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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 However, “it would be a mess,” Lynch emphasized, if the surge forces were withdrawn as part of...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...