Report: Slow Progress On Iraq Benchmarks
White House Issues Discouraging Iraq Report A Day After Bush Touts Success
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A U.S. soldier from A Company 2-23 Infantry Battalion points his rifle during a patrol in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, 60 miles north of Baghdad, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)
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President George W. Bush in the Oval Office after addressing the nation on his strategy for Iraq, at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007. (AP)
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Gen. David Petraeus speak during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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President Bush met with Sheik Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha in Anbar province on Sept. 3, 2007. Risha was assassinated two weeks later. (CBS)
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Play CBS Video Video Bush Wants "Return On Success"
President Bush addresses the nation to elaborate on his decision to accept military recommendations to keep additional troops in Iraq through next summer.
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Video Bush Speech Reaction
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow Rebuts claims stated by Harry Smith that the limited troop reduction was a natural attrition or a lack of replacement forces.
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Video Major U.S. Ally Killed In Iraq
The sheik who was leading Iraqi Sunnis to revolt against al Qaeda was killed by a roadside bomb planted near his home. Lara Logan reports.
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Photo Essay
Scrutinizing The Surge
Commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, U.S. ambassador testify before Congress.
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Interactive
Bush Presidency
The president's agenda, plus facts, figures, major events and key personalities.
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Battle For Iraq
The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
The report underscored the difficulty of Mr. Bush's argument that continued American sacrifice was creating space for Iraqi leaders to make gains on tamping down the sectarian fighting that leaves Iraq persistently fractured and violent. Mr. Bush reinforced that theme in an appearance Friday at a Marine base in Quantico, Va.
"There's a lot of courage in Iraq," he said after having lunch with about 250 Marines, family members and officers. "The Iraqis are in the fight, but I also made it clear to them that we expect the Iraqi government to enhance national reconciliation through the passage of law."
At the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Michigan, Vice President Dick Cheney said "the troop surge has achieved solid results and in a relatively short period of time."
Their optimistic view was contradicted somewhat by the administration's release Friday of a required status report on Iraqi benchmarks.
The first assessment, in July, showed the Iraqi government was making satisfactory progress toward meeting eight of 18 goals and unsatisfactory progress on eight others. Two others couldn't be rated for performance.
Friday's follow-up report to Congress concluded that Iraqis have done enough to move only one benchmark - allowing former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to hold government positions - from the unsatisfactory to satisfactory column.
The shift was due to a pact made last month among leading Iraqi politicians from all major sects. Iraqi officials have announced similar deals in the past only to have them fall apart.
"The overarching goal of de-Baathification reform is political accommodation between the Shia and Sunni communities," the report said. "The leaders' agreement combined with the return of former Baathists to civic life is a significant step in that regard."
Bush officials said there hadn't been nearly enough time between the July report and now - just two months - for more improvement. White House press secretary Tony Snow said in a statement accompanying the report that there have been other, equally important developments, including passage of a budget, the sharing of oil revenues among the provinces even without legislation and local reconciliation efforts that could trickle up to Baghdad.
"These are precisely the 'effects' the benchmarks were intended to produce, even if the formal benchmarks themselves have not been met," Snow said.
In a separate report, the State Department concluded Friday that religious freedom has sharply deteriorated in Iraq over the past year.
In the president's 18-minute address Thursday, he said 2,200 Marines will come home from Anbar province this month, an Army brigade of about 3,500 will begin leaving soon for a total of 5,700 troops home by Christmas.
All of these troops were due to come home anyway, reports CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante, but they are not being replaced.
Five more combat brigades plus support troops will be home by June for a total of at least 27,000. That will leave about 130,000 troops in Iraq, roughly the same number that were there when the surge began.
Democrats termed Mr. Bush's modest approach unacceptable.
"There is no plan 'to win,' " said Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del, a Democratic presidential candidate and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. "No plan how to leave. No plan how to end this. It's just a plan to keep ... all the venom from spilling out over the region, and we're using somewhere between 160,000 to 130,000 troops to do that. The bottom line of it is that we are no safer."
