even if this compound was in my town center

i not only wouldn't work in it, i'd not even enter it. there is nothing they can do to convince me it's genuinely certified for occupancy.

New U.S. Embassy in Baghdad ready — six months late
By Warren P. Strobel McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — The State Department on Monday certified the new $740 million U.S. Embassy in Baghdad as ready to open, more than six months behind schedule.
Richard Shinnick, the department's buildings chief, said problems with the mammoth, 27-building complex's fire-safety systems have been fixed, and the embassy compound will now be turned over to U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy signed the formal certificate of occupancy Monday, Shinnick said in an interview. Diplomats will begin moving into the compound next month.
The heavily fortified complex, the United States' biggest embassy, will provide working and living quarters for more than 1,000 U.S. diplomats and military personnel, many of whom have been posted on the grounds of a former palace of late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
During a recent round of violence linked to the Iraqi government's military offensive in the southern city of Basra, the former palace came under intensified rocket and mortar fire, and Crocker authorized some U.S. personnel to spend the night in the new compound............

...........After McClatchy reported in January that the embassy's fire-fighting system was defective and that experts' concerns were overruled in an apparent rush to declare the facility completed..............

ahhhhhhhhhhhh

they just make this shite up as they go along. if it's going 'good' they have one story. if it gets a little bad, they have another. if it worsens, yet another. then if it's over the edge, they start pointing fingers at phantoms. he did it. no, she did it. no, he. no, that one. no him. no her. and on and on. when i say going good, i only mean no us troop deaths. i do NOT in any circumstance mean going good for the iraqi people. we've disrupted their lives and their country for generations to come.
if it's al-qaeda or iran or whomever, WE DID IT. we are 100% responsible.

Iran Top Threat To Iraq, U.S. Says
Focus on Al-Qaeda Now Diminishing

By Karen DeYoung Washington Post Staff Writer
Last week's violence in Basra and Baghdad has convinced the Bush administration that actions by Iran, and not al-Qaeda, are the primary threat inside Iraq, and has sparked a broad reassessment of policy in the region, according to senior U.S. officials.
Evidence of an increase in Iranian weapons, training and direction for the Shiite militias that battled U.S. and Iraqi security forces in those two cities has fixed new U.S. attention on what Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates yesterday called Tehran's "malign" influence, the officials said.
The intensified focus on Iran coincides with diminished emphasis on al-Qaeda in Iraq as the leading justification for an ongoing U.S. military presence in Iraq.
In congressional hearings this week, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus said the U.S. military has driven al-Qaeda from Baghdad, Anbar province and central Iraq, and he depicted the group as now largely concentrated in a reduced territory around the northern city of Mosul.
During their Washington visit, Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker barely mentioned al-Qaeda in Iraq but spoke extensively of Iran. .....

did the crockmesiter and the petty tray us mention

the curfew in their 'testimony'? why waste our time? iraq is a f**king mess. WE did it. we KNOW we f**ked up. now what do we do? it appears, 'stay the course'. why? to save face? we need the money we're spending there, HERE. our economy is FAILING. our OWN people are hurting. we've killed their country, now we're aiming to kill our own (and we're WELL on our way)

Five years after fall of Baghdad, all-day curfew is imposed
By Kim Sengupta
The fifth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad and the toppling of the statute of Saddam Hussein – a symbol of US victory and might – was marked yesterday by death and destruction across the country and an admission from the White House that projected troop withdrawals would have to be delayed.
The Iraqi capital remains under curfew after another round of bloodshed in which mortar rounds landed in Sadr City, killing seven people, including two children, and injuring 24 others. Further gunfights in the sprawling Shia slum led to six more dying and 15 others being wounded.
The area is a centre of support for the radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and came after days of clashes between his militia, the Mehdi Army, and Iraqi government forces in which 55 people have been killed and more than 200 injured. The Shia fighters vowed last nightthat retribution would be taken for the "unprovoked attack" in Sadr City which they claimed was the responsibility of the US forces.
Meanwhile in Washington, President George Bush was set to accept the plea of General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, for a "pause" in pulling out some of the thousands of troops sent in for the "surge". At the same time the operation is being portrayed as a vindication of American policy and a tacit admission of the fragility of the so-called stabilisation which is supposed to be taking place now............

