Iraq Archives:

US - Iraq - Military - Intelligence - Torture - Prison - Psychology - Book - Political - History - "How Good People Turn Evil, From Stanford to Abu Ghraib." ... "[Psychologist Philip] Zimbardo conducted a now-famous experiment at Stanford University in 1971, involving students who posed as prisoners and guards. Five days into the experiment, Zimbardo halted the study when the student guards began abusing the prisoners, forcing them to strip naked and simulate sex acts." ... "His book, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil, explores how a "perfect storm" of conditions can make ordinary people commit horrendous acts." ... "Wired: You were an expert defense witness in the court-martial of Sgt. Chip Frederick, an Abu Ghraib guard. What were the situational influences in his case?" ... "Zimbardo: Abu Ghraib was under bombardment all the time. In the prison, five soldiers and 20 Iraqi prisoners get killed. That means automatically any soldier working there is under high fear and high stress. Then the insurgency starts in 2003, and they start arresting everyone in sight. When Chip Frederick [starts working at Abu Ghraib] in September, there are 200 prisoners there. Within three months there's a thousand prisoners with a handful of guards to take care of them, so they're overwhelmed. Frederick and the others worked 12-hour shifts. How many days a week? Seven. How many days without a day off? Forty. That kind of stress reduces decision-making and critical thinking and rationality. But that's only the beginning." ... "He [complained] to higher-ups on the record, "We have mentally ill patients who cover themselves with [excrement]. We have people with tuberculosis that shouldn't be in this population. We have kids mixed with adults."" ... "And they tell him, "It's a war zone. Do your job. Do whatever you have to do."" ... "Wired: How did what happened at Abu Ghraib compare to your Stanford prison study?" ... "Zimbardo: The military intelligence, the CIA and the civilian interrogator corporation, Titan, told the MPs [at Abu Ghraib], "It is your job to soften the prisoners up. We give you permission to do something you ordinarily are not allowed to do as a military policeman -- to break the prisoners, to soften them up, to prepare them for interrogation." That's permission to step across the line from what is typically restricted behavior to now unrestricted behavior." ... "In the same way in the Stanford prison study, I was saying [to the student guards], "You have to be powerful to prevent further rebellion." I tell them, "You're not allowed, however, to use physical force." By default, I allow them to use psychological force. In five days, five prisoners are having emotional breakdowns." ... "The situational forces that were going on in [Abu Ghraib] -- the dehumanization, the lack of personal accountability, the lack of surveillance, the permission to get away with anti-social actions -- it was like the Stanford prison study, but in spades." ... "Those sets of things are found any time you really see an evil situation occurring, whether it's Rwanda or Nazi Germany or the Khmer Rouge. " (1, 2) -By Kim Zetter -Wired 

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Barack Obama - John McCain - US - Iraq - Military - Osama bin Laden - Terrorism - 2008 Election - Ohio - "Obama also has news for McCain." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama departed from his regular stump speech today in Columbus [Ohio's capital] to respond to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain." ... ""John McCain may like to say he wants to follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of Hell, but so far all he’s done is follow George Bush into a misguided war in Iraq," he said." ... ""McCain thought that he could make a clever point by saying, 'Well let me give you some news, Barack, Al Qaeda is in Iraq,' like I wasn’t reading the papers, like [I] didn’t know what was going on." Obama said, leaning into his developing McCain impression." ... "He then described the context -- a hypothetical question from Tim Russert -- and said, "First of all, I do know Al Qaeda is in Iraq, and that’s why I said we should continue to strike Al Qaeda targets."" ... ""I have some news for John McCain," Obama continued, "That’s there was no Al Qaeda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain" began the Iraq war, he said." ... ""They took their eye off the people who really were responsible for 9/11," he said." -By Ben Smith -Politico.com 

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US - Iraq - Afghanistan - "Post-drawdown troop levels will still be high." ... "When the current drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq is complete in July, about 140,000 should remain, a senior U.S. [United States] military official said Monday — 8,000 more than were present at the January 2007 start of the administration’s “surge” of five brigade combat teams aimed at helping stabilize Iraq." ... "Those 8,000 troops represent a sort of safety margin for U.S. ground commanders as they assess the U.S. ability to handle security demands across Iraq, such as backing up U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Teams and Iraqi forces, with five fewer combat units on hand, said [Lieutenant General] Lt. Gen. Carter Ham, the Joint Staff’s director for operations." ... "U.S. officials also project that about 32,000 U.S. troops will be stationed in Afghanistan “by late summer,” Ham said. That would be the highest level ever — an increase of about 4,000 troops over the current level. Most of these will come from the 3,200 additional Marines being deployed there this spring, he said." ... "Both figures, however, are estimates that will depend on security conditions on the ground, Ham said." -By William H. McMichael -AirForceTimes.com 

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John McCain - Corporate - Politics - Lawmaker - Jets - US_Debt - US - Iraq - Military - Children's - Health-Care - Barack Obama - 2008 Election - "Transcript: Howard Dean On John McCain And The Republican 'Culture Of Corruption'." ... "Q: So there is big news about [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain -- the story that is in the New York Times, raising questions about his relationship with a lobbyist. This is a story the McCain people are saying is unfair and untrue. What do you think?"

"[Democratic National Committee chairman Howard] Dean: I have no idea whether the affair story is true or not, and I don't care. What I do care about is John McCain -- and this has been well-documented -- is talking all the time about being a reformer and a maverick, and in fact, he has taken thousands of dollars from corporations, ridden on their corporate jets, and then turned around and tried to do favors for them and get projects approved. He has tons of lobbyists on his staff. This is a guy who is very close to the lobbyist community, a guy who has been documented again and again by taking contributions and then doing favors for it. This is not a guy who is a reformer. This is a guy who has been in Washington for 25 years and wants to give us four more years of the same, and I don't think we need that."

"Dean: Yes, he certainly has. This goes all the way back to the Keating Five Scandal and the S & L [Savings and Loan] scandals, where he took a hundred thousand donations, rode on corporate jets and then intervened on Charles Keating's behalf -- and again and again we see this. We even saw -- it's so hypocritical -- we even saw that he is trying to harass [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama about whether he's going to take public financing in the campaign, and he forewent his own public financing in the primaries after getting a loan, based on the idea that he might take public financing." ... "This is not a guy who is a reformer. He talks about change, and he makes a big deal about not being like [Republican President] Bush when in fact he is Bush. He voted for Bush's tax cuts after saying he didn't, and has been responsible for a $6 trillion national debt that our children are going to have to pay. He thinks we ought to stay in Iraq for 100 years. He thought it was great that the president vetoed health care for our kids under 18. This is four more years of George Bush, and I don't think the American people are going to buy it."

