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Danny Yatom, who was head of Mossad during Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's first term, said Thursday that the premier then agreed to withdraw from the entire Golan Heights in a future peace deal with Syria. President Shimon Peres and... Yatom told Israel Radio that although Netanyahu's agreement didn't bind him now, "he has to admit" that he did agree to withdraw from the territory. Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) told the radio station that the prime minister had said numerous times that he would not agree to such a pullout, and that anyway, there

WASHINGTON (AP) - An Army colonel's colorfully worded memo arguing for the U.S. to declare victory in Iraq and leave next summer suggests the possibility of an important shift in the debate about U.S. withdrawal plans. Until now the question has been whether thousands of U.S. troops might need to stay beyond a December 2011 deadline for a complete U.S. pullout, in order to continue training and advising Iraqi forces. The memo written by Col. Timothy R. Reese, a U.S. adviser to the Iraqi military command, turns that question on its head by asking whether it makes more sense to...

Gunmen killed eight security guards and made off with nearly $7 million during a brazen bank robbery Tuesday in central Baghdad in the second such assault in a week. While overall violence is down in Iraq, ordinary crime has emerged as an increasing threat to the country's stability. Police said the robberies appeared to be the work of militants seeking money for operations after their funding was severely curtailed in U.S.-Iraqi military crackdowns. The retaliatory sectarian violence that pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war has declined dramatically over the past two years. But armed robberies targeting jewelry stores,...

WASHINGTON, April 14, 2009 – U.S. soldiers could remain in Mosul, Iraq, past June 30, when Iraqi forces are scheduled to assume full security responsibilities for the entire country, a senior U.S. military commander in the area said today. Army Col. Gary Volesky, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division’s 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, said in a video news conference from Iraq that the Iraqi government will make that determination. “We are conducting an assessment right now with our Iraqi counterparts to determine what the way ahead is for security in Mosul,” Volesky said. “If the Iraqi government believes...

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama conferred with senior Iraqi leaders, U.S. officials and military commanders Monday, as a spokesman for the Iraqi government declared that it would like U.S. combat forces to complete their withdrawal by the end of 2010. The comments by spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh mark the second time in recent days that a senior Iraqi has endorsed a timetable for U.S. withdrawal that is roughly similar to the one advocated by Obama. Dabbagh suggested that a combat force pullout could be completed by the end of 2010, which would be about seven months longer than Obama's 16-month formulation....

That's the headline over at The Caucus, where Jeff Zeleny reports Barack Obama dropped a not so subtle hint today in North Dakota that his fixed, 16-month timetable for pulling US troops out of Iraq beginning in January 2009 may in fact not be so fixed: "I've always said that the pace of withdrawal would be dictated by the safety and security of our troops and the need to maintain stability. That assessment has not changed," he said. "And when I go to Iraq and have a chance to talk to some of the commanders on the ground, I'm sure...

LONDON — Britain's Defense Ministry said Tuesday that no final decision is imminent on withdrawing all remaining British troops from Iraq, as the BBC reported that the government would outline pullout plans by the end of the year. The British Broadcasting Corp. reported that Cabinet ministers plan to announce within months a final pullout of troops, provided a lull in violence holds. Britain has 4,000 troops remaining in Iraq at a base on the outskirts of the southern city of Basra. Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office said he will discuss the U.K.'s role in Iraq with U.S. President George W....

How badly would an American pullout affect Iraq?  According to the nation’s foreign minister, all of the security gains would evaporate and bring the country back to the brink of civil war.  Hoshyar Zebari spoke to the Associated Press to make sure Americans know exactly what is at stake: Iraq’s foreign minister said Tuesday that he believes his country has averted a civil war after five years of “tears and blood,” and warned that an abrupt U.S. troop withdrawal would be disastrous.Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told The Associated Press that mistakes had been made by all sides but Iraq has...

No retreat from the War on Terror If the West backs out of Afghanistan the consequences would be plainly catastrophic David Aaronovitch In recent days, and unsurprisingly, it has become common to hear the mournless rites being read for liberal interventionism. If anyone has opined publicly about Afghanistan in the last week - and plenty did - it was to regret our presence there and to wish us away. If ever an argument was being won by default this was it, especially since those making the case for quitting were far too exuberant to want to slow up and allow...

In his final State of the Union address tonight, President George Bush plans to announce that the U.S. economy has become such a quagmire that the federal government will begin a phased withdrawal. The nation’s chief executive will reportedly tell the American people that the government got involved in the U.S. economy under false pretenses, has mismanaged the effort from the beginning, and the president believes now that “the only way forward is backward.” The president will propose immediate reductions in taxes, regulation, government spending and federal bureaucracies.

