Ambassador Gerald B. Helman writes: Absent the unexpected, it is unlikely that a security agreement in the form of a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between Iraq and the US will be in place before our Presidential elections and almost as unlikely before the end of the year when the present UN Security Council mandate […]
US Raid inside Syria Kills 8
US troops made a raid inside Syrian territory near Iraq, according to Syrian media, which left 8 persons (the Syrians say civilians) dead. What is odd is that the Bush administration did not behave that way when the infiltration of fundamentalist vigilantes from the Syrian side was a more significant problem. I don’t know if […]
Obama and McCain on Iraq
Although the US public trusts Sen. Barack Obama to handle the economy far more than it does Sen. John McCain, the two are viewed as equally able with regard to handling Iraq and the ‘war on terrorism.’ Of course, given that the public in earlier years had tended to give the edge to Republicans on […]
Sunni Party Cuts off US in Iraq;
The Iraqi Islamic Party, led by Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, said it was suspending further high-level contact with the United States on Saturday. The Sunni fundamentalist group is angry about a raid in Fallujah in which US troops killed a member of the IIP. The US military contends that the man opened fire on […]
Top Five Mistakes of the McCain Campaign in the past Week
1. McCain and Palin called up fraudster Ashley Todd and ‘wishing her a speedy recovery’ after she lied about being attacked by a tall Black man who carved a ‘B’ into her cheek. 2. They did no fact-checking, and if they can’t do fact-checking before a telephone call like that now, when can we expect […]
Al-Maliki Will Not Sign Security Agreement
McClatchy reports that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has reneged on the security agreement that his office negotiated with the Bush administration, and now says he will not sign it and will not submit it to parliament. Instead, it is likely that Iraq will go back to the United Nations Security Council for a further mandate […]
Palin the Plumber; Wardrobe Purchases Violate McCain-Feingold Law!
Young Turks on Sarah Palin’s $150,000 wardrobe, purchased at Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue out of campaign contributions by the Republican National Committee. And, “wardrobe-gate” is illegal under the campaign finance law McCain helped write! ‘ SEC. 313. USE OF CONTRIBUTED AMOUNTS FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.(a) PERMITTED USES- …(b) PROHIBITED USE- (1) IN GENERAL- A […]
13 Killed, 24 Wounded in Attack on Minister; More Christians Flee Mosul Sadrist Parliamentarians on Strike against Security Agreement
A car bomber attacked a convoy he thought was conveying the Iraqi labor minister, Mahmoud al Radhi on Thursday, killing 13 persons and wounding 24, according to McClatchy. Al Radhi is a member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, headed by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, a fundamentalist Shiite party close to the ayatollahs in Tehran. […]
Dabbagh Rejects Bush Pressure Tactics on Iraq; Al-Haeri Declares Security Agreement Illicit; Irrelevancy of Al-Qaeda on McCain
Iraqi government spokesman Ali Dabbagh reacted sharply on Wednesday to comments of US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen last Tuesday that Iraqis did not have much time to pass the agreement and might not understand the full consequences of failure to do so. Dabbagh said, “It is not correct to […]
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