Friday's report said: "What is important is the overall trajectory which, under our present strategy, has begun to stabilize and turn upward, compared to the deteriorating trajectory seen over the course of 2006."
Democrats, still unable to muster enough votes to force an end to the war, hope to win veto-proof support for some sort of anti-war legislation. Debate is expected to resume next week in the Senate. One proposal is expected to narrow the mission, for a presumably smaller U.S. force, to only training Iraq's military and police, protecting U.S. assets and fighting terrorists. Another would require troops spend as much time at home as they do in combat.
"Democrats know that they do not at this point have the votes in the Senate to force the president to go faster," said CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer.
Mr. Bush said in Thursday night's speech that the U.S. engagement will stretch beyond his presidency. But he hinted further reductions were possible before he leaves office.
He said his decisions would be guided by the principle of "return on success" - the rhetorical replacement for his oft-repeated condition that coalition forces would only "stand down" as Iraqi troops "stand up."
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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See all 305 Comments'' ... there''s trillions little molecules and microbes and other dragons all about, and they comprise quite the energy spectacle, plugging in wedges and pulleys and screws and levets: they become a spectacle exponential ... ''
'' ... we can feed the world by giving 20 or ten thousand businesses to each, so all earn minimum wage, or we can just give all minimum wage and make that the maximum wage ... ''
'' ... if i alone spend 300 weeks building 300 little online museums, and / or spend 300 weeks with 300 folk building 300 gigantic museums or 90,000 little ones ... ''
''... eternitys full of folk what feed worlds, so whys ours so full of the hungry, i haven''t solved the riddle yet, but i''ve not given up on eternity ... ''
Our president is the poster boy for the forces who planned and carried out the coup of 9/11. Americans cannot stop the AmeriCONs.
IRAN AND ALQAEDA ARE STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE BECAUSE THE UNITED STATES FEED THE ENEMIE AND NOW HAS TO RUN FROM THE MONSTER THE U.S. CREATED ...THE U.S. INVASION MADE ALQAEDA AND IRAN AND MADE THEM MORE STRONGER AND THE U.S. ARE CREATING NEW ENEMIES TO THE UNITED STATES ... BUSH IS DISCONNECTED FROM IRAQ..
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Forty-three percent (43%) of Americans favor the recommendation made by General David Petraeus to withdraw 30,000 soldiers from Iraq but leave 130,000 troops in place at least through the summer. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 38% are opposed and 19% are not sure.
And so the American people have spoken as to the surge. Now our President will make it so ...........despite so of the most corrupt left-wing attempts by America''s news media to push their lies and propaganda in support of their fellow liberal pals, the Democrats.
The stunt pulled by the far left-wing hate group MoveOn.org and the ultra liberal corrupt NYTimes to smear the US General on the ground this past Monday.
Today our liberal political/news organizations represent posion in the blood stream of this great nation..................and that''s a FACT
However, just 39% believe the report will honestly and accurately reflect the General%u2019s true assessment of the situation in Iraq. Thirty-five percent (35%) say it will not while 26% are not sure.
The "war" and the subsequent occupation of Iraq was started based on these lies, this is also fact.
The "war" continues because Bush is not being held accountable for his lies, this is fact.
Our soldiers, our children, our parents, and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis are dying because of the lies, this is fact.
He and his followers ignore the deaths for the sake of their agenda, this is fact.
In the face of the above facts, we are told to believe that Bush is concerned about "freeing" the people of Iraq.
He is persistently arrogant in that he thinks he can actually assign X number of years of war in Iraq to the next president. He is persistent that if we continue to fail in Iraq, we will continue to sacrifice our troops to that country''s civil war.
I hope Americans learn a lesson from this mess. Our President has been the greatest recruiter of new terrorists in history.
The next President will be a Democrat.
Chose wisely. Chose Richardson.
Another day and more Bu$h/Republican failure.
"20% of voters name Hillary Clinton as the one they%u2019d trust most to handle the situation in Iraq." This is more than any other candidate.
"39% of Americans believe the U.S. and its allies are winning."
"The General%u2019s report comes at a time when 33% of American adults believe the situation in Iraq has gotten better over the past six months."
