Thread: Archive Latest News - Think Tank - 16/08/07 - 03/11/07

Upbeat Bush hints at more troops for Iraq

THE US President, George Bush, has given his strongest indication yet that he intends to continue with plans to increase troop numbers in Iraq after the September 15 report to Congress, when he delivered an upbeat assessment of military progress and a more positive view of the political outlook.

He also warned that pulling out of Iraq would harm US interests in the Middle East for decades and expose America to the threat of increased terrorism and a nuclear arms race in the region by allowing al-Qaeda-backed Sunni extremists to flourish and Shiite extremism in Iran to spread.

The Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, added fuel to the fire on Tuesday, saying that America's power in Iraq was rapidly collapsing and that Iran was ready to step in to help fill the vacuum.

In the Iraqi city of Karbala, about 100 kilometres south of Baghdad, riots that left at least 52 people dead and 206 injured continued yesterday, as more troops and police were trucked in by Iraqi authorities. Gun battles between rival Shiite groups escalated, causing hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to flee after a two-day religious festival.

An indefinite curfew has been imposed on the city, which had earlier been the scene of jubilation and religious fervour, as thousands walked for hours to pray at the shrines of Muhammad al-Mahdi, a revered Shiite cleric. Violence reportedly broke out when police tried to confiscate weapons at entrances to the shrines.

Many of the gunmen were linked to Moqtada al-Sadr, the influential preacher whose followers make up Iraq's largest Shiite militia, the Mahdi Army.

During recent months, the militants have been fighting the Badr Organisation, a rival Shiite group, whose followers include many of the region's police officers, for control of southern Iraq.

Mr Bush, who was speaking at the annual American Legion convention in Reno, Nevada, on Tuesday, painted a graphic picture of what would happen in the Middle East if the US pulled out.

"Extremists of all strains could be emboldened by the knowledge that they forced America to retreat," he said. "Terrorists could have more safe havens to conduct attacks on Americans and our friends and allies. Iran could conclude we were weak and could not stop them gaining nuclear weapons."

He also warned that once Iran had nuclear weapons it would set off a nuclear arms race in the region. It would allow extremists to control a key part of the world's energy supply and hold the Western world to ransom.

But the President did not mention military action against Iran - something some advisers are urging him to consider - instead stressing that the US was pursuing a diplomatic strategy of isolating Iran through a united front on economic sanctions.

It was not all gloom and doom. Mr Bush also gave his most upbeat assessment of the progress in Iraq to date, quashing speculation in Washington that the Administration wants the Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, replaced and was contemplating whether the form of consensus democracy it had installed in Iraq was viable.

"There are unmistakable signs that our strategy is achieving the objectives we set out. Our new strategy is showing results in the places where it matters most - the cities and neighbourhoods where ordinary Iraqis live," he said.

In a news conference broadcast live on Iranian state television on Tuesday, Mr Ahmadinejad said that the political power "of the occupiers [of Iraq] is being destroyed rapidly and very soon we will be witnessing a great power vacuum in the region".

"We, with the help of regional friends and the Iraqi nation, are ready to fill this void," he said.

He also rejected reports that Iran had slowed sensitive nuclear work which the West fears is aimed at making nuclear bombs, and said it would respond if the US went ahead and branded the elite Revolutionary Guards a terrorist force.

Mr Bush plans to ask Congress next month for up to $US50 billion ($61 billion) in additional funding for the war in Iraq, a White House official said on Tuesday, a move that appears to reflect increasing White House confidence that it can fend off congressional calls for a rapid drawback of forces.

The request - which would be in addition to about $US460 billion in the fiscal 2008 defence budget and $US147 billion in a pending supplemental bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - is expected to be announced after congressional hearings scheduled for mid-September.

But the President did not mention military action against Iran - something some advisers are urging him to consider - instead stressing that the US was pursuing a diplomatic strategy of isolating Iran through a united front on economic sanctions.

It was not all gloom and doom. Mr Bush also gave his most upbeat assessment of the progress in Iraq to date, quashing speculation in Washington that the Administration wants the Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, replaced and was contemplating whether the form of consensus democracy it had installed in Iraq was viable.

"There are unmistakable signs that our strategy is achieving the objectives we set out. Our new strategy is showing results in the places where it matters most - the cities and neighbourhoods where ordinary Iraqis live," he said.

