Lobotero’s Info Ink

How long will this continue? This is very old news, but yet they just keep firing away at it. Is there any intelligent people left that does know how badly the Iraq situation was handled? If there are, please, just leave them under their rock, we do not need them out and about.

A nearly 700-page study released Sunday by the Army found that “in the euphoria of early 2003,” U.S.-based commanders prematurely believed their goals in Iraq had been reached and did not send enough troops to handle the occupation.

The report said it wasn’t until July 16, 2003, that Franks’ successor, Gen. John Abizaid, said coalition forces were facing a classic guerrilla insurgency.

Even so, the coalition made some progress, only to have its optimism dashed after the insurgency boiled over in April 2004, when Sunni Arab insurgents and Shiite militias launched violent assaults in many parts of Iraq, the report said.

The authors said the Army had considerable experience and training for guerrilla wars but had not been in one like Iraq since 1992 in Somalia. They said former Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Franks “that he thought too few troops were envisioned in the (invasion) plan.”

Some commanders told the authors they asked about plans for making the country stable and got no answers.

The “post-war situation in Iraq was severely out of line with the suppositions made at nearly every level before the war,” the report said.

Its writers said it was clear in January 2005 that the Army would remain in Iraq for some time, the writers concluded. The report covered the period from May 2003 to January 2005.

OKay, we now know that the invasion and occupation were f*cked up! Can we please move on to solving the problem? Restating the obvious, over and over and over, does nothing to stop the killing of Americans in Iraq.

The Pentagon is preparing to order roughly 30,000 troops to Iraq early next year in a move that would allow the U.S. to maintain 15 combat brigades in the country through 2009, The Associated Press has learned.

Petraeus told Congress in May that he is likely to recommend further troop reductions in Iraq, but he did not provide any details. If he decides in the fall that fewer brigades will be needed in Iraq during the next year, there is the chance that brigades could simply be directed to the war in Afghanistan instead.

Overall, there are about 146,000 forces in Iraq, and that number is expected to dip to about 142,000 by mid-July when that last unit is all out. That total is at least 7,000 more than the number of troops in Iraq before the buildup began early last year.

Now where is the promised draw down?  Oh yeah, and then there would be a re-evaluation of the situation before more troops were drawn down.  Wait!  Wait!  If you smell crap–SAY IT!

According to a report issued last week by the human rights organization Amnesty International, the plight of nearly 5 million Iraqis displaced from their homes since the American invasion of 2003 is worsening in nearly every respect.

The report cites the atrocious living conditions in most of Iraq as an additional factor driving people to flee the country. According to Oxfam, in 2007 70 percent of Iraqis had no access to clean drinking water and 43 percent were living on less than a dollar a day. Child malnutrition has increased from 19 percent in 2003 to 28 percent last year.

About half of Iraqis who have fled their homes remain in other parts of Iraq because of the increasing restrictions on leaving the country. Denial of access to refuge abroad is at least in part due to the actions of the Iraqi government, which—along with its American masters—has a vested interest in reducing the number of people fleeing the country.

The report, for example, notes that one factor in the Syrian government’s decision to introduce stricter visa requirements for Iraqis crossing the boarder was “the request of the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.”

Iraqi refugees in Syria have access to the public health system, but the system itself cannot meet their needs. Iraq families are often required to make a financial contribution for treatment that they cannot afford. In addition, Iraqis in Syria suffer from a much higher incidence of trauma because of their experiences in Iraq and have complex psychological needs that go untreated.

Five hundred thousand Iraqi refugees reside in Jordan (8 percent of the population). Here, if anything, the situation is even worse than in Syria. Access to Jordan is also highly restricted. The report observes that young men in particular are turned back at the border. In May the Jordanian government instituted new visa requirements, forcing Iraqis to apply for visas before they travel to Jordan.

Most Iraqis in Jordan have no legal status. Iraqis with no residence permit must pay US$761 for every year that they are without official status. Further, Iraqis are not permitted to work. As in Syria, Iraqis in Jordan are becoming poorer every week. Some work illegally, the report says, “where they are reported to be vulnerable to low pay, exploitation, and arbitrary dismissals.” Rents are also on the rise, and Iraqi families are now sharing apartments and, in many cases, rooms with others.

In a related report issued last week, the United Nations Committee on Human Rights documented an increase in the number of global refugees and internally displaced persons to 67 million in 2007, up 2.5 million from a year before. About half of these have fled their homes because of natural disasters (or the inability of states to deal with disasters), and the remainder because of armed conflict. Iraq and Somalia saw some of the largest changes between 2006 and 2007 in the numbers of internally displaced persons.

