized the sacrifices and efforts of family members who supported his soldiers while they were deployed.

In Iraq, Lynch commanded Task Force Marne, which comprised about 20,000 coalition soldiers, 27,000 Iraqi soldiers and 47,000 Iraqi police operating in an area the size of West Virginia.

More than 36,000 Iraqis joined the "Sons of Iraq" citizen group in the Task Force Marne area of operations to help the security effort in their communities.

"The people of Iraq want what we want," Lynch said. "They want freedom from fear.

152 Marne soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice

He said he won't forget their heroic actions

American troops deserve our praise

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:26:29 GMT

clipped by: missjackson
clipper's remarks: Military leaders believe the Iraqi people are the key to success. Soldiers hope that by helping rebuild this section of the city, they will build trust and a sense of pride.

In essence, they're hoping Iraqis will take pride in the new section of city and will push out anyone who wants to disrupt their safety and livelihoods.

It's a large task, but it's an example of our military men and women doing whatever it takes to bring safety and prosperity to people half a world away from the United States.

Clip Source: www.thespectrum.com

But the news out of Iraq also isn't all bad. In fact, many parts of it are encouraging. Schools are back in session with better tools for learning at their disposal than had ever been before.

Hospitals are being built with better facilities than had stood previously in those same spots.

Those advancements are a direct result of the valor and care shown by U.S. troops.

A story this past week from Fox News illustrates the point well. Soldiers comprising Task Force Gold and Task Force 1-6 have set a lofty goal. They want to fix up a portion of Sadr City.

But this isn't just another rebuilding project. It's a quarter-mile slum that has over the past few years become a constant scene of gunfire, death and destruction as insurgents planned and carried out their fight to disrupt the civilian government in Iraq.

American soldiers want to fix it up.

And they intend to do it in just 30 days.

The plan is actually quite simple.

Yet Another Obama Flip-Flop Flagged, This Time On Iraq

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:24:19 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: As to Hegseth's first-paragraph claim that all of this flipping, flopping, and flailing by Obama is "a good political move": Baloney. It is instead a cravenly cynical strategy that only has a chance of working as long as Old Media stays in the tank for him. Howard Kurtz at the Washington Post noted that the strategy largely worked in the Heller ruling (so far). But there have been some defectors, including PBS's Bonnie Erbe (at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog); there will be more if (or is it as?) the flagrant flip-flops continue. And there's always New Media, which has shown little patience, even in some cases on the left, for much of Obama's recent nonsense.

One sign that Old Media is worried about Obama's frequent flip-flopping: Newsweek's Jonathan Darman came out yesterday with a howler about how "flip-flopping has a noble history in this country." Uh-huh.

Clip Source: newsbusters.org

In fact, Obama's web site not only is not in sync with what the candidate said on Friday it's not even in sync with itself, even within that very same web page:

Much as he might think that he's already got the election in the bag, even arrogantly having his own "presidential seal" designed in advance of the election, a President Obama would not take office until January 20, 2009. Sixteen months from that point in time would be May 2010, not "the end of next year."

Tags: obama, iraq, website

Ralph Peters On The Successful & Unreported Bush Surge

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:33:40 GMT

clipped by: missjackson
clipper's remarks: Iraq is turning into a major success for the United States.

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Some Iraqi News Not Reported By "The Media"

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:36:55 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Meanwhile Bill Roggio reports that a released Gitmo detainee is back to the front and is responsible for attacks inside Iraq: The detainee, Abdullah Salih al Ajmi, drove a armored truck packed with explosives into a Iraqi army base and detonated it, killing 13 Iraqi army soldiers and wounding 42.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/06/released_guantanamo.php

Just the tip of the iceberg I’m afraid after our courts release a large chunk of these guys.

Al Qaeda in Iraq, through its puppet organization the Islamic State of Iraq, released its latest propaganda video on June 23. The video contains a montage of attacks throughout Iraq, and features two Kuwaiti al Qaeda operatives who conducted strikes in Mosul. One of the operatives was released from the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Islamic State of Iraq used footage taken at Combat Outpost Inman by this reporter in Mosul in March of this year.

Clip Source: www.floppingaces.net

The remnants of the Mahdi Army have gone underground, forming an armed network on a much smaller scale. How small? Think of the Spartans at Thermopylae, and cut that in half while removing the courage and the military skill.

The military wing of the Sadrist Movement, the political party loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, is “turning itself into a secret armed organization,” an Iraqi intelligence official told the Gulf News on condition of anonymity.

Iraqi intelligence reports suggest the group’s numbers have dwindled from around 50,000 to as few as 150 in the past few years.

Intelligence officials credit decisions by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to launch military offensives against Shiite militants in the southern parts of the country as deterring the group. An Iraqi intelligence official reports as many as 2,000 Mehdi Army fighters were killed in recent operations in Basra, Sadr City and the provincial capital of Maysan, Amarah.