Curious number there. However, referring to http://www.icasualties.org/oif/US_chart.aspx
You can''t find american casualties of any 5-month period of w''s war that excedes ANY 5 months of this year. That 33% indicates a lie has been pushed off onto the public.
the south is mighty proud of all the christian work and leadership bush has provided.
hooray for bush, stars & bars and jefferson davis.
Yes we all believe Bush lies, is very untalented and is a man void of a moral ethical center, and has done great harm to America and Iraq.
Exactly why he showed up and lied to your face again last night, a distraction a switch and bait political tactic.
Call and write your Senator tell them you KNOW they have the POWER to change this MISSION to stop obstructing change and vote with America and the Democrats.
We can not be distracted, the issue is simple, 18 Republicans Senators are required to vote with the Democrats and the American People to change the Mission.
Call your Senator and Representative demand a change in mission for our troops that all but Petraeus and Bush have called for. Choose life for our soldiers.
(202) 224-3121 for the Senate, and (202) 225-3121 for the House
The Republican Party Lobbyist and pundits are claiming Bush won that he scored a victory in the political game for the party to kick the can down the road and Stay the Course handing Iraq off to the next President and not doing the hard work to disentangle our troops admitting error and claiming our blood and tresury to be a small sacrifices for their continuing this blunder.
You tell them there is something fundamentally amiss rancid at the core of a GOP that values a Course that harms America.
'' ... why''re the trillion dollar super sheros always innocent and the two dollar savages and war lords are always guilty ... ''
'' ... the world is full of savages and war lords that will make you behave or else, now behave or else! ... ''
Recently,placards in Europe bore slogans like; "Europe is the cancer Islam is the answer", "Europe you will come crawling when the mujahadeen come roaring" and "butcher those who insult Islam". And were reported to have been shouting slogans like "UK you will pay! 7/7''s on its way!" "Bomb bomb UK! Bomb bomb USA!" And "Democracy hypocrisy!"
ROSIE, THERE IS NO GAY AND LESBIAN COMMUNITY WITHIN AN ISLAMIC STATE- THEY"RE ALL DEAD OR IN PRISON!
As for my Jewish Hollywood community, do you want the US to protect Israel or don''t you give a d@mn? We are sitting at the doorstep of a government who has officially called for the anihilation of Israel and denied the Holocaust. You want to withdrawl from this goverment''s backyard.
If we do leave Iraq and lose our tactical advantage and Iran attacks Israel. And there is an outcry by the Hollywood Jewish community to assist Israel, I say $crew you, we were already there and you told us to go home.
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Actually, that''s a misspelling, as well as a misperception, perception5. Do you believe the opinion of most Americans about Bush and his Iraq debacle is "poison"? The major polls-- AP, Gallup, CNN etc.-- consistently have shown long-term and profound disapproval of Bush and Iraq. Gen. Petraeus, himself, wrote an upbeat editorial for Bush back in 2004, just in time for the election. And yes, Petraeus was just as sure in 2004 that victory beckoned, if only we stayed the course.
Even Bush gives al-Maliki no respect. Meanwhile, Iraq, itself-- in part, thanks to tons of American arms aid to al-Maliki our DOD cannot account for, and clandestine aid to Sunni groups from Uncle *** Cheney-- is poised for a real shooting war. That clearly suggests a political breakdown and probable partitioning for Iraq.
So, that leaves only most Americans NOT behind Bush and his stonewalling about Iraq. Bush stonewalling is all about ten US superbases and a billion-dollar embassy in Baghdad, these required so American oil companies can go ahead with their plan to suck Iraq dry of its oil. Meanwhile, 2 of 3 Iraqis oppose any move to sanction the American oil theft, despite feverish Bush efforts to twist arms in the Iraq government to approve the oil plan, as one "benchmark" of American aid.
bizzzz
You should drop the bi and call yourself zzzzzzzzzzzzz or yawnnnnnn.
You are someone who is quick to respond, but like most liberals, absolutely no substance whatsoever. Your response didnt contain one fact, while I took time and googled some facts before I posted.
