WASHINGTON POST: ARMY SHUTS DOWN SOLDIER'S BLOG FROM IRAQ

Silent Posting

With His Blog Kaboom, a Young Soldier Told of His War. Last Month, the Army Made Him Shut It Down.

By Ernesto LondoñoWashington Post Foreign Service Thursday, July 24, 2008; Page C01
BAGHDAD
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072303970.html

There was a boy who went to war, like many other boys before him. Maybe it made him a man, maybe it didn't. Maybe he already was a man, maybe he wasn't. Maybe it doesn't matter, maybe none of it does, maybe it all does. Maybe.

This Story
Silent Posting
The Lieutenant's Lingo
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-- Lt. G, March 4

He was an unlikely warrior, this scrawny boy from Reno, Nev., the son of two lawyers, raised in the suburbs.

He had a way with words, this boy. When his Stryker unit deployed to Iraq last winter, he was a rookie platoon leader who had never seen combat. And like many other soldiers before him, he decided he'd chronicle the war on a blog. Intending to keep family and friends abreast of the follies and pitfalls of soldiering in a five-year-old war that now relies less on gunfire and more on diplomacy, this boy, under the pen name Lt. G, launched "Kaboom: A Soldier's War Journal."

An indictment of the war it was not. Lt. G's dispatches -- at turns hilarious, maddening and terrifying -- provided raw and insightful snapshots of a conflict many Americans have lost interest in.

Word got around, and more and more readers closely followed the postings of 25-year-old Lt. Matthew Gallagher, with the site drawing tens of thousands of page views. By the time Kaboom went kaput last month -- Lt. G was ordered to take down his blog -- it had a following that would be the envy of many a small-town paper.

The blog's downfall was a May 28 posting that, in violation of military blogging rules, Gallagher failed to have vetted by a supervisor. (That the posting depicted an officer in the unit unflatteringly might have played a role. Gallagher declined a request to comment.)

Continue reading Washington Post story here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072303970.html

WASHINGTON POST: "SURGE" DOESN'T HELP UPCOMING ELECTION IN IRAQ

There has been a lot of banter lately about "the surge," but lost in all the bluster by talking heads on TV is "the surge" was designed to help Iraq bring about unification so elections could be held and the Iraqi government could be officially formed.

"The surge" was never about military accomplishments, but you would never know it if you only listened to the blabbermouth on FOX NEWS, CNN and MSNBC.

Now comes word, the President of Iraq says an election will have to be put off until 2009 because factions in Iraq can't get together on certain issues regarding the election.

Iraqi President Vows Veto of Election Bill
Measure Passed After Kurdish Boycott; Balloting Is Now Unlikely Until 2009

By Amit R. PaleyWashington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, July 24, 2008; Page A16
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072301978.html

BAGHDAD, July 23 -- President Jalal Talabani said Wednesday that he would veto a measure governing provincial elections scheduled for this year, making it all but certain that the balloting will be delayed until 2009.

The announcement was a setback for both the Bush administration and the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which hailed a preliminary election law passed earlier this year as evidence of political progress in Iraq. The ongoing disagreements over the polling have instead highlighted the sectarian fissures that still divide the country.

Talabani, a Kurd, said the bill passed by parliament Tuesday was unconstitutional and had been approved by only 127 lawmakers from the 275-member parliament, after the Kurdish delegation walked out in protest. For a bill to become law, it must be approved by the three-member presidency council, which Talabani heads.

HUFFINGTON POST: BUSH BANS STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS FROM OBAMA RALLY AND SPEECH IN BERLIN

Bush Bans State Department Officials From Obama Rally

http://tinyurl.com/5dzyqb

In a flagrant political act, the State Department has barred its employees from attending Sen. Barack Obama's speech in Berlin tonight.

Under the pretense that he is maintaining political neutrality, the Washington Post reported today, State Department Undersecretary for Management Patrick F. Kennedy has interpreted the Foreign Affairs Manual in the most restrictive way, claiming that he is ensuring that foreign service officials will remain untainted by a "partisan political act." (Spouse and family members, however, have generously been excluded from this ruling.)

The U.S. embassy, which is headed by ambassador Robert Timken, a businessman and crony of George W. Bush's from Ohio, who is widely reviled in Germany for his ignorance of foreign affairs, has instructed officials not to attend the rally.

The American Foreign Service Association has complained about the edict but there's not enough time to dispute it. Funny that.

The truth is that there would probably be few better opportunities for embassy officials to get a feel for the views of the Germans by mixing with them during the rally. Of course, the sentiments expressed by Germans, who worship Obama as much as they loathe George W. Bush, might not be ones that the administration is eager to hear.

