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POPSThe Democrats' Fairy Tale
And the improvements in Anbar could never have been sustained without aggressive American military efforts — efforts that were more effective in 2007 than they had been in 2006, due in part to the addition of the surge forces. Last year’s success, in Anbar and elsewhere, was made possible by confidence among Iraqis that U.S. troops would stay and help protect them, that the U.S. would not abandon them to their enemies. Because the U.S. sent more troops instead of withdrawing — because, in other words, President Bush won his battles in 2007 with the Democratic Congress — we have been able to turn around the situation in Iraq. And now Iraq’s Parliament has passed a de-Baathification law — one of the so-called benchmarks Congress established for political reconciliation. For much of 2007, Democrats were able to deprecate the military progress and political reconciliation taking place on the ground by harping on the failure of the Iraqi government to pass the benchmark legislation
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POPSIraqis wanted timed withdrawal in 2007; Bush refused Sunni, Kurd, Shi'ite joint effort quashed by US. Humiliation still lingers. Iraqi Nat'l Security advisor wrote: "While Iraq is trying to gain independence from the United States," he wrote, "some influential foreign figures" were still "trying to spoon-feed our government and take a very proactive role in many key decisions."
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POPSPoll: Iraqis want U.S. out, say situation is worsening From Sept. 2006. 70% of Iraqis want the US out within a year. Most believe that the US presence is increasing the violence there and that a withdrawal would strengthen the Iraqi government. 60% now believe that attacks on US forces are justified because they believe the US is planning a permanent occupation. - Wait'll they see the "surge"!
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POPSThe Islamic Way of War - Andrew J. Bacevich (The American Conservative) the sun has set on the age of unquestioned Western military dominance. Bluntly, the East has solved the riddle of the Western Way of War. In Baghdad and in Anbar Province as at various points on Israel’s troubled perimeter, the message is clear: methods that once could be counted on to deliver swift decision no longer work.
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POPS Aiding Terrorists? AP Iraqi Award-Winning Journalist Although it's unclear what specific allegations may be presented against Hussein, convictions linked to aiding militants in Iraq could bring the death penalty, said Tomlin. A public affairs officer notified the AP on Sunday that the military intends to submit a written complaint against Hussein that would bring the case into the Iraqi justice system as early as Nov. 29. Under Iraqi codes, an investigative magistrate will decide whether there are grounds to try Hussein, 36, who was seized in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on April 12, 2006. Dave Tomlin, associate general counsel for the AP, said the defense for Hussein is being forced to work “totally in the dark.”
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POPSThe Less painful Route ... Leave Iraq Now I concur. what is happening in Iraq now is sheer madness, not to mention, unsustainable, unethical, and is leading to a host of other negative outcomes. In other words the medicine is killing the patient (Iraq). The situation reminds me of a Al Capp character called Fearless Fosdick in his comic strip years ago: There was a can of poisoned beans somewhere in the city. Fearless being a "conscientious" cop wished to prevent any citizen from being poisoned, so he peeked into the windows of people's homes, and shot anyone he saw who was about to eat any beans.
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POPSLeaked White House Memo Questions Maliki's Competency “We returned from Iraq convinced we need to determine if Prime Minister Maliki is both willing and able to rise above the sectarian agendas being promoted by others,” the memo says. “Do we and Prime Minister Maliki share the same vision for Iraq? If so, is he able to curb those who seek Shia hegemony or the reassertion of Sunni power? The answers to these questions are key in determining whether we have the right strategy in Iraq.”
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POPSIraq Is Thriving Despite What the Media Won't Tell You Telephone land line subscribers are also up, from a prewar total of 833,000 to 1.3 million today, according to statistics collected by the Associated Press. The number of Iraqis who have access to drinkable water and to sewerage has nearly doubled. Where households once had to make do with four to eight hours of electricity a day, the national average is over 14 hours a day. The Internet was virtually unknown in the Saddam Hussein era. Only an estimated 4,500 Iraqi users existed in 2003, according to the Brookings Institution. But that soared to 230,000 in January 2007 and to 688,410 in the most recent figures. Casualties among Iraqi civilians and security forces last month dropped to their second-lowest level in nearly four years with 283 deaths linked to war-related violence. The deadliest month for Iraqi civilians and security forces, according to the AP count, was December 2006 with 2,309 killed. posted by Gateway Pundit
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POPS"find and destroy" ahhhh.... so who did he say is responsible and for what? hmmm... this article reads confusing to me.
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POPSOne Surge Does Not Fit All producing the forces necessary to help hold difficult neighborhoods against the enemy. By 2007, the surge, for most Iraqis, could have an Iraqi face. And the political scene in Iraq had shifted. Moktada al-Sadr, the firebrand cleric, declared a cease-fire in February 2007. The best indication that timing is everything may be that there had been earlier surges without the same effect as the 2007 surge. In 2005, troop levels in Iraq were increased to numbers nearly equal to the 2007 surge — twice. But the effects were not as durable because large segments of the Sunni population were still providing sanctuary to insurgents, and Iraq’s security forces were not sufficiently capable or large enough. During my last weeks in office, I recommended to President Bush that he consider Gen. David Petraeus as commander of coalition forces in Iraq, as General Casey’s tour was coming to an end.
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