HavenWorks.com/world/iraq/archive/2007

A-Z

!Search

News by Date

NewsStand

_Global_

_US_

A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z

/

/

/ Archive / 2007 Iraq
Iraq News, Iraq News History Archive: History-Archives
Iraq Archives < 2007 Iraq News > 2006 Iraq News

Use "Ctrl F" [control F] to FIND what you're looking for.
"Right Click" - "Open in New Window." to avoid reloading this page.
2007 Iraq News History Archives

2007 Iraq News:

Dennis Kucinich - Joe Biden - Chris Dodd - Ron Paul - Duncan Hunter - Television - Politics - US - Iraq - Military - 2008 Election - New Hampshire - "FOX, ABC to reduce debate fields." ... "This weekend’s [New Hampshire] presidential debates and forum will not include some nationally-known candidates, and the chairmen of the state Republican and Democratic parties are not happy." ... "Fergus Cullen and Raymond Buckley say the decisions by ABC News, WMUR and, in Cullen’s case, FOX News, are inconsistent with the New Hampshire primary’s tradition of providing a level playing field for all candidates." ... "ABC News and WMUR-TV (Channel 9) confirmed today that they have established performance-based criteria for Saturday night's pair of presidential debates. Those rules could leave several relatively well-known candidates on the outside looking in, including [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidates] Democrats Dennis Kucinich, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd." ... "And Cullen confirmed that FOX News has invited only five presidential candidates to a GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] forum scheduled for Sunday night, leaving out [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidates] Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter." ... "GOP candidate Paul has said that FOX News is “scared of me” and has called the network “propagandists for this (Iraq) war, and I challenge them on the notion that they are conservative.”" -By John Distaso -UnionLeader.com

John Edwards - Mike Huckabee - Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - Mitt Romney - Money - Religion - People - US - Iraq - Military - Iowa - 2008 Election - Poll - "Iowa: Edwards surges, Huckabees bubble bursts." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards has clawed his way into contention to win Iowa's caucuses on Thursday in the first vote for the Democratic presidential nomination, gaining strength even as rivals [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Clinton and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama have lost ground, according to a new McClatchy-MSNBC poll." ... "At the same time, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney has regained the lead among Iowa Republicans as [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mike Huckabee has lost momentum and support, even among the evangelical Christians who had propelled him into the top spot just weeks ago." ... "If all second-tier Democratic candidates fall short [in Iowa’s Democratic caucuses] and their supporters switch to other candidates, Edwards gains the most, rolling up a clear lead at 33 percent to 26 percent each for Clinton and Obama." ... "Edwards, pushing a people-versus-the powerful message, owes his gains to voters looking for a general election winner, someone who agrees with them on the issues, and those who rank Iraq their top concern." -By Steven Thomma -McClatchyDC.com

Ron Paul - Television - Politics - New Hampshire - Iowa - US - Iraq - Military - 2008 Election - "Paul: Fox News is 'scared of me'." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Ron Paul said the decision to exclude him from a debate on Fox News Sunday the weekend before the New Hampshire Primary is proof that the network "is scared" of him." ... ""They are scared of me and don't want my message to get out, but it will," Paul said in an interview at a diner here. "They are propagandists for this war and I challenge them on the notion that they are conservative."" ... "Paul, the Republican Texas Congressman, was wrapping up his final day of campaigning in New Hampshire until the Iowa Caucuses on Thursday." -By James Pindell -BostonGlobe

US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - Money - Legislation - Reconstruction - "Bush rejects defense bill by pocket veto." ... "[Republican] President Bush on Friday used a "pocket veto" to reject a sweeping defense bill because he dislikes a provision that would expose the Iraqi government to expensive lawsuits seeking damages from the Saddam Hussein era." ... "In a statement, Bush said the legislation "would imperil billions of dollars of Iraqi assets at a crucial juncture in that nation's reconstruction efforts."" ... "The president's objections were focused on a provision deep within legislation that sets defense policy for the coming year and approves $696 billion in spending, including $189 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also in the legislation were improved veterans benefits and tighter oversight of contractors and weapons programs." ... "The pocket veto means that troops will get a 3 percent raise Jan. 1 instead of the 3.5 percent authorized by the bill." -By Ben Feller -AP via -Yahoo

