BAGHDAD, Feb. 11, 2008
Gates Endorses Pause In Troop Drawdown
Says Now Is Good Time For "Consolidation And Evaluation"; Twin Bombing Kills 22
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U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates talks with Iraqi government officials and U.S. military commanders (not seen) during an unannounced visit by Gates, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2008, in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Department of Defense)
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A man wounded in a roadside bomb blast lies on a stretcher in a hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Feb. 11, 2008. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
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A newly-redesigned Iraqi flag, in which elements reminiscent of the Saddam Hussein regime were removed or altered in order to promote unity within the war-torn country, was raised outside the Kurdish parliament in Irbil, Iraq on Feb. 10, 2008. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 people demonstrated in Baghdad, chanting pro-Sunni and anti-American slogans and unfurling an Iraqi flag dating back to Saddam's rule. (AP Photo/Yahya Ahmed)
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Photo Essay Week In Iraq Photos A daily diary with scenes of the latest attacks and snapshots from the effort to rebuild a nation.
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Interactive Battle For Iraq The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
"A brief period of consolidation and evaluation probably does make sense," Gates told reporters after meeting with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq. Petraeus has indicated in recent weeks that he wants a "period of evaluation" this summer to assess the impact on Iraq security of reducing the U.S. military presence from 20 brigades to 15 brigades.
Of that five-brigade reduction, only one has departed thus far. The last of the five is to be gone by the end of July.
In his remarks at this U.S. base in southern Baghdad, Gates said Petraeus had given him his view on the drawdown, which some fear could result in giving up some of the security gains of recent months.
In endorsing Petraeus' suggestion of pausing after July, Gates made it clear that President Bush would have the final say. Until now it had been unclear how Gates felt about the idea of a pause; he had said publicly a number of times that he hoped conditions in Iraq would permit a continuation of the drawdown in the second half of the year.
In his remarks here, Gates indicated that he had begun some time ago to lean in Petraeus' direction.
"In my own thinking I had been kind of headed in that direction as well," Gates said. "But one of the keys is how long is that period (of pause and evaluation) and then what happens after that."
Despite dramatic declines in violence in recent months, the security situation in Iraq is tenuous, Gates said earlier Monday at an awards ceremony for Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq.
"Levels of violence of all kinds (are) dramatically reduced," Gates said. "The situation in Iraq continues to remain fragile, but the Iraqi people now have an opportunity to forge a better, more secure, more prosperous future."
Gates' visit to Iraq came as car bombs and gunmen struck new U.S. allies, police and civilians in northern Iraq, killing as many as 53 people on a deadly Sunday.
The deadliest bombing was near Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad, at a checkpoint manned jointly by Iraqi police and members of a Sunni awakening group.
Iraqi police said a suicide truck bomber targeted a checkpoint manned by U.S.-allied fighters and Iraqi police at the entrance of a bridge in the district of Yathrib on the outskirts of Balad. Security forces opened fire on the driver, but he managed to detonate his payload, devastating a nearby car market and other stores.
Police in the joint coordination center of the surrounding Salahuddin province and hospital officials said 34 people were killed and 37 others were wounded. Capt. Kadim Hamid said many residents in the predominantly Sunni area had removed victims directly from the site because they feared going to the hospital in Balad's mostly Shiite center.
In all, 70 people were reported killed or found dead by police on Sunday, one of the highest nationwide death tolls in recent months. That figure included three policemen who perished in a suicide car bombing at a checkpoint in the Anbar city of Fallujah and 10 bullet-riddled bodies showing signs of torture.
Odierno is departing after 15 months in charge of the headquarters that carries out Petraeus' strategy on a day-to-day basis. Odierno is returning to Washington and has been nominated by Bush for promotion to four-star rank and assignment as Army vice chief of staff.
On Sunday, Gates said Iraq's political leaders face hard choices on how to stabilize the country despite promising new signs of progress toward reconciliation.
"They seem to have become energized over the last few weeks," Gates said. The Pentagon chief told reporters who traveled with him from a conference in Germany that he wants to "see what the prospects are for further success in the next couple of months."