Noteworthy - Political - Military - Government - 2008 Election - Barack Obama - US - Afghanistan - Iraq - "Bush Pentagon." ... "It would appear that we have another case where the [Republican President] Bush Pentagon, particularly the Office of Public Affairs is forcefully inserting itself into the civilian election process. Earlier today I referenced [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama's anecdote from Thursday night's Democratic debate about an Army Captain in Afghanistan who said his unit had had to get from captured Taliban ammunition they weren't able to get quickly enough through standard Army supply channels. ABCNews' Jake Tapper talked to the soldier in question, who confirmed the story he'd told Obama. Now NBC News also appears to have confirmed the story by talking to the Army Captain in question." ... "But Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman is telling reporters he doesn't think it's true and that of course they can't confirm it unless the soldier -- still on active duty -- comes forward to discuss the issue with the Pentagon brass, a step that would surely do wonders for his future in the Army." ... "I don't know how far this is going to go. Phillip Carter, the military affairs writer who's in the reserves and did a tour in Iraq, says that from his own experience in Iraq and discussions with Afghanistan vets who report doing the same thing as the anonymous captain, he finds the story "eminently believable." But this is becoming a pattern in which political appointees at the Bush Pentagon volubly insert themselves into domestic political debate or even election campaigns." -By Josh Marshall -TalkingPointsMemo.com

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Military - Survey - US - Iraq- China - Iran - Politics - "Officers: U.S. military stretched 'dangerously thin'." ... "The Iraq war has strained U.S. forces to the point where they could not fight another large-scale war, according to a survey of military officers." ... "Of those surveyed, 88 percent believe the demands of the Iraq war have "stretched the U.S. military dangerously thin."" ... "On the other hand, 56 percent of the officers disagree that the war has "broken" the military." ... "Eighty percent of officers believe it is unreasonable to expect the U.S. military to wage another major war successfully at present." ... "Foreign Policy magazine and the Center for a New American Security on Tuesday issued the U.S. Military Index, a survey of 3,400 present and former U.S. military officers." ... ""We asked the officers whether they thought the U.S. military was stronger or weaker than it was five years ago," said Michael Boyer, who helped write the report." ... ""Sixty percent said the U.S. military is weaker than it was five years ago," Boyer told reporters." ... "The officers believe "that either China or Iran, not the United States, is emerging as the strategic victor" in the Iraq war." -CNN 

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Afghanistan - People- Military - Politics - Iraq - US - Canada - "140 Afghans Killed in 2 Days of Bombings." ... "A suicide car bomber killed 38 Afghans at a crowded market Monday, pushing the death toll from two days of militant bombings to about 140." ... "The marketplace blast, which targeted a Canadian army convoy, came a day after the country's deadliest insurgent attack since a U.S. invasion defeated the Taliban regime in late 2001. The toll from that bombing in a crowd watching a dog fight rose to more than 100." ... "The back-to-back blasts in the southern province of Kandahar could be a sign insurgents are now willing to risk high civilian casualties while attacking security forces. Though their attacks occasionally have killed dozens, militants in Afghanistan have generally sought to avoid targeting civilians, unlike insurgents in Iraq's war." ... "The previous deadliest bombing in Afghanistan killed about 70 people _ mostly students _ in November [2007], part of a record year of violence in 2007 that included more than 140 suicide attacks." (1, 2) -By Allauddin Khan and Noor Khan with contributions by Matiullah Achakzai, Rahim Faiez and Paul Ames -AP -WashingtonPost

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John McCain - US - Iraq - Military - Media - 2008 Election - Arizona - Fla - Calif - "McCain Overstates His Criticisms Of Rumsfeld." ... "As he gets closer to the Republican nomination, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain has been trying to balance his unqualified support for the Iraq war by reminding audiences that he was also a tough critic of how it was managed until [Republican] President Bush finally changed strategies a year ago. In recent weeks, McCain has gone so far as to tell audiences that he was "the only one" who called for Donald H. Rumsfeld's resignation as defense secretary." ... "The trick is that he never did, at least not publicly." ... "While campaigning in Fort Myers, Fla. [Florida], on Jan. [January] 26, he told a crowd: "In the conflict that we're in, I'm the only one that said we have to abandon the Rumsfeld strategy -- and Rumsfeld -- and adopt a new strategy." Four days later during a debate at the [Republican] Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., [California] aired on CNN, McCain said, "I'm the only one that said that Rumsfeld had to go."" ... "A McCain spokesman acknowledged this week that that was not correct. "He did not call for his resignation," said the campaign's Brian Rogers." ... "McCain's false account has been unwittingly incorporated into the narrative he is selling by some news organizations, including The Washington Post." -By Peter Baker -WashingtonPost

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US - Iraq - MRAP - Military - Vehicles - Science - People - Money - Government - Politics - "Study: Lack of MRAPs cost Marine lives." ... "More than 700 U.S. troops died from roadside bombs because the Marine Corps' devotion to a military vehicle years away from deployment kept it from buying available Mine Resistant, Ambush Protected (MRAP) trucks, according to an internal Marine report obtained Friday by USA TODAY." ... "Instead of fulfilling an urgent Marine request from the field for 1,169 vehicles in February 2005, Marine Corps leaders and analysts delayed fielding the MRAPs, and instead bought more armored Humvees, the report written by Marine science adviser Franz Gayl says." ... "Gayl, who filed for federal whistle-blower protection last May, has criticized the Marines' delays in fielding MRAPs and has briefed members of Congress about the problems in meeting requests from troops in the field. His report, dated Jan. 22, says Marine bureaucrats didn't understand the need for MRAPs and they delayed buying the large, armored vehicles because they wanted to save money for a future replacement for the Humvee called the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV)." ... "Stopping the threat posed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq in 2005 was deemed secondary to developing the JLTV, Gayl wrote. The Marines, he wrote, saw JTLV "as a higher priority than the daily killed and wounded being experienced by … known IED threats in 2005."" ... "Improvised explosive devices are the largest single killer of U.S. troops in Iraq and are blamed for at least 60% of all U.S. casualties there. " -By Ray Locker -USATODAY