First of all, I can respond to both your comments in one word "GEOGRAPHY" Have you ever looked at a map of the middle East? Secondly, although my current occupation involves California real estate, I was a 2311 (ammunitions and explosive ordinance) for the Marine Corp for several years. I was in the 1st Persian Gulf War. Unlike you, that makes me an expert on tactics.
For Israel to fly jets all the way to Iran would be very very very dificult. Believe me, even if they tried to defend themselves, at the very least it would be difficult, Syria would become involved and Israel would be fighting a two front war. They might win, but they would be severely pounded and they know it. I wouldn;t put too much trust in Olmert goverment. He''s weak and unpopular.
Believe it or not, the US beinjg in Iraq is a tactical advantage to strike Iran for OBVIOUS reasons. Massive troops and equipment are stationed there, Jets can be fueled easily, strikes can be can be carried out quickly, short range rockets can be utilized.
I MUST SAY, YOUR NOT VERY SMART.
'' ... little radio and light waves and such and little pro-amps and anti-amps and little machine programs and such are so so, little babies and small children and little ol ladies and little ol men all rallied round tens millions sick beds questing for cure for common deaths are eternal ... ''
Everyone else, keep doing what you''re doing, I see both sides here, and sure you guys seem to step over the line more than on occasion, but no one is silencing you here.
And to finish off, screw you, Bush, you never had any intention of doing this the right way, ever, and now here we are, almost 4 and a half years later, still trying to play policeman half way across the world, all the while *** us at home, with none of the benefits you promised, everyone a he11 of a lot more in danger, more than half the world angry at us, our dollar tanking, stock market stagnant for 6 years, lost liberties and freedoms, countless dead, countless wounded. Your legacy of death and deceit will follow you the rest of your days...
.. Admrial Folley says we will not attack Iran, he even delaiyed the 3rd battle group from arriving in the Persian Gulf untill the 2nd one was leaving..
... Again What Tactical Advantage do we have ?? -- We don''t even have the troops in Iraq to sustain the little progress we have,,, The Surge has only given sketchy security in some areas, & mostly by isolating Sunni''s from Sheiits..... The 36 countries in the Coalition only is 31 countries is mostly non-combatent & adds up to only 7%, of our own forces.
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
If his buddies are making lots of money because of his decisions, and he had a good day playing with his "toys" OUR AMERICAN MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM, he''s probably sleeping okay. But, if a Democrat said anything "mean" about him, I''m sure that Laura would have to read him a bedtime story first (with the book right-side up).
if i happen to be taking a dump and a **** reaches under the stall
i always drop a sausage in his hand.
you always hear ''em say: " oh gawd, oh gawd, oh gawd!"...
which leads me to believe i''ve made another republican christian happy.
ha,ha,ha.
that''s the south for you, folks!
you''ll find them in the southern states of america.
war making, bible thumping, flag waving, phony christian, republican snake southerners...
bush''s kind of people.
war, hate, arrogance, division, evangelist creeps...
nothing good comes out of the south!
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
4. Supremacy of the Military
5. Rampant Sexism
6. Controlled Mass Media
7. Obsession with National Security
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
9. Corporate Power is Protected
10. Labor Power is Suppressed
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
14. Fraudulent Elections
15. Vigorous DENIAL of all of the above!
VICTORY IS AMERICAS ONLY CHOICE
THANK YOU GENERAL
VICTORY IS AMERICAS ONLY CHOICE
THANK YOU GENERAL
VICTORY IS AMERICAS ONLY CHOICE
THANK YOU GENERAL
VICTORY IS AMERICAS ONLY CHOICE
THANK YOU GENERAL
VICTORY IS AMERICAS ONLY CHOICE
THANK YOU GENERAL
VICTORY IS AMERICAS ONLY CHOICE
THANK YOU GENERAL
VICTORY IS AMERICAS ONLY CHOICE
THANK YOU GENERAL
VICTORY IS AMERICAS ONLY CHOICE
THANK YOU GENERAL
VICTORY IS AMERICAS ONLY CHOICE
THANK YOU GENERAL
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