US - Iraq - Afghanistan- Worldwide - Military - Government - Accounting - Terrorism - Politics - History - Alaska - Ted Stevens - "Wars Cost $15 Billion a Month, GOP Senator Says." ... "The latest estimate of the growing costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the worldwide battle against terrorism -- nearly $15 billion a month -- came last week from one of the Senate's leading proponents of a continued U.S. [United States] military presence in Iraq." ... ""This cost of this war is approaching $15 billion a month, with the Army spending $4.2 billion of that every month," [Alaska GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican Senator] Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska), the ranking Republican on the Appropriations defense subcommittee, said in a little-noticed floor speech Dec. [December] 18." ... "While most of the public focus has been on the political fight over troop levels, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) reported this month that the [Republican President] Bush administration's request for the 2008 fiscal year of $189.3 billion [$189.3/12=$15.775 billion per month] for Defense Department operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and worldwide counterterrorism activities was 20 percent higher than for fiscal 2007 and 60 percent higher than for fiscal 2006." (1, 2) -By Walter Pincus -WashingtonPost
US - Iraq - Military - " US military deaths in Iraq at 3,900." ... "As of Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007, at least 3,900 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

John Edwards - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - Iowa - Manufacturing - Jobs - Family - Health-Care - Environment - Human Rights - US - China - Corporations - Iraq - Military - Indiana - Idaho - Illinois - Homes - Consumers - 2008 Election - "Behind the Edwards Surge: Right Message at the Right Time." ... "To a far greater extent than [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidates Barack] Obama or [Hillary] Clinton, [John] Edwards has struck at the heart of issues that should matter most in the race to replace not just [Republican President] George W. Bush, but the Bush agenda of corporate giveaways, job-crushing free trade deals, war profiteering in Iraq, and subprime mortgage profiteering in Indiana, Idaho, Illinois and, yes, Iowa." ... "Edwards summed up his increasingly aggressive and powerful anti-corporate themes with a declaration: "What makes America America is at stake: jobs, the middle class, health care, preserving the environment in the world for future generations."" ... ""But all those things are at risk. And why are they at risk? Because of corporate power and corporate greed in Washington, D.C. And we have to take them on. You can't make a deal with them. You can't hope that they're going to go away. You have to actually be willing to fight. And I want every caucus-goer to know I've been fighting these people and winning my entire life. And if we do this together, rise up together, we can actually make absolutely certain, starting here in Iowa, that we make this country better than we left it."" ... "Edwards got to know workers in Iowa. He stood with them in their struggles." ... "Turning a broad question about human rights toward the specific issue of trade policy, the former senator said that human rights, human needs and human values "should be central to our trade policy."" ... ""But," he added, "if you look at what's happened with American trade policy, look at what America got: Big corporations made a lot of money, are continuing to make a lot of money in China. But what did America get in return? We got millions of dangerous Chinese toys. We lost millions of jobs." ... ""And right here in Iowa, the Maytag plant in Newton [Iowa] closed. A guy named Doug Bishop, who I got to know very well, had worked in that plant, and his family had worked in that plant literally for generations. And his job is now gone. The same thing, by the way, happened in the plant that my father worked in when I was growing up. It is so important that we stop allowing these corporate powers and corporate profits to run America's policy, whether it's trade policy, how we engage with China. This is not good for America. It's not good for American jobs. And it's not good for working people in this country."" ... "That's an issue Edwards has taken far, far more seriously than his opponents in what is now a three-way race in Iowa. And that seriousness has benefitted the former senator." -By John Nichols -TheNation
US - Iraq - Military - Family - Poll - Idaho - Oregon - Afghanistan - "Military family members share public's division on Iraq war, Bush: Polls: Almost half say invasion was a mistake." ... "Close family members of U.S. [United States] troops are split on whether the Iraq invasion was a mistake, and 55% disapprove of [Republican] President Bush's job performance, according to USA TODAY/Gallup Polls focusing on immediate relatives of servicemembers." ... ""They've maxed out on the troops. You've got guys who are over there on their fourth or fifth tours. It's ridiculous," says Jeanette Knowles, 40, of Mountain Home, Idaho, whose brother, Jeff, served a tour in Iraq with the Oregon National Guard." ... "More than 1.5 million servicemembers have been sent to Iraq or Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001, and Army combat tours last up to 15 months." -By Gregg Zoroya -USATODAY

