“Senator Clinton also welcomes the disclosure that the Department of Defense, according to the Secretary, is indeed planning for the redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq, and looks forward to receiving the department's briefings. To ensure that Secretary Gates' sentiments are fulfilled, she will continue to pursue with Senator Kerry their legislation mandating that the Pentagon brief Congress on contingency planning to ensure the safe and secure redeployment of our troops from Iraq.”
I am sorry if this offends anyone, but, the reality is that it took Senator Clinton to demand a contingency plan to protect the Homeland before ANYTHING was done by the Republican Party INCLUDING those now occupying the White House. On the issue of Homeland Security and the safe deployment of our troops from an Iraqi Civil War, undoubtedly she has the upper hand.
We needed to start making those plans now in order to facilitate an effective withdrawal out of a civil war in Iraq, otherwise, and according to all others it will take at least a year to 'get out of the way' of 'internal' battles in Iraq for control. These plans would never be in place if Senator Clinton didn't take the 'risk' to demand them. The USA would still be lacking essential plans for Homeland Security in the face of escalating concerns domestically.
Rumsfeld NEVER had any contingency plans to protect the USA should the need arise and Gates didn't either until Senator Clinton 'called them on it.' The current Republican bill stated below is to impune the national security of the USA while blunting a 'timed pullout' if that best serves the USA's national security. These two Republican Senators are guilty of the exact actions Bush stated the Democrats were, "...legislating the war." If a timed withdrawal according to the USA military; should prove to be the best contingency plan; then the Commander and Chief and the USA military cannot redeploy in the best way. This bill significantly ties the hands of any redeployment based on a timeline and is a prime example of the political venue with the military and not one that 'insures' the national security of the USA.
GOP bill calls for contingency plan for Iraq (click on)
Two leading GOP senators offer a bill that avoids Democratic demands for a timed pullout but calls on the president to keep U.S. forces from policing civil strife.
By Aamer Madhani and Mark Silva, Chicago Tribune
Last update: July 14, 2007 – 12:33 AM
WASHINGTON - Two senior Senate Republicans on Friday introduced legislation that calls for President Bush to devise a contingency plan to scale down U.S. military involvement in Iraq by the end of the year.
The legislation, drafted by Sens. John Warner, R-Va., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind., two longtime foreign affairs experts who have grown disillusioned with the war, perhaps marks the most significant challenge yet of Bush's war policy from within his own party....
How many more innocent Iraqis will die due to Bush's occupation of Iraq? How many more American military personnel will die due to incompetency in the White House? The USA obviously cannot protect the Shia from aggression toward them, so where does anyone get the nerve to state the USA presence is vital to these people? When will Iran be assisting the Shia of Iraq to stop their killing? When will the so called 'successful surge in Al Anbar' stop the violence against the Shia while securing their own provincial borders? Never? The USA is currently 'arming' the Sunni militias, does anyone think for one minute that is going to quell the violence in Iraq?
The 'excuse' Bush and Gates uses to justify further occupation of Iraq is that the violence will get worse. That's a reason to continue? To be killed and have the Iraqi people killed until the last soldier is dead? The last Shia? This war is insane GOP political nightmare !
How many of more of the USA military will never need the reform of the VA because they won't live long enough to receive it (click here)? This issue was never important to Bush before he was embarrassed into embracing it. Whom is kidding whom here? This is a war for corporate profits, not a war to bring about Middle East peace. The longer the USA continues to occupy Iraq, the strong the terrorist networks become while causing greater instability of the Middle East.
Five US troops killed in Iraq battles (click here)
Staff and agencies
Thursday July 26, 2007Guardian Unlimited
Five US military personnel have been killed in fighting around Iraq over the past few days, officers said today.
The announcement came as a car bomb exploded in a predominantly Shia market area of Baghdad, killing at least 21 people and injuring 62, according to local police.
One US soldier was killed by small arms fire in southern Baghdad yesterday, a military statement said. A day before, three marines and one sailor were killed during fighting in Diyala province, north of the capital.
A total of 65 US personnel have died in Iraq this month, according to media counts. This is significantly lower than the 100-plus killed in each of the previous three months.
Today's car bomb in Iraq was the bloodiest incident in a series of blasts around the country that killed around 40 people in total.
The attacks come a day after explosions killed at least 50 people in Baghdad, some of whom were on the streets following the Iraqi football team's win against South Korea in the semi-finals of the Asian Cup tournament.
The first blast killed 30 people in the Mansour district as fans celebrated their team's victory. A further 20 were killed in an explosion at an army checkpoint in the east of the city.
This is the priority of the Guiliani administration? The McCain administration? I don't hear any GOP candidate calling for contingency plans or redeployment for the sake of national security. Who are we kidding here? The Iraq War is a political icon for the GOP. It's a crony war and nothing else ! The Brits are leaving Iraq. The USA is the ONLY Western country occupying Iraq. How are things going in Afghanistan by the way?
Afghan hostage crisis transfixes South Korea (click here)
SEOUL: Ever since Afghan militants kidnapped 23 South Korean aid workers last week, people here have reacted with shock, disbelief and hope - their mood shifting as news from Afghanistan carried conflicting hints about the hostages' fate.
