Iraqi-American-Blogger: The War In Is Not Over

By Lisa Kellmna

Despite President Obama’s assurance last week that all American troops will be out of Iraq by the end of the year, Iraqi-American blogger, Raed Jarrar, in an interview today, insisted while this will help Iraq move forward, America will continue to have an obtrusive presence .

Jarrad and those in Iraq believe the war will not end until military and non military American forces erase their footprint in Iraq completely.

By the end of 2011, The U.S. Department of Defense will remove the 40,000 troops still stationed in Iraq, shut all U.S. military bases and hand them over to the Iraqis, leaving only 160 service members in the Iraqi Embassy as part of the Office of Security Cooperation.  

The U.S. Department of State, on the other hand, plans on doubling its personnel from 8,000 to 16,000, half of whom will be armed, in order to train Iraqi soldiers and government members and provide basic aid.

However, training is not the issue argued Jarrar.

“Iraqis and neighboring countries view the Iraqi government and armed forces as puppets of a foreign occupation and legitimacy will not be brought to them by the U.S. presence,” Jarrar said.

Jarrar acknowledged Iraq’s broken military and political system, but emphasized America’s military presence has not nor will ever be part of the solution.

According to Jarrar, to help Iraqis, America needs to cease its military and non military intervention in Iraq.  Those in Iraq who have committed crimes and contributed to Iraq’s downfall need to be held responsible, and the U.S. needs to compensate Iraqis for the destruction it has caused since first arriving.

“The vast majority of solutions will come from within Iraq, by Iraqis, and for Iraqis, things that foreigners cannot and should not attempt to fix,” said Jarrar.  

Seven Anti-War Demonstrators Arrested At House Hearing

Seven anti-war protesters were arrested by Capitol Police Thursday after repeatedly interrupting the testimony of Defense officials at a House Armed Services hearing.

The anti-war demonstrators, who have been identified as part of the Occupy DC movement in Freedom Plaza, teamed up with Code Pink and shuffled their way into the crowded hearing room that was expected to hear testimony from Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin Dempsey.

According to a statement released by October2011.org, an advocate website for the Occupy DC movement, one of the demonstrators arrested was 21-year-old veteran Michael Patterson, who was deployed to Iraq as an interrogator at the age of 18.

Patterson interrupted the testimony of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and was eventually arrested and escorted from the hearing room by two Capitol Police officers.

“You are murdering people,” Patterson shouted. “I saw what you do to people in Iraq.”

Demonstrators who failed to infiltrate the hearing room continued to shout, “We are the 99 percent and we don’t support these wars,” throughout the hallways of Rayburn House Office Building.

The seven demonstrators were arrested and charged with disruption of Congress.

Biden: Iraqis Ready To Take Charge

Vice President Joe Biden applauded the success of the United States military in Iraq and said the people of Iraq are ready to step up to the plate and “take charge” of their country.

At a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Indianapolis Monday, the Vice-President expressed his confidence in the Iraqi people and said that political leaders must rise up and match the commitment made by the people.

“It’s time for them to match the courage of their citizens,” Biden said. “I’m absolutely confident that Iraq will form a national unity government that will be able to sustain that country.”

Despite U.S. success in Iraq, the omnipresent statement seems to echo from the mouths of all political leaders addressing the issue; the war is not over.

“Drawing down our troops does not mean disengaging from Iraq,” Biden said. “In fact, quite the opposite is true.”

Biden’s address comes just eight days before President Barack Obama plans to address the military’s official transition from Operation Iraqi Freedom to Operation New Dawn on the last day of the month.

Report Could Prevent Next 9/11, Says Military Official

By Linn Grubbstrom - Talk Radio News Service

Implementing ideas contained in a 2008 report put out by a top Washington think-tank would protect the U.S. from the next big terrorist attack, said a top military official on Friday.

The report entitled, “Measuring Progress In Conflict Environments (MPICE),” provides the DOD with a framework of ideas aimed at bringing stability to war-torn nations, like Iraq and Afghanistan. A co-editor of the report, Col. John Agoglia, Director of the Counterinsurgency Training Center in Kabul, Afghanistan, said it would have sped up progress during the Iraq War.

“I think we would have cut the stabilization pace in Iraq by at least half, if not two-thirds,” he said via telephone from Kabul during a discussion held by the United States Institute of Peace on Friday. 

“Hopefully for folks who are sitting there for the next 9-11 - hopefully there won’t be one, but let’s not kid ourselves, there probably will be - they will have a process by which they can sift through what’s going on, identify what are the causes of instability that resulted in the conflict that we’re in and articulate to the policy-makers what challenges we face, what resources it costs and more importantly, how much time it will take,” he said.

The full report is online and can be found by clicking here.

“The Most Dangerous Credit Card in the History of the World”

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

>
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio)
Photo by Michael Ruhl

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) called congressional voting cards “the most dangerous credit card in the history of the world”, because then enable Congress and the president to engage in reckless spending. This was not Boehner's first criticism of Obama, but his statement came on the 101st day of the Obama Administration, a time which Boehner has criticized as being pock marked with excessive borrowing, reckless spending and a massive growth in government.

Boehner said that Democrat’s “record on spending and debt is staggering, but our economy is growing weaker, and it’s not going to get any better by growing the size of the government here in Washington.”

Boehner believes that the Democratically controlled Congress has enabled and contributed to the recklessness, and thinks it is up to the Republicans to put a stop to it. Republicans must be “the party of better solutions” if they are going to stand up to the Democrats in Congress, Boehner said, adding that he hopes Democrats will be committed to a bipartisan policy approach..

Citing the elections of 2008, Boehner said “out brand has been tarnished”, but to help the party serve the American people, Republicans must stand up to the Obama Administration when disagreements arise, and to offer alternative solutions.

Leader Boehner applauded President Obama on his strategy towards Afghanistan and Iraq, but showed concern at Obama’s greater national security policy.

“The big question continues to be: what is the Administration’s overarching plan to fight terrorism? Judging from their recent decision to release 30 terrorist detainees with no plan on where to put them, it continues to beg the question,” referring to Obama’s closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center without knowing where the detainees will be sent.