Iraq

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Snowe embraces troop withdrawal bill

Yahoo News

WASHINGTON - Sen. Olympia Snowe on Wednesday became the second Republican to embrace a bill ordering troops out of Iraq as President Bush's national security adviser tried to stop defections from the White House war policy. Snowe, R-Maine, joined Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., in co-sponsoring a bill that would require troops to start leaving in 120 days. The bill also would end combat by April 30, 2008. Snowe's endorsement is a shift for the senator, who in recent months opposed a similar measure. Snowe had said earlier that she'd been considering signing on to the measure because the situation in Iraq was growing worse. "Frankly, given the fact that the Iraqi government isn't prepared to change its own political direction, we should be prepared to change course with resepect to our strategy," Snowe told reporters Tuesday.

Iraq's FM: U.S. exit could lead to civil war

USA Today

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's foreign minister warned on Monday that a quick American military withdrawal from the country could lead to civil war and the collapse of the government, as pressure on the Bush administration for a pullout grows. Attacks in Baghdad killed 13 people as prominent Shiite and Sunni politicians called on Iraqi civilians to take up arms to defend themselves after a weekend of violence that claimed more than 220 lives. The burst of violence comes at a sensitive time. U.S. forces are waging offensives in and around Baghdad aimed at uprooting militants and bringing calm to the capital, and a progress report to Congress is due on July 15. At the same time, several Republican congressman have joined calls for a withdrawal from Iraq. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Iraqis "understand the huge pressure that will increase more and more in the United States" ahead of the progress report by the U.S. ambassador and top commander in Iraq. "We have held discussion with members of Congress and explained to them the dangers of a quick pull out (from Iraq) and leaving a security vacuum," Zebari said. "The dangers could be a civil war, dividing the country, regional wars and the collapse of the state.

Bush calls for patience with Iraq

USA Today

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — President Bush on Wednesday defended the U.S. military build up in Iraq in a patriotic Fourth of July speech, saying victory will require "more patience, more courage and more sacrifice." "However difficult the fight is in Iraq, we must win it," Bush said, telling members of the West Virginia Air National Guard that he admires the valor of America's fighting men and women but that now is no time to leave. "We must succeed for our own sake. For the security of our citizens we must support our troops. We must support the Iraqi government and we must defeat al-Qaeda in Iraq."

Iranian forces 'crossed Iraqi border'...

The Sun

IRANIAN forces are being choppered over the Iraqi border to bomb Our Boys, intelligence chiefs say. Military experts claim this worrying move means we are at WAR with Iran in all but name. Last night an intelligence source told The Sun: “It is an extremely alarming development and raises the stakes considerably. In effect, it means we are in a full on war with Iran — but nobody has officially declared it. “We have hard proof that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps have crossed the border to attack us. “It is very hard for us to strike back. All we can do is try to defend ourselves. We are badly on the back foot.”

Gates: Iraq progress will come, slowly

USA Today

BAGHDAD (AP) — Just two months ago the Pentagon's public message to Iraqi leaders was sharp and loud: Our patience is thinning, the clock is ticking. But as Defense Secretary Robert Gates returned Saturday from his fourth trip to Iraq in seven months, he appeared to take a softer tone, and a more wait-and-see approach. While U.S. leaders are still expressing frustration that the Iraqi government is not moving fast enough to enact political reforms that are hoped to temper the violence still raging, there is a sense that the message has been delivered, and any more pressure could do more harm than good. As he wrapped up his brief stop here, Gates talked about the challenges faced by the Iraqis as they struggle to patch together their fragile democracy, and he noted that change comes slowly.

Senate Dems Plan New Round of Iraq Votes

ABC News

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday the Senate will face another round of votes on the Iraq war before the July Fourth recess, a strategy intended to show that Democrats are not giving up on efforts to bring troops home. While the measures are unlikely to pass, the announcement comes as party leaders are under fire by many liberal supporters for passing legislation that funds the war through September.

Commanders Say Push in Baghdad Is Short of Goal

New York Times

BAGHDAD, June 3 — Three months after the start of the Baghdad security plan that has added thousands of American and Iraqi troops to the capital, they control fewer than one-third of the city’s neighborhoods, far short of the initial goal for the operation, according to some commanders and an internal military assessment.

Edwards, Clinton And Obama Spar On Iraq

CBS News

(AP) Democratic presidential candidates clashed on Sunday on Iraq and over the security of the country since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, trailing both New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in national polls, criticized their cautious approach in forcing President Bush to withdraw troops from Iraq. While some members of Congress spoke out "loudly and clearly" last month against legislation to pay for the war through September but without a withdrawal timetable, "others did not," Edwards said.

Terrorists: Cease-fire talk means U.S. defeat in Iraq

WorldNetDaily

TEL AVIV – Washington's announcement of talks with Iraqi militants about a cease-fire arrangement is a "big victory" for the insurgency and demonstrates the U.S. now recognizes the legitimacy of so-called terror groups, Palestinian terrorist leaders told WND. In a briefing with reporters earlier today, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said U.S. commanders at all levels are being empowered to reach out for talks with militants, tribes, religious leaders and others, including insurgents and sectarian rivals. "We are talking about cease-fires, and maybe signing some things that say they won't conduct operations against the government of Iraq or against coalition forces," Odierno told reporters in a video conference from Baghdad. Reacting to Odierno's announcement, Muhammad Abdel-El, spokesman and a leader of the Popular Resistance Committees terror group, called truce talks with insurgents "a big victory for the resistance."