Secret - Alberto R Gonzales - David S Addington - Dick Cheney - Harriet E Miers - Torture - War - Crimes - Tapes - Censorship - Law - Politics - Military - Government - Intelligence - Terrorism - History - US - Iraq - "Bush Lawyers Discussed Fate of C.I.A.Tapes." ... "At least four top [Republican President Bush] White House lawyers took part in discussions with the Central Intelligence Agency between 2003 and 2005 about whether to destroy videotapes showing the secret interrogations of two operatives from Al Qaeda, according to current and former administration and intelligence officials." ... "The accounts indicate that the involvement of White House officials in the discussions before the destruction of the tapes in November 2005 was more extensive than [Republican President] Bush administration officials have acknowledged." ... "Those who took part, the officials said, included Alberto R. Gonzales, who served as White House counsel until early 2005; David S. Addington, who was the counsel to [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney and is now his chief of staff; John B. Bellinger III, who until January 2005 was the senior lawyer at the National Security Council; and Harriet E. Miers, who succeeded Mr. Gonzales as White House counsel." ... "It was previously reported that some administration officials had advised against destroying the tapes, but the emerging picture of White House involvement is more complex. In interviews, several administration and intelligence officials provided conflicting accounts as to whether anyone at the White House expressed support for the idea that the tapes should be destroyed." ... "One former senior intelligence official with direct knowledge of the matter said there had been “vigorous sentiment” among some top White House officials to destroy the tapes. The former official did not specify which White House officials took this position, but he said that some believed in 2005 that any disclosure of the tapes could have been particularly damaging after revelations a year earlier of abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq." ... "The current and former officials also provided new details about the role played in November 2005 by Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., then the chief of the agency’s clandestine branch, who ultimately ordered the destruction of the tapes." ... "The officials said that before he issued a secret cable directing that the tapes be destroyed, Mr. Rodriguez received legal guidance from two C.I.A. [Central Intelligence Agency] lawyers, Steven Hermes and Robert Eatinger. The officials said that those lawyers gave written guidance to Mr. Rodriguez that he had the authority to destroy the tapes and that the destruction would violate no laws." ... "Current and former officials said the two lawyers informed the C.I.A.’s top lawyer, John A. Rizzo, about the legal advice they had provided." (1, 2) -By Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane with contributions by David Johnston -NYTimes

John Edwards - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - North Carolina - Illinois - New York - 2008 Election - Government - Oil - Drug - Companies - Health-Care - US - Iraq - Military - Iowa - Fields - "Edwards cuts sharper edge in Iowa trail speeches." ... ""The few, the powerful, the well-financed, they now control the government," [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards told a tight crowd of about 350 last week. "They've taken over your democracy. And it affects everything that happens in this country."" ... ""Everything," he emphasized." ... "During an 18-minute span, the former North Carolina senator took aim and fired freely at insurance, oil and drug companies and failed chief executives rewarded with golden parachutes. He described the Republican field as [Republican President] "George Bush on steroids" and said his Democratic competitors are talkers, not fighters." ... "In what has often been portrayed as a two-Democrat battle between [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York Senator] Hillary Clinton of New York the populist Edwards is making an eight-day blitz across the frozen fields of Iowa, a sort of red-meat express to convince the middle class that he is the one who will wrest the country from the clutches of "corporate power and greed."" ... ""I know some people suggest we'll be able to sit at the table with drug companies and oil companies and think they can get their power away. Right," Edwards said dismissively, indirectly referring to the approaches he says Obama and Clinton would take." ... ""I'll tell you when they'll [corporations] lose their power: when we take it away from them," he told a cheering crowd at the [Iowa] Grinnell Eagles Club." ... ""There's been a change in America. We have greater concentration of wealth and power in a few. We have an increasingly dysfunctional health-care system. We have this war in Iraq that has gotten much worse," he said. "I think we need a president who's willing to be tough and to go after these things."" -By Tim Jones -ChicagoTribune