Indeed, the administration has a long and tawdry record of trying to browbeat government agencies into submission, whether it's the CIA or the Centers for Disease Control. The State Department is perhaps highest on the list of conservatives and neocons who see it as the center of disloyalty and treachery. But this latest action represents a new low.

If it's going to these lengths, the Bush administration must be really worried about Sen. John McCain's prospects.

WASHINGTON POST: DEFENSE CONTRACTORS GET A BIG BREAK FROM THE PENTAGON

Pentagon Auditors Pressured To Favor Contractors, GAO Says

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072301437.html?wpisrc=newsletter


By Dana HedgpethWashington Post Staff WriterThursday, July 24, 2008; D01
Auditors at a Pentagon oversight agency were pressured by supervisors to skew their reports on major defense contractors to make them look more favorable instead of exposing wrongdoing and charges of overbilling, according to an 80-page report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office.

The Defense Contract Audit Agency, which oversees contractors for the Defense Department, "improperly influenced the audit scope, conclusions and opinions" of reviews of contractor performance, the GAO said, creating a "serious independence issue."

The report does not name the projects or the contractors involved, but staff members on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee who were briefed on the findings cited seven contractors, some of whom are among the biggest in the defense industry: Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Fluor, Parker Hannifin, Sparta, SRS Technologies and a subsidiary of L3 Communications.

Continue reading here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072301437.html?wpisrc=newsletter

WE HAVE NEWS MEDIA DOESN'T TELL ABOUT IRAQ

The mainstream media in the United States is "in the tank" to the Bush administration, and in return to GOP hopeful John McCain, and in so doing they keep from the American public what is really happening in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The purpose of this blog has ALWAYS been to tell the truth about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars which the mainstream media no longer wants to do.

Below is just a partial list of what has been taking place in both Iraq and Afghanistan over the past two days:

SOURCE: http://icasualties.org/oif/ (CLICK ON "BLUE" FOR MORE INFO)


07/23/08 MCT: Iraqi forces aren't quite ready to take charge
It wasn't yet dawn, and the Iraqi army unit was already behind schedule. It was about to launch a major operation against another cluster of towns overrun by Shiite Muslim militiamen, and this time American forces would remain at the rear of the convoy...

07/23/08 MCT: Two bodies found in Baghdad
Police found two unidentified bodies in Baghdad. The first body was found in Zafaraniyah district while the second body was found in Ur neighborhood.

07/23/08 MCT: Roadside bomb kills woman in Abo Saida
A woman was killed in a roadside bomb in Abo Saida area east of Baquba around 11:30 a.m.

07/23/08 MCT: Two Iraqi soldiers killed in east Mosul
Gunmen attacked a checkpoint in al Tahreer neighborhood in east Mosul city on Wednesday afternoon killing two Iraqi soldiers.

07/23/08 MCT: Some Guardsmen, Reservists back from Iraq didn't get benefits
The Department of Veterans Affairs failed to send benefit packages to nearly 37,000 National Guard and Reserve members who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan because it mistakenly thought they were ineligible.

07/23/08 AP: Iraqi president rejects election law
Iraq's president promised to reject a draft law paving the way for U.S.-backed provincial elections, saying Wednesday it would worsen sectarian rifts among Iraqis.

07/23/08 Reuters: Motar fire wounds 2 civilians in southeastern Mosul
Mortar shells wounded two civilians when they landed on a police station in southeastern Mosul, police said.

07/23/08 Reuters: Gunmen kill civilian in cental Mosul
Gunmen shot dead a civilian in front of his house in central Mosul, police said.

07/23/08 Reuters: Iraqi security forces arrest scores of suspected Shi'ite militants
Iraqi security forces arrested scores of suspected Shi'ite militants and confiscated weapons in the town of Haswa, 50 km (30 miles), south of Baghdad, an Iraqi military source said. The town has been under curfew for two days.

07/23/08 Reuters: Roadside bomb wounds 3 policemen in southeastern Mosul
A roadside bomb wounded three policemen when it exploded near their patrol in southeastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles), north of Baghdad, police said.

07/23/08 AFP: Iraqi premier Maliki pitches reconstruction work to German firms
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is confident that German companies will decide "in the coming days" to head back to his country, he said Wednesday after meeting some 120 business leaders here.

07/23/08 NYTimes: Kurdish defiance likely to delay Iraqi elections
The Iraqi Parliament approved legislation to govern provincial elections, but Kurdish lawmakers boycotted the session, vowing to force the measure to be rewritten and probably delaying the balloting for months.

