Iraq

4/9/2008 -- During a town hall in Aliquippa, PA today, Hillary Clinton outlined solutions to strengthen our military, which has been placed under tremendous strain due to the Iraq War. Her proposals would reduce stress on our armed forces by providing troops with at least one month at home for every month they spend in the field. She would also end the stop-loss policy and ensure that the Department of Defense abides by its contracts with all our troops.

An Army soldier uses a pile of dead branches for cover during a patrol through a village southeast of Salman Pak, Iraq: U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Timothy Kingston    » read more »

10 April 2008 -- Lawmakers have pressed the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, about the duration of the U.S. military presence in Iraq, and political progress by the Iraqi government. Two men faced a second day of questions on Capitol Hill, this time before House of Representatives committees.

Soldiers descending a staircase: U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Andrew M. Rodier

Petraeus and Crocker essentially repeated lengthy statements they delivered Tuesday to U.S. Senate committees.

Each was pressed for answers about the future U.S. commitment to Iraq, capabilities of Iraqi forces, as well as strains on the military and the U.S. economy.    » read more »

10 April 2008 -- U.S. officials say President Bush plans to announce Thursday a reduction in U.S. Army combat tours in Iraq from 15 months to 12 months.

The officials say the move is meant to ease the strain of extended deployments on the U.S. military. It will bring U.S. Army rotations back to what they were before last year's U.S. troop surge in Iraq.

Soldiers cover each other while on patrol southeast of Salman Pak, Iraq, Feb. 15, 2008: U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Timothy Kingston

The shorter deployments will apply to troops sent to Iraq beginning in August, but not to troops already there.

President Bush is due to announce the move in a speech outlining his future Iraq policy.    » read more »

April 8, 2008 -- With General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker testifying before Congress today and tomorrow, John McCain and his campaign continue to put politics ahead of a responsible way forward in Iraq. Instead of outlining his plan for the future, explaining whether his vision of a 100 year troop presence in Iraq includes permanent bases there,
Iraqi National Police and U.S. Army Soldiers conduct a search for weapons caches and insurgent activity in Saydiah: A province in the Al Rashid district of Baghdad, Iraq, March 20, 2008. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Greg Pierot)    » read more »

WASHINGTON (Tuesday, April 8) -- The members of Vermont’s Congressional Delegation – U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) -- Tuesday renewed their support for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq and disagreed with Gen. David Petraeus’ call for freezing troop levels in Iraq and for keeping the door open to U.S. involvement in the Iraq conflict for the foreseeable future.

U.S. Army Soldiers from the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team engage anti-Iraqi forces in Buhriz, Iraq, March 14, 2007: The soldiers are conducting their first mission in the Diyala province. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Stacy L. Pearsall)    » read more »

Warns Administration Against Negotiating Long-Term Commitment Without Approval By Congress

April 8, 2008 -- Washington, DC – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton questioned General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker on the situation in Iraq today at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. She challenged the supposed success of the President’s troop surge, noting the lack of substantive political progress in the country.

   » read more »

April 8, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on testimony today of General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the war in Iraq:

“It is clear from today’s testimony by General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker that the Iraqi government remains unwilling or unable to take the steps necessary to reach the political reconciliation needed to secure their country’s future.

“General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker made it official that the Bush Administration will not reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq below pre-surge levels. That is not a policy that appropriately reflect the enormous costs of the war in Iraq, nor what the American people want.    » read more »

08 April 2008 -- The top U.S. military commander in Iraq, and the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad, face another day of questions from members of Congress Wednesday. House of Representatives lawmakers will press them on their assessment of progress in Iraq and the need for an ongoing commitment of U.S. troops.

General David Petraeus and President George W. Bush: Photo courtesy White House

Testifying on Tuesday before the Senate armed services and foreign relations committees, Iraq commander General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker described progress in Iraq as fragile and reversible.    » read more »

BAGHDAD, April 8, 2008 – Days after intense fighting and the March 30 call to peace from Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers patrol the outskirts of Sadr City, a district of the Iraqi capital, ensuring the safety of the city’s residents.

Sadr City has been the backdrop of many conflicts for coalition forces since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

U.S. Army soldiers on patrol in Sadr City pass open sewer: Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christina Bhatti

It’s the poorest of all Baghdad districts and historically has been a safe haven for terrorists.    » read more »

United States Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing (As Prepared for Delivery)

April 8, 2008 -- "I join in welcoming Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus to the Senate Armed Services Committee. I know I join with most Americans in expressing appreciation for the courage and dedication of our brave mean and women serving in Iraq under difficult and dangerous circumstances.

Two AH-64D Apache attack helicopters from 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Camp Taji, Iraq: U.S. Army photo by CW4 Daniel McClinton, 1-227th, 1st ACB, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs (CC)    » read more »

April 8, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC- Today, Senators Edward M. Kennedy and Joseph Biden released a report detailing the lack of American leadership in the Iraqi refugee crisis. An estimated two million Iraqi refugees have been displaced from their homes and are living in Syria and Jordan, with another two million displaced within Iraq.

A young Iraqi refugee in Syria: An Iraqi refugee boy stands beside his mother, who holds her registration certificate from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Photo by Catholic Relief Services (CC)    » read more »

April 8, 2008 -- "Welcome General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. Thank you for joining us today, and thank you for your service to our nation. Please express our deep gratitude to the brave men and women serving in Iraq both in our armed forces and in the civilian agencies of our government.

U.S. Army Sgt. provides security during a cordon and search of a factory in Mahmudiyah, Iraq, April 1, 2008: U.S. Army Sgt. Brandon Maybush, 320th Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Richard Del Vecchio.    » read more »

U. of Penn Professor Argues We Are Suffering from a Self-Inflicted Disaster

April 7, 2008 -- March 25, Oakland, Calif—Five years after invading Iraq—a war that was sold as short-term—the U.S. is constructing permanent bases in the country and has no plans to withdraw. Presidential candidate, Senator John McCain, has endorsed an indefinite presence, lasting even a hundred years.

Taken as a whole, the War on Terror has cost the U.S. $650 billion, 30,000 wounded Americans, more than 4,000 lives, and invaluable civil liberties. Yet the conflict has uncovered no weapons of mass destruction and has succeeded only in radicalizing and augmenting the terrorist threat.    » read more »

April 7, 2008 -- WASHINGTON – Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., today expressed disappointment with the decision of Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell not to release an unclassified summary of key conclusions and assessments included in the new National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq.

Soldiers on search mission in Al Sinaa, Iraq, April 1, 2008: U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Shane Chapman gives a soldier a boost in order to see over a door for possible threats during a cordon and search mission in Al Sinaa, Iraq, on April 1, 2008. Photo: US Army    » read more »

07 April 2008 --Failed and weak states are unable for various reasons to provide security and other basic services for their citizens. The Bush administration and a growing number of foreign policy experts say failed states pose a threat to world peace and security. But there are critics who argue that intervening in a failed state can do more harm than good.

Gul Khan was just a boy when his family left its village near Jalalabad to escape the war in Afghanistan. For more than 30 years, he lived in Pakistan because he says it was too dangerous to return. Today he is coming home.

"I am asking my brothers and villagers to come back to this village and this lovely country. If they come back, we can rebuild," he said.    » read more »