US - Iraq - Military - Police - Terrorism - Politics- Christmas - "Christians in Basra told not to celebrate to protest 2 deaths." ... "The Christian archbishop of Basra on Tuesday canceled the celebration of Christmas in that southern city to protest the deaths of a brother and sister, both Christians, as bombings and mayhem struck at cities throughout Iraq." ... "Archbishop Imad al Banna said Christians in Basra should still pray to mark Christmas, but should forgo such celebratory trappings as trees, gift-swapping and family gatherings to protest the deaths of Maysoon Farid, a 30-year-old cashier at a local pharmacy, and her brother Osama, 33. The two were found dead Monday night, dumped in a neighborhood controlled by the Shiite Muslim Mahdi Army militia." ... "Meanwhile, two police officers in Baghdad [Iraq's capital] were killed by a car bomb that struck near the homes of two prominent politicians, while south of Fallujah, in the west, family members mourned a 9-year-old girl who they said was killed by U.S. troops." -By Leila Fadel and Ali al Basri with contributions by Hussein Kadhim in Baghdad and Jamal al Dulaimy -McClatchy
John Edwards - US- Iraq - Military - Corporate - Government - Energy - Drug - Health - Family - Farmers - 2008 Election - "AP Interview: Edwards on Iraq and Dems." ... "While [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John] Edwards continues to invoke ending the [Iraq] war as one of the major challenges facing the nation, the thrust of his message is that entrenched corporate power has prevented the government from tackling long-standing domestic problems." ... ""You hear a lot more questions about corporate power, health care, energy, family farmers," he said. "Those are the things people ask about."" ... ""My focus for these last few weeks is on a positive agenda," he said. "That's what America rising is all about."" ... "That's not to say Edwards' message doesn't have an edge." ... "His culprits are "powerful, well-entrenched, well-financed interests that are distorting the democracy in their favor and against the interests of most Americans."" ... ""The specific examples are oil companies, drug companies, insurance companies, power companies, there are lots more examples," he said. "They've used money and power to spread their influence and have kept the democracy from working for most people."" (1, 2) -By Jim Kuhnhenn -AP via -NOLA.com

US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - Families - Politics - Poll - "Bush loses ground with military families." ... "Families with ties to the military, long a reliable source of support for wartime presidents, disapprove of [Republican] President Bush and his handling of the war in Iraq, with a majority concluding the invasion was not worth it, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found." ... "The views of the military community, which includes active-duty service members, veterans and their family members, mirror those of the overall adult population, a sign that the strong military endorsement that the [Republican President Bush] administration often pointed to has dwindled in the war's fifth year." ... "Nearly six out of every 10 military families disapprove of Bush's job performance and the way he has run the war, rating him only slightly better than the general population does." ... "And among those families with soldiers, sailors and Marines who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, 60% say that the war in Iraq was not worth the cost, the same result as all adults surveyed." ... "Military families are only slightly more patient: 35% are willing to stay until victory; 58% want the troops home within a year or sooner." ... "When military families were asked which party could be trusted to do a better job of handling issues related to them, respondents divided almost evenly: 39% said Democrats and 35% chose Republicans." -By Faye Fiore -LAtimes
Howard Krongard - US - Iraq - Blackwater - Corporate - Military - Law - "Official in Blackwater probe quits." ... "State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard, under scrutiny for his brother's link to the Blackwater security firm, has decided to resign, U.S. officials said on Friday." ... "Krongard, the State Department's top investigator, has been accused by current and former subordinates of thwarting probes into waste, fraud and abuse in Iraq, including alleged arms smuggling by Blackwater." -By Arshad Mohammed and Andy Sullivan with contributions by Bill Trott -Reuters

