troop surge

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Reports: Gates Will Remain at Pentagon

'Done deal' that Bush appointee will stay at least 1 year under Obama

(Newser) - Robert Gates will remain in his post as defense secretary at least through the first year of Barack Obama’s administration, reports ABC News. “It’s a done deal,” an anonymous source told the network today. Obama will reportedly unveil his choice of Gates shortly after Thanksgiving, along...

Pentagon Plans Afghan Surge of 20,000

Commanders say extra 20,000 troops will quell rising Taliban violence

(Newser) - US commanders are drawing up plans to send an extra 20,000 troops to Afghanistan over the next 12 to 18 months, Reuters reports. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the surge will help reverse the rising violence in the country and safeguard elections planned for next fall. Commanders say the...

Return to Iraq: A Fragile Peace That's Jarring

Troop surge, Awakening Councils have brought fragile peace

(Newser) - When Dexter Filkins left Baghdad in 2006, it was a city of shuttered buildings and fearful citizens, in a land that looked as though it would never recover from war. But, writes the war correspondent in the New York Times, “to return now is to be jarred in the...

Petraeus' Successor Has Mixed Record

Ray Odierno takes over today as Army's top dog in Iraq

(Newser) - Gen. Ray Odierno, who today became the top US commander in Iraq, was instrumental in last year’s troop surge that helped stabilize the country. But though most notably known for mirroring predecessor David Petraeus' focus on protecting Iraqi citizens, some in the military have slammed his methods early in...

White House Lambastes Woodward
White House Lambastes Woodward
Sep 9, 2008 5:22 AM CDT

White House Lambastes Woodward

Denies book's claims; author unveils shocker on death teams

(Newser) - The White House has angrily rejected Bob Woodward's claim that the administration was riven by dissent ahead of the surge in Iraq, CNN reports. Woodward wrote in his new book that President Bush pushed troop levels past the Joint Chiefs, ignoring their worries about over-extending the military. The War Within...

Bush Ordered Troop Surge Over Internal Opposition

State Dept., Pentagon, military leaders were split over plan

(Newser) - President Bush’s 2007 addition of 20,000 troops in Iraq helped stabilize the country —but advisers didn’t support the idea until the situation there looked like “civil war,” in the CIA’s words. Instead, the Pentagon wanted to shift responsibilities to Iraqi troops; the State...

Iraq Barbs Get Sharper; Bitter Road Ahead
Iraq Barbs Get Sharper; Bitter Road Ahead
ANALYSIS
Aug 19, 2008 3:30 PM CDT

Iraq Barbs Get Sharper; Bitter Road Ahead

Candidates have flaws to exploit—if attacks don't get personal first

(Newser) - Appearances by the presidential contenders at a veterans convention highlight not only substantive differences on the Iraq war, Dan Balz observes in the Washington Post, but a growing undertone of personal enmity. After McCain yesterday questioned Obama’s judgment on the troop surge as politically motivated, Obama’s “indignation...

US Death Toll in Iraq Plummets
 US Death Toll in Iraq Plummets  
Jul 31, 2008 5:36 PM CDT

US Death Toll in Iraq Plummets

Iraqi deaths down 75% from this time last year

(Newser) - The monthly US toll in Iraq fell to its lowest point since the war began, with 10 American deaths recorded as July drew to a close today. Iraqis also are dying at dramatically lower numbers in the sixth year of the war. July saw the lowest civilian toll since December...

5 Things We Learned From Obama's Trip
5 Things We Learned
From Obama's Trip
OPINION
Jul 31, 2008 6:00 AM CDT

5 Things We Learned From Obama's Trip

Among them: Obama is a bit like Bush, and he needs to strike back harder at Mac

(Newser) - Here are five things we learned in the wake of Barack Obama’s overseas trip, via John Heilemann in New York:
  • Obama's got guts: The trip was “risky business, fraught with peril”—but we know now that he's willing to gamble if the potential payout is right.
  • His
...

Obama's Antiwar Stance: That Was Then, This Is Now

2002 state vote not enough to hang a campaign on

(Newser) - There's no reason to assume that Barack Obama would have voted against the war if he’d been in the Senate in 2002, James Kirchick writes for Politico. As a state senator, Obama was aligned with his liberal constituency in opposing the Iraq invasion; as a thoroughly briefed US senator...

