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Gen. David Petraeus says that he has no desire to meddle in politics, but he may have more to do with the outcome of the presidential election than any other nonpolitician. As commanding officer in Iraq throughout 2007 and much of this year, Petraeus has served as the chief architect and champion of the “surge” policy there. (He has now moved on to become commander of the American military’s Central Command.) As the number of both American and Iraqi deaths has plunged, and as the prospects for real political change have improved, it has become increasingly difficult for Barack Obama...

Mods, if one already exists (I couldn't find one), please delete this one..many thanks in advance.. First things first..what are the drinkin words? xxx = take a sip xxxx = take a gulp xxxxx = bottoms up

President Bush's war strategy is failing and the top military commander in Iraq is "dead flat wrong" for warning against major changes, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Sunday. Ahead of two days of crucial testimony by Bush's leading military and political advisers on Iraq, Sen. Joseph Biden indicated that he and other Democrats would persist in efforts to set target dates for bringing troops home.

Satellite images show ethnic cleanout in Iraq By Maggie Fox, Health and Science EditorFri Sep 19, 4:19 PM ET Satellite images taken at night show heavily Sunni Arab neighborhoods of Baghdad began emptying before a U.S. troop surge in 2007, graphic evidence of ethnic cleansing that preceded a drop in violence, according to a report published on Friday. The images support the view of international refugee organizations and Iraq experts that a major population shift was a key factor in the decline in sectarian violence, particularly in the Iraqi capital, the epicenter of the bloodletting in which hundreds of thousands...

The U.S. drone aircraft involved in strikes against Taliban and Al Qaeda militants across the border have enhanced tracking ability. WASHINGTON -- As part of an escalating offensive against extremist targets in Pakistan, the United States is deploying Predator aircraft equipped with sophisticated new surveillance systems that were instrumental in crippling the insurgency in Iraq, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials.

Even Barack Obama, who opposed the Iraq troop surge, has finally acknowledged its success. But some of his fellow Democrats in Congress apparently remain unconvinced. Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin teamed up to block a vote on a bipartisan resolution "recognizing the strategic success of the troop surge in Iraq" and thanking our men and women in uniform for their efforts. (snip) Citing General Petraeus by name, the resolution, which is sponsored by Independent Democrat Joe Lieberman and Republican Lindsey Graham, "commends and expresses the gratitude to the men and women...

Gen. Keane wants to make sure people understand why the surge worked. "I have a theory" about the unexpectedly fast turnaround, he says. "Whether they be Sunni, Shia or Kurd, anyone who was being touched by that war after four years was fed up with it. And I think once a solution was being provided, once they saw the Americans were truly willing to take risks and die to protect their women and children and their way of life, they decided one, to protect the Americans, and two, to turn in the enemies that were around them who were intimidating...

Well, the ad is truthful. I wonder if the Left will call this ad despicable and full of lies and distortions just like every ad put out against the Messiah. Maybe the Left should look this word up and start using it, "sacrilege."

Petraeus's Miracle By David Ignatius BAGHDAD -- The night before Gen. David Petraeus turned over command here, a group of senior officers gathered at Camp Victory to say goodbye. It was like a football team's testimonial dinner at the end of a winning season: There were steaks and baked potatoes and a highlight film of the general's 20-month command, scored with rock music, called "Surge of Hope." The signature line of the video was a statement Petraeus made to Congress when he began what seemed to many people like mission impossible: "Hard is not hopeless." That was his closing comment,...

Five years ago a youthful US army general, with a PhD in international relations and a name that seemed plucked from Herodotus, led the 101st Airborne Division into Mosul in northern Iraq. He had taken part in a stunning military victory, but failed conspicuously to celebrate. “This is a race to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people,” he said. “And there are other people in this race. In some cases, they want to kill us.” General David Petraeus is still not celebrating. But he is leaving Iraq in a state no sober observer would have forecast when...

So he didn't take my advice. Despite recommendations to the contrary in this column last week, President Bush announced Wednesday night that he's "committed more than 20,000 additional American troops to Iraq." That's the headline. But there's a lot more to the story. It's rife with risk -- and great opportunity. First, the good news: The most important statement of the speech was an accurate description of the present situation. Said Bush: "The challenge playing out across the broader Middle East is more than a military conflict. It is the decisive ideological struggle of our time." The president went on...