In a news conference broadcast live on Iranian state television on Tuesday, Mr Ahmadinejad said that the political power "of the occupiers [of Iraq] is being destroyed rapidly and very soon we will be witnessing a great power vacuum in the region".

"We, with the help of regional friends and the Iraqi nation, are ready to fill this void," he said.

He also rejected reports that Iran had slowed sensitive nuclear work which the West fears is aimed at making nuclear bombs, and said it would respond if the US went ahead and branded the elite Revolutionary Guards a terrorist force.

Mr Bush plans to ask Congress next month for up to $US50 billion ($61 billion) in additional funding for the war in Iraq, a White House official said on Tuesday, a move that appears to reflect increasing White House confidence that it can fend off congressional calls for a rapid drawback of forces.

The request - which would be in addition to about $US460 billion in the fiscal 2008 defence budget and $US147 billion in a pending supplemental bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - is expected to be announced after congressional hearings scheduled for mid-September.

Upbeat Bush hints at more troops for Iraq - World - smh.com.au

Pentagon Disputes Parts of Iraq Report

WASHINGTON (AP) - Stung by the bleak findings of a congressional audit of progress in Iraq, the Pentagon has asked that some of the negative assessments be revised.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Thursday that after reviewing a draft of the Government Accountability Office report - which has not yet been made public - policy officials ``made some factual corrections'' and ``offered some suggestions on a few of the actual grades'' assigned by the GAO.

The Associated Press has learned that the GAO report was on track to conclude that at least 13 of the 18 benchmarks set to judge the Iraqi government's performance in the political and security arenas haven't been met.

``We have provided the GAO with information which we believe will lead them to conclude that a few of the benchmark grades should be upgraded from `not met' to `met,''' Morrell said. He declined to elaborate or to spell out which of the benchmark grades the Pentagon was disputing.

At the White House, officials argued that the GAO report, which was required by legislation President Bush signed last spring, was unrealistic because it assigned ``pass or fail'' grades to each benchmark, rather than assessing whether the Iraqis have made progress toward reaching the benchmark goals.

``A bar was set so high, that it was almost not to be able to be met,'' White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said. ``On the other hand, one of the things it does not take into account, which is not on the benchmark list, is the cooperation of the Sunni tribes, who have decided to fight back against al-Qaida.''

The administration said it agreed that Iraq had not reached the objectives.

``I think we have said they have not met the benchmarks,'' Perino said. ``I don't see how it would be news for them to come out today and say they have not met benchmarks. We have said that.''

By Sept. 15 President Bush is to give a detailed accounting of the situation in Iraq.

The GAO gave lawmakers' staffers a classified briefing about its findings on Thursday. An unclassified version of the report is due to be released on Tuesday. It comes amid a series of assessments called for in January legislation that authorized Bush's plan to send 30,000 more troops to Iraq, where there is now a total of more than 160,000.

Among those Bush will hear from are the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Defense Secretary Robert Gates; the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus; and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker. On Wednesday, the Pentagon said Bush was likely to get a variety of views from different military officials. Bush will then deliver his own report to Congress by Sept. 15.

The GAO report comes at a pivotal time in the Iraq debate. So far, Republicans have mostly stood by Bush on the war and staved off Democratic demands of troop withdrawals. But in exchange for their support, many GOP members said they wanted to see substantial progress in Iraq by September or else they would call for a new strategy, including possibly a withdrawal of troops.

Democrats are expected this fall to push for another round of votes on their legislation ordering most troops out by spring. A likely target for the debate will be a $147 billion bill the military needs to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The money covers the 2007 budget year, which begins Oct. 1.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday suggested Bush should not be asking Congress to approve ``tens of billions more dollars'' when independent voices like GAO find the Iraqis are failing to make progress.

``With the president continuing to stay the course in Iraq, Republicans will have to decide whether they will continue to vote with him or join Democrats and the vast majority of Americans who are demanding a new direction in Iraq and refocusing America's efforts on fighting the real threats of terrorism around the world,'' she said.

The GAO, the congressional watchdog, is expected to find that the Iraqis have met only modest security goals for Baghdad and none of the major political aims such as passage of an oil law.

The White House declined to comment on the specific findings of the GAO report, which one official said would put the Iraqi government's success rate at about 20 percent.

``While we've seen progress in some areas, it would not surprise me that the GAO would make this assessment given the difficult congressionally mandated measurement they had to follow,'' said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council.