07/23/08 MCT: U.S. military advisers say they're treated as misfits
Standing next to a screen illuminating a long list of tips, Maj. Anthony Nichols looked out at the classroom of neophyte military trainers and began a lecture about the ways that fellow soldiers will look down at them while they serve...

07/23/08 DailyMail: Accused SAS sergeant made £200,000 selling beer
A former SAS sergeant claimed he made profits of more than £200,000 in just 12 weeks by selling alcohol to thousands of Coalition colleagues serving in Iraq.

07/23/08 AP: Iraqi Kurds reject law
Iraq's Kurdish government has denounced a draft law paving the way for U.S.-backed provincial elections and urged the presidential council to reject it.

07/23/08 AFP: 30,000 Iraqi troops poised for assault on Qaeda bastion
Some 30,000 Iraqi soldiers and police are to launch a military assault against Al-Qaeda fighters and insurgents in Diyala province from August 1, army and police officers said Wednesday.

07/22/08 NPR: In Iraq, Tactical Theory Put Into Practice
After years spent studying counterinsurgency, Lt. Col. John Nagl recently put his knowledge of rebellion suppression into practice while serving in Iraq...

07/22/08 AP: Iraqis cast doubt on elections this year
Iraq's parliament passed a law Tuesday meant to pave the way for provincial elections despite a Kurdish boycott, but critics warned it's unlikely the vote will be held this year as had been expected.

07/22/08 AFP: Tractor bomb kills seven
AN explosives-filled tractor exploded in a restive region of Iraq's Diyala province today, killing at least seven members of a local anti al-Qaeda group, a police officer said. The tractor was parked by the side of road in the village of Wais...

07/22/08 AP: Iraq looks to tourism
Someone had fun tinkering with the airline board at the old, disused terminal at Baghdad International Airport. It advertises a "special flight" on Japan Airlines from Basra to Sydney, Australia, while a flight from Baghdad to Mexico City is "delayed."

07/22/08 NYTimes: Inside Sadr City - The Wall
Sadr City, long one of the most dangerous parts of the Iraqi capital, is calmer now than it has been in years. To be sure, American soldiers and Iraqi judges are still being killed here, but not at the rate of deadly attacks in 2006 and 2007.

07/22/08 Reuters: Gunmen attack health official in central Tikrit
Gunmen opened fire on the convoy of Khalid Burhan, head of the health office of Salahuddin province in central Tikrit, 150 km (95 miles) north of Baghdad, wounding his guards, police said.

07/22/08 Reuters: Body found in Dibis
Iraqi police found the body of a civilian in Dibis, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. The body bore gunshot wounds.

07/22/08 Reuters: Gunmen kill 5 civilians in Haswa
Gunmen shot and wounded five civilians on Monday in Haswa, 50 km (30 miles), south of Baghdad, police said.

07/22/08 Reuters: Suicide bomber wounds nine people northwest Baghdad
A suicide car bomber wounded nine people including three policemen in an attack on their checkpoint in northwest Baghdad on Monday, the U.S. military said.

07/22/08 Reuters: Roadside bomb kills police lieutenant-colonel in northern Kirkuk
A roadside bomb killed a police lieutenant-colonel and wounded four of his guards on Monday in northern Kirkuk, police said.

07/22/08 AP: 4 US soldiers charged in detainee deaths in Iraq
Four soldiers have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the deaths of detainees in Iraq in 2007, a U.S. military spokesman said Tuesday.

07/22/08 MCT: Roadside bomb kills 2 policemen in Kirkuk
On Monday night, a roadside bomb targeted a police patrol in Kirkuk city. Two policemen were killed( including the deputy of Irouba police station Colonel Khabat Aziz) and 5 others were injured.

07/22/08 Reuters: U.S. troop "surge" in Iraq ends
The U.S. military said on Tuesday the last of five extra combat brigades sent to Iraq last year had withdrawn. There are currently just under 147,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. Following are facts about the so-called surge:

07/22/08 Reuters: Iraq's parliament passes poll law, Kurds walk out
Iraq's parliament passed a provincial elections bill on Tuesday despite a walkout by Kurdish parliamentarians angered over how the law would deal with the disputed city of Kirkuk.

07/22/08 metro: British troops to remain in Iraq 'for months'
Britain's military force in Iraq will remain 4,100 strong for the "next few months," the Prime Minister told the Commons today. But troop reductions will be made later as a "fundamental change of mission" occurs in the early months of next year.

07/22/08 Xinhua: Iraqi journalist shot dead in northern Iraq
Iraqi police Tuesday said gunmen have shot dead a Kurdish journalist working for a local magazine in the city of Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad.

