Archive for the 'Iraq' Category

‘A Soldier’s Peace’ Free Showing

Monday, July 21st, 2008

If you haven’t seen Marshall Thompson’s documentary about his walk through Utah, this is your chance. Tomorrow evening, 7 pm at the Salt Lake City Main Library.

Previous One Utah posts:
A Soldier’s Peace: The Movie (February 19, 2008)
Marshall Thompson Spoke at USU on Wednesday (February 2, 2007)
Marshall Thompson in D.C. (November 22, 2006)
Marshall Thompson Update [...]

Forgotten But Not Gone Update: Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri

Monday, July 21st, 2008

Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri, Saddam’s successor, now claims the title, “leader of Resistance and Liberation, general secretary of the Socialist Baath Party.”
Al-Douri’s latest statement reiterates what the Iraqi resistance is fighting for: national self-determination. Despite a one-time alliance of convenience, he now regards the al-Qaeda agenda as a disastrous diversion. Bear in [...]

Geography Matters - Unless You’re John McCain

Monday, July 21st, 2008

Geographers like me are used to our fellow Americans’ inexhaustible reservoir of ignorance about the world. After all, it’s a big planet that offers a vast array of little-known information.
Yet, surely we could be expected to know something. How hard can it be?

Only 37% of young Americans can find Iraq on [...]

Bye-Bye Green Zone

Monday, July 14th, 2008

Here’s another one of those stories that ought to be big news here in America, but can only be found by going to the foreign press. From the Sunday Times: Nouri al-Maliki ready to oust US from Iraq green zone.
Ali Dabbagh, the Green Zone government spokesman, says:
“We think that by the end of 2008 [...]

Maybe Not 100 More Years, Maybe Not Even One Year

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

The United Nations mandate for the Multinational Force, which currently provides a shred of legality to cover the U.S. occupation of Iraq, expires on December 31, 2008 at the request of Iraq’s Green Zone Government. Then what? Then we withdraw, right?
In the quotes below, emphasis added just to highlight the deep respect our [...]

Is Barack Obama Running for Bush’s Third Term?

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

Wazzup? Last month, Barack Obama suddenly switched his position on illegal warrantless surveillance– now he’s for it. In an interview with Fortune, he embraced NAFTA.
The Wall Street Journal says:
We’re beginning to understand why Barack Obama keeps protesting so vigorously against the prospect of “George Bush’s third term.” Maybe he’s worried that someone will [...]

Five years ago today: “Bring ‘em on”

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008

Greg Mitchell reminds us that it appeared in The New York Times five years ago today. One of the most irresponsible remarks ever by a U.S. President:
“Anybody who wants to harm American troops will be found and brought to justice,” Bush said. “There are some that feel like if they attack us that we [...]

Three More Iraq Report Cards

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

Do you remember the feeling of coming home with a bad report card? The Bush administration has failed Iraq policy again and again, and if any more proof is needed we got it this week.
1. A new 700-page study from the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s Contemporary Operations Study Team at Fort Leavenworth, [...]

Just Another Day in Iraq

Sunday, June 29th, 2008

I’m not in the habit of quoting at length from other blogs, but I haven’t got the ability to say this any better. The following is straight from CTuttle on the excellent site Main and Central.
“I’d like to indulge in a little exercise, let’s take a gander at several news reports on the same [...]

Disastrous Final Acts

Saturday, June 28th, 2008

Thursday, channel 501 showed the 1984 film The Killing Fields. For those who haven’t seen it, it’s based on the experiences of NY Times reporter Sydney Schanberg and Cambodian reporter Dith Pran in Cambodia in the 1970s; Pran was captured by the Khmer Rouge and spent years living and laboring in their camps before [...]

Mosul - Iraq’s Second Largest City in Chaos

Friday, June 27th, 2008

The northern city of Mosul is the second-largest in Iraq (Basra is a close third). Despite the scarcity of news from Iraq lately, you may have heard about the launching of a long-delayed offensive last month to regain control of the ruined city of nearly 2 million people for Nouri al-Maliki’s Green Zone government. [...]

Afghanistan: Economy of Force?

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

From the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen:
“In the last six or seven months, we have a put a tremendous amount of focus on Afghanistan, and I think rightfully so,” he said. “It is an economy-of-force campaign, and by definition, that means we don’t have enough forces [...]

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