'VICTORY LAP'?

i'm not sure that is what king george thought he was doing OR that is the thought of the author of this article. if it IS king george's thought he is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy more naked than we all thought

Bush Meets With Petraeus
In Kuwait, President Seems to Claim Vindication for 'Surge'

By Michael Abramowitz Washington Post Staff Writer
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait, Jan. 12 -- President Bush ventured to this sprawling U.S. base near Iraq on Saturday to begin exploring further troop reductions with his top commander and take something of a victory lap over the country's improved security conditions a year after announcing "the surge."
Bush seemed anxious to avoid another moment similar to one in 2003 soon after the fall of Saddam Hussein, when he appeared on the USS Abraham Lincoln below a giant sign reading "Mission Accomplished." In a statement to reporters here, Bush spoke of the difficult challenges ahead, such as defeating the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq and reaching political reconciliation among Iraq's feuding sects. ........

you claim al qaeda in iraq

is GONE. now you claim shiite militias have taken their place. when you claim you have defeated the shiia militias who then will you claim is 'bothering' you? the civilians? the iraqi government? who who who?

U.S. Planners See Shiite Militias as Rising Threat

By Ann Scott Tyson Washington Post Staff Writer
Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker have concluded that Shiite extremists pose a rising threat to the U.S. effort in Iraq, as the relative influence of Sunni insurgent groups such as al-Qaeda in Iraq has diminished drastically because of ongoing U.S. operations.
This judgment forms part of the changes that Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, approved last week to their classified campaign strategy for the country, which covers the period through summer 2009. The updated plan anticipates shifting the U.S. military effort to focus more on countering Shiite militias -- some backed by Iran -- that have generated new violence as they battle for power in the south and elsewhere in Iraq, said senior military and diplomatic officials familiar with the plan. ...........

war

and The War Over the War

wapo but a link to a bunch of articles

as i said in a response to a comment cv rick left on another of my postings. i was listening to a tiny bit of testimony on npr yesterday. i don't know if crocker or petraeus was talking. whoever it was made iraq sound like a paradise! i immediately started packing a bag for my next vacation upon my return home (now THAT just isn't right, is it?)

mcclatchy brings you what they DIDN'T say

What Crocker and Petraeus didn't say
By Nancy A. Youssef and Leila Fadel McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration's top two officials in Iraq answered questions from Congress for more than six hours on Monday, but their testimony may have been as important for what they didn't say as for what they did.
A chart displayed by Army Gen. David Petraeus that purported to show the decline in sectarian violence in Baghdad between December and August made no effort to show that the ethnic character of many of the neighborhoods had changed in that same period from majority Sunni Muslim or mixed to majority Shiite Muslim.
Neither Petraeus nor U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker talked about the fact that since the troop surge began the pace by which Iraqis were abandoning their homes in search of safety had increased. They didn't mention that 86 percent of Iraqis who've fled their homes said they'd been targeted because of their sect, according to the International Organization for Migration.
While Petraeus stressed that civilian casualties were down over the last five weeks, he drew no connection between that statement and a chart he displayed that showed that the number of attacks rose during at least one of those weeks.
Petraeus also didn't highlight the fact that his charts showed that "ethno-sectarian" deaths in August, down from July, were still higher than in June, and he didn't explain why the greatest drop in such deaths, which peaked in December, occurred between January and February, before the surge began..........

rushing to failure?

what does that mean? does it mean we are winning? we've been there, in iraq, LONGER than world war ii. in world war ii we were up against hitler, mussolini and the emperor of japan. we took ALL of 'em in far less time than it's taking us in iraq. at what cost? BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of dollars. that to me is secondary (even though those BILLIONS could be spent on OUR children's health, taking care of the victims of gulf coast storms, taking care of our elderly, taking care of our veterans and on and on). but no. we are going to continue to pour billions into a country where all we want is their black gold. we have sent thousands of our men and women to their deaths AND WORSE (i mean the ones who come back alive on the outside but dead on the inside) and TENS OF THOUSANDS of THEIR dead. plus MILLIONS of them being displaced. more time. NO we MUST DEMAND and immediate solution. no we don't belong there. we made iraq into a steamin' pile of shite.