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Noteworthy - Secret - US - Iraq - Military - Government - Politics - "Army Buried Study Faulting Iraq Planning." ... "The Army is accustomed to protecting classified information. But when it comes to the planning for the Iraq war, even an unclassified assessment can acquire the status of a state secret." ... "That is what happened to a detailed study of the planning for postwar Iraq prepared for the Army by the RAND Corporation, a federally financed center that conducts research for the military." ... "After 18 months of research, RAND submitted a report in the summer of 2005 called “Rebuilding Iraq.” RAND researchers provided an unclassified version of the report along with a secret one, hoping that its publication would contribute to the public debate on how to prepare for future conflicts." ... "But the study’s wide-ranging critique of the [Republican President Bush] White House, the Defense Department and other government agencies was a concern for Army generals, and the Army has sought to keep the report under lock and key." ... "A review of the lengthy report — a draft of which was obtained by The New York Times — shows that it identified problems with nearly every organization that had a role in planning the war. That assessment parallels the verdicts of numerous former officials and independent analysts." ... "The study chided [Republican] President Bush — and by implication Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who served as national security adviser when the war was planned — as having failed to resolve differences among rival agencies. “Throughout the planning process, tensions between the Defense Department and the State Department were never mediated by the president or his staff,” it said." ... "The Defense Department led by Donald H. Rumsfeld was given the lead in overseeing the postwar period in Iraq despite its “lack of capacity for civilian reconstruction planning and execution.”" ... "The State Department led by Colin L. Powell produced a voluminous study on the future of Iraq that identified important issues but was of “uneven quality” and “did not constitute an actionable plan.”" ... "Gen. [General] Tommy R. Franks, whose Central Command oversaw the military operation in Iraq, had a “fundamental misunderstanding” of what the military needed to do to secure postwar Iraq, the study said." (1, 2) -By Michael R. Gordon -NYTimes

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Dick Cheney - Videos - Privacy - Politics - Colorado - US - Iraq - Military - "Cheney fights release of videos: The VP's [Vice President's] office worries depositions of two aides in a Golden [Colorado] man's civil lawsuit may show up on YouTube." ... "The office of [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney is seeking to block the release of videotaped depositions given by two aides who witnessed a physical encounter between an Iraq war opponent and Cheney." ... "In a motion filed Saturday, Cheney's office contended that the videotapes could be used to invade the privacy and embarrass two aides called to testify about the encounter in a civil lawsuit. " -By David Olinger -DenverPost.com

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Secretive - Iraqi - Religious - Law - Terrorism - Women - Torture - Executions -  - Human Rights - Police - Politics - "Violations of 'Islamic teachings' take deadly toll on Iraqi women." ... "The images in the Basra [Iraq] police file are nauseating: Page after page of women killed in brutal fashion -- some strangled to death, their faces disfigured; others beheaded. All bear signs of torture." ... "The women are killed, police say, because they failed to wear a headscarf or because they ignored other "rules" that secretive fundamentalist groups want to enforce." ... ""Fear, fear is always there," says 30-year-old Safana, an artist and university professor. "We don't know who to be afraid of. Maybe it's a friend or a student you teach. There is no break, no security. I don't know who to be afraid of."" ... "Her fear is justified. Iraq's second-largest city, Basra, is a stronghold of conservative Shia groups. As many as 133 women were killed in Basra last year -- 79 for violation of "Islamic teachings" and 47 for so-called honor killings, according to IRIN [Integrated Regional Information Networks], the news branch of the U.N.'s [United Nation's] Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs." ... "Amnesty International has raised concern about the increasing violence toward women in Iraq, saying abductions, rapes and "honor killings" are on the rise." ... ""Politically active women, those who did not follow a strict dress code, and women [who are] human rights defenders were increasingly at risk of abuses, including by armed groups and religious extremists," Amnesty said in a 2007 report." -By Arwa Damon -CNN 

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Secretive - Corporate - Government - Enforcement - Woman - Employee - Safety - Iraq - US - Texas - "Sex Assault Suit Vs. Halliburton Killed: Alleged Sexual Assault Victim's Case Forced Into Secretive Arbitration." ... "A mother of five who says she was sexually harassed and assaulted while working for Halliburton/KBR in Iraq is headed for a secretive arbitration process rather than being able to present her case in open court." ... "A judge in Texas [District Judge Gray Miller] has ruled that Tracy Barker's case will be heard in arbitration, according to the terms of her initial employment contract." ... "Barker says that while in Iraq she was constantly propositioned by her superior, threatened and isolated after she reported an incident of sexual assault." ... ""When I arrived in Basra [Iraq], there were about five men that worked on the camp for the company I worked for and they were waiting for me," Barker told ABC News in an exclusive interview that aired last December." ... ""I was told they wanted to see what I look like," she said, "to make sure I was decent looking before they approved my transfer."" ... "Tracy says her KBR boss in Basra repeatedly propositioned her and threatened her." ... ""The manager of the camp kept making gestures of how if I wanted my safety to exist on the camp, that I needed to sleep with him, and that's all he kept saying to me," said Barker." ... "In arbitration, there is no public record or transcript of the proceedings, meaning that Tracy's claims will not be heard before a judge and jury." (1, 2, 3) -By Maddy Sauer and Justin Rood -ABCNEWS.com

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US - Iraq - Politics - "Pentagon is split on Iraq withdrawals." ... "The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday that no decision had been made to stop the withdrawal of troops in Iraq this summer, a subtle rebuke of the top U.S. [United States] commander there, who suggested that reductions would pause after the current round of cuts was completed in July." ... "In a televised interview this week, Army [General] Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said that after extra troops sent last year return home in July, he would need "some time to let things settle down a bit" before deciding on further reductions." ... "However, Navy [Admiral ] Adm. Michael G. Mullen, the Joint Chiefs chairman, emphasized Friday that Petraeus had made no formal recommendation to halt the withdrawal." ... "Mullen also said other military commanders, including the Joint Chiefs themselves, would have a direct say in the decision." ... "Senior [Republican President] Bush administration officials privately acknowledge tension between the Joint Chiefs and generals in Iraq, particularly between Army Chief of Staff [General] Gen. George W. Casey Jr. and officers such as Petraeus and Army [Lieutenant General] Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the day-to-day operational commander." ... "Senior Defense officials said Casey and [General] Gen. James T. Conway, the commandant of the Marine Corps, expressed renewed concerns over the stress on their forces caused by repeated deployments during a high-level meeting of four-star commanders in the Pentagon this week." -By Peter Spiegel with contributions by Tina Susman -LAtimes 