Tags: mahdi army, basra, sadr city, mosul, the islamic state of iraq

Obama: It's Only About Winning

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:08:13 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: But here's what's scary: For all of Kerry's reputed smoothness and Eastern intellect, he often tied himself in knots trying to reconcile his absurdly opposing positions. Obama can flip and flop with unmatched alacrity and facility and with the absence of self-consciousness and accountability of an accomplished sociopath. This guy doesn't even acknowledge he's changing positions; he does it without breaking a sweat and never looks back.

I ask you to consider the common thread underlying these turnarounds his nearly immediate backtracking on whether Iran poses a serious threat to America; his progressive position shifts on Iraq from "don't go in, stay in, and get out"; and his vigorous defense then abandonment of both his pastor and his church.

The common thread, in a word, is expedience. It is not toughness; it is not savvy; it is not gravitas; and by all means, it is not admirable.

Barack Obama is every bit as politically calculating as Bill Clinton but twice as smooth.

Clip Source: www.davidlimbaugh.com

The Washington Post reports that Sen. Barack Obama is aggressively trying to reintroduce himself to voters, echoing the spin of Obama's advisers that not everyone knows him yet. In reality, Obama's major campaign challenge will not be to reveal, but to conceal his true identity.

The Post says that in his reintroduction, Obama has "offered a clear road map for the kind of candidate he is likely to become...: an ambitious gamer of the electoral map, a ruthless fundraiser and a scrupulous manager of his own biography in the face of persistent concerns about how he is perceived."

What the Post left out is that Obama has also shown himself to be an unscrupulous master of the politics of calculation and expedience. Whether on public finance, NAFTA, Iran, Iraq, Jerusalem, special interests, Cuba, illegal immigration or the decriminalization of marijuana, Obama has demonstrated a propensity for flip-flopping that could embarrass the grandmaster himself, Sen. John Kerry.

Tags: obama, bafta, iran, iraq, illegal immigration, jerusalem, public finance, energy

Deals With Iraq Are Set To Bring Oil Giants Back

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:32:11 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: For an industry being frozen out of new ventures in the world's dominant oil-producing countries, from Russia to Venezuela, Iraq offers a rare and prized opportunity.

The Iraqi Oil Ministry, through a spokesman, said the no-bid contracts were a stop-gap measure to bring modern skills into the fields while the oil law was pending in Parliament.

It said the companies had been chosen because they had been advising the ministry without charge for two years before being awarded the contracts, and because these companies had the needed technology.

A Shell spokeswoman hinted at the kind of work the companies might be engaged in. "We can confirm that we have submitted a conceptual proposal to the Iraqi authorities to minimize current and future gas flaring in the south through gas gathering and utilization."
"The contents of the proposal are confidential,"
said the spokeswoman.

Clip Source: www.iht.com

Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company — along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in talks with Iraq's Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to service Iraq's largest fields, according to ministry officials, oil company officials and an American diplomat.

The deals, expected to be announced on June 30, will lay the foundation for the first commercial work for the major companies in Iraq since the American invasion, and open a new and potentially lucrative country for their operations.

There was suspicion among many in the Arab world and among parts of the American public that the United States had gone to war in Iraq precisely to secure the oil wealth these contracts seek to extract. The Bush administration has said that the war was necessary to combat terrorism. It is not clear what role the United States played in awarding the contracts; there are still American advisers to Iraq's Oil Ministry.

Tags: iraq's oil ministry, no-bid contracts, exxon mobil, shell, total, bp, chevron and smaller oil companies

Foreign Firms Investing In Iraq

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:54:34 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, in Washington on an official visit, said Monday that larger U.S. firms were waiting for more security before entering the market.

Zebari noted that Turkish and Russian companies were already active in Iraq. "They take risks," he told USA TODAY in an interview. "No pain, no gain."

Many of the companies active in Iraq now are from countries, including France, Russia and Turkey, that did not send combat troops to back the U.S.-led invasion.

Some U.S. and Iraqi officials say American companies risk losing an early opportunity to establish long-term strategic ties with Iraq.

"My question is, 'Where are you guys in terms of investment, in terms of economic engagement?' " said Naufel al-Hassan, Iraq's commercial counselor in Washington. "Iraqis need your support. Why let someone else do that?"

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2008-06-16-iraqinvestment_N.htm?csp=34

Clip Source: www.usatoday.com

WASHINGTON — European and Asian companies are beating their American rivals into Iraq now that security has improved the investment climate, Iraq and U.S. officials say.

"It's starting to turn … and the people who are getting in on the ground floor are not American," said Paul Brinkley, the Pentagon official who is leading U.S. efforts to help Iraq rebuild its economy. "It's ironic."

Foreign companies, including U.S. investors, have committed to deals worth about $500 million so far this year and Brinkley expects at least $1 billion in foreign investment by the end of the year.

So far, Romanian consortium and a Lebanese company have signed revenue-sharing deals with Iraqi state-owned cement factories. Each group will invest about $150 million.

China has also aggressively pursued the Iraqi market, selling machinery to the government and electronic products to consumers.

Tags: iraq, foreign investment, european, asian companies, romania, lebanon, china, russia, turkey