McCain Jab on War Most 'Scurrilous' in Memory: Klein

Time 's Klein can't believe he said Obama would rather lose war than election

(Newser) - John McCain’s latest jab at Barack Obama—“It seems to me that Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign”–stuns Joe Klein, who writes in Time that the Republican’s Iraq claim is the most “scurrilous statement by a major...

US Surge Brigades Leave Iraq
 US Surge Brigades Leave Iraq 
Jul 22, 2008 10:47 AM CDT

US Surge Brigades Leave Iraq

147K troops now in country, down from about 170K at height of effort

(Newser) - The American troop surge in Iraq has ended, Reuters reports, with the departure of the last of five brigades deployed last year in an effort to curb sectarian violence. There are now just under 147,000 US troops left in the country, according to a military spokesman, down from a...

Senate Confirms Iraq Generals in New Jobs

Petraeus now Middle East chief; Odierno takes over in Baghdad

(Newser) - The Senate today confirmed Gen. David Petraeus as the top commander in the Middle East and Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno to replace Petraeus as the chief military officer in Iraq. Last year, Petraeus helped to tame growing opposition to the Iraq war in Congress by providing measured assessments of progress...

Iraqis Losing Love for al-Qaeda
 Iraqis Losing Love for al-Qaeda 
ANALYSIS
Jul 6, 2008 6:56 PM CDT

Iraqis Losing Love for al-Qaeda

Insurgents reeling from citizen backlash, troop surge

(Newser) - Outsmarted and overwhelmed by allied forces in Iraq, al-Qaeda is getting desperate, Marie Colvin writes for the London Times. The insurgents, masters of organized resistance, are now resorting to small-scale hit-and-run attacks amidst waning support from Iraqis. “Al-Qaeda in Mosul is pretty much not able to do the attacks...

Obama Needs to Shift Iraq Strategy
 Obama Needs
 to Shift Iraq Strategy 
ANALYSIS
Jun 30, 2008 1:17 PM CDT

Obama Needs to Shift Iraq Strategy

Surge has made total withdrawal impractical; Dem's advisers have plan

(Newser) - “There will be no such thing as victory in Iraq,” George Packer writes in the New Yorker, “but the next President, if he remains nimble, may be able to keep the damage under control.” Packer argues that the dramatic improvement since the surge poses a problem...

May Iraq Death Toll Lowest in 4 Years

(Newser) - The death toll in Iraq plunged in May, with 21 US military dead the lowest monthly figure in more than 4 years. Iraqi civilians and troopers also saw a decline, with 532 deaths in May, compared with 1,080 the month before. But in the absence of lasting political agreements,...

Admit It, Mac, You Misspoke
Admit It, Mac, You Misspoke
commentary
May 30, 2008 7:49 PM CDT

Admit It, Mac, You Misspoke

Hopeful flubbed on troop math and 'quiet' Mosul—but keeps pleading his case

(Newser) - John McCain has been dabbling in truthiness this week, Michael Dobbs blogs in the Washington Post. McCain said US troops were “drawn down to pre-surge levels" in Iraq, and cities like Mosul were "quiet"—but in fact, troop levels remain higher than before the surge, and Mosul's...

McCain: Obama Should Tour Iraq

Illinois senator hasn't been since '06; McCain proposes joint trip to 'educate' him

(Newser) - John McCain hammered at Barack Obama's Iraq credentials yesterday, knocking the Democrat in an AP interview for not having set foot in the country since 2006—and proposing a joint trip so that he could "educate Senator Obama." Obama hasn't witnessed firsthand the benefits of the troop surge,...

US Sent 43,000 'Unfit' Troops to War

Soldiers deemed medically unfit deployed anyway

(Newser) - The US has sent more than 43,000 troops deemed medically unfit for combat to war in Iraq and Afghanistan, USA Today reports. Since 2003 soldiers deemed non-deployable by medical officers have shipped anyway, according to Pentagon documents, with unit commanders overruling doctors. “It is a consequence of the...

Petraeus Sees No New Troop Buildup in Iraq

General wraps up two days of testimony before Congress

(Newser) - Gen. David H. Petraeus told the House Armed Forces Committee today that he does not foresee another buildup of US armed forces in Iraq, calling the possibility of a new surge "a pretty remote thought in my mind." If violences escalates again, the Army will make do with...

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