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US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - Money - Politics - Nuclear - Terrorism - Disaster - "'Appalling Gap' Found in Homeland Defense Readiness: National Guard, Reserve Forces Lack Sufficient Personnel, Training to Respond to Crisis in U.S. [United States], Report Says." ... "The U.S. military is not prepared to meet catastrophic threats at home, and it is suffering from an "appalling gap" in forces able to respond to chemical, biological and nuclear strikes on U.S. soil, according to a congressional commission report released yesterday." ... "The situation is rooted in severe readiness problems in National Guard and reserve forces, which would otherwise be well-suited to respond to domestic crises but lack sufficient personnel and training, as well as $48 billion in equipment because of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a report by the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves." ... "Guard readiness has continued to slide since last March, when the panel found that 88 percent of Army National Guard units were rated "not ready," said retired Marine [Major General] Maj. Gen. Arnold L. Punaro, the commission chairman." ... ""We think there is an appalling gap in readiness for homeland defense, because it will be the Guard and reserve that have to respond for these things," he said in an interview, noting that the reserves are present in 3,000 U.S. communities. The commission, which was established in 2005, has 12 members, including several other former military officers." ... ""Because the nation has not adequately resourced its forces designated for response to weapons of mass destruction, it does not have sufficient trained, ready forces available," the report said. "This is an appalling gap that places the nation and its citizens at greater risk."" -WashingtonPost

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US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - Money - Politics - Disaster - "Guard, reserves called inadequate for domestic disasters: The forces have been strained by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and hobbled by inadequate funding, a congressional report concludes." ... "National Guard and reserve forces remain inadequately equipped and unprepared to deal with a wide range of domestic disasters, particularly an attack with unconventional weapons, a congressional commission has concluded." ... "In its final report, the panel said Thursday that congressional and Pentagon policymakers had been reluctant to acknowledge that the military remains the only institution that can respond quickly to natural and man-made disasters. That reluctance "places the nation at risk," because it has led to shortfalls in planning and readiness, the report said." ... "Reserve units have been taxed by repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, but the commission said the inadequacies were not solely the result of the wars. Overall, it said, the Pentagon has failed to provide adequate funding, on the "flawed assumption" that current training for military operations overseas would suffice for domestic duties as well." ... "The commission was set up by Congress in 2005 to examine the needs of the Guard and reserves amid their heavy deployment to war zones. The panel sounded a special alarm over what it said was the Guard's insufficient training -- due to inadequate funding -- for a chemical, biological or nuclear strike." -By Peter Spiegel -LAtimes

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Terrorism - Politics - Rhetoric - Psychology - US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - Law - Foreign - Intelligence - Surveillance - Noteworthy - Civil Liberties - "Bush legacy: Setting a standard in fear-mongering." ... "When I [Richard A. Clarke, former leader of the National Security Council's counterterrorism efforts,] left the [Republican President] Bush administration in 2003, it was clear to me that its strategy for defeating terrorism was leaving our nation more vulnerable and our people in a perilous place. Not only did its policies misappropriate resources, weaken the moral standing of America, and threaten long-standing legal and constitutional provisions, but the president also employed misleading and reckless rhetoric to perpetuate his agenda." ... "This week's State of the Union proved nothing has changed." ... "Besides overstating successes in Afghanistan, painting a rosy future for Iraq, and touting unfinished domestic objectives, he again used his favorite tactic - fear - as a tool to scare Congress and the American people. On one issue in particular - FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) - the president misconstrued the truth and manipulated the facts." ... "Let me be clear: Our ability to track and monitor terrorists overseas would not cease should the Protect America Act expire. If this were true, the president would not threaten to terminate any temporary extension with his veto pen. All surveillance currently occurring would continue even after legislative provisions lapsed because authorizations issued under the act are in effect up to a full year." ... "Simply put, it was wrong for the president to suggest that warrants issued in compliance with FISA would suddenly evaporate with congressional inaction. Instead - even though Congress extended the Protect America Act by two weeks - he is using the existence of the sunset provision to cast his political opponents in a negative light." ... "For this president, fear is an easier political tactic than compromise. With FISA, he is attempting to rattle Congress into hastily expanding his own executive powers at the expense of civil liberties and constitutional protections." -By Richard A. Clarke "former head of counterterrorism at the National Security Council" -Philly.com 

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Mitt Romney - John McCain - US - Iraq - Military - History - 2008 Election - "Romney accuses McCain of using Nixon tactic on Iraq." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney accused Republican [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] rival John McCain of adopting underhanded tactics from [Republican President] Richard Nixon, the GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] president who resigned in disgrace." ... ""I don't think I want to see our party go back to that kind of campaigning," Mr. Romney said in his most pointed rebuttal yet to front-runner Mr. McCain's claim that the former Massachusetts governor favors a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq. Mr. Romney denies this charge, and most media analyses have concluded that Mr. Romney wasn't using "timetable" in the same way Democratic candidates have." -AP via -DallasNews.com 

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Mitt Romney - John McCain - Rudy Giuliani - US - Iraq - Military - 2008 Election - Massachusetts - Florida - Arizona - New York - Florida - "Romney Accuses McCain of 'Dirty Tricks': Romney Accuses McCain of Resorting to 'Dirty Tricks' Over Iraq Timetable Issue in Debate." ... "Republican [2008 Election Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney accused [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain of using dirty tricks by suggesting the former Massachusetts governor wanted a deadline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, in a spirited debate Wednesday night that underscored the intensity of their presidential rivalry." ... "Coming 24 hours after McCain defeated him in Florida, Romney vented his frustrations over the Arizona senator's claims from last weekend." ... ""I have never, ever supported a specific timetable" for withdrawing troops, Romney said. McCain's accusation on the eve of Tuesday's primary, he said, "sort of falls into the dirty tricks that I think [Republican President] Ronald Reagan would have found reprehensible."" ... "Former New York City [New York] Mayor Rudy Giuliani left the race earlier Wednesday [after losing Florida to McCain]] and endorsed McCain." (1, 2, 3) -By Liz Sidoti -AP via -ABCNEWS.com