He is credited with taming the violence in Iraq, rewriting American counter-insurgency strategy and salvaging the reputation of the US military. When General David Petraeus steps down today as the commander of US forces in Iraq however, he will have little time to savour the plaudits from fellow soldiers and the Bush Administration. Instead the politically savvy paratrooper will swap the Iraqi frying pan for the Afghan fire. General Petraeus will take command of all US forces in the Middle East and Central Asia and with it the unenviable task of turning round the increasingly desperate fight faced by US...

"It's so much fun reading the newspapers these days. The Sarah surge continues to dominate all the political news, while the Palin-McCain - er, McCain-Palin - ticket is forging ahead in the polls. But let's be fair. Even though Sen. John McCain is now riding Gov. Sarah Palin's skirt tails, he was the one who made the brilliant decision to put her on the ticket. And the louder the left screams, the better Sarah seems to do. So much better that for the first time the Intrade pay-to-play prediction market - which long has had Barack Obama winning by 20...

In his classic book on the Vietnam War, Dereliction of Duty, H.R. McMaster excoriates the Joint Chiefs of Staff for acceding to President Lyndon Johnson’s flawed war plan and his dishonest salesmanship of it. McMaster dubs them “the five silent men.” What adjective best describes the equally shameful conduct of the men of the Joint Chiefs during the Iraq War? “Silent” is the least damning of the possibilities. In his latest insider account of the Bush administration, The War Within, Bob Woodward provides a window into the cluelessness of the chiefs and their seeming disinterest in victory that will fascinate...

Now, I know it's hard for Democrats to understand, but the Surge has worked. You can admit it. If you were smart at all, you might even take credit for voting for the Iraq war in the first place. However, Obama cannot, because he was not in a position to vote for or against it, and when he had a chance to help the United States succeed, he opposed the Surge, although the Obama website is trying to delete that from history. The Messiah finally came around and said in the O'Reilly interview that the Surge succeeded "beyond my wildest...

Afghanistan welcomed today a US decision to send more troops but reiterated that the strengthening of Afghan security forces was the long-term answer to defeat militants. President George W. Bush announced yesterday the United States would withdraw about 8,000 combat and support personnel from Iraq by February 2009. He said a fresh Marine battalion and an Army combat brigade would go to Afghanistan by January, in response to soaring attacks by Islamist militants nearly seven years after the al-Qaeda-backed Taliban were ousted. "The government has a common stance on this: we need and welcome more foreign troops to tackle the...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 9, 2008 – At the end of 2006, Iraq seemed on the verge of a civil war. Al-Qaida was inciting divisions between Sunni and Shiia Iraqis. The newly elected government seemed ineffectual. Militia groups roamed neighborhoods and intimidated those who did not agree with them. More than 100 U.S. servicemembers per month were being killed in fighting in the country. Today, that number has dropped dramatically, thanks largely to the troop surge and a new strategy that senior military officials credit with laying the groundwork for success throughout Iraq. U.S. officials understood the challenges in Iraq and studied...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The dramatic drop in violence in Iraq is due in large part to a secret program the U.S. military has used to kill terrorists, according to a new book by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward. Bob Woodward on Larry King Live Bob Woodward's book, "The War Within: Secret White House History 2006-2008," came out Monday. The program -- which Woodward compares to the World War II era Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb -- must remain secret for now or it would "get people killed," Woodward said Monday on CNN's Larry King Live. "It is a...

WSJ Book Review - "The War Within," by Bob Woodward -- During a videoconference with Baghdad, the president said, "George, we're not playing for a tie. I want to make sure we all understand this." Gen. Casey, Mr. Woodward writes, took this as "an affront to his dignity that he would long remember." ... Gen. Casey, after all, was the commander who all along maintained that the solution in Iraq was for America to draw down its forces -- even after the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra. He was the commander who later that year was given his...

President George W. Bush will announce today that as many as 8,000 troops will be withdrawn from Iraq by February, with more US soldiers heading to Afghanistan to fight resurgent Taliban forces. Mr Bush's plan, which will be laid out in a speech at the National Defense University in Washington, will reduce US forces in Iraq to about 138,000 from the current 146,000. There were about 137,000 US troops there in January 2007 when Mr Bush ordered the troop buildup to quell sectarian and insurgent violence. The White House released the prepared text of his remarks yesterday. "While the enemy...