LIST OF 25 MOST VICIOUS WAR PROFITEERS

The 25 Most Vicious Iraq War Profiteers

Source: http://www.businesspundit.com/the-25-most-vicious-iraq-war-profiteers/

The Iraq war is many things to different people. It is called a strategic blunder and a monstrous injustice and sometimes even a patriotic mission, much to the chagrin of rational human beings. For many big companies, however, the war is something far different: a lucrative cash-cow. The years-long, ongoing military effort has resurrected fears of the so-called “military-industrial complex.” Media pundits are outraged at private companies scooping up huge, no-questions-asked contracts to manufacture weapons, rebuild infrastructure, or anything else the government deems necessary to win (or plant its flag in Iraq).

No matter what your stance on the war, it pays to know where your tax dollars are being spent.

Following is a detailed rundown of the 25 companies squeezing the most profit from this controversial conflict.

Click on this link to see who is making a killing off the war. Needless to say Dick Cheney's former company, Halliburton, leads the way: http://www.businesspundit.com/the-25-most-vicious-iraq-war-profiteers/

AP VIDEO: MCCAIN FLUBS ON IRAQ TIMELINE

GOP hopeful Sen. John McCain flubbed again and this time it was on the impact of "the surge" on security conditions in Iraq. McCain failed to mention the Sunni Awakening had already started clearing Al Qaeda and other terrorist elements from Iraqi neighborhoods before "the surge" was initiated.

WATCH VIDEO HERE: http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=263881

Click on diamond-shaped arrown in center of pic to activate video

AP REPORTS: IRAQ PASSES ELECTION LAW, BUT DOUBTS RISE ELECTION WILL BE HELD THIS YEAR

Iraqis cast doubt on elections

Disputes stall draft law setting guidelines, allocating funds for election

The Associated Press
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25801070/

BAGHDAD - Iraq's parliament passed a law Tuesday meant to pave the way for provincial elections despite a Kurdish boycott, but critics warned it's unlikely the vote will be held this year as had been expected.

U.S. officials see the voting as another key step in national reconciliation, but the draft law setting guidelines and allocating funds for the elections has been stalled by political disputes as Iraq's myriad ethnic and sectarian factions jockey for power.

The sticking point on Tuesday was a Kurdish objection to an item in the new law that calls for a secret ballot to decide on a power-sharing arrangement in the disputed oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
The Kurds and two deputy parliamentary speakers walked out of the chamber in protest, but the parliament went ahead with the line-by-line vote and passed the law with a quorum.

Deputy parliamentary speaker Khalid al-Attiyah, a Shiite, said the secret ballot was unconstitutional and accused the lawmakers of "arm-twisting."

Read more here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25801070/

CNN REPORTS: SEXUALLY ASSAULTED FEMALE TROOPS STRUGGLE TO RECOVER

Female troops have been raped, sexually harassed while on duty in Iraq

15 percent walking into VA test positive for military sexual trauma

VA opens 16th inpatient ward specializing in treating military sexual victims

Female veteran to daughter in military: Don't let your guard down with male soldiers

YORK, Pennsylvania (AP) -- It took Diane Pickel Plappert six months to tell a counselor that she had been raped while on duty in Iraq. While time passed, the former Navy nurse disconnected from her children, and her life slowly unraveled.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/07/22/military.women.sexual.assault.ap/index.html

Carolyn Schapper says she was harassed by a fellow Army National Guard soldier in Iraq to the extent that she began changing clothes in the shower for fear he'd barge into her room unannounced, as he had on several occasions.

Even as women distinguish themselves in battle alongside men, they're fighting off sexual assault and harassment. It's not a new consequence of war.

But the sheer number of women serving today -- more than 190,000 in Iraq and Afghanistan -- is forcing the military and Department of Veterans Affairs to more aggressively address it.

The data -- incomplete and not up-to-date -- offer no proof that women in the war zones are more vulnerable to sexual assault than other female service members or American women in general. But in an era when the military relies on women for invaluable and difficult front-line duties, the threat to their morale, performance and long-term well-being is starkly clear.

Of the female veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who have walked into a VA facility, 15 percent have screened positive for military sexual trauma,

The Associated Press has learned. That means they indicated that while on active duty, they were sexually assaulted, raped or sexually harassed, receiving repeated unsolicited verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature.

In January, the VA opened its 16th inpatient ward specializing in treating victims of military sexual trauma, this one in New Jersey. In response to complaints that it is too male-focused in its care, the VA is making changes such as adding keyless entry locks on hospital room doors so female patients feel safer.