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John Edwards - Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - New Orleans - Louisiana - Poverty - Homeless - People - Health Care - US - Iraq - Military - Money- 2008 Election - "Democrat Edwards exits presidential race: Clinton, Obama praise ex-rival, who refrains from endorsing one or other." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Democrat John Edwards bowed out of the race for the White House on Wednesday, saying it was time to step aside “so that history can blaze its path” in a campaign now left to [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Rodham Clinton and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama." ... ""It is time for me to step aside," said Edwards, ending his second campaign in a hurricane-ravaged section of New Orleans [Louisiana] where he began it more than a year ago. “With our convictions and a little backbone we will take back the White House in November.”" ... "Edwards said Clinton and Obama had both pledged that “they will make ending poverty central to their campaign for the presidency.”" ... "“This is the cause of my life and I now have their commitment to engage in this cause,” he said before a small group of supporters. He was joined by his wife Elizabeth and his three children, Cate, Emma Claire and Jack." ... "Edwards said that on his way to make his campaign-ending statement, he drove by a highway underpass where several homeless people live. He stopped to talk, he said, and as he was leaving, one of them asked him never to forget them and their plight." ... "“Well I say to her and I say to all those who are struggling in this country, we will never forget you. We will fight for you. We will stand up for you,” he said, pledging to continue his campaign-long effort to end what he frequently said was “two Americas,” one for the powerful, the other for the rest." ... "Edwards burst out of the starting gate with a flurry of progressive policy ideas — he was the first to offer a plan for universal health care, the first to call on Congress to pull funding for the [Iraq] war, and he led the charge that lobbyists have too much power in Washington and need to be reigned in." (1, 2) -AP via -MSNBC 

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Tim Russert - John McCain - Hillary Clinton - US - Iraq - Military - Politics - 2008 Election - Arizona - New York - "Russert let McCain mislead on Clinton's Iraq withdrawal proposal." ... "Summary: [MSNBC political journalist] Tim Russert left unchallenged [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's false claim that [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York Senator] Sen. Hillary Clinton "would set a timetable within 60 days of withdrawal, complete withdrawal from Iraq." In fact, Clinton said that if she were to become president, "[W]e will start withdrawing within 60 days," and would continue to withdraw "one to two brigades a month" with the goal of having "nearly all the troops out by the end of the year [2009]," except for those necessary to "protect our embassy" and other "strategic interests."" -MediaMatters.org

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Mitt Romney - John McCain - Economy - US - Iraq - Military - 2008 Election - Florida - Massachusetts - Arizona - "Romney Slams McCain On Economy, Climate Bill." ... "After predicting a Florida victory in front of a raucous, heavily Latino crowd, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney told members of the media that [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain’s interpretation of Romney’s past remarks on Iraq timetables were “obviously false” and “yesterday’s news.” The former Massachusetts governor then changed the subject by rehashing some of McCain’s past comments, which seemed to disparage the Arizona senator’s own understanding of economic policy." ... "“I simply don’t think that the people of Florida are gonna say the nominee of our party ought to be a person who on more than one occasion has expressed lack of understanding of our economy at a time when the economy is the number one issue that people are talking about here in the state of Florida,” Romney said." -By Scott Conroy -CBSNews 

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Mitt Romney - John McCain - US - Iraq - Military - 2008 Election - Florida - Arizona - Massachusetts - "Republican Candidates Trade Attacks in Florida." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain of Arizona accused [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and] former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney of having once supported a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, sparking an angry demand for an apology from Romney, who called the statement "dishonest."" ... "Romney, who said in April the military should consider a "private timetable" but not public deadlines, shot back: "That's dishonest, to say that I have a specific date. That's simply wrong . . . I know he's trying desperately to change the topic from the economy and trying to get back to Iraq, but to say something that's not accurate is simply wrong and he knows better."" ... "Later, Romney added that McCain's comment on Iraq is "simply wrong and it's dishonest, and he should apologize."" (1, 2) -By Michael D. Shear and Juliet Eilperin -WashingtonPost

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Dennis Kucinich - US - Iraq - Military - Law - 2008 Election - Ohio - "Kucinich Starts New Impeachment Drive." ... "[T]oday [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Ohio Democratic Representative Dennis] Mr. Kucinich took to the floor to fire off his latest salvo at the [Republican President] Bush administration: his plans to introduce Articles of Impeachment against President Bush on Jan. 28 — the day of Mr. Bush’s State of the Union speech." ... "Accusing the [Republican President Bush] administration of lying about the need for the war in Iraq, Mr. Kucinich said he did not need to hear the president’s assessment. “We know the State of the Union,” he declared. “It’s a lie.”" ... "“If impeachment is off the table,” Mr. Kucinich said, “truth is off the table. If truth is off the table then this body [Congress] is living a lie.”" -By David M. Herszenhorn -NYTimes 

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Dick Cheney- US - Iraq - Military - Government - Intelligence - Politics - Language - Database - History - "Bush Administration Lied 935 Times About Iraq Before Invasion: Study: President [Republican President Bush] cited as most frequent liar, with 259 false statements about weapons of mass destruction and more." ... "For years, the [Republican President] Bush administration has faced charges that it bent the truth or flat-out misled the public about Iraq's alleged stockpile of weapons of mass destruction in the lead-up to the 2003 invasion of the country. Now, a study by two nonprofit journalism organizations claims that President Bush and top officials in his administration issued nearly 1,000 false statements about the security threat posed by Iraq in the wake of 9/11." ... "Relying on what it described as a "massive database" of information that fed the results of the project, the authors said their research was based on juxtaposing what President Bush and the top officials in his administration said in public against what was known, "or should have been known, on a day-to-day basis." The searchable database includes public statements drawn from both primary sources like official transcripts and secondary sources like the reporting of major news organizations over the two years beginning on September 11, 2001. It also used information from more than 25 government reports, books, articles, speeches and interviews." ... "An example given in the report is a portion of an address given at the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars on August 26, 2002, during which Cheney said, "Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies and against us." According to the report, former CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] Director George Tenet later said Cheney's assertions went well beyond his agency's assessments at the time, and another CIA official, referring to the speech, told a prominent journalist, "Our reaction was, 'Where is he getting this stuff from?' "" ... "As for criticism that the report does not have any new information but rather rehashes already-reported facts, [Center for Public Integrity spokesman Steve] Carpinelli said, "The difference is that while there have been many intelligence reports that came out that contradicted a lot of statements from administration officials, there's been nothing that could show you how it was a coordinated effort." The report is accompanied by a bar graph that Carpinelli said shows how the false statements reached their peak in the months prior to the March 2003 launch of the Iraq war and how they tapered off soon after." -By Gil Kaufman -MTV.com 