President Bush delivered a back-channel message of personal support to Gen. David Petraeus when the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq felt undermined late in 2007 by a lack of support from the Pentagon, State Department and his own military superiors, a new book say

Yesterday on Meet the Press, Tom Brokaw asked Joe Biden if the troop surge in Iraq had made possible the increased security and reconciliation we now see in that country. Here is Biden’s answer: SEN. BIDEN: No. The surge helped make that–what made is possible in Anbar province is they did what I’d suggested two and a half years ago: gave local control.

RPT-GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks rally on Fannie, Freddie bailout * Stocks up, govt bonds down on US rescue of mortgage giants * Yen suffers as risks reduced by prop to US housing market * Global financial crisis still wears on, analysts say (Repeats to additional subscribers with no change to text) (Updates prices, adds quote) By Kevin Plumberg HONG KONG, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Asian stocks surged 4 percent and government bonds tumbled on Monday after Washington took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to save the U.S. housing market and limit the extensive damage of the financial crisis. Investors, who...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2008 – Though U.S., coalition and Afghan troops are making steady progress against increasingly active insurgent forces in Afghanistan, it’s time to turn up the heat, a senior U.S. military officer said today. “I believe that more forces are required. And I think that over the next several months we can put them, certainly, to good use,” Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser, commander of Combined Joint Task Force 101 and 101st Airborne Division, told Pentagon reporters during a satellite-carried news conference. Insurgent attacks in Afghanistan have increased 20 to 30 percent from 2007 to now, said...

Here is video from today's McCain - Palin rally in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, where GOP VP Nominee Sarah Palin hammered Barack Obama for being "profoundly wrong" on the Surge Strategy in Iraq. The video includes several minutes of Palin's remarks and also some of what John McCain had to say as well. Local reports say a crowd of 20,000-30,000 people turned out for the rally. . . .(see video at link)

The troop surge in Iraq has been more successful than anyone could have imagined, Barack Obama conceded Thursday in his first-ever interview on FOX News’ “The O’Reilly Factor.” As recently as July, the Democratic presidential candidate declined to rate the surge a success, but said it had helped reduce violence in the country. On Thursday, Obama acknowledged the 2007 increase in U.S. troops has benefited the Iraqi people. “I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated,” Obama said while refusing to retract his initial opposition to the surge.

Last night on Fox's O'Reilly Factor: "I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated," Obama said while refusing to retract his initial opposition to the surge. "I’ve already said it’s succeeded beyond our wildest dreams." Well, Barry... two men DID anticipate the success of the surge -- John McCain and General Petraeus. Obama persists in arguing that the invasion of Iraq was a distraction and unnecessary, while completely ignoring all the events that led us to remove Saddam Hussein. The Iraq War is not at all a result of 9/11. Bill Clinton's own words and actions...

Barack Obama famously refused to support the surge in Iraq, claiming it would "make things worse." Events have of course proved him very wrong, as Obama had to admit to Bill O'Reilly. Now that he's acknowledged the efficacy of a surge, will he call for one . . . in his own hometown? As per this item [via Drudge] from the CBS affiliate in Chicago: "An estimated 123 people were shot and killed over the summer. That's nearly double the number of soldiers killed in Iraq over the same time period."

U.S. Spied on Iraqi Leaders, Book Says Woodward Also Reveals That Political Fears Kept War Strategy Review 'Under the Radar' By Steve Luxenberg Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, September 5, 2008; A01 The Bush administration has conducted an extensive spying operation on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, his staff and others in the Iraqi government, according to a new book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward. "We know everything he says," according to one of multiple sources Woodward cites about the practice in "The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008," scheduled for release Monday. The book also says...

Obama Throws in the Towel on the Surge Barack Obama will appear on Bill O'Reilly's show tonight. Reportedly, he will say that "the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated. I’ve already said it’s succeeded beyond our wildest dreams." I must have missed that speech. Of course, Obama still says he was right to oppose the surge, notwithstanding its now-acknowledged success. The Republicanization of Barack Obama continues: Speaking on other national security matters, Obama said he would not take military action off the table in dealing with Iran, but diplomacy and sanctions can’t be overlooked. The Islamic republic is...

The troop surge in Iraq has been more successful than anyone could have imagined, Barack Obama conceded Thursday in his first-ever interview on FOX News’ “The O’Reilly Factor.” As recently as July, the Democratic presidential candidate declined to rate the surge a success, but said it had helped reduce violence in the country. On Thursday, Obama acknowledged the 2007 increase in U.S. troops has benefited the Iraqi people. “I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated,” Obama said while refusing to retract his initial opposition to the surge. “I’ve already said it’s succeeded beyond our wildest...

