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Iraq is willing to have the U.S. withdraw its troops and assume security for the country before the end of 2011, the departure date agreed to by former President George W. Bush, the Iraqi prime minister's spokesman said. Spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh made the comment Tuesday, the day before President Barack Obama and his senior commanders were to meet in Washington to discuss the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama promised during the campaign to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office. The new president said in his inaugural address Tuesday that he would "begin...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – Lance Cpl. Brenda R. Trosset wanted more than to just say she went to Iraq. She wanted to get outside the comforts of base and have experiences that would enrich her life and career. Trosset’s is a legal clerk with the Staff Judge Advocate’s office. The Iraqi Women’s Engagement program gives her the opportunity to step outside the office for a day, put on her body armor and rifle and be a part of the rebuilding of Iraq. “The IWE is an amazing experience,” said Trosset, 20, of Mill Creek, Wash. “To really see what we’re...

IRAQ & US ACCUSE [SYRIA'S IRAN'S LEBANESE BASED] ISLAMIC HEZBOLLAH TERRORISTS OF CRIMES IN IRAQ [Iraq] Talabani charges [Iran's Islamic Lebanese based terrorists] Hezbollah interference Published: May 30, 2008 at 8:23 BAGHDAD, May 30 (UPI) -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, in a Baghdad interview Friday, accused the leader of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah of meddling in Iraq's affairs.http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/05/30/Talabani_charges_Hezbollah_interference/UPI-44791212150201/ Commentary: Iraq ripe for Iranian [militant Shia Muslim] dominationMarch 4, 2008Richard Beeston, Foreign Editor of The TimesMahmoud Ahmadinejad was right to look smug at the end of his two-day state visit to Iraq. Not only did he become the first Iranian president to...

Wednesday, March 12, 2008 Posted By:Catherine MoyPermalinkMarines Save Iraqi child, then raise money for Heart Surgery Marines Save Iraqi child, then raise money for Heart Surgery You know the U.S. Marines, the ones Berkeley ingrates don’t want in their town? Well, they found a little girl in Iraq during a house visit whose fingers were blue. They got her help, then determined that she needed an expensive heart surgery. So they raised money - $30,000 – sent her to America (yes, that, bad, bad, country) and had her healed. “These types of missions demonstrate our willingness to partner with the...

Progress in Iraq Real, Momentum Growing, Odierno Says Iraq: Job Won IBD ^ | November 2, 2007 War On Terror: With killings of both U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians down sharply, both al-Qaida and Iran may believe they have lost the Iraq War. Thanks to the surge, our mission just might largely be accomplished. U.S. military deaths were recorded at 36 for October, down from 65 in September, according to an Associated Press count. Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Baghdad, last week said the deaths of coalition forces have declined for five straight months and...

You'll never see this headline in an American newspaper but it may explain why the news out of Iraq has suddenly stopped... Oh, except for Blackwater.

July 13-16: The 329th Chemical Platoon worked in conjunction with Marines from Multi-National Force-West and Soldiers from Multi-National Division-Center to secure approxomately 40,000 gallons of nitric acid that was found in a cache in Fallujah, Iraq, for disposal. The 329th Chemical Platoon is support reserve unit for Task Force Phantom, Multi-National Corps-Iraq. HQ is Winter Park, Florida. (U.S. Army/Spc. Fernando Gonzalez)

"When faced with conflict, Eagles rise up and seditionists retreat." At the first Gathering of Eagles, there was plenty of conflict, debate, and argument. The ANSWER freaks, with their anarchist gear and "U.S. Out of Iraq NOW" signs, seemed more than willing to accuse us of racism, attack the President, and bash the Iraq War. What they weren't too good at was penetrating our lines and getting into our territory, which was their goal. No one approached the wall. What a couple of ANSWER folks did do however was cross the police-created lines and visit the Lincoln Memorial, an...

When it comes to the troop surge in Iraq, a bunch of arm chair generals in Washington are influencing the Bush Administration as much as the Joint Chiefs or theater commanders. A group of military experts at the American Enterprise Institute, concerned that the U.S. was on the verge of a calamitous failure in Iraq, almost single handedly convinced the White House to change its strategy. They banded together at AEI headquarters in downtown Washington early last December and hammered out the surge plan during a weekend session. It called for two major initiatives to defeat the insurgency: reinforcing the...