US - Iraq - Military - Pennsylvania - "Murtha clarifies surge remarks." ... "Following a headline-grabbing uproar, [Pennsylvania Democratic Representative] Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, moved swiftly Friday to clarify earlier remarks that seemed to suggest the Iraq surge policy was working." ... "The surge, he said in a statement, “has created a window of opportunity for the Iraqi government,’’ but so far the Iraqi government has “failed to capitalize on the political and diplomatic steps that the surge was designed to provide.”" ... "“The fact remains that the war in Iraq cannot be won militarily, and that we must begin an orderly redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq as soon as practicable,” said the chair of the House Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee." -CNN

US - Iraq - Blackwater - Corporate - Military - Politics - Steroids - North Carolina - "Witnesses testify in Blackwater lawsuit." ... "A federal grand jury investigating Blackwater Worldwide heard witnesses Tuesday as a private lawsuit accused the government contractor's bodyguards of ignoring orders and abandoning their posts shortly before taking part in a Baghdad [Iraq's capital] shooting that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead." ... "Filed this week in U.S. District Court in Washington, the civil complaint also accuses North Carolina-based Blackwater of failing to give drug tests to its guards in Baghdad — even though an estimated one in four of them was using steroids or other "judgment altering substances."" ... "Before the shootings in Baghdad last September, the three teams of an estimated dozen Blackwater bodyguards had already dropped off the State Department official they were tasked with protecting when they headed to Nisoor Square, according to the lawsuit filed by lawyers working with the Center for Constitutional Rights." ... "Blackwater and State Department personnel staffing a tactical operations center "expressly directed the Blackwater shooters to stay with the official and refrain from leaving the secure area," the complaint says. "Reasonable discovery will establish that the Blackwater shooters ignored those directives."" ... "Additionally, the lawsuit notes: "One of Blackwater's own shooters tried to stop his colleagues from indiscriminately firing upon the crowd of innocent civilians but he was unsuccessful in his efforts."" -By Lara Jakes Jordan with contributions by Matthew Lee and Matt Apuzzo -AP via -Yahoo
Secret - US - Iraq - Texas - Oil - Money - Criminal - UN - Food - "Texas oilman Wyatt sentenced to year in prison." ... "Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt was sentenced to one year and one day in prison on Tuesday for conspiracy in the U.N. oil-for-food scandal, becoming the most prominent figure jailed over corruption in the program to buy oil from Saddam Hussein's Iraq." ... "Under his plea agreement, prosecutors dropped four other counts against him, cutting short a trial in which they made a case that he paid secret kickbacks to Saddam's government to win oil contracts from Iraq." ... "U.S. criminal investigations into the corrupted U.N. program has so far produced the convictions of seven individuals and two companies, including Chevron Corp. which agreed to pay $30 million to resolve criminal and civil liabilities." (1, 2) -By Christine Kearney with contributions by David Wiessler -Reuters

US - Iraq - Military - Oil - Money- UN - "Iraqis may offer US deal to stay longer." ... "Iraq's government, seeking protection against foreign threats and internal coups, will offer the U.S. a long-term troop presence in Iraq in return for U.S. security guarantees as part of a strategic partnership, two Iraqi officials said Monday." ... "In Washington, [Republican] President Bush's adviser on the Iraqi war, [Lieutenant General] Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, confirmed the proposal, calling it "a set of principles from which to begin formal negotiations."" ... "As part of the package, the Iraqis want an end to the current U.N.-mandated multinational forces mission, and also an end to all U.N.-ordered restrictions on Iraq's sovereignty." ... "The Americans appeared generally favorable subject to negotiations on the details, which include preferential treatment for American investments, according to the Iraqi officials involved in the discussions." ... "Preferential treatment for U.S. investors could provide a huge windfall if Iraq can achieve enough stability to exploit its vast oil resources." -By Qassim Abdul-Zahra -AP via -Yahoo