On Thursday, the national mood reached its lowest point. The government confirmed what millions of South Koreans following the news overnight had hoped would not be true - that a bullet-riddled body found in southern Afghanistan where the Taliban said they had abandoned it was indeed that of a South Korean.
Bae Hyung Kyu, a Christian pastor with a big smile who left a wife and 9-year-old daughter behind, was found dead Wednesday, his 42nd birthday....
Hostage taking, a familiar venue of fear LEARNED by the Taliban from Bush's War on Terror at the Central Location of the war in Iraq. Bush is the worst president the USA has ever had and the South Koreans would not have known domestic security without the United Nations and it's ability to secure a North Korean nuclear reactor. When do the circumstances of USA allies get better rather than worse?
Seoul sends envoy to Afghanistan to help free hostages (click here)
South Korea's chief security advisor is heading to Afghanistan to boost efforts to secure the release of a group of kidnapped Christian volunteers. The fate of the 22 hostages remains in the balance after the Taliban threatened to kill them last night if the government failed to free imprisoned rebels....
Soldier killed in Afghanistan blast (click here)
Press Association Wednesday July 25, 2007 6:43 PM
A British soldier has been killed and two others injured in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said.
The soldier, from the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, died after a blast during a patrol in the outskirts of Sangin in the volatile Helmand province.
Two other casualties are being treated in hospital for injuries which are not thought to be life threatening, the MoD said.
He was the 65th British forces personnel to die in Afghanistan since the start of military operations there in November 2001 and the first to be killed while travelling in the army's new "Vector" protected patrol vehicle.
Canada’s top commander in Afghanistan escapes suicide bomber (click here)
CanWest News ServicePublished: Thursday, July 26, 2007
Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, Canada's top commander in Afghanistan, had a close call on Thursday when a convoy he was travelling in was attacked by a suicide bomber, Global National reports.
Grant, who escaped injury, was in one of three vehicles in a convoy when a minivan full of explosives approached at around 5:30 p.m. local time.
The blast was powerful enough to send one of the Canadian vehicles, an RG-31, onto its side. The soldiers inside did not sustain any injuries, according to the news reports. The incident reportedly occurred about 18 kilometres southeast of the Canadian base in Kandahar City....
Miliband parts from US strategy on Taliban (click here)
By Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad
Last Updated: 7:05pm BST 26/07/2007
Differences between British and American strategy in dealing with Taliban militants emerged yesterday during the Foreign Secretary’s first visit to Pakistan.
David Miliband, the newly-appointed Foreign Secretary, emphasised that a purely military solution to violence in Pakistan’s tribal areas would not alone quash the insurgency.
“Britain has a strong interest in the stability of Pakistan, in defeating extremism and in the development of tribal areas,” said Mr Miliband after talks with President Pervez Musharraf.
“Counter-terrorism is about military force but we also need economic and social development,” he added.
Pakistani officials underscored the difference in approach between the two allies by stating that Britain understood that political agreements were also needed to bring peace....
This is true for the Shia of the Middle East as well. When they witness the USA insuring the security of An Albar while they die in Baghdad, what do you think is occurring there? Security? The greatest asset in Baghdad right now is the return of the Sunni and Shia contingency to the Parliament. Yet, there is little hope for securing the Shia areas within Baghdad without support form other Shia, including any help they can receive from their neighbors.
The 'idea' of quelling an insurgency is to allow the people to be 'secure' in their own right while political solutions take effect to stop fears that escalate violence. That includes an economy and humanitarian aide. That economy is provided by Islamic countries, including Iran, through pilgramages to Iraq, especially in the south. The successful deployment of humanitarian aid to Iraq is coming from Iran, not the USA.
Al Qaeda while an issue in Iraq is not the greatest threat. The Iraqis, as demonstrated by the USA 'surge policy' will remove control of foreign fighters when their provinces are secure.
The Civil War in Iraq has to be stopped by the people of Iraq and that will never occur until they have control of their neighborhoods. That will never happen without the direct 'investment' by neighboring countries that seek to protect them while securing their own borders.
Is there a presence of al Qaeda in Iran that is destabilizing that government? Was there a presence of al Qaeda in Iraq before Saddam was removed? Is there an uncontrollable presence of al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt?
No.
Why?
Because these Middle East Islamic countries have leadership capable of destroying the presence of al Qaeda. The USA does NOT have the competency to accomplish in Iraq what the neighbors to Iraq can accomplish.
It is time for the Middle East to find a peaceful solution to the Iraq violence. There isn't going to be a greater war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. There will be control within the Iraqi borders to the violence spilling out of that area to the surrounding countries. Syria will not dominate Lebanon. Lebanon has successfully quelled an uprising of al Qaeda in a refugee camp. Lebanon is showing great success in mastering it's sovereignty.
The Middle East needs to solve the problem of violence in Iraq, they understand it while bringing about an Islamic solution. The West has repeated proven to violate Islamic trust. The USA is impuned in that country. The only leverage that exists by the USA is in conjuction with Russia regarding Iran. When Iran has a purpose in protecting the Shia in Iraq, the escalation of Iranian leadership rhetoric will stop while the democratic principles of impending elections STILL AT WORK in Iran replaces their objectionable leadership.