Q: One of the central tenets of THE J CURVE is that we're not properly dealing with authoritarian regimes and their leaders because we don't truly understand how they define their interests. Can you elaborate? A: Any leader of any government has as their first goal the stability and continuity of their own governance--their ability to continue to rule. If you're the leader of a stable democracy that means you're going to want to continue integrating your country into the global order and improving the educational level and economic well-being of your people. And you'd tend to respond to outside...

ROME - Italy will pull 1,100 of its troops from Iraq in June, the new government said Friday, giving its first specific numbers about the planned withdrawal. "In June we will reduce our troops from 2,700 to 1,600," Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said during an evening television show. His announcement came hours after he met with Premier Romano Prodi to map Italy's exit strategy from the U.S.-led coalition. Most Italian troops in Iraq are in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. They are involved in training, security and reconstruction. The decision to withdraw this many troops by June belongs to...

I don't know if this will interest anyone, but I had an e-mail exchange yesterday with a former co-worker now working for a different company out in New York City. He was a major lib. when he worked for the company I'm with and he and I use to get into some heated exchanges. I'm providing this not to pat myself on the back, but to provide something you can use when you get similar boilerplate attacks from your liberal friends since they're all basically reading off the same script. Anyway, after first e-mailing me yesterday saying he doesn't know...

ON FRIDAY, I sat on the carpet listening to the sermon at an L.A. mosque. The topic was expected and familiar: a denunciation of the publication of the offensive cartoons that have had the Muslim world up in arms. I directed my eyes to the carpet so no one could see the disgusted look on my face. "Not again," I thought. "Don't we Muslims ever get tired of complaining?" The khateeb (the person delivering the sermon) stated that it was not right that Islam was the target of abuse. He said some will go out of their way to disrespect...

Dear friends and family, If you are getting this email, it means that I have passed away. No, it's not a sick Toz joke, but a letter I wanted to write in case this happened. Please don't be sad for me. It was an honor to serve my country, and I wouldn't change a thing. It was just my time. Don't ever think that you are defending me by slamming the Global War on Terrorism or the US goals in that war. As far as I am concerned, we can send guys like me to go after them or we...

MIDI - SAN FRANCISCO If you're going to Crawford, Texas...make sure you take Old Glory there with you If you are going to Crawford, Texas...Al Jazeera is watching what you do For those who go to Crawford, Texas...some aging hippies are stinking up the place You'll confront them in Crawford, Texas...they're such airheads and really a disgrace They're in celebration...with hate for our nation Yeah, they are disgusting Enemies they are helping...with their anti-war yelping Of them, never be trusting...never be trusting So raise your voice in Crawford, Texas To tell our soldiers we're with them all the way...

Akron TV anchor reports home from duty in Iraq Guardsman with family for holidays shares story he says we're Not many people go from reporting the news to making it. Even fewer would want to -- at least not if they found themselves in Eric Mansfield's boots. Until January, the veteran television journalist had spent 17 years moonlighting with the National Guard. He joined so he could afford college and he stayed because he liked it. When all hell was about to break loose in Iraq, Capt. Mansfield was called up to active duty. Suddenly, he went from sitting behind...

Gertz: U.S. probe focuses on Syria weapons; Reports say nation has Iraq arms... The U.S. government is investigating intelligence reports that Iraq sent weapons to Syria to hide them from U.N. inspectors and coalition troops in Iraq, a senior State Department official said yesterday. John Bolton, the undersecretary of state for arms control, also told a House International Relations subcommittee that Syria is developing medium-range missiles with help from North Korea and Iran that could be fired in nerve gas attacks hundreds of miles from Syria's borders. MORE///

Get facts straight before crying 'liar' by Jonah Goldberg I haven't written much about the ongoing brouhaha over whether President Bush "lied" America into the war with Iraq. The main reason for my silence is that it's a monstrously stupid argument -and usually deliberately so. But I have better reasons for my wait-and-see approach. First, let's deal with the stupidity. The really dumb argument is that Bush simply made up the whole thing. This line is rarely offered explicitly by serious people because it is so illogical. But you will hear it alluded to by Democratic presidential candidates like Howard...

Republican Guards dressing as American soldiers and executing those that surrender to them

SURRENDER: Terrified Iraqi soldiers have crossed the Kuwait border and tried to surrender to British forces - because they thought the war had already started... Developing...