Posted on 01/10/2007 2:30:20 PM PST by STARWISE
Unswayed by anti-war passions, President Bush will send 21,500 additional U.S. troops to Iraq and build the American presence there toward its highest level to quell worsening bloodshed. The move puts Bush on a collision course with the new Democratic Congress and runs counter to advice from some senior generals.
Set to announce his decisions in a prime-time speech Wednesday night, Bush was to acknowledge making major mistakes in Iraq, primarily failing to deploy enough U.S. soldiers and demand more Iraqi troops and cooperation to confront the country's near-anarchy.
In advance of Bush's address, White House counselor Dan Bartlett said U.S. military operations have been "handcuffed by political interference by Iraqi leadership" — but now will proceed under rules allowing troops to confront Shiite militias as well as Sunni insurgents.
(snip)
The new Democratic leaders of Congress met with Bush and complained afterward that their opposition to a buildup had been ignored. "This is the third time we are going down this path. Two times this has not worked," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "Why are they doing this now? That question remains."
Senate and House Democrats are arranging votes urging the president not to send more troops. While lacking the force of law, the measures would compel Republicans to go on record as either bucking the president or supporting an escalation.
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Carried live online by: C-span
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Why not add an additional 21,00 troops made up of iraqis?
why not?
Thanks
Maybe the hyped speech was a ruse to surprise the insurgents and the Democrats, who thought they would be debating the surge.
Could be why he was selected.. yep, lets see what happens.
Let it be so!
What a bunch of asshats at Yahoo!
Yes...he did...and the fact that he isn't in Washington, where he is being paid to be...and says that while in Iraq where our troops are..makes me really angry.
John Gibson just said on his radio show that isn't it odd...that Joe Biden, the man that has an opinion about everything that is going on at all times..
has NOT come out today with a statement about how HE feels???
Clinton hasn't ....has Dodd? has Obama?? has carry??
January 10, 2007
Iraq to shift Kurdish forces from peaceful areas to Baghdad
Officials said the army has been ordered to move three brigades from provinces in the north and south to Baghdad, Middle East Newsline reported. They said the provinces were located in the autonomous region of Kurdistan and southern Iraq.
"It takes time because it's not an easy task," Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed Al Askari said.
Officials said the United States has pressed the government of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki to bolster the army in Baghdad. They said Iraqi forces would be responsible for the bulk of counter-insurgency operations in central Baghdad.
At this point, officials said, most of the army units allocated for redeployment were composed of Kurdish soldiers. They said the new brigades - which would increase the Iraqi military presence in Baghdad to 20,000 -could remain in the city for months.
"I have no details about the participation," Kurdish General Assembly deputy speaker Aref Tayfor, based in Irbil, said. "But if these [Kurdish] forces participated, it would be at a limited level."
The U.S. military has demanded that Al Maliki order a raid of Shi'ite strongholds in Baghdad, particularly Sadr City. Sadr City was said to serve as the headquarters of the Mahdi Army, the militia led by Iranian-sponsored cleric Moqtada Sadr.
Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the number two U.S. commander in Iraq, said the lack of sufficient Iraqi forces led to the failure of previous efforts to stabilize Baghdad. In a briefing on Sunday, Odierno cited Operation Together Forward, launched in June 2006 and designed to quell the Sunni insurgency in the Iraqi capital.
"I think what happened was, is, we overestimated the availability of Iraqi security forces initially," Odierno said. "We didn't have enough here. So we have to be able to make sure we have enough forces, Iraqi and coalition, in order to do it this time."
The U.S. military has also been helping the battle against Al Qaida
Meanwhile, the U.S. military has launched an offensive in an Al Qaida haven in Iraq.
Officials said 1,000 U.S. soldiers have been operating in a search-and-destroy counter-insurgency operation in the Diyala province north of Baghdad. They said about 400 Iraq Army troops have joined the mission, which began on Jan. 4 and focused on Al Qaida and Sunni insurgency strongholds.
Iraqi and U.S. troops have raided numerous suspected Al Qaida safe houses in the search for weapons and insurgents. Officials said Sunni fighters have demonstrated significant resistance and blocked and sabotaged roads and bridges in Diyala.
[On Saturday, the Iraq Army launched an offensive in Baghdad and reported the killing of 30 insurgents. Officials said the army has assigned 20,000 troops to the operation, with the U.S. military to supply air power.]
Officials said Diyala has been one of three main havens for the Sunni insurgency, including Al Qaida. The size of the province along with sectarian strife has hampered efforts to stabilize Diyala.
The U.S. military has also been helping the battle against Al Qaida in the Anbar province, along the borders of Jordan and Syria. On Jan. 4, an Iraqi Sunni tribal leader reported the killing of five Al Qaida fighters, including the cell leader, identified as a Yemeni national.
The tribal leader, Hamid Farhan, said his fighters were in control of most of the Anbar province. The United States has helped organize the Al Anbar Rescue Council in an attempt to identify and eliminate Al Qaida strongholds and operatives.
http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc0110WT100.html
The Kurds should kick Mahdi A$$. They are much better trained, and have a tougher mind set as well. Basically that of "Hill people", even those that live down on the flat in Norther Iraq. Sort of like sending welll equiped and trained Scots against lessor trained and more poorly led French.
David Gergen,on Hairball is saying that Pres. Bush should be going for a draft!!!
LOL
Posts #41, #52, and #56 are great. That's all the farther I've gotten...reading like the mad dog bi+@# that I am- when I thought of all you other dogs ; )
I don't think Gergen and Matthews have enough hair between them, to make a hairball ;>)
I thought I heard something about ... "library from the residence." Could that be right?
He might, if they can cut off his retreat to Iran, which should be possible.
"The U.S. military has also been helping the battle against Al Qaida"
Understatement of the decade.
Praying ferverently that is true:)
I agree Dolphy. But Maliki is going to have to show me that he means what he says.
Is he really going to walk the walk and back up the talk that he talks?
We will see!
Prayers for our men and women enroute and on the battlefields of Iraq and everywhere.
Kurdish news outlet.
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