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US - Iraq - Military - "US military deaths in Iraq at 3,931." ... "As of Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008, at least 3,931 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count." -AP via -Yahoo 

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US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - Politics - US_Debt - Government- "U.S. war costs in Iraq up-budget report." ... "War funding, which averaged about $93 billion a year from 2003 through 2005, rose to $120 billion in 2006 and $171 billion in 2007 and [Republican] President George W. Bush has asked for $193 billion in 2008, the nonpartisan office [Congressional Budget Office: CBO] wrote." ... "Since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, Congress has written checks for $691 billion to pay for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and such related activities as Iraq reconstruction, the CBO said." ... "Of the total, the CBO estimated that $440 billion had been spent on fighting in Iraq launched with the goal of ousting President Saddam Hussein from power and securing weapons of mass destruction that were never found." ... "All of the Iraq and Afghanistan war money -- about $11 billion a month -- is effectively being put on a government credit card at a time when U.S. [United States] government debt has skyrocketed to more than $9 trillion, up from around $5.6 trillion when [Republican President] Bush took office in January 2001." ... "Bush has opposed paying the cost of waging war in Iraq and Afghanistan with tax increases or other specific offsets." (1, 2, 3) -By Richard Cowan with contributions by Howard Goller and Doina Chiacu -Reuters 

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Dick Cheney - US - Iraq - Military - Intelligence - Terrorism - Politics - Rhetoric - History - Journalists - "Study: Bush, aides made 935 false statements in run-up to war." ... "[Republican] President Bush and his top aides publicly made 935 false statements about the security risk posed by Iraq in the two years following September 11, 2001, according to a study released Tuesday by two nonprofit journalism groups." ... "According to the study, Bush and seven top officials -- including [Republicans] Vice President Dick Cheney, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice -- made 935 false statements about Iraq during those two years." ... "The overview of the study also calls the media to task, saying most media outlets didn't do enough to investigate the claims." ... ""Some journalists -- indeed, even some entire news organizations -- have since acknowledged that their coverage during those prewar months was far too deferential and uncritical," the report reads. "These mea culpas notwithstanding, much of the wall-to-wall media coverage provided additional, 'independent' validation of the Bush administration's false statements about Iraq."" -CNN 

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Iraq - Law - Politics - Jobs - Teachers - People - Police - Government - Military - History - US - "Iraq's New Law on Ex-Baathists Could Bring Another Purge." ... "Maj. Gen. [Major General] Hussein al-Awadi, a former official in Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, became the commander of the Iraqi National Police despite a 2003 law barring the party from government." ... "But now, under new legislation promoted as way to return former Baathists to public life, the 56-year-old and thousands like him could be forced out of jobs they have been allowed to hold, according to Iraqi lawmakers and the government agency that oversees ex-Baathists." ... ""This new law is very confusing," Awadi said. "I don't really know what it means for me."" ... "He is not alone. More than a dozen Iraqi lawmakers, U.S. [United States] officials and former Baathists here and in exile expressed concern in interviews that the law could set off a new purge of ex-Baathists, the opposite of U.S. hopes for the legislation. " ... "The very first decree of the U.S.-led occupation government was to disband the Baath Party and purge its members from the government. Issued May 16, 2003, Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 1 also banned the top four ranks of the Baath Party from public-sector jobs." ... "U.S. officials believed the order would remove about 20,000 Baathists, or 1 percent of the 2 million people in Iraq said to be party members, according to L. Paul Bremer, then the occupation administrator." ... "He blamed the Iraqi politicians who oversaw the de-Baathification process in mid-2003 for going beyond the intention of the order and purging thousands of additional people, including about 11,000 teachers." ... "The Iraqis tell a different story. According to Ali Faisal al-Lami, executive director of the de-Baathification commission, Bremer's order pushed 140,000 Iraqis out of their jobs." (1, 2, 3, 4) -By Amit R. Paley and Joshua Partlow -WashingtonPost 

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US - Iraq - Military - Intelligence - Terrorism - Politics - Journalism - "Study: False statements preceded war." ... "A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that [Republican] President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks." ... "The study concluded that the statements "were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses."" ... "The study was posted Tuesday on the Web site of the Center for Public Integrity, which worked with the Fund for Independence in Journalism." ... "The study counted 935 false statements in the two-year period. It found that in speeches, briefings, interviews and other venues, Bush and administration officials stated unequivocally on at least 532 occasions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or was trying to produce or obtain them or had links to al-Qaida or both." ... ""It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to al-Qaida," according to Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith of the Fund for Independence in Journalism staff members, writing an overview of the study. "In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003."" -By Douglas K. Daniel -AP via -Yahoo 

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Dick Cheney - US - Iraq - Military - Intelligence - Terrorism - Politics - Rhetoric - History - Noteworthy - "The War Card: Orchestrated Deception on the Path to War." ... "False Pretenses: Following 9/11, [Republican] President Bush and seven top officials of his administration waged a carefully orchestrated campaign of misinformation about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq." ... "President George W. Bush and seven of his administration's top officials, including [Republicans] Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, made at least 935 false statements in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Nearly five years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, an exhaustive examination of the record shows that the statements were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses." ... "On at least 532 separate occasions (in speeches, briefings, interviews, testimony, and the like), Bush and these three key officials, along with Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, and White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan, stated unequivocally that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (or was trying to produce or obtain them), links to Al Qaeda, or both. This concerted effort was the underpinning of the Bush administration's case for war." ... "It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to Al Qaeda. This was the conclusion of numerous bipartisan government investigations, including those by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (2004 and 2006), the 9/11 Commission, and the multinational Iraq Survey Group, whose "Duelfer Report" established that Saddam Hussein had terminated Iraq's nuclear program in 1991 and made little effort to restart it." ... "In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003. Not surprisingly, the officials with the most opportunities to make speeches, grant media interviews, and otherwise frame the public debate also made the most false statements, according to this first-ever analysis of the entire body of prewar rhetoric." ... "President Bush, for example, made 232 false statements about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and another 28 false statements about Iraq's links to Al Qaeda. Secretary of State Powell had the second-highest total in the two-year period, with 244 false statements about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 10 about Iraq's links to Al Qaeda. Rumsfeld and Fleischer each made 109 false statements, followed by Wolfowitz (with 85), Rice (with 56), Cheney (with 48), and McClellan (with 14)." -By Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith -PublicIntegrity.org 

