Iraq —
David C. noted that he had “questions about Obama’s judgment.”
Two thunderous blasts set off by suicide bombers ripped through a crowded shopping street in the town of Balad Ruz in Diyala Province on Thursday, killing at least 35 people and wounding at least 62 others, many of them seriously. An American soldier secured an […]
Formerly we were told that “things are getting better in Iraq,” and if we just hung in there for six more months we could think about getting out when the eternally-elusive Friedman Unit Day arrived.
Now, we have the reverse. “Things are not getting much better in Iraq,” so we really can’t think about reducing troop […]
U.S. and Iraqis Battle Militias to End Attacks
Sharp fighting broke out in the Sadr City district of Baghdad on Sunday as American and Iraqi troops sought to control neighborhoods used by Shiite militias to fire rockets and mortars into the nearby Green Zone.
But the operation failed to stop the attacks on the heavily fortified zone, […]
ABC News: On the Ground With U.S. Troops in Sadr City
Sadr City, the oppressively poor Shiite neighborhood on the north end of Baghdad, is now the front line in the fight create security in the Iraqi capital.
Since September, U.S. troops have been operating together with Iraqi police out of a heavily guarded Joint Security Station […]
Meet the Obama Doctrine by Dean Barnett at the Weekly Sub-Standard:
The problem with having idealists form your foreign policy is that idealists tend not to care for the grotty details that upset their world view. [Samantha] Power is (or rather was) just one of the high-minded Doctrinaires whose résumé evidences a certain fondness for dovish […]
We will capture Baghdad. Absolutely.
U.S. Armor Forces Join Offensive In Baghdad Against Sadr Militia
U.S. forces in armored vehicles battled Mahdi Army fighters Thursday in Sadr City, the vast Shiite stronghold in eastern Baghdad, as an offensive to quell party-backed militias entered its third day. Iraqi army and police units appeared to be largely […]
WHEREAS:
We are stuck in Iraq with no realistic possibility of getting the Hell out or “winning” (in any, ordinary, English-language sense of the word).
WHEREAS:
As time goes on, and we adopt various strategies, the latest being The Surge, whatever happens in Iraq is claimed to demonstrate the success of the strategy du monde, to wit: “violence […]
What I Got Wrong About the Iraq War - By Andrew Sullivan
Slate asked me to reflect on my own failings of judgment on the fifth year of the war. Maybe the day we Christans are called to atonement is a good day for publishing it. It’s cross-posted here.
I think I committed four cardinal sins.
Not exactly […]
McCain misspeaks on Iraq
Mr. McCain said several times in his visit to Jordan — in a news conference and in a radio interview — that he was concerned that Iran was training Al Qaeda in Iraq. The United States believes that Iran, a Shiite country, has been training and financing Shiite extremists in Iraq, but […]
As my regular readers know, I periodically blog ordinary, high-profile news, or then go off on obsessive tears on obscure subjects of little interest, and then have not much to say about anything for a while. That’s where I am now.
So in lieu of reading two dozen inconsequential blog posts of mine for the past […]
Check out Iraq Coalition Casualties.
The number of U.S. troops being killed keeps dropping. Here are a couple of summary tables:
The trend of the last few months is striking. Keep in mind that January is about half over.
The decline in Iraqi casualties is also encouraging.
McClatchy - U.S. convoys struggle to adjust to policy change
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — In the first month that they were in Iraq, someone threatened, shot at or tried to blow up the soldiers of the Kentucky National Guard’s B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery 12 times. Last month, there were only three such incidents.
But […]
Cheney bashes top Democrats - Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei and John F. Harris - Politico.com
Vice President Cheney warned in an interview Wednesday that a premature withdrawal from Iraq would invite “further attacks” against the United States …
Interesting point that President Cheney makes. Let’s assume he is correct.
I wonder … could we have […]
One of the staples of wingnut blogging is that the evil MSM buries good news from Iraq way back “on page 14.”
Here is today’s NY Times (image readily available on the internets):
I can confirm, that the dead-tree edition being sold on the streets of New York right now, features the Baghdad story on the front […]
Bill Ardolino looks at Why the violence has declined in Iraq in The Long War Journal.
He summarizes the main factors (the Surge, de facto ethnic partition, the development of Iraqi security forces, the Mahdi Army’s truce, etc.) and concludes with :
A qualified success
Officials are cautiously optimistic about the trends of the last two months, […]
