Happy Anniversary? For Many in Iraq, Bush Thinks Five Years of “Operation” Means Just That

Today’s five year anniversary of the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom provided President Bush with an opportunity to reflect upon the successes his administration has had in restoring democracy, securing America, and championing terror in the Middle East.

The President spoke before a room packed with high ranking military officials with a speech focused on thanking the armed forces, defending the tough decisions he has made as Commander-in-Chief since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, and his insistence that the battle that currently rages on in Iraq is one we “must win.”

Citing the fact that Iraqi’s now hold free elections, Bush noted that Iraqi citizens are able to enjoy freedoms they could only dream of under the brutal Sadaam Hussein, a dictator Bush noted, “We got.”

Bush acknowledged that winning in Iraq has been longer and more expensive than his administration initially assumed. Should we leave now Bush maintained, we would risk “emboldening” yet-to-be-found terrorists, obsessed with harming the American people. Bush also noted the success the “surge” US forces working to combat terror has had. Today, said the President, more than 90,000 Iraqi’s fight for their country alongside the United States.

Bush explained that criticisms about the cost of the war have been “exaggerated.” “Men and women,” Bush said, “who love liberty, can defeat the terrorists.” Hopefully, when the 10 year anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom is reached, American’s can reflect upon a war finally over, not one still raging on.

House Committee hearing on U.S. Response to Iraqi Refugee Crisis

At the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on "Neglected Responsibilities: The U.S. Response to the Iraqi Refugee Crisis," Chairman Gary L. Ackerman, (D-NY) said Congress increased to 5000 the number of Special Immigrant Visas available to Iraqis who worked for the United States. However, in terms of refugees, only 1,608 were resettled during Fiscal Year 2007. In order to reach the goal of 12,000 refugees resettled during this Fiscal Year, he said, the Administration would have to triple the number of refugees processed each month. A year later, and we have yet to "seize the moment" in terms of rehabilitating the image of the United States in the Middle East.

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) said that is it not the job of the United States to subsidize refugees in Jordan or anywhere else, if they are able to go home. We should do our best, he said, in our ability to help assist them in Iraq.

Congressman William Delahunt (D-MA) said the reality of Iraqis living outside of Iraq is they cannot return because conditions do not exist for their return. They cannot go home, he said, or they'd be killed. Our response should also work to prevent further erosion of how we are viewed in the Middle East. If we are concerned about terrorism, he said, it's in our national interest to "step up." If the vast numbers of refugees are not treated with respect, it will be the new "breeding ground" for terrorists.

James B. Foley, Senior Coordinator of Iraqi Refugee Issues, U.S. Department of State, said third country resettlement is for the desperate people that cannot go home even if they want to. However, he said, we can begin "in country" processing, thanks to a more secure Iraq. About one hundred Iraqis are being processed in Baghdad currently. A second reason we can begin processing is that Syria has recognized that humanitarian goals need to be reached. We are doing everything we can, he said, and we are committed to processing refugees right where they are located in Iraq. On a large scale it is daunting in regards to logistical steps and security, he said, but they will move as fast as possible.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) Criticizes "Shameful" U.S. Spending In Iraq

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) chaired a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing addressing wasted money, fraud, and the abuse of American tax money in the reconstruction of Iraq.

The Committee interrogated a panel of leaders knowledgeable about the wasted funds spent by the Bush Administration. Leahy described the carefree spending as "shameful." Leahy and the Committee criticized Bush's funding and close relationship with the controversial Halliburton Energy Corporation, and a lack of responsible oversight for government spending over the course of the war and during rebuilding efforts.

Panel members explained that America has had some success in Iraq, urging that sustaining the improvements we have made in the war-ravished nation is necessary to ensuring our success remains permanent. Leahy and the Committee each agreed that spending accountability should be held for the sake of both taxpayers and U.S. soldiers.

The hearing also featured a number of protestors in the audience, as well as photographs of American's in Iraq holding bags of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money.

Chairman Ackerman and Chairman Delahunt Angry at the Administration's Lack of Cooperation

The Foreign Affairs Committee held a joint hearing today on discussing the U.S. commitments to Iraq. The subcommittees organizing the hearing were the Middle East and the South Asia, led by Chairman Gary L. Ackerman (D-NY), and International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight, led by William D. Delahunt (D-MA).

The hearing was scheduled to have two different panels. First with the Honorable David Satterfield, senior advisor to the Secretary and Coordinator to Iraq, U.S. State Department, and the Honorable Mary Beth Long, assistant Secretary of Defense on International Security Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense. Professor Oona A. Hathaway from Yale Law School and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Lawrence Korb were the witnesses of the second panel.

Senior adviser David Satterfield presented the “progress towards developing a basic framework for normalized relations with the Iraqi government, which will include what is known as a Status of Forces Agreement”. This agreement raised couple of concerns amongst the members of the committee. They were upset of the ongoing lack of consultation of the current administration with Congress. The issue of starting a war without the authorization of Congress was also brought up by Chairman Ackerman, leaving both representatives of the departments with no direct answers. The chairman also questioned the administration’s ability to understand and act upon the Constitution

Current and former commdanders give outlook of slow progress in Iraq

Iraq was the topic of the day at the Pentagon, where current and former commanders took time to update the press on operations in Iraq and the outlook for troop levels and military strategy in the future.

Gen. James Dubik, commander of Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq, explained about the transfer of power from Coalition to Iraqi security forces. He explained the substantial growth in the forces that has occurred between June and December of 2007. While limited number of Iraqi security units, army and national police, are conducting and, in some cases, leading operations, the coalition, and primarily the United States remains responsible for weapons and logistical support, or what Dubik called enabling forces. He said that the challenge of handing over the capabilities and of speeding up the vetting process for growing the ranks remains.

Another important appearance was made by former second-in-command in Iraq Gen. Ray Odierno. Odierno has been moved out of Iraq and replaced by Gen. Lloyd Austin as Multinational Corps commander. Odierno was able to draw some conclusions for the press corps about the progress in Iraq over his 15 months as a commander. He said that there have been large security gains on account of the surge, though he said that these gains have not reached a point where they are totally irreversible. However he did say that he was comfortable with planned troop reductions and that that point where gains were irreversible did not have to be reached before the troop dawn downs could continue as scheduled. Within the next week the number of brigade combat teams will be reduced to 18 and then down to 15 by July of 2008.

Odierno did take a rare step into politics saying that any presidential candidate should consider the strategy of assessment of all conditions before acting on draw down. Odierno said it was too early to talk about what specific withdrawal plans from the candidates would look like because as he said, "a lot can change in Iraq in 10 months."



Odierno has insight on the subject of Iran, specifically president Ahmadinejad's recent visit to Baghdad. When U.S. visitors have come to Baghdad in the past there is often some kind of security situation, specifically rocket attacks by what Odierno called "Iraninan surrogates." The reason why Ahmadinejad was able to walk around more freely, said Odierno, was because those militant groups were not attacking. He said he hopes that Iraqis will continue to see Iranian meddling and recognized that it is their training and directions to surrogate militant groups that are causing problems for Iraqis.

He said that overall the surge was a success, not only because of the increase in numbers but the change in tactics. He credited the decrease in abilities of al-Qaida in Iraq to the fact that coalition forces were in the neighborhoods and that the Sons of Iraq program had made supporters of coalitions forces more recognizable.