http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/isg/ en-us Wed, 13 Oct 2004 00:35:28 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1243204/posts LONDON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush's special envoy for Iraqi debt, James Baker, is simultaneously working for a commercial concern that is trying to recover money from Iraq, a British newspaper said. The Guardian said that Baker, a former US secretary of state, has a reported 180-million-dollar (150-million-euro) stake in the merchant bank and defence contractor the Carlyle Group. This consortium, it said, is secretly proposing to collect 27 billion dollars on behalf of Kuwait, one of Iraq's biggest creditors, by using high-level political influence. According to the Guardian, the Carlyle Group claims that Baker will not benefit... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1243204/posts#comment Wed, 13 Oct 2004 00:35:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037719/posts The weekly Economist for June 12 placed Iraq on its cover once again. The timing of the cover story was significant. Nine days earlier the Democrats had settled on their presidential nominee -- Barack Hussein Obama -- for the November election. The Iraq story had been downgraded by the mainstream media when the Democratic primary contest intensified and when the good news from Iraq, according to the Economist, was "far better than it was only a few months ago." The good news from Iraq is indeed far better than merely good. The military surge President George W. Bush ordered in... Toronto Sun http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037719/posts#comment Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:00:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2000836/posts "Relying, apparently, on concrete findings, former top U.S. weapons inspector Dr. David Kay said that "the Iraqis had developed new techniques for drying anthrax - techniques that were superior to anything the United States or the old Soviet Union had. That would make the former regime of Saddam Hussein the most sophisticated manufacturer of anthrax in the world." (Washington Post, 16 septembre 2005) Journal of intelligence and counter-intelligence, March 2007 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2000836/posts#comment Sun, 13 Apr 2008 10:46:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2006104/posts ISG moves from consensus to conflictBy DANIEL LIBIT 4/22/08 4:32 AM EST In December 2006, in an effort to build a national consensus on a “new way forward in Iraq,” the Iraq Study Group painted itself as a portrait of bipartisan chumminess, with all political hackery checked at the door. Sixteen months later, seven of the 10 ISG members are backing presidential candidates with radically different views about how to proceed in Iraq. Republicans James Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger and Ed Meese are supporting Sen. John McCain, who argues that the United States should be sending more troops to Iraq. Democrats... Politico.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2006104/posts#comment Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:36:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997407/posts A number of people have written to me to tell me Brzezinski, either is not on Obama's foreign team or is just one member of it. Ever since Brzezinski introduced Obama last summer, Brzezinski has remained in the background for fear of alienating Obama's Jewish support. It makes little difference because all the others on the team are generally in agreement with his policies. Now Lee Hamilton has officially joined the team. And as you know Hamilton and Brzezinski are joined at the hip. They both were on the Iraq Study Group and they both signed a letter among others,... Israpundit http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997407/posts#comment Sun, 6 Apr 2008 01:40:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1992982/posts ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - Five former U.S. secretaries of state are urging the next presidential administration to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and open a dialogue with Iran. Each says closing the facility in Cuba would bolster America's image abroad. Regarding Iran, they say it's important to maintain contact with adversaries and allies alike. ap http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1992982/posts#comment Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:49:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1964085/posts Obama Willing to Talk with Iran TEHRAN (FNA)- US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said he would favor holding direct talks with Iran and Syria in a bid to stabilize the Middle East if elected president. In an interview with France's Paris Match on Thursday, Obama said, "I want to have direct talks with countries like Iran and Syria because I don't believe we can stabilize the region unless not just our friends but also our enemies are involved in these discussions." He was also quoted as saying he would also hold a summit with leaders of Muslim states... FARS News Agency http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1964085/posts#comment Sun, 3 Feb 2008 04:28:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1950940/posts We're about to enter another of the regular blogger conference calls held by John McCain. This will, of course, be the first since his surprisingly strong victory over Mitt Romney and the rest of the Republican field. He starts off by noting that he is "obviously very pleased" with the results. McCain credits his straight talk on the stump in New Hampshire. He has nothing much to offer for the Democratic Party result, maybe one of the few who haven't opined on it. McCain tells a story about hardening his resolve in a summer trip to Iraq with Lindsey Graham.... Captains Quarters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1950940/posts#comment Wed, 9 Jan 2008 19:32:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1862831/posts White House officials fear that the last pillars of political support among Senate Republicans for