United States - Iraq- Military - Politics - Economic - History - "Ex-coalition leader says Bush failed to have plan: Sanchez: It's time to withdraw troops, let Iraq take responsibility." ... "Retired Army [Lieutenant General] Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who led coalition forces through the first critical year of Iraq's insurgency, said Saturday in a nationally broadcast radio address that [Republican] President Bush had failed to "devise a strategy for victory" and that the time had come to withdraw U.S. troops." ... "In the Democratic rebuttal to Bush's weekly radio address, Sanchez offered conditional support to a House war funding bill that requires combat troops to be out of Iraq by the end of 2008." ... "As the coalition commander, Sanchez said in Saturday's broadcast, he personally witnessed "the administration's failure to devise a strategy for victory in Iraq that employed, in a coordinated manner, the political, economic, diplomatic and military power of the United States. That failure continues today."" ... "He predicted it would take at least a decade to reverse the damage done to the Army's ability to fight future wars." ... "The service, he added, is at its "lowest level"of force readiness since Vietnam." -By Sig Christenson -MySanAntonio.com via -Chron

US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - People - Brain - Science - Accounting - Politics - NJ - "20,000 vets' brain injuries not listed in Pentagon tally." ... "At least 20,000 U.S. troops who were not classified as wounded during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan have been found with signs of brain injuries, according to military and veterans records compiled by USA TODAY." ... "The data, provided by the Army, Navy and Department of Veterans Affairs, show that about five times as many troops sustained brain trauma as the 4,471 officially listed by the Pentagon through Sept. 30. These cases also are not reflected in the Pentagon's official tally of wounded, which stands at 30,327." ... "More than 150,000 troops may have suffered head injuries in combat, says [New Jersey Democratic Representative] Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., founder of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force." ... "About 1.5 million troops have served in Iraq, where traumatic brain injury can occur despite heavy body armor worn by troops." -By Gregg Zoroya -USATODAY
Iraq - United States - Saudi Arabia - Libya - Syria- Military - Terrorism - Computer - Intelligence - Religious - Politics - "Foreign Fighters in Iraq Are Tied to Allies of U.S.." ... "Saudi Arabia and Libya, both considered allies by the United States in its fight against terrorism, were the source of about 60 percent of the foreign fighters who came to Iraq in the past year to serve as suicide bombers or to facilitate other attacks, according to senior American military officials." ... "The data come largely from a trove of documents and computers discovered in September, when American forces raided a tent camp in the desert near Sinjar, close to the Syrian border. The raid’s target was an insurgent cell believed to be responsible for smuggling the vast majority of foreign fighters into Iraq." ... "The most significant discovery was a collection of biographical sketches that listed hometowns and other details for more than 700 fighters brought into Iraq since August 2006." ... "The records also underscore how the insurgency in Iraq remains both overwhelmingly Iraqi and Sunni. American officials now estimate that the flow of foreign fighters was 80 to 110 per month during the first half of this year and about 60 per month during the summer. The numbers fell sharply in October to no more than 40, partly as a result of the Sinjar raid, the American officials say." ... "In contrast to the comparatively small number of foreigners, more than 25,000 inmates are in American detention centers in Iraq. Of those, only about 290, or some 1.2 percent, are foreigners, military officials say." ... "About four out of every five detainees in American detention centers are Sunni Arab, even though Sunni Arabs make up just one-fifth of Iraq’s population." (1, 2) -By Richard A. Oppel Jr. -NYTimes