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Government - Computer - E-Mail - Archives - Law - Politics - US - Iraq - Military - Intelligence - Videotapes - Presidential Records Act - "White House Tape Recycling May Have Erased Controversial E-Mails." ... "The [Republican President Bush] White House has acknowledged in a new court filing that it routinely recycled computer backup tapes containing its e-mail records until October 2003, a practice that could mean that many electronic messages from the first two years of the [Republican President] Bush administration are lost forever." ... "The disclosure raises the possibility that the White House effectively erased e-mail related to some of the biggest controversies of the Bush administration, including the leak of a CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] officer's name, the start of the Iraq war and the CIA's destruction of interrogation videotapes." ... "The backups are meant to preserve records in case of a disaster. They also serve a role in ensuring that federal record-keeping laws are met, according to administration officials and records management experts. Two separate statutes require the White House to preserve federal or presidential records." ... "In their lawsuit, the two advocacy groups, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the National Security Archive, allege that millions of e-mail messages are missing from White House servers between 2003 and 2005." -By Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost

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US - Iraq - Law - Military - History - Oil - Money - "Iraq to reinstate Saddam party followers." ... "Iraq's parliament voted Saturday to allow some former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party to reclaim government jobs and said others could receive pensions but could not return to work." ... "The 275-seat parliament is still deadlocked over how to share the country's oil profits, constitutional amendments demanded by minority Sunni Arabs, and a bill spelling out rules for local elections." ... "The bill, approved Saturday by a unanimous show of hands, seeks to relax restrictions on the rights of members of the now-dissolved Baath party to fill government posts." ... "It is also designed to reinstate thousands of Baathists dismissed from government jobs after the U.S. [United States] invasion — a decision that deepened sectarian tensions between Iraq's majority Shiites and the once-dominant Sunni Arabs, who believed the firings targeted their community." ... "The strict implementation of so-called de-Baathification rules also meant that many senior bureaucrats who knew how to run ministries, university departments and state companies ended up unemployed in a country where 35 years of Baath party rule and extensive government involvement in the economy had left tens of thousands of party members in key positions." ... "That, coupled with the disbanding of the Iraqi army, threw tens of thousands of people out of work at a critical time in Iraq's history and fueled the burgeoning Sunni insurgency." -By Qassim Abdul-Zahra with contributions by Terence Hunt and Sameer N. Yacoub -AP via -Yahoo

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US - Iraq - Charles E Williams - Military - Construction - Fire-Fighting - Safety - Politics - "New Baghdad embassy's fire-fighting system is defective." ... "The fire-fighting system in the mammoth new $740 million U.S. [United States] Embassy in Baghdad is defective, according to documents obtained by McClatchy and U.S. officials, who said that their concerns were ignored or overruled in a rush to declare the complex completed." ... ""As far as I know, nothing's been fixed," said one State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared retaliation for speaking to the news media. "The lives of the people who are working in that building are going to be at stake" if the complex doesn't meet building codes, he said." ... "The 104-acre embassy complex, which has been hit at least once by mortar fire, will house more than 1,000 U.S. diplomats, coalition military officials and associated personnel. U.S. diplomats in Iraq are still headquartered in a former palace of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad's Green Zone and haven't moved into the new embassy complex." ... "Last month, 19 days before he retired, State Department buildings chief Charles E. Williams certified key elements of the embassy's fire-fighting system as ready for operation, according to the documents McClatchy obtained." ... "His own fire-safety specialists and an outside consultant, however, had warned Williams and his aides repeatedly about numerous fire safety violations." ... "Moreover, Williams' thumbs-up was based on tests run by another contractor that was hired, not by the State Department, but by the company building the embassy, First Kuwaiti General Contracting and Trading Co. State Department officials, members of Congress and others have accused First Kuwaiti of shoddy construction and questionable labor practices." -By Warren P. Strobel -McClatchyDC.com

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Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - US - Iraq - Military - History - 2008 Election - "Bill Clinton defends "fairy tale" remark on Obama." ... "Former [Democratic] President Bill Clinton said on Friday [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama's bid to be president was no "fairy tale" and said his use of that phrase earlier in the week referred specifically to Obama's claims about his stance on the Iraq war." ... "The former president drew criticism for the "fairy tale" comment he made while campaigning in New Hampshire for his wife [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Clinton, Obama's main rival for the Democratic Party nomination in the November presidential election." ... ""Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen," Clinton had said in accusing Obama of distorting his stance on the war." ... "He stood by his comment as a response to Obama's argument that, unlike Hillary Clinton, he never voted to authorize the Iraq war in 2003 and had opposed it consistently since 2002." ... ""I pointed out that he had never been asked about his statement in 2004 that he didn't know how he would have voted on the war resolution," Bill Clinton said." ... ""It disproves the argument that he was always against it and everybody else was wrong and he was right."" (1, 2) -By Claudia Parsons and Thomas Ferraro, with contributions by Michelle Nichols and Jackie Frank -Reuters 