President Bush’s Iraq strategy are collapsing around them, according to several administration officials and outsiders they are consulting. They say that inside the administration, debate is intensifying over whether Mr. Bush should try to prevent more defections by announcing his intention to begin a gradual withdrawal of American troops from the high-casualty neighborhoods of Baghdad and other cities. Mr. Bush and his aides once thought they could wait to begin those discussions until after Sept. 15, when the top field commander and the new American... NY Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1862831/posts#comment Mon, 9 Jul 2007 04:29:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1860022/posts Rudolph Giuliani's membership on an elite Iraq study panel came to an abrupt end last spring after he failed to show up for a single official meeting of the group, causing the panel's top Republican to give him a stark choice: either attend the meetings or quit, several sources said. Giuliani left the Iraq Study Group last May after just two months, walking away from a chance to make up for his lack of foreign policy credentials on the top issue in the 2008 race, the Iraq war. He cited "previous time commitments" in a letter explaining his decision to... Newsday http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1860022/posts#comment Tue, 3 Jul 2007 04:20:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1856371/posts Mika Brzezinski is at it again. As noted here and here, the daughter of Jimmy Carter's former NSA is inclined to inject her own political views into her MSNBC newsreading role.At 6:10 am EDT on today's "Morning Joe," Mika read an item reporting that Sen. Richard Lugar [R-IN] had called for a change of course in Iraq and expressed support for the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, co-chaired by James Baker and Lugar's fellow Hoosier, Lee Hamilton.Mika couldn't restrain herself. MSNBC NEWSREADER MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Whatever happened to the Iraq Study Group, because I believe President Bush asked for those... NewsBusters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1856371/posts#comment Tue, 26 Jun 2007 11:25:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1852746/posts Rudy Giuliani quit an elite Iraq study panel last spring after he failed to show up for a single official group meeting, citing "previous time commitments” – a speaking tour that brought in $11.4 million in 14 months. The 10-member panel, known as the Baker-Hamilton commission, was chartered by Congress and encouraged by President Bush to explore U.S. policy in Iraq. On May 18, 2006, when the panel gathered in Washington, Giuliani gave a $100,000 speech on leadership at a business awards breakfast in Atlanta, Newsday reports. The month before, he skipped another panel session to deliver the keynote speech... NewsMax http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1852746/posts#comment Tue, 19 Jun 2007 14:47:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1794873/posts A senior Democratic adviser said yesterday he is disappointed and dismayed by the efforts of House and Senate Democrats to change administration policies in Iraq, predicting they would lead to further division and stalemate in Congress on the war. "If you stand back, the whole debate has been pretty frustrating. The bigger problem is that [Democratic leaders'] proposals are not going anywhere, such as some revised authority for the war," said Leon Panetta, a key Democratic member of the Iraq Study Group whose proposals to stabilize Iraq were largely dismissed by President Bush. "But those efforts are doomed. Either they... The Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1794873/posts#comment Sun, 4 Mar 2007 05:49:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1794437/posts Now it seems as though George W. Bush might be paying more attention to former Secretary of State James A. Baker III’s Iraq Study Group than he initially let on. For starters, the president’s apparent about-face last week from his earlier rejection of meetings with Iran or Syria falls right in line with one of Baker’s chief recommendations.Baker’s blue-ribbon panel, co-chaired with former Democratic Rep. Lee H. Hamilton of Indiana, unveiled 79 recommendations in December for salvaging Iraq. The 10 members of the group — five from each political party — checked their partisanship at the door to draw a... NY Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1794437/posts#comment Sat, 3 Mar 2007 07:06:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1782427/posts “Reality therapy,” declared Time magazine’s Michael Duffy with satisfaction. “A chance to think anew,” added Newsweek’s Jon Meacham. These and similarly warm words of welcome from organs of respectable opinion greeted the December arrival of the long-awaited report of the Iraq Study Group (ISG), with its 79 prescriptions for U.S. policy in the Middle East. The sense of relief was palpable. With neoconservatism supposedly repudiated by the “fiasco” of Iraq, the backing of a wise man’s council composed equally of Republicans and Democrats, and a friendly media breeze in its sails, the ISG report was heralded not just as... Commentary http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1782427/posts#comment Sat, 10 Feb 2007 07:55:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1777012/posts For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary January 31, 2007 The Rest of the Story: Sec. Baker Outlines "Common Elements" In The Iraq Study Group's Report And The President's New Strategy       Setting the Record Straight "The President's plan makes clear that U.S. forces will be sent to Baghdad to help Iraqis clear and secure neighborhoods. That means combat operations, including possibly door-to-door sweeps. The Study Group made the assessment that the security of Baghdad is crucial to security in Iraq more generally and while we were in Baghdad at the end of the summer, Iraqi and American... The White House http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1777012/posts#comment Wed, 31 Jan 2007 23:01:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1776405/posts WASHINGTON — James Baker, the co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, on Tuesday endorsed President Bush's troop surge in Iraq, urging the Senate to "give it a chance." "The president's plan ought to be given a chance," Baker told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "Just give it a chance." Baker, a former secretary of state under President George H.W. Bush, said it was wrong for the Senate to confirm Army Gen. David Petreaus to lead the new Iraq mission at the same time it was moving to pass non-binding resolutions opposing the deployment of at least 21,500 U.S. forces to... Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1776405/posts#comment Wed, 31 Jan 2007 00:18:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1775958/posts MUST READ - James Baker Works to Establish Direct Diplomatic USA - Iran Ties Former US Secretary of State Baker Attempts to Bypass Bush White House on Iran Defense & Foreign Affairs Analysis. By Gregory R. Copley, Editor, GIS. Former US Secretary of State James Baker, who co-chaired the recent US Iraq Study Group — the main recommendations of which were rejected by the George W. Bush Administration — is working indirectly and behind the scenes to bring about direct diplomatic ties between the US and Iran. This is in defiance of Bush White House policy which essentially has said... Defense & Foreign Affairs via AntiMullah http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1775958/posts#comment Tue, 30 Jan 2007 08:07:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1759740/posts Recent visits by Syrian President Bashar Assad to U.S.-allied Yemen and the United Arab Emirates are prompting speculation that Syria is seeking to leave the Iranian orbit and pursue closer ties with the West. Such a move would fulfill a major recommendation of the Iraq Study Group, headed by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Rep. Lee H. Hamilton, which suggested it might be possible through diplomacy to pry Syria away from Iran. Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1759740/posts#comment Fri, 29 Dec 2006 05:44:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1759118/posts Former Secretary of State James Baker was involved in a cover-up of illegal trading by his law firm with the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, according to a former contractor who did work for Mr. Baker’s firm. Mr. Baker used non-Americans to help acquire funds from Iraq in violation of the United Nations embargo and U.S. law, the former contractor said. Nir Gouaz, an Israeli security veteran, said that in 1999 Mr. Baker's leading deputy at the law firm of Baker Botts ordered him to destroy all documents that detailed how he obtained from Iraq more than $250 million... Insight Magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1759118/posts#comment Wed, 27 Dec 2006 21:06:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1758455/posts As the Iraq Study Group issued its long-awaited report on the war, declaring that the United States should not dispatch more troops, Sen. John McCain reacted with his long-held and contrary view: It will take more boots on the ground, or the nation faces "sooner or later, our defeat in Iraq." Then the Arizona Republican discreetly flew to San Diego, where the next day, Dec. 8, he sat under a hot sun to watch a skinny 18-year-old in military-issue glasses graduate from boot camp and become a Marine. His son Jimmy. John McCain's public certainty about Iraq masks a more... The Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1758455/posts#comment Tue, 26 Dec 2006 10:31:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1757563/posts Anbar Province and the Iraq Study Group Report Iraqi Politicians and Tribal Sheihks are concerned about the implications of the Iraq Study Group report The release of the Iraq Study Group report, a 79 point plan to address Iraq, created by a blue ribbon panel lead by former Secretary of State James Baker and Representative Lee Hamilton, has implications far beyond domestic U.S. politics. I've been asked numerous times how this report has effected the U.S. troops serving in Iraq. The answer is very little. Most shrug their shoulders at the news reports, and haven't had time to digest the... The Fourth Rail http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1757563/posts#comment Sat, 23 Dec 2006 02:10:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1755794/posts WELL done video! Zucker says in Comedy what everyone else is afraid to say! Youtube http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1755794/posts#comment Tue, 19 Dec 2006 17:31:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1755127/posts The Iraq Study Group Report is the last thing one would have hoped to see in the New World Order. Sadly, it seems that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Gone were the days, we thought, when the fate of a nation was decided by outsiders consulting with everyone and every nation except the one most affected by, and concerned with, the decision. Yet, that is precisely what happened with this commission. The President of Kurdistan received a telephone call from Baker a couple of days before the release of the report assuring him of taking... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1755127/posts#comment Mon, 18 Dec 2006 12:22:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1754996/posts During the 2004 election, it was painfully apparent that the Democratic presidential candidate had no credible response when President Bush and the Republicans asked him the ultimate question about the war in Iraq: “What exactly would you do?” Unable to advocate immediate withdrawal, unwilling to suggest a specific timetable, John Kerry and his party were stuck, able only to grouse about the failure to find WMDs or to criticize inadequate troop levels. But now the Left has been given a built-in response to the question of what should be done. All they now have to say is: “Implement the Baker... FrontPageMagazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1754996/posts#comment Mon, 18 Dec 2006 01:30:06 GMT