Iraq - British - Politics - "In Basra, violence is a tenth of what it was before British pullback, general says." ... "Attacks against British and Iraqi forces have plunged by 90 percent in southern Iraq since London [Britain's capital] withdrew its troops from the main city of Basra, the commander of British forces there said Thursday." ... "The presence of British forces in downtown Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, was the single largest instigator of violence, Maj. Gen. Graham Binns told reporters Thursday on a visit to Baghdad's Green Zone." ... ""We thought, 'If 90 percent of the violence is directed at us, what would happen if we stepped back?'" Binns said." ... "Britain's 5,000 troops moved out of a former Saddam Hussein palace at Basra's heart in early September, setting up a garrison at an airport on the city's edge. Since that pullback, there's been a "remarkable and dramatic drop in attacks," Binns said." ... ""The motivation for attacking us was gone, because we're no longer patrolling the streets," he said." -AP via -IHT.com
US - Iraq - Religion - Military - Terrorism - "Iraqis Wasting An Opportunity, U.S. Officers Say: With Attacks Ebbing, Government Is Urged to Reach Out to Opponents." ... "Senior military commanders here [in Camp Liberty, Iraq] now portray the intransigence of Iraq's Shiite-dominated government as the key threat facing the U.S. effort in Iraq, rather than al-Qaeda terrorists, Sunni insurgents or Iranian-backed militias." ... "In more than a dozen interviews, U.S. military officials expressed growing concern over the Iraqi government's failure to capitalize on sharp declines in attacks against U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians. A window of opportunity has opened for the government to reach out to its former foes, said Army [Lieutenant General] Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the commander of day-to-day U.S. military operations in Iraq, but "it's unclear how long that window is going to be open."" ... "The lack of political progress calls into question the core rationale behind the troop buildup [Republican] President Bush announced in January, which was premised on the notion that improved security would create space for Iraqis to arrive at new power-sharing arrangements." ... "The latest news of declining violence comes as the U.S. troop contingent in Iraq has reached an all-time high. This week, the U.S. troop number will hit 175,000 -- the largest presence so far in the 4 1/2 -year war -- as units that are rotating in and out overlap briefly. But those numbers are scheduled to come down rapidly over the next several months, which will place an increasing burden on Iraqi security forces and an Iraqi government that has yet to demonstrate it is up to the challenge, senior military officials said." ... "Indeed, after years of seizing on every positive development and complaining that the good news wasn't being adequately conveyed, American military officials now warn against excessive optimism. "It's never as bad as it was, and it's not as good as it's being reported now," said Army [Major General] Maj. Gen. Michael Barbero, chief of strategic operations for U.S. forces in Iraq." (1, 2) -By Thomas E. Ricks with contributions by Karen DeYoung -WashingtonPost

US - Iraq- Afghanistan - Military - Money - Legislation - Opinion - Torture - War Crimes - Terrorism - "House passes Iraq bill calling for troops out by December '08." ... "The Democratic-controlled U.S. House Wednesday approved a war-funding bill with a timeline for troop withdrawal from Iraq and substantially less funds to conduct the war than [Republican] President Bush has requested." ... "It demands that Bush begin withdrawing troops from Iraq within 30 days of passage, with a goal of having American combat troops out of Iraq by December 15, 2008." ... "The $50 billion "bridge fund" is about a quarter of the nearly $200 billion the Bush administration has requested to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for 2008. Most of the money is slated for Iraq, where the Pentagon estimates the cost of its operations at about $10 billion a month." ... "A CNN-Opinion Research poll conducted in early November found 68 percent of Americans polled oppose the war, and 62 percent consider the conflict a stalemate." ... "The legislation also would require the Pentagon to give troops the same amount of time at home as they were deployed into combat, and bans government agents from using "waterboarding" -- a technique the United States once prosecuted as a war crime -- against suspected terrorists." -CNN
Howard Krongard - US - Iraq - Blackwater - Business - Military - Law - Politics - Calif - "State's inspector general defends record." ... "In a stunning move, the State Department official responsible for ensuring the agency operates ethically recused himself Wednesday from any investigations related to Blackwater Worldwide after admitting to lawmakers that his brother is a member of the embattled security contractor's advisory board." ... "The revelation by Howard Krongard, the department's inspector general, came as Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee were defending him from what they said were politically motivated attacks." ... "[California Democratic Representative] Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and other Democrats on the committee seized on the admission as further evidence Krongard has politicized his office and undermined inquiries that targeted Blackwater or that might embarrass [Republican President] Bush administration officials." ... "Krongard first told the committee his brother, Alvin Krongard, had assured him several weeks ago that he had no financial interest or connections to Blackwater, which is the subject of several federal investigations related to its work in Iraq." ... "Before the break, committee Democrats produced a July 26 letter from Blackwater CEO Erik Prince inviting Alvin Krongard to join his company's advisory board." -By Richard Lardner -AP via -SeattlePI
Money - Politics - School - Healthcare - US - Iraq - Afghanistan<