Rape victim felt numb when returning home

Depression, anxiety, problem drinking, sexually transmitted diseases and domestic abuse are all problems that have been linked to sexual abuse, according to the Miles Foundation, a nonprofit group that provides support to victims of violence associated with the military. Since 2002, the foundation says, it has received more than 1,000 reports of assault and rape in the U.S. Central Command areas of operation, which include Iraq and Afghanistan.

In most reports to the foundation, fellow U.S. service members have been named as the perpetrator, but contractors and local nationals also have been accused.

Read more here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/07/22/military.women.sexual.assault.ap/index.html

WE HAVE NAMES OF 4 U.S. SOLDIERS CHARGED IN DEATHS OF DETAINEES IN IRAQ

4 US soldiers charged by military over deaths of detainees in Iraq last year

The Associated Press
Tuesday, July 22, 2008

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/22/america/US-Iraq-Deaths.php

BERLIN: Four soldiers have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the deaths of detainees in Iraq in 2007, a U.S. military spokesman said Tuesday.

Staff Sgt. Jess Cunningham, Sgt. Charles Quigley, Spc. Stephen Ribordy and Spc. Belmor Ramos of the 172nd Infantry Brigade were charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, said Lt. Col. Eric Bloom, spokesman for the Army Joint Multinational Training Command in Grafenwoehr, Germany. The men's hometowns were not given.

Their case now has to be reviewed to determine whether it should be referred to a court-martial, Bloom said. No date has yet been set for a hearing.

In a statement, the Army said the charges "relate to an incident that occurred during April-May 2007 in Baghdad, Iraq."

The statement gave no further details but, in an earlier release, the Army had said the allegations related to "the deaths of several detainees who were captured as part of combat operations last year."

That statement, released in January, said that "preliminary findings indicate the deceased detainees were not persons detained in a detention facility."

CNN: OBAMA: STABILITY ULTIMATELY IN HANDS OF IRAQIS

NEW: Sen. Barack Obama: Iraq political progress needed to match security success

Obama set to meet with king in Amman, Jordan

Jordan is U.S. ally that has received Iraqi war refugees

Senators stop off in Iraq's Sunni-dominated Anbar province before Jordan

SOURCE: http://tinyurl.com/5hwrcd

(CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama said Tuesday he was pleased with the reduction of violence in Iraq since the deployment of more U.S. troops, but added it was a result of several factors, not just the "surge."

"We don't know what would have happened if the plan that I preferred in January 2007 -- to put more pressure on the Iraqis to arrive at a political reconciliation, to begin a phased withdrawal -- what would have happened had we pursued that strategy," Obama said after landing in Amman, Jordan.

"I am pleased that as a consequence of great effort by our troops -- but also as a consequence of a shift in allegiances among the Sunni tribal leaders as well as the decision of the Sadr militias to stand down -- that we've seen a quelling of violence," he said.

But, Obama said, a functioning Iraq ultimately will depend on the capacity of the Iraqi people to unify themselves, get beyond sectarian divisions and set up a government that works for the people.

"There is security progress. Now we need a political solution," he said. Watch Obama describe his plan for Iraq »

Obama's stop in Jordan is the latest on his trip through the Middle East. So far, Obama also has been through Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq. The senator from Illinois will visit Israel before embarking on the European leg of his trip, which will take him through Germany, France and the United Kingdom. See the stops on Obama's trip »

Back in the United States, Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, has been criticizing Obama for his opposition to the surge, which began in 2007 when President Bush ordered nearly 30,000 additional troops to Iraq as part of a campaign to secure Baghdad and its surrounding provinces.

"He railed against it. He voted against the surge, and he said it would fail," McCain told CBS. "He was wrong there, and there's very little doubt in my mind that he will see for himself that he had a gross misjudgment and he will correct that."

The McCain campaign continued its criticism in a statement released after Obama's news conference in Jordan.

McCAIN IS WRONG ON EVERYTHING ABOUT IRAQ INCLUDING "THE SURGE"

Troop Agreement Misses Deadline

Provincial Law Misses Deadline

Bombings in Mosul, Diyala, Fallujah

SOURCE: http://juancole.com/

First there was going to be a status of forces agreement between the US and Iraq, which would be ratified by the Iraqi parliament and would grant the US long-term bases. Private security guards and US troops would be immune from Iraqi law. US commanders would launch operations at will, would decide who a terrorist was, and would arrest and imprison Iraqis at will.Then al-Maliki went to Iran for consultations. And Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani forbade a giveaway of Iraqi sovereignty.

