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Falling Revenues Threaten Iraq Rebuilding and Stability
The Page by Mark Halperin —
... The financial crisis, falling oil prices will make it harder for Iraq to pay for services and could affect U.S. plans for troop withdrawal.
And/But: Marine who commanded U.S. forces in Anbar tells TIME it's time for ...
Hugh Hewitt: Obama and Iraq; Ricks and Lobdell
Townhall.com Blog's TownHall Blog —
Details on President Obama's plans for Iraq are leaking , and while it is good news that Speaker Pelosi thinks he is planning on too many troops in Iraq after August of 2010, the lack of commitment to the longer term stability of the region is very troubling. I'll discuss the Obama plan as well as the success of the surge with the Washington Post's Thomas Ricks on today's program. Ricks' new The Gamble is a very detailed and riveting account of the turnaround in American policy in Iraq from 2006 through the 2008 election. I will tape two hours with him and play the first this week and the second the week of March 9. After Ricks I will welcome into ...
Hugh Hewitt: Obama and Iraq; Ricks and Lobdell
Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog —
Details on President Obama's plans for Iraq are leaking , and while it is good news that Speaker Pelosi thinks he is planning on too many troops in Iraq after August of 2010, the lack of commitment to the longer term stability of the region is very troubling. I'll discuss the Obama plan as well as the success of the surge with the Washington Post's Thomas Ricks on today's program. Ricks' new The Gamble is a very detailed and riveting account of the turnaround in American policy in Iraq from 2006 through the 2008 election. I will tape two hours with him and play the first this week and the second the week of March 9. After Ricks I will welcome into ...
The Gamble Continues
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan —
... Surprise! There's an ominous detail in the 19-month Iraq withdrawal plan that the president is apparently signing off on this week. Withdrawal will barely happen at all this year, as US troops become a kind of last-resort guarantor of order until the December elections. Today, we get the now ...
Senate Democratic Leaders Concerned About Obama's Iraq Plan
The Caucus —
Even before they are briefed at the White House late this afternoon, Senate Democratic leaders expressed concerns over reports that President Obama’s proposal to withdraw troops from Iraq over a 19-month timeline would leave a residual force there of as many as 50,000 troops. At a news briefing a few minutes ago, Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader from Nevada, indicated that he would be conveying his concerns to the president about the reported troop levels that would remain once the withdrawal deadline is met in August 2010. Other Democratic ...
On January 20, We Shall Commence The Bed For Scraping
Obsidian Wings —
... Today, I got some confirmation that maybe, just maybe, my bet on Obama will pay off. Andrew Sullivan -- who was betting the other way -- ...
Took You for Granted, I Thought that You Needed Me More
Obsidian Wings —
... by Eric Martin
One of my favorite up and coming analysts, Michael Hanna, really drives home the points I was trying to make in a recent post on the tendency on the part of US analysts (and leaders) to ignore the constraints of the SOFA, and Iraqi public opinion,when discussing possible timelines for withdrawal. As if the latter two facets of the story are ancillary concerns, if that.
With President Obama likely to announce a 19-month timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraq in ...
The Silence of the Liberals?
Antiwar.com Original —
... of those "residuals" were supposed to be combat troops yet now we are told "some would still be serving in combat as they conducted counterterrorism missions." You have to go all the way to the very end of this New York Times report before you discover that, according to Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell, "A limited number of those that remain will conduct combat operations against terrorists, assisting Iraqi security forces." In short: we aren't leaving. I don't care what the ...
Details
Mudville Gazette —
It's official: any combat forces in Iraq after August 2010 will be called something else: President Obama’s planned Iraq troop drawdown would leave the bulk of American forces in place until early next year while some combat units would remain in place in new roles even beyond a declared August 2010 target for withdrawal, administration officials said Wednesday.
The plan would maintain relatively high troop levels through Iraq’s parliamentary elections, to be held in December, before beginning in earnest to meet the August 2010 target for ...