An internal White House memorandum, prepared to respond to the GAO findings, says the report will claim the Iraqis have failed on at least 13 benchmarks. It also says the criteria lawmakers set for the report allow no room to report progress, only absolute success or failure.

The memo argues that the GAO will not present a ``true picture'' of the situation in Iraq because the standards were ``designed to lock in failure,'' according to portions of the document read to the AP by an official who has seen it.

By contrast, the memo says, a July interim report on the surge called for the administration to report on ``progress'' made toward reaching the wide-ranging benchmarks.

The July report said the administration believed the Iraqis had made satisfactory progress on eight of the 13 benchmarks. It graded six as unsatisfactory and said two were mixed. It said it was too early to judge the remaining two.

The GAO, however, has been told to ``assess whether or not such benchmarks have been met,'' and the administration plans to assert that is too tough a standard to be met at this point in the surge, the officials said.

``It's pretty clear that if that's your measurement standard a majority of the benchmarks would be determined not to have been met,'' said one official. ``A lot of them are multipart and so, even if 90 percent of it is done, it's still a failure.''

Morrell said Bush's top military advisers, including Gates, would give the president their opinions ``directly and in an unvarnished way.''

``The objective ... is not to reach consensus,'' he said. ``That may be the end result, but that's not what he (Gates) is looking for.
He is looking for a way to sort of make sure that the normal bureaucratic massaging that sometimes eliminates the rough edges or the sharp differences between individuals does not victimize this process, so that the president can get distinct - if that's the way it turns out to be - points of view on where we are and where we need to go.''

Pentagon Disputes Parts of Iraq Report | World Latest | Guardian Unlimited

US military chiefs to give Bush Iraq advice Friday

WASHINGTON, Aug 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top military officers for major branches of the armed forces, will give President George W. Bush their assessment of Iraq war strategy on Friday, a U.S. general said on Thursday.

Bush, gathering advice from military officials ahead of a report due to Congress next month, will meet with the Joint Chiefs at the Pentagon, said Maj. Gen. Richard Sherlock, the Chiefs' director for operational planning.

Sherlock would not comment on the advice the Joint Chiefs will offer. He also would not say what issues the Chiefs' staff had raised as they prepared their assessments of the so-called surge in Iraq that boosted U.S. troop levels to more than 160,000.

"The Joint Chiefs will be able to provide the president with their unvarnished recommendations and their assessments of current operations. They'll make those individually and they'll make those in private," Sherlock said.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff includes the top military officers of each major branch of the armed forces, including the Army, Navy and Air Force.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N30449398.htm

Porter ties U.S. withdrawal from Iraq to $9 gasoline
Lawmaker reports on his trip to country

WASHINGTON -- Gasoline prices could rise to about $9 per gallon if the United States withdraws troops from Iraq prematurely, Rep. Jon Porter said he was told on a trip to Iraq that ended this week.

The Nevada Republican, who returned Tuesday from his fourth trip to Iraq, met with U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, Iraqi Deputy President Tariq al-Hashimi and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh.

"To a person, they said there would be genocide, gas prices in the U.S. would rise to eight or nine dollars a gallon, al-Qaida would continue its expansion, and Iran would take over that portion of the world if we leave," Porter said Wednesday in a phone interview from Las Vegas.

Porter did not elaborate on the assessment that gasoline prices could spike. His spokesman, Matt Leffingwell, said afterward that the scenario "makes sense if Iran moves into Iraq."

Porter "can't speculate directly on what is going to happen with gas prices, but the market prices for oil reflect the stability in that region," Leffingwell said.

Petraeus and Crocker offered a "blunt" assessment of the situation, Porter said.

Although Petraeus did not discuss the much anticipated Iraq status report he plans to release in September, Porter said the general told him the U.S. troop surge was working.

But Porter stopped short of saying he would support Petraeus' report.
"This was not unlike my trip there in January. I saw a lot of successes, and I noticed substantial improvement in Baghdad," said Porter, who has traveled to Iraq three times in the past 18 months.

As lawmakers warm up for a renewal of the Iraq war debate in the fall, Porter accused Democrats of failing to offer solutions to the war and avoiding a debate on the ramifications of withdrawal.

He said that some Democratic organizations, including the Searchlight Leadership Fund operated by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., have funded anti-war groups. The Searchlight Leadership Fund made $5,000 donations to VoteVets.Org in 2006 and again earlier this year, according to federal records.

"They're entitled to their opinion, but they ought to be honest with Nevadans about where they're getting their money," Porter said of the anti-war organizations.