The troop surge in Iraq has been more successful than anyone could have imagined, Barack Obama conceded Thursday in his first-ever interview on FOX News’ “The O’Reilly Factor.” As recently as July, the Democratic presidential candidate declined to rate the surge a success, but said it had helped reduce violence in the country. On Thursday, Obama acknowledged the 2007 increase in U.S. troops has benefited the Iraqi people. “I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated,” Obama said while refusing to retract his initial opposition to the surge. “I’ve already said it’s succeeded beyond our wildest...

The troop surge in Iraq has been more successful than anyone could have imagined, Barack Obama conceded Thursday in his first-ever interview on FOX News. As recently as July, the Democratic presidential candidate declined to rate the surge a success, but said it had helped reduce violence in the country. On Thursday, Obama acknowledged the 2007 increase in U.S. troops has benefited the Iraqi people. “I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated,” Obama said while refusing to retract his initial opposition to the surge. “I’ve already said it’s succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.” Speaking on...

The troop surge in Iraq has been more successful than anyone could have imagined, Barack Obama conceded Thursday in his first-ever interview on FOX News’ “The O’Reilly Factor.” As recently as July, the Democratic presidential candidate declined to rate the surge a success, but said it had helped reduce violence in the country. On Thursday, Obama acknowledged the 2007 increase in U.S. troops has benefited the Iraqi people. “I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated,” Obama said while refusing to retract his initial opposition to the surge. “I’ve already said it’s succeeded beyond our wildest...

Protecting the future of America and her citizens took only one bold move. Pick a girl, right? Wrong. Pick a conservative who is unafraid of the “country club” political machine. Pick someone who is not an Ivy League elitist who learned to play along to get along. Pick a person who faced every challenge by taking the “high road;” not because it was easy, but because it was the right thing to do. The beauty of Sarah Palin has nothing to do with her being physically attractive.......

The U.S. military Monday handed control of Iraq's Anbar province to Iraqi security forces. U.S. forces will withdraw to bases and rejoin Iraqi operations in Anbar only at the request of the provincial governor. Anbar is a Sunni-dominated province whose inhabitants turned against U.S. forces soon after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Anbar towns, such as Fallujah and Ramadi became insurgent strongholds, where militants waged fierce battles against U.S. troops. Violence in Anbar began to subside in 2006 when Sunni tribes became weary of al-Qaida's brutality against the local population. The tribes formed councils and joined U.S.-led forces...

WASHINGTON — When President Bush speaks to the Republican convention on Monday, he is expected to tout the “surge” of forces in Iraq as one of his proudest achievements. But that decision, one of his most consequential as commander in chief, was made only after months of tumultuous debate within the administration, according to still-secret memorandums and interviews with a broad range of current and former officials. In January 2007, at a time when the situation in Iraq appeared the bleakest, Mr. Bush chose a bold option that was at odds with what many of his civilian and military advisers,...

WASHINGTON — When President Bush speaks to the Republican convention on Monday, he is expected to tout the “surge” of forces in Iraq as one of his proudest achievements. But that decision, one of his most consequential as commander in chief, was made only after months of tumultuous debate within the administration, according to still-secret memorandums and interviews with a broad range of current and former officials. In January 2007, at a time when the situation in Iraq appeared the bleakest, Mr. Bush chose a bold option that was at odds with what many of his civilian and military advisers,...

"I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse." - Barack Obama, January 2007

I'll let Vets for Freedom speak for themselves. (click to see video) To give Obama his due, he has acknowledged the success of the surge, but there's always a caveat. It's the liberal instinct, really, to give credit to the other while being overly critical of the self. It's the kind of credit a guy might give his wife on how hot she looks after her new boob job, but what are you going to do about those cottage cheese thighs? Jack's Smirking Revenge knows what I'm talking about.....

Vets take Obama to task By: Mike Allen August 26, 2008 10:45 AM EST DENVER — The conservative group Vets for Freedom is launching a $1.1 million ad buy during the Democratic National Convention, using video of Iraq war veterans to take Barack Obama to task for not giving the surge policy sufficient credit for improvement in battleground conditions. The 30-second spot, called “I Am the Surge,” features three Iraq war veterans who served in the surge of U.S. military forces into Iraq: Gabriel Herrera, David Thul and Travis Quinlan. The ad will run in Denver and Minnesota during the...