U.S., Iran Reach Iraq Policy Consensus

ABC News

The United States ambassador in Baghdad said he and his Iranian counterpart agreed broadly on policy toward Iraq during four-hour groundbreaking talks on Monday, but insisted that Iran end its support for militants. The Iranian ambassador later said the two sides would meet again in less than a month.

Bush salutes troops killed 'for our freedom'

USA Today

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — President Bush on Monday honored U.S. troops who have fought and died for freedom and expressed his steely resolve to succeed in the war in Iraq. "As before in our history, Americans find ourselves under attack and underestimated," he said.

Team working up new strategy for Iraq war

CNN.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. military is joining forces with the State Department to prepare a new Iraq strategy that includes negotiating cease-fire and power-sharing agreements with some enemy combatants, U.S. officials said Wednesday. A "joint campaign plan redesign team" is preparing the diplomatic and military strategy for Iraq, which is expected to be approved by the end of the month. The team laying out the new course for how to proceed in the four-year-old war is led by Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, the officials told CNN. One element of the plan is to try to identify groups of people -- possibly including Sunni extremists and militia groups -- with whom U.S. officials feel they can do business, such as negotiating power-sharing and cease-fire agreements and granting economic aid, the sources said.

Bush may turn to UN in search for Iraq solution

Drudge Report

The Bush administration is developing plans to "internationalise" the Iraq crisis, including an expanded role for the United Nations, as a way of reducing overall US responsibility for Iraq's future and limiting domestic political fallout from the war as the 2008 election season approaches. The move comes amid rising concern in Washington that President George Bush's controversial Baghdad security surge, led by the US commander, General David Petraeus, is not working and that Iran is winning the clandestine battle for control of Iraq.

Iraq plans for possible quick U.S. pullout

CNN.com

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Iraq's military is drawing up plans to cope with any quick U.S. military pullout, the defense minister said, as a senior American official warned that the Bush administration may reconsider its support if Iraqi leaders do not make major reforms by fall. The U.S. official did not say what actions could be taken by the White House, but his comments on Monday reflected the Bush administration's need to show results in Iraq -- as an answer to pressure by the Democrats in Congress seeking to set timetables on the U.S. military presence. Several mortar shells hit the U.S.-controlled Green Zone on Monday, one striking the Iraqi parliament building but causing no casualties -- the latest in near daily barrages on the nerve center of the U.S. mission and Iraqi government that underline the country's tenuous security.

AMERICA'S FORTRESS EMBASSY IN IRAQ...

Drudge Report

When the idea of building a new US embassy in Baghdad was first mooted by the American administration in the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq, there seemed to be a grandiose logic to it. The compound, by the side of the Tigris, would be a statement of President Bush's intent to expand democracy through the Middle East. Yesterday, however, the entire project was under fresh scrutiny as new details emerged of its cost and scale. Rising from the dust of the city's Green Zone it is destined, at $592m (£300m), to become the biggest and most expensive US embassy on earth when it opens in September.

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U.S., Iran to meet in Baghdad on May 28

CNN.com

(CNN) -- U.S. and Iranian officials will meet in Baghdad later this month to discuss issues involving Iraq, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Thursday. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters that the date would be May 28. Both officials were speaking from Islamabad, Pakistan, where an Islamic conference of foreign ministers was being held. According to Zebari, the discussions will be a part of three-party talks, involving the United States, Iran and Iraq.

Iraq intel proposal raises concerns

USA Today

BAGHDAD — Iraq's Shiite-dominated government is attempting to establish an intelligence agency that would rival the U.S.-backed organization created shortly after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The move has raised concerns that Iraq's government is trying to blunt U.S. influence and bring intelligence gathering under Shiite control. It comes as the U.S. government has accused Iran of backing Iraqi militias that attack U.S. troops. Officials in Iraq's Shiite-dominated government, such as national security adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie, have downplayed the claims about Iran, a Shiite country that borders Iraq.

Iran warns U.S. over strike threat

CNN.com

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The Iranian president said Monday Iran will retaliate if the U.S. strikes the country militarily. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also said Iran had agreed for the benefit of the Iraqi people to meet with the U.S. in Baghdad to discuss security in Iraq. "They (the U.S.) cannot strike Iran," he said at a press conference during a two-day visit to the UAE. "The Iranian people can protect themselves and retaliate." The Iranian president's comments followed those by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney who said on Friday from the deck of an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf that the U.S. and its allies would prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and dominating the region.

Taliban Chief's Death a Big U.S. Victory

ABC News

The killing of the top Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah, a one-legged fighter who orchestrated suicide attacks, beheadings and an ethnic massacre, marks a major victory for the U.S. campaign at a time of flagging Afghan support over civilian killings. As victims of Dadullah's brutality celebrated his death Sunday, analysts called the killing the most significant Taliban loss since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. But even NATO acknowledged that Dadullah, who directed some of the Taliban's most notorious violence, would soon be replaced.

Moderates Seek to Break Iraq Impasse

ABC News

As Democratic leaders feud with the White House on Iraq war spending, lawmakers from both parties are working quietly to break the impasse. So far, no luck. Of the dozen or so members in Congress attempting to strike a bipartisan compromise on the war, few have come forward with concrete plans perhaps out of reluctance to champion a proposal until they know it can succeed. None of the proposals put in plain view have picked up steam.

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