Democrats snub Republican Iraq pullout timelineFri Sep 28, 2007 10:37pm ET By Susan Cornwell and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several Senate Republicans proposed drawing down U.S. forces in Iraq over 15 months, but Democrats rejected the plan because it stretched to after the November 2008 election, both sides said on Friday. It was the latest manifestation of a Senate stalemated over how to end the unpopular Iraq war launched by President George W. Bush in 2003. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, sounding frustrated with the Senate, said her chamber would take up several Iraq bills next week, although none dictate...

Putting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a tight political position, the state Assembly voted Monday to place a measure on California's Feb. 5 ballot urging President Bush to immediately withdraw American troops from Iraq. The 43-32 roll call left the proposal one step from Schwarzenegger's desk. It was sent back to the Senate, which approved a slightly different version of the bill in June. Final approval by the Senate would send the bill to the Republican governor, who could risk angering members of his own party by signing it and putting it on the presidential primary ballot or veto the bill...

From crating up the bombs and bullets, to shrink-wrapping the helicopters, to counting up the endless tiers of port-a-potties, the pullout of U.S. combat forces from Iraq, when it inevitably comes, will rank as the longest-planned withdrawal ever. Despite the years of preparation, the Pentagon's painstaking planners just as inevitably will be challenged by the unknowables of a country at war, the vagaries of politics, the harshness of terrain and climate. "Coming out of any theater of operations is tough," says retired Lt. Gen. Gus Pagonis. But packing to go home from that distant desert presents special problems, as simple...

Betty Williams, who received the Nobel Peace Prize for helping start peace talks in Northern Ireland, said the other day, “"Right now, I could kill George Bush." Though the New York Times isn’t suffering that bad a case of Bush Derangement Syndrome, its July 8 editorial said: “President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have used demagoguery and fear to quell Americans’ demands for an end to this war. They say withdrawing will create bloodshed and chaos and encourage terrorists. Actually, all of that has already happened -- the result of this unnecessary invasion and the incompetent management of this...

WASHINGTON, July 6, 2007 – A premature withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq would leave the country at the mercy of its enemies, a senior U.S. military officer said today. Thanks to surge-provided reinforcements, U.S. and Iraqi security forces participating in Operation Marne Torch are now making “significant progress” in knocking out insurgent sanctuaries located within his battle space, Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of Multinational Division Center and the 3rd Infantry Division, said today during a satellite-carried teleconference with Pentagon reporters. However, “it would be a mess,” Lynch emphasized, if the surge forces were withdrawn as part of...

WASHINGTON, May 9 (UPI) -- Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie is lobbying U.S. politicians in Washington to keep U.S. troops in Iraq to avoid anarchy. Monday and Tuesday, Rubaie visited two Democrats leading the Congressional charge to reduce troop numbers by fixed dates -- Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan and Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, the New York Times reported. "I know that they are running out of patience, and I understand this very well," Rubaie told the Times in an interview. "And we have to play the political game. But I feel we are on the last mile...

The US commander of multinational forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, said Wednesday that efforts to quell unrest in the western Sunni province of Anbar have made almost “breathtaking” progress. Speaking to reporters about the new US strategy to curb sectarian violence in Iraq launched two months ago, based on a US troop increase, Petraeus said: “We are ahead, I think, with respect ... to the reduction of sectarian murders in Baghdad. “Progress in Anbar is almost something that’s breathtaking,” he added. The general illustrated his positive evaluation by citing the killing Friday of an Al Qaeda kingpin, identified by...

As Democrats push to withdraw troops, they seek to undermine Republicans by creating repeated chances to side with an unpopular president. WASHINGTON — As congressional Democrats move to force President Bush to veto a war spending bill that would start a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, they are simultaneously pursuing a carefully crafted offensive aimed at another target: Republican lawmakers. In the charged debate over the war, the strategy aims to achieve Democratic objectives on both policy and political fronts, according to party leaders and aides. Convinced that Bush will never listen to their calls to bring troops home,...

Senior Democrats are calculating that if they keep the pressure on, eventually more Republicans will jump ship and challenge the president — or lose their seats to Democratic contenders. "It's at least my belief that they are going to have to break because they're going to look extinction, some of them, in the eye," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., of his Republican colleagues. Added Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.: "We're going to pick up Senate seats as a result of this war." "It has been a way that we have moved forward," Reid said. "Not with a large number...

