From the new CNN/OPR poll released today:
One proposal would provide additional funds for U.S. troops in Iraq and would require the U.S. to start withdrawing all its troops from Iraq by a specific date. Would you favor or oppose this bill?
Favor: 57%
Oppose: 41%
No opinion: 2%
Some proposals would provide additional funds for troops in […]
The Associated Press reported yesterday that two more soldiers deaths in Iraq were being investigated for evidence of friendly fire (originally the parents of the soldiers, who died in February, were told that they had died in an enemy attack). E&P reports however on a more sinister element to the story:
One of the soldiers died […]
Here’s the NYT:
“What are they talking about?†Ali Jassim Faiyad, the owner of an electrical appliances shop in the market, said Monday. “The security procedures were abnormal!â€
The delegation arrived at the market, which is called Shorja, on Sunday with more than 100 soldiers in armored Humvees — the equivalent of an entire company — […]
The President’s supplemental Iraq & Afghanistan funding bill is being dubbed as an “emergency provision” and the White House is urging its passage as soon as possible. NYT’s The Cacus blog today:
Mr. Bush and Dana Perino, the deputy press secretary for the White House, have said in recent days that money for the troops would […]
So is the President’s escalation in Iraq working? Iraq Slogger provides this information today:
Suicide attacks and car bombings have soared 30 percent in Iraq since the start of a security crackdown in Baghdad last month, while attackers have become more brutal in their choice of methods, a U.S. General said at the Pentagon Friday.
Maj. Gen. […]
The upshot of today’s vote in the Senate is that there is almost certain to be a non-binding requirement for combat troop withdrawal from Iraq by March 31st, 2008. Democrats were able to strike down 50-48 a Republican motion to kill the withdrawal deadline language.
Now once the bill itself passes, it’ll be somehow reconciled with […]
Just thought I’d give a quick heads up… I’m happy to share that I just had a column published over at IraqSlogger, one of the best Iraq-dedicated news websites, which is run by reporters and former military experts. The column is about how Iraqis and Amerians surprisingly agree on more than most might think, according […]
One of the (current) justifications for staying in Iraq that the Bush Administration has been pushing for the past six months or so is that Iraq is a ‘central front’ in their ‘war on terror.’
“You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror,” President Bush […]
Well, we’re right around the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq. My, how times change. Shortly after the invasion in 2003, about 70% of Americans though the situation was going well, versus less than 30% who disagreed. Now about 70% of Americans feel the situation in Iraq is going badly, versus less than 30% […]
Associated Press this week says the Pentagon has for the first time used the words “civil war” to describe the conflict in Iraq:
In its bleakest assessment of the war to date, a quarterly Pentagon report said that last October through December was the most violent three-month period since 2003. Attacks and casualties suffered by coalition […]
“My hope, of course, is that Congress provides the funding necessary for the combat troops to be able to do their job — without any strings attached.”
That was President Bush, all the way from Columbia, Sunday, talking about how he hoped that Congress would continue to fork over massive sums of money with no oversight/accountability/benchmarks/measure […]
Tom Ricks and some other WaPo reporter quip in an article about the lack of “Plan B” for the President’s new escalation policy: “Over the years of U.S. involvement in Iraq, new plans have been launched with assurances of success — the return of sovereignty to a handpicked Iraqi administration in the summer of 2004; […]
Laura Bush:
“…Many parts of Iraq are stable now. But, of course, what we see on television is the one bombing a day this discourages everybody.”
Oh really? Check out this chart from the Brookings Institute Iraq Index with statistics for November (the latest month for which statistics are available). More information over at ThinkProgress.
Joint Chiefs Chairman General Pace attended an event with the National Governor’s Association today, with ABC News reporting that “The general took questions from the governors on Iraq policy, and according to Gov. Phil Bredesen, D-Tenn., when asked what constituted the administration’s “Plan B” for Iraq, Gen. Pace’s response was that “Plan B” is […]
A new AP-Ipsos poll shows that Americans really don’t have any idea how many Iraqi civilians have been killed in the ongoing war. Says the AP:
The number of Iraqis killed, however, is much harder to pin down, and that uncertainty is perhaps reflected in Americans’ tendency to lowball the Iraqi death toll by tens of […]
| Bradblog | CNN Ticker |
| Crooks & Liars | Tech President |
| Marc Ambinder | Ben Smith |
| The Blotter | On Deadline |
| ThinkProgress | The Fix |
| Political Wire | War and Piece |
| TPM | TPMMuckraker |
| MyDD | The Hotline |
| Political Insider | Future Majority |
| Raw Story | Wash Post |
| New York Times | Huff Post |
| McClatchy | This Just In |
| Truthout | Drudge Report |
| Newsweek | 2008 Wire |
The Daily Background
| 