Relying on Senator Biden's foreign policy judgment is risky. Both he and Senator Obama backed the wrong horses in Iraq. When it was unpopular, Senator McCain stood up for victory in Iraq and pushed for what later became known as the successful Surge. Senator Obama, of course, put his finger to the wind and followed public opinion down the path of least resistance. ...

Wow! Vets for Freedom is out with this fantastic ad called, "I am the Surge." It features American heroes saying, "I am the Surge," and they call on viewers to call Sen. Barack Obama and ask him to support a Senate Resolution 636 introduced to recognize the success of the Surge Strategy in Iraq. The resolution was introduced by Sen. Joe Lieberman and Sen. Lindsey Graham. Very powerful! . . . (see video)

No wonder Barack Obama got such a tepid reception this week at the Veterans of Foreign Wars' convention. The better the United States does in Iraq, the worse he looks. If only his strategy had been followed. His presidential campaign would be sitting pretty at this point instead of struggling to maintain a once comfortable lead. Iraq would still be Issue No. 1 instead of the economy, and he would be making the most of it - instead of events in Iraq working to his political disadvantage. It's been a long McGovern summer for Sen. Obama as his lead in...

On August 2, 2007, after the "surge" counter-insurgency strategy in Iraq was already yielding reported signs of success, Joe Biden - who was running for President - posted on YouTube a campaign video which included clips from his speech from the floor of the Senate, denouncing the "surge" and predicting its utter failure. Here's are Biden's words (on the video, go to the 3 minute mark): "The question is do we continue - do we continue - to send our kids into the middle of a meat grinder, based on a policy that is fundamentally flawed. We predicted there would...

The New Republic reports good news from Iraq. I love the grudging good news reports that come from Liberal bastions like the NY Times and the New Republic. Of course, when the Bush haters report on improvements in Iraq, there's usually a backhand agenda lurking. This time, its Joshua Hammer gleefully reporting that "mercenaries" are taking big pay cuts and going unemployed due to the decreasing violence. See how this works? Find a bright spot, but then use it to poke Bush, Halliburton, Blackwater, whomever supported this damned war! Iraqis are *Gasp* making their own oil contracts with other sovereign...

I mean, the truth of the matter is that, that the—America’s—this administration’s policy and the surge are a failure, and that the surge, which was supposed to stop sectarian violence and—long enough to give political reconciliation, there’s been no political reconciliation. The reality is that we’re supposed to, as you said, stand up American—or stand up the Iraqis so the Americans could stand down. We’ve been hearing that for five years. We’re nowhere near being able to do that. The reality is that, although there has been some mild progress on the security front, there is, in fact, no, no...

A funny thing happened this summer: John McCain taunted Barack Obama into making a trip to Iraq, whereupon the press looked around and finally noticed what those who were paying attention had known for some months now. The country portrayed for the last four years by the press and the Democrats as Vietnam-in-the-Desert is doing much better, what with al Qaeda on the run, the Sunnis and Shias coming together, the Shia militias largely defeated, and the war itself looking more or less .  .  . won. "The combat phase finally is ending," trilled the Associated Press, which had been warning of...

The NYT's have finally admitted what pretty much everyone has already figured out for themselves. The surge has worked. But all that we have gained, all we have achieved could be undone by a precipitous withdrawal: Yet for all the signs of fatigue, General Petraeus is preparing to leave Iraq a remarkably safer place than it was when he arrived. Violence has plummeted from its apocalyptic peaks, Iraqi leaders are asserting themselves, and streets that once seemed dead are flourishing with life. The worst, for now, has been averted. And so in the general’s exhaustion comes the glimmer of hope,...

TEMECULA, Calif. -- As top Democrats address their national convention in Denver, they will propose "ending" Operation Iraqi Freedom, demand a speedy withdrawal of U.S. forces there, and insist that "Bush lied, and people died." What they will not do is apologize for their nearly universal failure in judgment regarding President Bush's spring 2007 Surge of 20,000 troops into Iraq. Widespread Democratic defeatism and lack of faith in our GIs' ability to win gouged a gap between their forecasts of doom yesterday and Iraq's far sunnier outlook today. With few exceptions, Democrats got this one dead wrong. "I am not...