Here are a couple headlines about a Iraqi timeline for US withdraw Moqtada al-Sadr defies Iraqi government by pulling out 6 ministers (because Iraqi Government will not set a timeline for US withdraw) check the story at ArabMonitor.info and Anti-war House Dems demand 'clear timeline' for pullout check the above story at CNN Can someone tell me why there is no headline that reads something like?: Al Sadr and Demorats demand time line. or Bush Maliki stand their ground against al Sadr Peloser time line Come on!! What is wrong with the media and the stinkin' demorats. This is the...

Iran to pull out of nuclear treaty 'if further pressure' 13 minutes ago Iran will be obliged to pull out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if it is subjected to further international pressure over its atomic programme, chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani warned on Monday. "If they pressure us further we will have no choice but to reconsider our membership of the NPT as parliament has ruled," Larijani said, referring to a law agreed by parliament last year allowing the government to reduce cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.

(2007-03-29) — Democrats this week finally shed the image that they are weak on national defense when they aggressively rejected the president’s efforts to achieve so-called “victory” over Islamic terrorists in Iraq, according to a news release from NYT-PAC, a political action committee run by journalists at a leading New York newspaper. The not-for-profit organization formed to help elect Democrats, said the party “flexed its muscles and stood strong in the battle to get U.S. troops out of harm’s way.” “Gone is old reputation of retreat and defeat that has so plagued the Democrat party,” the NYT-PAC statement said. “The...

Stick a fork in me

(2007-03-23) ? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in an 11th-hour effort to get enough Democrat votes to pass the omnibus Iraq war pull-out bill, last night amended the measure to include funding for the following? ?More comprehensive sex education, complimentary condoms and discount abortion clinics in public middle schools ?A government-run universal health care system that includes prescription drugs for household pets and a new mandatory euthanasia benefit for the aged, comatose, crippled, diseased, depressed and mentally retarded ?A ready supply of government-issued affordable, combustible American flags for anti-war protesters ?A nationwide chain of government-run homosexual marriage chapels and adoption centers...

WASHINGTON, March 12, 2007 – An early withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq would endanger the United States and imperil the global war against terrorism, Vice President Richard B. Cheney told members of a pro-Israel advocacy group here today. The United States and Israel “are the prime targets of a terror movement that is global in nature and, yes, global in its ambitions,” Cheney told American-Israel Public Affairs Committee members at a group conference meeting. “The leaders of this movement speak openly and specifically of building a totalitarian empire covering the Middle East, extending into Europe and reaching across...

Recently recvd this message - (chuckle): Time to re-evaluate U.S. involvement Every day there are news reports of more deaths. Why are we still there? We see images of death and destruction on TV every night. Why are we still there? We took this land by force. We occupied it. It causes us nothing but trouble. Why are we still there? Many of our children go there but never come back. Why are we still there? Murderers, Rapists, Pedophiles and Thugs enjoy celebrity status. Why are we still there? Their government is unstable. Why are we still there? Many of...

Britain at odds with US over Iraq troop pullout Patrick Wintour Thursday January 25, 2007 The Guardian (UK) Signs of tension between the US and Britain over London's plans to pull back and withdraw some of the 7,000 UK troops in southern Iraq from this spring emerged yesterday. Speaking on the day that the foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, said she remained confident that British troops would start to be withdrawn from Basra in the spring, the US ambassador in Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, said he wanted Britain to keep its troops at its current level. He said: "We would like to...

SHANNON, Ireland - Americans' skeptical view of the Iraq war won't change until they see progress there, but the United States won't "pull the plug" on the conflict, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said. ADVERTISEMENT Rice would not detail any backup strategy if President Bush's new plan to turn around the war comes up short, or if the Iraq government fails to hold up its end. "We're going to get an opportunity to see whether or not this is working, whether or not the Iraqis are living up to their obligations," Rice said Friday. She decried what she called "the...

Israel completes pullout from Lebanon 17 minutes ago Israel withdrew the last of its troops from Lebanon early Sunday, the army said, fulfilling a key condition of the U.N. cease-fire that ended a monthlong war with Hezbollah guerrillas. Military officials said the last soldier exited Lebanon just after 2:30 a.m. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