Asked if the surge is working, most American politicians will say yes, but ask that same question to an Iraqi and you will most likely get a different answer.

In Iraq for 25, 50 100 years?  With stories like this, then I would say there is a good possibility unless someone has the cajones to end it!

Iraqi security forces are unable to maintain order following operations targeting al-Qaida fighters in the northern city of Mosul, officials said Thursday.

U.S. and Iraqi authorities view Mosul, the provincial capital of Ninawa, as one of the last remaining al-Qaida strongholds in Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered a military crackdown in the northern city in May.

The gains from these operations, however, have disintegrated as militant groups re-entered the city and gunmen reportedly are roaming the streets in force, the Iraqi daily Azzaman reported.

Ninawa officials said there was an insufficient number of Iraqi troops to maintain security following operations in May.

“Residents are hopeless once again after shortly enjoying the faint light at the end of the tunnel,” officials said on condition of anonymity.

Officials said they are also concerned about the presence of the Kurdish Peshmerga force, which guards their political districts in the largely Arab city.

At least 18 people died and nearly 80 were wounded in a car bomb attack in Mosul Thursday that targeted the offices of Ninawa Provincial Governor Duraid Kashmula.

The media has successfully pushed Iraq to the back burner and not reported on the war as it should be.  There are still Americans dying in this country and for this president so I believe that anything that happens in the country of Iraq is newsworthy.  Our troops deserve better treatment by the media.

Insurgent activity is increasing sharply in Afghanistan and has spread into once stable areas, with attacks up almost 40% in the eastern provinces alone, according to new American military data that have prompted alarm among senior Pentagon officials.

Rising attacks against Afghan and NATO troops in the east represent the latest in a series of troubling developments that have led to markedly higher U.S. casualties and have prompted the military’s top leadership to order a review of its strategy in Afghanistan, including how to make do with limited numbers of American troops. Any significant troop increase in Afghanistan would be dependent on future force drawdowns in Iraq.
Southern Afghanistan has long been the most violent part of the country, and U.S. officers have complained that shorter tours of NATO commanders in the south have hampered the counterinsurgency effort. The current southern commander, Canadian Maj. Gen. Marc Lessard, is serving a 10-month tour. Incoming commanders would serve at least 12 months under the new pact. More broadly, senior U.S. military officers hope to hammer out a “comprehensive campaign plan” with NATO allies, which would include agreements on military strategy as well as such efforts as counter-narcotics programs and reinforcing the Afghan government.
Despite the unexpected rise in violence in eastern Afghanistan, Schloesser did not call for additional forces in his region. American-led forces there are facing a patchwork of Sunni Muslim groups, unlike in the south, where the Taliban is resurgent. Schloesser attributed the increase in attacks in part to more aggressive patrols by Afghan and allied troops into previously untrod areas.

You would think that the only war being fought today that can be justified, would have more support from the rest of the world.  Americans need to pay more and closer attention to this war.

For months, maybe years, there is been a ever increasing crescendo of chest thumping because of something Iran has proposed to do, that being the development of nuclear technology.  Of one side says it is for the approaching need of more energy and the other is determined to say that it is because they, Iran, want nuclear weapons.  Now you be the judge of what side is really telling the truth.  That argument has been played to death.

All I want to do is offer up what , if anything, the Iranians would if they were truly attacked in one way or another.

But increasingly military analysts are warning of severe consequences if the US begins a shooting war with Iran. While Iranian forces are no match for American technology on a conventional battlefield, Iran has shown that it can bite back in unconventional ways.

Iranian networks in Iraq and Afghanistan could imperil US interests there; American forces throughout the Gulf region could be targeted by asymmetric methods and lethal rocket barrages; and Iranian partners across the region – such as Hezbollah in Lebanon – could be mobilized to engage in an anti-US fight.

Iran’s response could also be global, analysts say, but the scale would depend on the scale of the US attack. “One very important issue from a US intelligence perspective, [the Iranian reaction] is probably more unpredictable than the Al Qaeda threat,” says Magnus Ranstorp at the Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defense College in Stockholm.

Analysts say Iran has a number of tools to make good on those threats and take pride in taking on a more powerful enemy. “This is not something they are shying away from,” says Alex Vatanka, a Middle East security analyst at Jane’s Information Group in Washington.