And the Sadrists began demonstrating every Friday. Then the US launched a unilateral operation in al-Maliki's home town and killed his cousin.So the private contractors won't have legal immunity. And the agreement will be just for a year, not long-term. And it won't be ratified by the Iraqi parliament, so it is just a vague agreement between two executives.

It won't stipulate long-term arrangements, but its interpretive context will be one in which the Iraqi leadership has expressed a desire for US troops to leave in 2010. It isn't clear if US troops will have legal immunity or whether they will have full freedom of action or whether they will be able to arrest and incarcerate Iraqis at will.And now, it won't be signed by the deadline of July 31.You have to wonder whether the Iraqis and the Americans in the end won't have to go back to the UN for a troop mandate again.

The Iraqis want out from under the UN but don't want to recognize that the American presence detracts from their sovereignty. D'oh.No provincial election law again on Monday. Maybe Tuesday. Maybe not.The Iraqi legislative calendar is more like "Waiting for Godot" than it is like . . . a legislative calendar.

John McCain thinks that Iraq and Pakistan have a common border.[Hat tip to Think Progress.]Hey, everybody, ask McCain if he'll pull out US troops by 2010 if that is what the Iraqi government says it wants.McCain keeps boasting about being "right" about the "surge" and saying Obama was "wrong."Look, it is more important that McCain was consistently wrong.

He was wrong about the desirability of going to war against Iraq.

He was wrong about it being a cakewalk.

He was wrong about there being WMD there.

He was wrong about everything.

And he was wrong about the troop escalation making things better.

The casualty figures dropped in al-Anbar, where few extra US troops were ever sent.

They dropped in Basra, from which the British withdrew.

Something happened. Putting it all on 30,000 extra troops seems a stretch. And what about all the ethnic cleansing and displacing of persons that took place under the nose of the "surge?"

McCain has been wrong about everything to do with Iraq. And he is boasting about his wisdom on it!

Guerrillas used a tractor bomb to kill 7 persons and wound 8 others in Diyala Province near Iran, where there is a lively contest for power among Shiites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds.

Reuters reports other recent political violence in Iraq:
' * MOSUL - A suicide car bomber killed two private security contractors serving as bodyguards to members of the Kurdish Democratic Party in an attack on their convoy in Mosul . . . The blast also wounded eight civilians nearby.

MOSUL - Gunmen killed two people when they opened fire on their vehicle in southeastern Mosul, police said.MOSUL - Gunmen killed two brothers and their cousin in a drive-by shooting in northern Mosul on Sunday, police said. . . .

MOSUL - One body was found with gunshot wounds to the head in western Mosul, police said. . .

BAGHDAD - A parked car bomb killed one person and wounded four others on Sunday in Alawi district, central Baghdad, police said.

FALLUJA - Five people were wounded by two roadside bombs exploding within minutes of each other on different streets in central Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.

REUTERS REPORTS: KURDS WALKOUT OF IRAQI PARLIAMENT

BAGHDAD, July 22 (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament passed a provincial elections bill on Tuesday, but a walkout by Kurdish lawmakers over the disputed oil city of Kirkuk could mean the law may not ratified by the presidency.

Kurds make up one of the three main groups in parliament, and their boycott of the vote over a dispute on how the elections law would deal with Kirkuk means the bill could be sent back to parliament.The law is meant to pave the way for polls seen as vital to reconciling Iraq's Sunni Arabs, who boycotted the last provincial elections in 2005, with its other communities."Today parliament passed the provincial elections law, in the absence of the Kurdish alliance, which walked out," Hanin Qado, a lawmaker from the ruling Shi'ite alliance, told Reuters.Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L22936003.htm

REPUBLICANS ARE SCREAMING FOUL, NY TIMES DID McCAIN A FAVOR BY "SPIKING" HIS OP-ED WHICH WOULD HAVE EMBARRASSED HIM.

New York Times Spares McCain Embarrassment By Spiking Op-Ed

By Jason Linkins
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/21/inew-york-timesi-spares-m_n_114117.html

As anyone who hasn't been living under a boulder knows by now, John McCain has always enjoyed an extra-special relationship with the press, who care for the Presidential nominee as one might nurture an orphaned lamb, doing him no end of solids.

For example, even though Barack Obama has consistently led in the polls since clinching the Democratic nomination, we are told that this is Good For McCain, because according to something written on the Ancient and Illuminated Manuscript of Press Corps Conventional Wisdom, Obama should be leading by more, and his waste should smell like Springtime in Vermont.

Also, when McCain visits Europe, it burnishes his Presidential pedigree, but if Obama does so, it makes him look un-American.

