Iraq report [NIE} may bolster surge policy

[rodeodance]

Source: ap

Iraq report may bolster surge policy

By PAMELA HESS, Associated Press Writer 9 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Intentionally or not, a new assessment of Iraq's political and military prospects landed just in time to bolster President Bush's case that the United States should maintain its troop buildup in the country and stand by its beleaguered government.


The consensus report by U.S. spy agencies contained a veiled warning: Any move to shift U.S. troops out of their role directly combating insurgents could squander the modest security gains secured by the troop surge.

"A change of mission ... would place security improvements at risk," the report concluded.

That conclusion, coming unanimously from the nation's 16 intelligence agencies, will likely help the administration and its ground commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, argue for patience from a skeptical Congress and public. Petraeus has overseen a U.S. troop buildup and a more aggressive counterinsurgency effort that Bush announced in January.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070823/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_timing_1;_ylt=AuNUb43ScpDisUXpDtO3NoSMwfIE

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. so, the surge has been so unsuccessful that we can't stop the surge?

Perfect pretzel logic for the misadministration of the pretzel boy himself. perfect fit.

[rodeodance]

2. some question the timing of the NIE

Colin Kahl, a former Pentagon analyst and now an assistant professor of national security studies at Georgetown University, said the intelligence community is aware that the timing of the new report — just nine months after the last intelligence estimate on Iraq — looks political. It was dropped this week into the dead calm of an official Washington in the middle of summer vacation.

"I think those working on the NIE were well aware that it would be politically controversial, but I don't get the sense that this was done in the service of helping Petraeus or the administration," said Kahl. "I get the sense that some within the (intelligence community) thought it was unnecessary, and unprecedented, to do another Iraq NIE so close on the heels of the last one."

[monmouth]

3. Will Warner's statement put a damper on this??? eom

[rodeodance]

4. as i hear of Warners announcement, it is a very small --he will not vote for

any timetable and this is only a 'suggestion' to Bush

[FVZA_Colonel]

5. Iraq Report May Bolster Surge Policy

Source: Associated Press

Iraq report may bolster surge policy
By PAMELA HESS

WASHINGTON - Intentionally or not, a new assessment of Iraq's political and military prospects landed just in time to bolster President Bush's case that the United States should maintain its troop buildup in the country and stand by its beleaguered government.

The consensus report by U.S. spy agencies contained a veiled warning: Any move to shift U.S. troops out of their role directly combating insurgents could squander the modest security gains secured by the troop surge.

"A change of mission ... would place security improvements at risk," the report concluded.

That conclusion, coming unanimously from the nation's 16 intelligence agencies, will likely help the administration and its ground commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, argue for patience from a skeptical Congress and public. Petraeus has overseen a U.S. troop buildup and a more aggressive counterinsurgency effort that Bush announced in January.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070823/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_timing

[Demeter]

6. Even Given The Pitiful Little Coverage in the Press, the Surge is a TOTAL FAILURE.

Why do these hacks think they can override the dribbles of truth that come out?

Who are you going to believe, a Congressman, a Bushbot, or your lying eyes?

[mbperrin]

7. Who the HELL ever thought this so called report would do

anything ELSE? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?

[grytpype]

8. I'm thrilled.

Because I want to see Bush, Cheney, the GOP, and the neocons utterly destroyed.

They think if they win the argument in September they are out of the woods.

And they are totally wrong.

If they win the argument in September, it just means the war will rage on through 2008.

And that means bye-bye GOP. We will crush them in November.

[bemildred]

9. Most Policy Experts Call U.S. Surge a Failure, Survey Says

A majority of U.S. foreign policy experts — conservatives and liberals — believe the U.S. “surge” strategy in Iraq is failing, in a sharp reversal of opinion from six months ago, a survey released August 20 has found.

Most favored a drawdown of most U.S. forces over 18 months, but few supported an immediate withdrawal, and a majority believed that regional instability and civil war were likely to follow a pullout, according to the results.

More than 100 foreign policy experts took part in the survey by Foreign Policy magazine and the Center for American Progress, a Washington think tank.

They included two former secretaries of state, a former national security adviser, and former military and intelligence officials, Foreign Policy said in a statement.

http://www.defencetalk.com/news/publish/wars/Most_Policy_Experts_Call_U_S_Surge_a_Failure_Survey_Says130013034.php

[bemildred]

10. Victory in Iraq may not be in sight

The next time you hear confident assurances from the White House and its supporters that the "surge" of U.S. troops in Iraq is working and that something called "victory" is within sight, remember the Yazidis.

The who? Before last Tuesday, you almost certainly would have asked that question -- before two villages in northern Iraq, populated by an obscure religious sect, suffered what is now officially the deadliest terrorist attack of the war, with more than 400 people confirmed dead. The final toll is expected to rise, but the coordinated suicide truck bombings in the Yazidi towns already constitute the second-worst terrorist attack of modern times, trailing only the carnage of Sept. 11, 2001.

Thanks to online encyclopedias, veteran foreign correspondents and the work of dedicated scholars, we now have a boilerplate definition. The Yazidis are ethnic Kurds who practice an ancient, pre-Islamic religion. Among their beliefs is that God created seven archangels, one of whom is sometimes called Shaytan, which is the name given to Satan in the Koran. This has led some Muslims to believe, incorrectly, that the Yazidis are devil-worshipers.

We also now know that in April, a Yazidi woman who had married a Muslim and converted to Islam was stoned to death by irate members of her community. This horror was captured on video and disseminated widely; angry Muslims gunned down 23 Yazidis in reprisal.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070822/OPINION03/708220304/1008/OPINION01