Reid spokesman Jon Summers said Porter is not "fully up to speed" with the Senate's actions on Iraq.

"Democrats have put forward a number of solutions to change course in Iraq, but Republican obstructionists continue to throw up roadblocks," Summers said. As for Democrats funding anti-war groups, "did (Porter) happen to mention the Republican organizations that are funding pro-war groups?"

Democrats claim that organizations defending President Bush's war strategy, such as Vets for Freedom or the newly formed Freedom's Watch, are fronts linked to the Bush administration whose aim is to attack Democrats and boost GOP fortunes in Congress.

Reps. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., and Jim Moran, D-Va., joined Porter on the taxpayer-funded trip, which began Aug. 23 and included stops in Kuwait and Baghdad.

ReviewJournal.com - News - Porter ties U.S. withdrawal from Iraq to $9 gasoline

Well our future looks very promising! (NOT)

Originally Posted by goldraker

Well our future looks very promising! (NOT)

This is the kind of BS that keeps many of us from participating in the forum.

Originally Posted by Wm.Knowles

This is the kind of BS that keeps many of us from participating in the forum.

Mr. Knowles, what part is BS?

(QUOTE)Originally Posted by goldraker
Well our future looks very promising! (NOT)

written sacrastically perhaps out of fear...is that BS to you or

the $9 gasoline reality if Iran fills the gap instead of USA? is that the BS?

with respect for your posts vs my posts...

Iran says Bush remarks were "out of political despair" (Roundup)

Tehran - Tehran Thursday said that anti-Iran remarks by US President George W Bush were 'out of political despair,' ISNA news agency reported.

'Although not new, the latest remarks by Bush were, however, again short of rationality and rather made out of political despair,' Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told ISNA.

In a speech Tuesday to the American Legion in Reno, Nevada, Bush had accused Iran of providing training and weapons to militants responsible for attacking US soldiers in Iraq, supporting terrorist groups like Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas movement, and threatening to provoke a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

'These remarks have no credibility any longer, neither within world public opinion nor even within the American people themselves,' Mottaki said, referring to the failure of the Republican Party in last year's elections.
The Iranian foreign minister once again called on the US to revise its policies in Iraq and 'leave the country to its real owners.'

During a press conference on Tuesday in Tehran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that owing to US engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan, Washington would not plan an attack against Iran.

Ahmadinejad predicted the failure of US troops in Iraq and a power vacuum in that country, but said in cooperation with neighbouring countries, Iran would be prepared to fill the power vacuum for the sake of the Iraqi government and people.

In the meantime, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini on Thursday warned that Iran might cut talks with the US if arrests of Iranian officials would continue.

'The latest US move to arrest an energy ministry delegation without any legitimate reason was once again violation of all internationally acknowledged norms and if the Americans continued this trend, then Iran would no longer cooperate with them on Iraq's security,' the spokesman told the Iranian television network Al-Alam.

Tehran on Wednesday summoned the charge d'affaires of Switzerland, which represents US interests in Iran, over the temporary detainment by US troops of members of an Iranian energy ministry delegation in Baghdad.

Spokesman Hosseini had termed the detainment as contrary to the duties of the foreign forces in Iraq and interference in bilateral relations of Iran and Iraq.

The spokesman noted that the Iranian delegation was officially invited the Iraq by the country's energy ministry and would continue its working trip after the release of its eight members.

Hosseini demanded through the Swiss diplomat an explanation by the United States of 'this renewed unsuitable US behaviour.'

Iran says Bush remarks were "out of political despair" (Roundup) - Middle East_

Mahdi Army may counter attack, de****e freeze on activity

Baghdad - The Mahdi Army is likely to counter any attack by US forces or any political powers targeting it, de****e a six-month freeze on their activities imposed by their leader, Moqtada al-Sadr, a Sadrist source said Thursday.

'Freezing the Mahdi Army's activities entails no attacks against the US-led coalition forces in Iraq,' al-Sadr office director Kazmiya Hazem al-Araji said in press statements on Thursday.

However, al-Araji added: 'this doesn't entail self-defence, which is a legitimate right to the Mahdi Army.'

The Mahdi Army, also known as the Mahdi Militia or Jaish al-Mahdi, is an Iraqi paramilitary force created by al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric, in June 2003.

Al-Sadr on Wednesday ordered a halt on the activities of his Mahdi Army for six months and announced that the armed militia was to be restructured 'in a way that will maintain its ideology.'