Now, however, the McCain camp is angry at their special friend, specifically the New York Times, because the paper of record spiked an op-ed column that McCain had prepared in response to a similar offering from Obama. McCain's surrogates are flush with outrage over this.

But I've now read the piece, and it's pretty clear to me that the Times' decision, if anything, is in keeping with the press' traditional friendly relationship. The Times put bros before prose, and in so doing, spared McCain no end of embarrassment, because the op-ed is rivetingly dumb and laden with inaccuracies. None of which would have come to my attention if the candidate had done the smart thing and kept his mouth shut! But since he wants the attention, let's give it to him.

In January 2007, when General David Petraeus took command in Iraq, he called the situation "hard" but not "hopeless." Today, 18 months later, violence has fallen by up to 80% to the lowest levels in four years, and Sunni and Shiite terrorists are reeling from a string of defeats. The situation now is full of hope, but considerable hard work remains to consolidate our fragile gains.

An inauspicious beginning! Surely the last thing McCain, as an Iraq War advocate, needs to be doing right now is pointing out that four years ago, things were really horrible in Iraq, and after an Olympic season of Surge and sturm and drang, we've only managed to almost get the level of horror back to where it was when it was horrible.

Progress has been due primarily to an increase in the number of troops and a change in their strategy. I was an early advocate of the surge at a time when it had few supporters in Washington. Senator Barack Obama was an equally vocal opponent. "I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there," he said on January 10, 2007. "In fact, I think it will do the reverse."

As all "Surge" proponents tend to do, McCain overlooks a situation that was unfolding in Baghdad contemporaneously with the "Surge," namely a massive campaign of sectarian cleansing that expelled people from their homes, hardened neighborhoods, and created a massive internal displacement problem.

Violence dropped as a result of the factions getting what they wanted - the people they were killing out of their neighborhoods.

Also, isn't it time that McCain stopped getting credit for being an "early advocate" of the Surge that President Bush was going to implement anyway? I was an early advocate and a vocal supporter of all of the Washington Redskins Superbowl victories, but you don't see me asking for a ring!

Now Senator Obama has been forced to acknowledge that "our troops have performed brilliantly in lowering the level of violence." But he still denies that any political progress has resulted.

I think that when Obama denies that any political progress has resulted, it's probably because no political progress has resulted. Indeed, the "Surge" was supposed to "create space" for the Iraqi government to reach a level of functionality. What's the impediment? Well, according to a majority of Iraqi legislators, that "space" has been occupied by the occupation.

They said so in the letter they sent to Congress, attesting to this:

Likewise, we wish to inform you that the majority of Iraqi representatives strongly reject any military-security, economic, commercial, agricultural, investment or political agreement with the United States that is not linked to clear mechanisms that obligate the occupying American military forces to fully withdraw from Iraq, in accordance with a declared timetable and without leaving behind any military bases, soldiers or hired fighters.

I don't know...it seems like Obama might be aware of this!

Perhaps he is unaware that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has recently certified that, as one news article put it, "Iraq has met all but three of 18 original benchmarks set by Congress last year to measure security, political and economic progress." Even more heartening has been progress that's not measured by the benchmarks. More than 90,000 Iraqis, many of them Sunnis who once fought against the government, have signed up as Sons of Iraq to fight against the terrorists.

Nor do they measure Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's new-found willingness to crack down on Shiite extremists in Basra and Sadr City--actions that have done much to dispel suspicions of sectarianism.

Wow. That's a mouthful of nonsense to parse. It's not the U.S. Embassy in Iraq who's made such a claim, it's "Surge" architect and editorial-page-welfare recipient Fred Kagan who's contended that the Iraq has had benchmark success. This is a claim that CNN Reporter Michael Ware has already debunked. In truth, on benchmarks, it would be more accurate to say McCain has it precisely backwards.

PRIZE-WINNING MIDDLE EAST REPORTER DAHR JAMAIL SAYS FALLUJAH ABOUT TO EXPLODE WITH VIOLENCE

Fallujah, the second largest city in Iraq and one that the Bush Administration and the U.S. military point to as a model of how "the surge" has worked, is about to explode into massive violence, according to veteran Middle East reporter Dahr Jamail.

Parts of Fallujah have been walled off and tension is mounting as more and more incidents of violence can be seen each day.

On Monday alone, here is what happened in Fallujah:

Al Anbar Prv:Fallujah:#1: A bomb exploded inside the garden of the house of the father of Falluja police deputy chief Lieutenant Colonel Esa Sayer in al Shurta district in downtown Falluja city west of Baghdad around 6:00 a.m. Five people were injured including a 5 years kid who was seriously injured.