WASHINGTON, Sep. 3, 2006 -- An early withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq would give victory to the terrorists and put the American people in danger, President Bush said here yesterday. “If America were to pull out before Iraq can defend itself, the consequences would be disastrous,” Bush said during his weekly radio address to the nation. “We would be handing Iraq over to the terrorists, giving them a base of operations and huge oil riches to fund their ambitions.” Bush said violent terrorist groups such as al Qaeda want to overthrow western-style democracies in the Middle East -- and...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 21, 2006 – Amid national debate about whether or not to stay the course in Iraq, President Bush today firmly placed himself in the “stay” category. It’s imperative America continues to support the new Iraqi government in its struggle against an insurgency that seeks to divide and topple it, Bush told White House reporters here. “A failed Iraq would make America less secure,” Bush declared. The end of democracy in Iraq, he said, would provide a haven for terrorists and extremists in the heart of the Middle East. Bush acknowledged that some Americans are saying it’s time...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hezbollah's chief spokesman said Thursday that his group will not agree to a cease-fire until all Israeli troops leave Lebanon. "Declaring a cease-fire is not the concern of the people of Lebanon as long as there is one Israeli soldier on Lebanese soil — even one meter (into Lebanon)," Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Rahal said in a live interview with Al-Jazeera television. "We will not accept any (Israeli) soldier staying on Lebanese territory, and it is the right of every Lebanese to fight until liberation," he said. Meanwhile, Israel renewed airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, and an Israeli...

While most Knesset members continued to stand united behind Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz, the first voices of criticism were sounded by the Meretz Party on Thursday over the operation the government has undertaken in Lebanon. Former prime minister Ehud Barak, meanwhile, told Channel 2 that he had been right to order the IDF out of Lebanon in 2000. Many Knesset members have blamed the violence in the North on Barak's decision to withdraw overnight from southern Lebanon six years ago. "Before we left Lebanon, rockets were fired that could reach Haifa," Barak said. "This is...

Ian's got the video of Murtha on Meet The Press. Transcript here. After criticizing Karl Rove's "fat backside," Murtha put forth his fat-headed Okinawa plan: MR. RUSSERT: You say redeploy. Again, Mr. Rove challenges that comment. Let’s listen and give you again a chance to respond to the White House. (Videotape, Monday): MR. ROVE: Congressman Murtha said, “Let’s redeploy them immediately to another country in the Middle East. Let’s get out of Iraq and go to another country.” My question is, what country would take us? What country would say after the United States cut and run from Iraq, what...

Rep. John P. Murtha says Democrats are uniting around his call to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. The Pennsylvania Democrat's plan was echoed yesterday by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, widely considered one of her party's leading voices on national security. "Two-thirds of the Democrats agree with my position now," Mr. Murtha told NBC's "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert. "Every place I go, people understand what I'm saying. The public has been way ahead." Mrs. Feinstein, appearing on CNN's "Late Edition," said the Iraq mission has taken too long. "I don't know why we are so afraid to stand up and...

WASHINGTON -- Congressional Democrats, seizing on public discontent over the war in Iraq, will offer legislation this week calling for a phased withdrawal of troops from Iraq and a shifting of forces to other nations, where supporters say American soldiers will be less likely to come under attack. The resolution, crafted by Democratic Senators Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Carl Levin of Michigan, will headline a second week of debate in Congress over the state of the war. It is the first real debate Congress has held on the war since the US invasion in early 2003. Senate Democrats,...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The House on Friday rejected a timetable for pulling U.S. forces out of Iraq after a ferociously partisan debate, forcing lawmakers in both parties to go on record on a major issue in re-election campaigns nationwide. A day after the Senate took the same position against troop withdrawal, the GOP-led House voted 256-153 to approve a nonbinding resolution that says an "arbitrary date for the withdrawal or redeployment" of American forces is not in the national interest. "Achieving victory is our only option," declared House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, casting Democrats as defeatists who want to...

WASHINGTON - The Senate rejected a call for the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraq by year's end on Thursday as Congress erupted in impassioned, election-year debate over a conflict that now has claimed the lives of 2,500 American troops. The vote was 93-6 to shelve the proposal, which would have allowed "only forces that are critical to completing the mission of standing up Iraqi security forces" to remain in 2007. The vote came alongside a daylong debate in the House, where Republicans defended the war as key to winning the global struggle against terrorism while Democrats excoriated President...

Iraq's vice president has asked President Bush for a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq, the Iraqi president's office said. Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, made the request during his meeting with Bush on Tuesday, when the U.S. president made a surprise visit to Iraq. "I supported him in this," President Jalal Talabani said in a statement released Wednesday. Al-Hashimi's representatives could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday. Bush made it clear during his visit that the U.S. military presence — now at about 132,000 troops — would continue, though he stressed the fate of...

Officer accused of strangling pullout protestor Border Guard officer accused of assaulting protestor during settlers' demonstration at Kissufim checkpoint in July 2005; according to indictment, 'officer held plaintiff by his neck with two hands, squeezed his throat, chocked him' Shmulik Hadad The Police Investigation Unit has filed an indictment against Yaniv Reuveni, a 28-year-old Border Guard officer from the southern town of Kiryat Gat. The officer was accused of attacking a Gush Katif resident during the evacuation of Gaza Strip settlements as part of the disengagement, Ynet learned Wednesday. According to the indictment, which accuses the officer of assault, was...