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US - Iraq - Blackwater - Corporate - Military - "2005 Use of Gas by Blackwater Leaves Questions." ... "The helicopter was hovering over a Baghdad checkpoint into the Green Zone, one typically crowded with cars, Iraqi civilians and United States military personnel." ... "Suddenly, on that May day in 2005, the copter dropped CS gas [o-chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile], a riot-control substance the American military in Iraq can use only under the strictest conditions and with the approval of top military commanders. An armored vehicle on the ground also released the gas, temporarily blinding drivers, passers-by and at least 10 American soldiers operating the checkpoint." ... "“This was decidedly uncool and very, very dangerous,” Capt. [Captain] Kincy Clark of the Army, the senior officer at the scene, wrote later that day. “It’s not a good thing to cause soldiers who are standing guard against car bombs, snipers and suicide bombers to cover their faces, choke, cough and otherwise degrade our awareness.”" ... "Both the helicopter and the vehicle involved in the incident at the Assassins’ Gate checkpoint were not from the United States military, but were part of a convoy operated by Blackwater Worldwide, the private security contractor that is under scrutiny for its role in a series of violent episodes in Iraq, including a September shooting in downtown Baghdad [Iraq's capital] that left 17 Iraqis dead." ... "Officers and noncommissioned officers from the Third Infantry Division who were involved in the episode said there were no signs of violence at the checkpoint. Instead, they said, the Blackwater convoy appeared to be stuck in traffic and may have been trying to use the riot-control agent as a way to clear a path." ... "“It just seemed incredibly stupid,” he [Captain Clark] wrote. “The only thing we could figure out was for some reason, one of them figured that CS would somehow clear traffic. Why someone would think a substance that makes your eyes water, nose burn and face hurt would make a driver do anything other than stop is beyond me.”" (1, 2) -By James Risen -NYTimes 

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US - Afghanistan - Iraq - "3,000 Marines could be headed to Afghanistan." ... "The Pentagon has received a U.S. [United States] Central Command request to send roughly 3,000 Marines to Afghanistan to bolster the combat troop-strapped NATO force and counter a possible spring offensive by Taliban insurgents." ... "Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who has expressed concern that six years of progress in Afghanistan could be reversed if NATO efforts falter, is expected to begin considering the request beginning Friday. He is not, however, expected to make a snap decision, according to press secretary Geoff Morrell." ... "The NATO International Security Assistance Force, now roughly 41,700 troops — 14,000 of them U.S. — bolsters efforts by the Afghan army and police forces to provide security and stability in war-torn country so its young government can rebuild and become more economically secure. A parallel effort by the U.S.-led Combined Joint Task Force 82 — 12,000 U.S. and 1,200 other coalition troops — focuses on defeating anti-government extremists." ... "Morrell said no units have been identified, but that they would not be drawn from neighboring Iraq. Late last year, Gates rejected a Marine Corps proposal to move Marine units from Iraq’s Anbar province to Afghanistan. The security situation in Anbar, while much improved over the past year, “remains tenuous,” Morrell said." ... "Violence increased markedly over the past 18 months in Afghanistan, particularly in the south — the result, U.S. officials say, of renewed Taliban assaults. But the new proposal is not a reaction to that increase but rather, Morrell said, “more a move in anticipation of what we expect to be another attempt at a Taliban spring offensive.” The idea is to get the Marines in place “to prevent, as we did last spring, another attempt by the Taliban to come back.”" -By William H. McMichael with contributions by Andrew Scutro and Trista Talton -ArmyTimes.com

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US - Iraq - Blackwater - Government - Politics - Human Rights - Law - Michigan - "Blackwater USA steps up lobbying efforts." ... "Private-security contractor Blackwater Worldwide, which protects U.S. [United States] government officials in Iraq and faces scrutiny over its role in the shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians, has ramped up its lobbying representation on Capitol Hill." ... "Law firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice was tapped by the company, whose chairman is Erik Prince, a Holland [Michigan] native. They've been hired to lobby the government on contracting and other issues, according to the form posted online Tuesday by the Senate's public records office." ... "The company has attracted considerable congressional scrutiny and criticism from the Iraqi government and human rights groups for its involvement in several dozen shooting incidents." ... "Prince, a former Navy SEAL, is a Holland native whose family fortune was made in the auto parts industry. His sister, Betsy DeVos, a former chairwoman of the Michigan GOP [Grand Old Party=Republican], is married to Dick DeVos, a Republican and Amway Corp. heir who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2006." -AP via -MLive.com

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US - Iraq - Military -  - World - Health - Science - Accounting - "Study: 151,000 Iraqis died in 3 years after U.S. invasion." ... "About 151,000 Iraqis died from violence in the three years after the United States invaded, concludes the best effort yet to count deaths — one that still may not settle the fierce debate over the war's true toll on civilians and others." ... "The estimate comes from projections by the World Health Organization and the Iraqi government, based on door-to-door surveys of nearly 10,000 households. Experts called it the largest and most scientific study of the Iraqi death toll since the war began." ... "Its bottom line is far lower than the 600,000 deaths reported in an earlier study but higher than numbers from other groups tracking the count." ... "The new estimate covers a period from the start of the war in March 2003 through June 2006. It closely mirrors the tally Iraq's health minister gave in late 2006, based on 100 bodies a day arriving at morgues and hospitals." ... "Les Roberts, a Columbia University epidemiologist involved in an even earlier survey in 2004 when he was at Johns Hopkins, believes the new toll is too low." ... ""This is consistent with family members not wanting to tell the government about violent deaths," he said." -AP via -USATODAY 

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Military - Legislation - Politics - US - Iraq - Reconstruction - "Bonus payments frozen." ... "The Army has temporarily halted bonus payments for more than 20 enlistment, re-enlistment and service extension programs pending enactment of authorizing legislation." ... "[Republican] President Bush, to the surprise of Congress and the Defense Department, vetoed the fiscal 2008 Defense Authorization Act on Dec. 29 after months bargaining with House and Senate leaders." ... "In announcing the pocket veto, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said the president objected to a single provision of the legislation that would delay the reconstruction of Iraq, and expose the Iraqi government to unwarranted law suits in U.S. courts." -By Jim Tice -ArmyTimes.com 

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John McCain - United States - Iraq - Military - Politics - 2008 Election - New Hampshire - "McCain in NH: Would Be "Fine" To Keep Troops in Iraq for "A Hundred Years"." ... "The United States military could stay in Iraq for "maybe a hundred years" and that "would be fine with me," [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain told two hundred or so people at a town hall meeting in Derry, New Hampshire, on Thursday evening." ... "After the event ended, I asked McCain about his "hundred years" comment, and he reaffirmed the remark, excitedly declaring that U.S. troops could be in Iraq for "a thousand years" or "a million years," as far as he was concerned. The key matter, he explained, was whether they were being killed or not: "It's not American presence; it's American casualties."" ... "In other words, McCain does not equate victory in Iraq--which he passionately urges at campaign events--with the removal of U.S. troops from that nation." -By David Corn -TheNation.com

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