In related developments:
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Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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The wife of the Canadian Major in the UN observation post that was targeted and destroyed by the mass murderers of Israel, e-mailed that the IDF was targeting schools and other civilian installations.
When the UN post had some near misses, they made the error of sending their coordinates to the IDF so they would not fire at it...they, of course, then concentrated their fire on the UN post and murdered the observers.
You said the war in Iraq, not the war on terror.
I just thought you had a brain fa*t there and didn''t realize it.
Semper Fi MC.
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Posted by AJMarine1 at 08:34 PM : Feb 11, 2008
+ report abuse
The Bush "War on Terror" has been going on since the Day after 9/11.. That''s when this piece of human trash FIRST lied to all of us...saying he would hunt down Bin Laden. Sieg Heil Bush!!
It is also in my view false to say that life in AMERICA today is solely determined by considerations of foreign policy, that the primacy of foreign policy governs today the whole of our domestic life. Certainly people can reach the point when foreign relations influence and determine completely its domestic life. But let no one say that such a CONDITION is from the first either natural or desirable. Rather the important thing is that people should CREATE the conditions for CHANGE in this state of affairs.
Answer
Hit-lers quote Jan 27 1932
Hmm... guess they don''t worry about anyone''s safety, except news correspondnets.
I''m willing to bet the reason it isn''t on this site is because they had a delema with putting it under the headline of "Iraq after Saddam". I mean, everything else has gone there - but in their heart of hearts, they know this is terrorist news - but would they be able to put it there ? That would be pretty two-faced, wouldn''t it.
Posted by MCVet at 08:25 PM : Feb 11, 2008
The war started March 19, 2003, that''s 5 years.
Semper Fi MC.
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Posted by speakinup at 07:36 PM : Feb 11, 2008
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Oh I don''t know... you freaks take a pretty good spanking I''d say! You and your fuhrer can''t win a war in IRAQ of all places in 7 LONG years. I''d say spanking is something you freaks HAVE to like!! Sieg Heil Bush
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Posted by underdogus at 06:10 PM : Feb 11, 2008
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LOL Yeah we know, you Nazi''s have been bringing the Chickens home now for what is it? 7 years now. Gosh 7 YEARS with the worlds most powerful Military and we STILL have to have 130,000 troops in this tiny little country. Even in Swastika Land that means you AIN''T winning sparky!! Sieg Heil Bush
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Posted by donbl1 at 06:16 PM : Feb 11, 2008
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Strange! Nazi''s said the SAME thing about Rummy... You freaks do remember him... the guy we forced out? This is just ANOTHER lie and an attempt to cover it up. THEY, the Gestapo, knows the American People is going to run their party out of town anyway so what difference does it make politically? They are keeping them there because they HAVE too. Sieg Heil Bush
I see that CBS is spreading Bu$hCo''s FEAR Propaganda today.
They don''t dare allow comments on these piles of Pentagoon poop, as the response would blow their servers...
Today''s BS servings:
U.S. To Seek Death For Six 9/11 Suspects
(a riveting story, NOT about PNAC traitors...)
Al Qaeda''s New Face Of Terror: American?
(Written by John Ashcroft, who misses flying his Color Warnings during elections)
What is the reason? He really doesn''t say. Here are a few of the possibilities:
1. Iraq Army is not taking over for the departing brigades as well as hoped....
2. Petraeus is hedging his bet and higher forces brings flexibility and confidence.
3. Iran?
4. Everyone wants the Iraq War to continue to be off the political table for the election and the additional brigades are insurance.
5. Troops are being repositioned right now and the additional brigades might be covering the movement.
6. There is going to be an AQ push before the elections (re: Tet)
Just some possibilities. Gates is a pretty straight shooter and smarter than most so his reasons must be well thought out.
Posted by FloydZepp at 05:53 PM : Feb 11, 2008
I''ve spanked him so many times that he now jumps in, takes a shot, and then runs like a little girl to avoid his spanking...
TODAY YOU SEE IN YOUR FACE HOW BUSH IS PLAYING POLITICS WITH THE WAR ON TERROR
Posted by poopusbuttus at 05:37 PM : Feb 11, 2008
You can''t dispute fact, so you name call hiding behind your keyboard and then call ME a coward.
Hilarious.
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