Osama Bin Laden has decided to open a string of convenience stores, to be called Fatwas R Us, and a string of cheap motels called Hostelges in Iraq and sell franchises while he anxiously awaits the departure of coalition forces currently stationed in the country in 2007. "We've taken over America with this plan, I see no reason why we can't take over Iraq using the same method" he said. Correspondent and unbiased reporter Dan Rather reported this morning, in a story picked up from his trusted source, Al-Jazeera, the Bush Administration knew of this development months ago yet kept...

A group of Israeli rabbis have cautioned Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert over his government's sudden rush to curtail Jewish life in Hebron, reminding the stand-in leader of the consequences paid by former premiers who dared to “disengage” from the Land of Israel. “All those who harm the Land of Israel declare war on God and his commands, and face the consequences,” Ynet quoted from a letter written by Rabbi Gedalia Axelrod, a former Haifa rabbinical judge, and Rabbis Shalom Wolpe and Yekutiel Rapp of SOS Israel. The rabbis brought as examples the fates of Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin and...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 2005 – President Bush's national security adviser today dismissed critics who demand an immediate or early withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. "The advocates of these policies share a core belief that the war in Iraq is unwinnable and that America and the world will be better off by abandoning Iraq," Stephen J. Hadley said during remarks given at the Center for Strategic and International Studies here. "The president respectfully disagrees," Hadley said. "He believes that setting a timetable for withdrawal would send the wrong message to our men and women in uniform and in civilian service...

VIENNA, Austria -- Two of America's allies in Iraq are withdrawing forces this month and a half-dozen others are debating possible pullouts or reductions, increasing pressure on Washington as calls mount to bring home U.S. troops. Bulgaria and Ukraine will begin withdrawing their combined 1,250 troops by mid-December. If Australia, Britain, Italy, Japan, Poland and South Korea reduce or recall their personnel, more than half of the non-American forces in Iraq could be gone by next summer. Japan and South Korea help with reconstruction, but Britain and Australia provide substantial support forces and Italy and Poland train Iraqi troops and...

When Democrats said we should pull out our troops from Iraq, Vice President Dick Cheney and others were quick to label them defeatists. When the administration floated the idea this week of bringing home a third of the troops by election time next year, it was presented as good old patriotism. As the church lady on “Saturday Night Live” used to say “How convenient!” The striking change of tone is all about politics, and perhaps that’s how it should be in a democracy.[snip] Public support for the war has collapsed. The administration wants to avoid an embarrassing debate over who...

Amid unrelenting violence in Iraq, debate over the future withdrawal of American forces from the country is increasing - among Iraqi political factions as well as in the United States. At the same time, there is growing concern among Iraq's neighbors about the broader regional implications of that violence and instability. For many Jordanians the triple suicide bombings in their capital, Amman, earlier this month confirmed what they had feared for the past few years - the war in neighboring Iraq was spilling across its borders. The attacks on three hotels in the city were carried out by Iraqis on...

When one is trying to make a political figure look like a conservative hawk, it is in one’s best interest to hide from the public any moments when said figure acts like a dove. Such appears to be the case with the ongoing character reconstruction of Rep. John Murtha (D-Pennsylvania) since his call last Thursday to withdraw American troops from Iraq. A story published by NewsMax on Monday stated that Congressman Murtha urged former President Clinton to remove U.S. troops from Somalia in 1993: “Clinton took the advice and ordered the withdrawal – a decision that Osama bin Laden would...

After terrorists attacked U.S. troops in Mogadishu, Somalia 12 years ago, anti-Iraq war Democrat, Rep. John Murtha urged then-President Clinton to begin a complete pullout of U.S. troops from the region. Clinton took the advice and ordered the withdrawal - a decision that Osama bin Laden would later credit with emboldening his terrorist fighters and encouraging him to mount further attacks against the U.S. "Our welcome has been worn out," Rep Murtha told NBC's "Today" show in Sept. 1993, after the Mogadishu battle cost the lives of 18 U.S. Rangers.

An Open Letter to Nancy Pelosi 19 November 2005 Dear Madam: When I read Friday night that you condemned the House Republicans for pulling a political “stunt” by calling for a floor vote on a resolution to call for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, I was beyond furious. How dare you? I suppose as political stunts go, it ranks right down there with Rep. Rangel’s bill to reinstate the military draft or the Senate Democrats’ recent crass stunt of demanding a secret Senate session to discuss the possible manipulation of pre-war intelligence. It is certainly not as...

The Pigs are Swealing... Watch or listen.