Petraeus Backs Initial Pullout
General Praises Progress, Warns Against 'Rushing to Failure'
HOW SIGNIFICANT WOULD THE PULLBACK BE?
The General's Long View Could Cut Withdrawal Debate Short
The General Does Battle With . . . a Broken Mike
In Congress, Mixed Reactions
Poll Highlights Disconnect Between U.S. Commanders, Iraqis
Where's the Diplomatic Surge?
General Studies: Iraq Experts Take on the Petraeus-Crocker Report
THE WAR OVER THE WAR

and of course while all of that shite was going on THIS:
8 U.S. Soldiers in Iraq Die in Vehicle Wrecks; Another Killed in North

today is the day

petraeus and crocker present 'their' report before congress. what can we expect? well i'm expecting nothing more than what we have gotten the entire time from king george and his court. LIES (and more lies).

will i be wrong? i hope so. i hope we hear the truth FINALLY. i hope we hear, you stupid chumps. you let king george invade iraq for NO VALID REASON. sure the pockets of a bunch of old white men are lined, but is that enough to justify all our deaths and their deaths? i want someone to say that.................
ryan vs petraeus? i think not. the truth vs lies? more like it

The Iraq Report's Other Voice
Ambassador's Appraisal May Carry a More Lasting Weight


By Karen DeYoung Washington Post Staff Writer
Two witnesses will testify to Congress today on progress in Iraq. One arrived last week from Baghdad aboard a military aircraft, flanked by a bevy of aides and preceded by a team of advisers assigned a suite of Pentagon offices. The other flew commercial, glad that the flight was long enough to qualify for a business-class government ticket.
Their disparate routes to Washington capture the differences in anticipation and hoopla surrounding their joint congressional appearance. What lawmakers will hear from Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, has been the subject of frenzied speculation for months. Armed with four-star authority and a stack of charts, he is expected to say that expanded U.S. military operations show signs of success and merit more time..........

more time?

more time? when are we going to stand up en masse and say NO. fuck NO

we defeated hitler, mussolini AND whoever the hell the emperor of japan was in far less time than we've spent in iraq. plus we were JUSTIFIED in world war ii. we were NEVER justified in invading a country who didn't attack us, didn't threaten us, had NOTHING to do with 9/11 and on and on and on.

NO MORE TIME. GET US OUT.
(how many more times are we going to allow THEM - king george and his court - to say, 'we need MORE time in iraq? how many more lives of OUR men and women and THEIR men and women are we willing to give up? me, NO MORE)

Petraeus Disappointed At Political State of Iraq
General's Letter to Troops Praises Progress on Security

By Michael Abramowitz and Karen DeYoung Washington Post Staff Writers
In a preview of his report to Congress next week, Gen. David H. Petraeus yesterday expressed disappointment in the lack of progress toward political reconciliation in Iraq. Administration officials said he wants to return to Washington for another assessment in six months to allow more time for Iraqi politics to catch up with what Petraeus regards as rapidly improving security conditions.
Writing to his troops, the top U.S. commander in Iraq emphasized that violence there had diminished in eight of the last 11 weeks. But while "many of us had hoped this summer would be a time of tangible political progress," Petraeus said in a letter addressed to "Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and Civilians" serving in Iraq that "it has not worked out as we had hoped.".......

abc news interview with what appears to be a lyin' weasel

TRANSCRIPT: President Bush in Iraq
ABC News' Martha Raddatz Speaks to the President About His Surprise Labor Day Visit

...........Bush: That's going to be up to the recommendations of General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. No question that the reinforcements and the surge have made a difference and we are standing in a province where it has made a significant difference. And so I'm looking forward to what they have to say as to how to continue security and at the same time enhance the reconciliation process.
Raddatz: General Petraeus -- we talked to this morning and he said he's given you his recommendation already this morning.
Bush: Well I'm not going to give it to you now, I'm going to wait for General Petraeus to come and speak to the country.......

so king george is waiting for something that he already got. not only that BUT he's going to re-write what he got anyway. matters not what the truth is

tenuous, temporary and illusory (not my words)

but certainly how i feel and what i believe is the truth. what are those words describing? the effect of our presence in pockets in iraq. sure the figures may go down here and there. but you know sure as shite when they move to another place (and of course they have to move SOMETIME), that first place falls to ruins again. violence, torture, death. what hath king george wrought???

Weighing the 'Surge'
The U.S. War in Iraq Now Hinges on the Counterinsurgency Strategy Of Gen. Petraeus. The Results Have Been Tenuous.