“They say: ‘Conventional warfare is not something we can win against the US, but we have other assets in the toolbox,’ ” says Mr. Vatanka, noting that the IRGC commander appointed last fall has been “marketed as this genius behind asymmetric warfare doctrine.”

we can only hope that none of this is academic and that sanity will be returned to the international scene, but in case it does not, then be prepared for whatver will happen.  Peace!  Out!

Israel on Wednesday publicly pushed to open peace negotiations with Lebanon, seeking to add another initiative to an already burgeoning diplomatic roster that includes talks with some of the Jewish state’s foremost adversaries.

While Lebanon immediately indicated it has no desire for a deal with Israel, the overture came just a day after Israel agreed to a truce with the armed Islamist group Hamas that took effect early Thursday in and around the Gaza Strip. Israel is also negotiating a prisoner exchange with Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite movement it fought to a standstill in 2006, and last month announced the resumption of long-stalled peace talks with Syria.

The sudden diplomatic activity represents a turnabout from just this spring, when Israel was leading the charge for the world to isolate — rather than engage — armed groups and Middle Eastern governments considered hostile to the West. In its policies and pronouncements, Israel favored sanctions over dialogue and threats of force over cease-fires.

Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, if they happen, would probably be intimately linked to the talks between Israel and Syria, which are being mediated by Turkey.

There is widespread skepticism in Israel that the negotiations will amount to much, although there is a possibility that Olmert will meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at a conference in France next month, a move that would be likely to further weaken U.S. efforts to isolate Syria.

Many Israeli commentators believe Olmert is launching the diplomatic initiatives only to deflect attention from a corruption probe that threatens to bring down his government. But some note that there could be benefits, even if the motives are complex.

Maybe if the two sides spend more time talking with each other, then maybe, just maybe, they will not have enough time to kill each other.  Just a thought.

A recent decision by the US Supreme Court stated that terrorists suspects may appeal their detention.   And boy did this open a flood gate of gum bumping!

Most of the people are saying that these people are not citizens and have no rights.  Or that they are terrorist suspects and have no rights.  Ok, my problem is the word suspect.  These people have not been convicted of a crime and should have all the rights of anyone in a US court.  To me these situations at Gitmo are a violation of the Bill of Rights, amendments 7,8 & 9.

Then there is the length of their detention and the reports of torture.  Those are separate issues that will be covered later.  I do not understand the uproar over this decision.  Several years ago an American citizen was tried and convicted of a crime in Singapore and was sentenced to punishment by caning.  There was an uproar  from Americans of cruel and unusual punishment .  My point is that we as a country should offer anyone being held for a crime to the same moral and legal standards.

Peace between Israel and Syria will usher in a new era of prosperity and allow people to travel freely throughout the Middle East, Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad told the Chicago Tribune Tuesday.

“When people can move freely between Syria, Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Egypt, a great change will take place,” Mekdad told the U.S. daily in an interview. “Our people will enjoy life without bad dreams of the martyrdom of their children, we will improve living conditions and we will open up to the international community. The impact of peace will be bliss for the entire region.” Riad Abrash, an aide to the government in Damascus, was quoted as saying that Syria would like the U.S. to participate in further talks with Israel. “We would like America to be the caretaker of the whole thing. We don’t expect them to do it under this administration but we have high hopes for the next administration,” Abrash said.

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said yesterday that indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria held in Turkey over the past few days were a success, and two more sessions have been planned for July.

Appears that war has finally made all players see the need for a peaceful settlement of the hostilities.

An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip that could ease a crippling Israeli blockade of the coastal territory will begin Thursday, an Israeli official has confirmed.

The announcement of the ceasefire came on a day when Israel killed six militants in air strikes in Gaza. The ceasefire aims to end rocket and mortar bomb attacks on Israel from the coastal enclave and Israeli raids and air strikes in the territory.

Confirming details provided to Reuters by a Palestinian official in Gaza on Tuesday, Zaki said the truce would go into effect at 6 a.m. (11 p.m. Wednesday ET) on Thursday.

Hamas leader in Gaza Mahmoud al-Zahar told a news conference in Gaza City that the truce was intended to last six months. Israel has said it would continue preparing for possible large-scale military action should a truce fall apart.

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said his group believed the ceasefire would hold and help those living in the coastal enclave: “We believe that what was agreed upon will last and the Palestinian people will see the fruits of their endurance.

U.S. officials, who reject contact with Hamas because they view it as a terrorist organization, dismissed suggestions they were being eclipsed as peace brokers

The White House had no comment on reports of the truce.