In a show of good faith, Vice President Joe Biden flew to Baghdad Thursday evening on his unprecedented three-day visit. Typically, a high-level official – like Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney – only remains in the country for a day or less, so the trip is unusually long. But Biden said this [...]

While some have worried that the Democratic controlled Congress might strip our war efforts of funding, that wasn’t the case in the House where members passed $97 billion in war funding by a vote of 368-60 — $12 billion more than President Obama requested.
The senate is in the process of passing a similar bill, making [...]

For those who’ve worried that under the command of President Obama, our military in Iraq won’t be able to adjust to realities on the ground, there’s this story out of Mosul. Conditions in the region are not good and our forces are likely postpone the scheduled withdrawal if Iraqi authorities ask us to stay.
Army Colonel [...]

More fun from the neo-conservatives.
Here’s the transcript…
MATTHEWS: The polling that took place before we attacked, conducted by “Time” and CNN, showed that 72 percent of the American people, nearly three quarters, believed it was likely that Saddam Hussein was involved in the attack on us 9/11. How do you think they got that idea, that [...]

One of my favorite comedians is on his way overseas to entertain our brave men and women and he’s posting a lot of pictures and commentary detailing the whole thing.
Here’s the first entry…
Last December (2008) I went to Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the Seargent Major Tour for the USO. I did shows [...]

On a strategy for troop withdrawal and residual presence in Iraq, at least:
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), President Obama’s campaign opponent, went to the White House Thursday for a briefing on the president’s plan for a timetable for a troop drawdown in Iraq. Before heading down Pennsylvania Avenue, he said he was already largely on board.
McCain [...]

Barack Obama’s early campaign was fueled, in part, by his opposition to the war in Iraq. Now, as president, he looks ready to live up to his promise to remove our troops from the nation we invaded almost six years ago.
Obama’s plan would pull out all combat troops 19 months after his inauguration, although he [...]

“The original intelligence was wrong, no question about it. But there were parts of it that were right. It wasn’t 100 percent wrong. It was correct in saying he had the technology. It was correct in saying he still had the people who knew how to build weapons of mass destruction. I think it was [...]

The end of this year has seemed filled with bad news. So here’s something that went right in 2008: American troop deaths in Iraq were down 66% from 2007. That’s a drop from 906 to 309.
The direct cause for the decrease in fatalities is obvious. Attacks in Iraq have dropped from an average of 180 [...]

He had the type of access to Bush that journalists would kill for and it resulted in a bunch of books about his Presidency that weren’t necessarily flattering.
Still, that doesn’t mean Bush’s presidency will be a failure…

Personally, I don’t think Iraqi democratization will ultimately turn out the way Bush and company said it would. Because [...]

Looks like it’s a little bit longer than the 16 months Obama talked about during the primaries, but as long as the plan is to get out during his first term I bet he’ll allow the generals more time to execute a plan they think is realistic.
From NY Times:
The plan was proposed by the top [...]

I’m sure you’ve seen this by now, but if not…it’s a must watch. If only Bush’s reaction time to our economic crisis was this quick.

Here’s more about the reporter and what he said…
“This is a gift from the Iraqis. This is the farewell kiss, you dog,” the journalist shouted (in Arabic), Steven Lee Myers of [...]

A new report from the Senate Armed Services Committee places significant blame for abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay on former Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
The report’s executive summary, made public by the committee’s Democratic chairman Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan and its top Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, said Rumsfeld contributed [...]

Why?
Because it’s still a mess…
BAGHDAD – For the past two weeks I’ve been embedded with the United States Army in Baghdad, and I find myself unable to figure out what to make of this place. Baghdad, despite the remarkable success of the surge, is as mind-bogglingly run-down and dysfunctional as ever, even compared with other [...]

I think this will be as close as he gets to actually saying, “Okay, you know what…I screwed it up.”
First, he admits he wasn’t prepared for war…
Looking back on his eight years in the White House, President George W. Bush pinpointed incorrect intelligence that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction as [...]

Amid the turkey and stuffing, I neglected to update everybody on this good news…
In a vote heralded by supporters as a momentous step toward restoring Iraqi sovereignty, lawmakers here passed a crucial bill Thursday, setting out a three-year timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraqi soil.
The bill passed after months of backroom negotiations [...]

Well, they didn’t wait until the last minute to pass this thing, and thank god for that. The last thing Bush needed was not getting this agreement in place and having to deal with troops being in Iraq illegally.
From MSNBC:
BAGHDAD - Iraq’s Cabinet on Sunday approved a security pact with the United States that will [...]

With the current financial crisis, Iraq and Afghanistan haven’t been leading many news stories. But those conflicts are still going on and, just as importantly, the effects of those wars are still being felt by the soldiers who fought them.
Whatever you think of the policies behind our current wars, I think it’s always important to [...]

And no, it wasn’t a mistake.
From AP:
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - U.S. military helicopters launched an extremely rare attack Sunday on Syrian territory close to the border with Iraq, killing eight people in a strike the government in Damascus condemned as “serious aggression.”
A U.S. military official said the raid by special forces targeted the foreign fighter [...]

Powell is a study in contradictions. As a consequence of failing to act on what he knew to be right in 2002, he has spent years explaining and justifying his actions. I cannot help but feel that this endorsement is yet another attempt to assuage his conscience, rehabilitate his reputation and wash the blood off his hands.