By Sudarsan Raghavan Washington Post Foreign Service
BAGHDAD -- Nearly every week, American generals and politicians visit Combat Outpost Gator, nestled behind a towering blast wall in the Dora market. They arrive in convoys of armored Humvees, sometimes accompanied by helicopter gunships, to see what U.S. commanders display as proof of the effectiveness of a seven-month-long security offensive, fueled by 30,000 U.S. reinforcements. Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. military leader in Iraq, frequently cites the market as a sign of progress.
"This is General Petraeus's baby," said Staff Sgt. Josh Campbell, 24, of Winfield, Kan., as he set out on a patrol near the market on a hot evening in mid-August..........
....................If there is one indisputable truth regarding the current offensive, it is this: When large numbers of U.S. troops are funneled into areas, security improves. But the numbers only partly describe the reality on the ground. Visits to key U.S. bases and neighborhoods in and around Baghdad show that recent improvements are sometimes tenuous, temporary, even illusory.....................

and only just yesterday

several papers printed all the PROGRESS we've made in iraq. bullshite. YOU and I KNOW it. how people and there ARE some (like bill kristol par example) can sit there or stand there and claim we are making good progress (don't forget the dude, senator i believe, who said the baghdad market is JUST like being in idaho or iowa or ohio or wherever. that was one of my favorites) is beyond freedom and dignity. let's collectively WAKE UP and DEMAND JUSTICE. prosecute and hold accountable those who have committed crimes against humanity (AND the american people)

Report Finds Little Progress On Iraq Goals
GAO Draft at Odds With White House


By Karen DeYoung and Thomas E. Ricks Washington Post Staff Writers

Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress, according to a draft of a Government Accountability Office report. The document questions whether some aspects of a more positive assessment by the White House last month adequately reflected the range of views the GAO found within the administration.
The strikingly negative GAO draft, which will be delivered to Congress in final form on Tuesday, comes as the White House prepares to deliver its own new benchmark report in the second week of September, along with congressional testimony from Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker. They are expected to describe significant security improvements and offer at least some promise for political reconciliation in Iraq.......
"

our own kids don't have insurance

the lives of people on the gulf coast STILL have not gone back to 'normal' (and most likely never will). our schools need help. our elderly need help. our veterans need help. our troops need better equipment. there are far too many homeless in this country (and on and on and on) yet king george wants FIFTY BILLION MORE TO FUCK UP IRAQ, IRAN, AFGHANISTAN and goddess only knows where else?

do NOT roll over and give it to him. you spineless congressional pieces of steamin' shite. DON'T DO IT. bring our troops home NOW. start proceedings. bring that man and his court to justice for crimes against humanity.

Bush Wants $50 Billion More for Iraq War
Planned Request Signals Confidence That Congress Won't Prevail on Pullout


By Thomas E. Ricks Washington Post Staff Writer
President Bush plans to ask Congress next month for up to $50 billion in additional funding for the war in Iraq, a White House official said yesterday, a move that appears to reflect increasing administration confidence that it can fend off congressional calls for a rapid drawdown of U.S. forces.
The request -- which would come on top of about $460 billion in the fiscal 2008 defense budget and $147 billion in a pending supplemental bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq -- is expected to be announced after congressional hearings scheduled for mid-September featuring the two top U.S. officials in Iraq. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker will assess the state of the war and the effect of the new strategy the U.S. military has pursued this year. The request is being prepared now in the belief that Congress will be unlikely to balk so soon after hearing the two officials argue that there are promising developments in Iraq but that they need more time to solidify the progress they have made, a congressional aide said............

we are the american people

YOU work for US. WE DEMAND the september report on iraq be delivered in public AND be honest. WE DEMAND IT and we should NOT roll over and shut up if those two conditions are not met. we ALL know how things are going over there. yesterday more than 250 dead in a bombing. the benchmarks we've set are NOT being met. the war is going on and on and on. we were never in any danger from iraq. our men and women are now. it's the fault of our administration. they are accountable for thousands of american lives and perhaps hundreds of thousands of lives in the middle east.

we demand truth AND justice for ALL. do NOT allow them to bullshit us again

An Early Clash Over Iraq Report
Specifics at Issue as September Nears


By Jonathan Weisman and Karen DeYoung Washington Post Staff Writers

Senior congressional aides said yesterday that the White House has proposed limiting the much-anticipated appearance on Capitol Hill next month of Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker to a private congressional briefing, suggesting instead that the Bush administration's progress report on the Iraq war should be delivered to Congress by the secretaries of state and defense.
White House officials did not deny making the proposal in informal talks with Congress, but they said yesterday that they will not shield the commanding general in Iraq and the senior U.S. diplomat there from public congressional testimony required by the war-funding legislation President Bush signed in May. "The administration plans to follow the requirements of the legislation," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in response to questions yesterday........