His decision came after Mahdi Army militants were accused of engaging in armed clashes with Iraqi security forces in the holy city of Karbala from Monday to Wednesday, as well the attacks on Shiite Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) political party buildings across Iraq.

Fighting broke out Monday between militants and Iraqi security forces, ahead of the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims from all over Iraq in Karbala, 100 kilometres south of Baghdad.

The gathering was part of a key Shiite festival to commemorate the iconic Shiite Imam al-Mahdi.

Over 50 people were killed and hundreds were wounded in the clashes that lasted until Wednesday and resulted in the festival being cancelled. Karbala was evacuated and a curfew was imposed in the city.
Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen on Thursday set fire to two offices of the SIIC in the city of Hillah, while 16 militants were killed and 11 arrested in security operations in Baquba, reports said.

The SIIC buildings were torched in the neighbourhoods of ashimiyah and Qasim, the independent Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency reported, citing police sources.

No further details of the attack were immediately available.

Separately, an arson attack also targeted an office linked to a foundation headed by Ammar al-Hakim, the son of SIIC leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim who also heads the Shiite Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC), the largest parliamentary bloc with a total of 113 seats in the 275-member parliament.

The attack is the latest in a series of strikes on SIIC offices in Iraq blamed on Mahdi Army militants.

Sadrist gunmen had on Wednesday stormed SIIC offices in the Hamza and Qasim neighbourhoods of Hillah, setting fires and breaking glass, security sources said.

At least six Iraqis were killed and four others wounded in clashes erupting shortly afterwards between Mahdi Army militants and SIIC members.
Militants also had Wednesday also set fire to a council office in Kufa, about 160 kilometres south of Baghdad, VOI quoted a council official as saying.

Al-Sadr on Wednesday urged his followers to refrain from attacking SIIC offices, but rather protect the headquarters of all political parties.
'We call on all Sadrists to observe self-restraint, to help security forces control the situation and arrest the perpetrators and sedition mongers,' a statement read out by al-Sadr's top aide al- Araji in the holy city of Najaf, said.

In other developments, joint Iraqi-US forces killed 16 gunmen and arrested 11 others since Wednesday in the north-east of Baghdad in Baquba, capital of Diyala province, VOI quoted the commander of Diyala operations as saying on Thursday.

In a first operation on Wednesday morning, 12 gunmen were killed and eight arrested, General Abdul Karim al-Rubaei told VOI.

About 24 hours later, four militants and one Iraqi soldier were killed and one Iraqi officer was injured, al-Rubaei said, adding that three gunmen were detained in the crackdown.

Several Katyusha rockets and mortar shells were seized, while a car bomb was defused during the two operations.

Diyala province has been the scene of a wide-scale security operation dubbed Arrowhead Ripper, which was launched two months ago to eliminate militants in the area. More than 10,000 Iraqi and US troops took part in the operation.

In Diyala on Wednesday, a US soldier involved in combat operations was killed in a blast near his vehicle in Diyala province, the US military in Iraq reported on Thursday.

No further details were immediately available.

US-led coalition forces meanwhile killed two suspected terrorist leaders and captured 29 suspects in raids across Iraq on Thursday, targeting the al-Qaeda terrorist network, the US military also said.

Mahdi Army may counter attack, despite freeze on activity (Roundup) - Middle East_

Denmark and Iraq sign development deal

Copenhagen - Denmark and Iraq penned a development cooperation deal Thursday aimed at strengthening capacity building in the central government of Iraq, officials said.

Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Labeed M Abbawi and Danish Development Cooperation Minister Ulla Tornaes signed the agreement on the sidelines of a joint seminar.

Abbawi told reporters the deal formed a good basis for future cooperation and said there had been progress in improving security in the Basra region in southern Iraq where Danish troops until recently were stationed.

Earlier this month, Denmark withdrew its 500-strong force from southern Iraq but was set to deploy some 50 troops and four helicopters that would be used for reconnaissance flights, transport and other missions in southern Iraq until the end of the year.

The talks with Iraq included assessing how Denmark could offer advisors to enhance capacity building at various ministries in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a Foreign Ministry official said.

Sectors being assessed included immigration, transport, environment and water.

For the period 2003 to 2008, Denmark has allocated some 110 million dollars in aid to Iraq. Parliament earlier this year appropriated an additional 16 million dollars.

Denmark and Iraq sign development deal - Middle East