#2: A bomb exploded inside the garden of the house of CPT Asif Ghazi, an officer in Falluja police. The explosion took place in al Mualimeen district in downtown Falluja around 6:00 a.m. the explosion caused damages to the house. No casualties reported. Two other bombs were found near the house and there were detonated under control.

#3: (?) Five people were wounded by two roadside bombs exploding within minutes of each other on different streets in central Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, police said


The Third Siege of Fallujah

By Dahr Jamail and Ali Al-Fadhily, IPS News
Posted on July 21, 2008, Printed on July 21, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/story/92198/

FALLUJAH, Jul 21 (IPS) -- U.S. and Iraqi forces are preparing another siege of Fallujah under the pretext of combating "terror," residents and officials say.

Located 69 km west of Baghdad, the city that suffered two devastating U.S. attacks in 2004 has watched security degrade over recent months.

"Ruling powers in the city fighting to gain full control seem willing to use the security collapse to accuse each other of either conspiracy (in lawlessness) or incapability of control," Sufian Ahmed, a lawyer and human rights activist in Fallujah told IPS.

"They suddenly changed their tone from saying that the city was the safest in Iraq to claiming that al-Qaeda is a serious threat. Fallujah residents know their so-called leaders are using security threats to terrify them for their own political interests."

In the face of U.S. military claims of improved security, violence has been rising by the day this month. The city has now been placed under tight curfew while U.S. and Iraqi military forces prepare for a new offensive, according to the local Azzaman daily.

Iraqi security forces have established new checkpoints around the city and are forbidding movement of people and traffic. Pick-up trucks are roaming the city warning residents that al-Qaeda has once again infiltrated Fallujah.

Iraqi police officers insist that the situation is under control despite the "occasional incidents that take place all over Iraq."

The indications on the ground belie these claims. "The Americans and their allies transferred our leader, Colonel Fayssal al-Zoba'i from his post because they have bad plans for the city," a major in the Fallujah police force told IPS. "He has all the right to keep his post because he was the one who led us to defeat the insurgency while the Americans failed. They (the U.S. military) seem to have a plan to destroy the city again."

Iraqi police and troops from other areas are being deployed in the city in what police officials say is a build-up for a huge offensive. U.S. occupation forces are on the ready in nearby bases.

The government in Baghdad has made it clear that direct U.S. military involvement is critical for an "imminent offensive" in Fallujah, sources in the Iraqi military have been quoted as saying in Iraqi media.

The two U.S. sieges of the city during 2004 led to the destruction of approximately 75 percent of the city, thousands of civilian deaths, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, according to the Fallujah-based Iraqi NGO Monitoring Net for Human Rights.


Some officers in the Fallujah police believe Iraqi politicians are using the threat of "terror" for election purposes, ahead of provincial elections scheduled for October.

"The resignation of Colonel Fayssal is not yet definite," another police officer, speaking on terms of anonymity, told IPS. "But I agree that the Americans and the Islamic Party are planning something bad for the city before the provincial elections."

The officer added, "We learned that such plans could not be conducted in a quiet atmosphere, so politicians are adding gas to the fire just to make sure they win the elections. We, policemen and citizens, will be the victims as usual." Residents fear parties will use the violence to accuse one another, and perhaps sabotage the election itself.

A police spokesman told IPS that "the media is exaggerating things once more" in speaking of another military operation in the city. The spokesman declined to give his name.

Everyone IPS spoke with in the city expressed fear of an impending attack.

There are meanwhile no signs of improvement of any other kind in Fallujah.

Walls now divide the city into sectarian sections, with poverty, unemployment and suffering on all sides.

HOTTEST NEW VIDEO: OBAMA MEETS WITH TROOPS IN KUWAIT.SINKS A 3-POINT RANGE BASKETBALL SHOT

You may have seen portions of this tape on your TV, but this is the whole video including Barack Obama sinking a 3-point range basketball shot as he visited with U.S. troops in Kuwait.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bimTBZPYvWM

MILITARY FAMILIES FROM FORT CAMPBELL, KY TELL ABOUT THE HORRORS LONG WARS HAVE TAKEN ON THEIR FAMILIES

With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan lasting longer than five and seven years respectively, the toll on families of the GIs deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan---sometimes on their third and fourth rotation---are suffering even despite the Army's attempts to help them.

The Associated Press talked with families of soldiers deployed to Iraq from Fort Campbell, Kentucky and their stories are heart-breaking.

Below is the first a three-part series by AP of what is not getting reported in the rest of mainstream press about the havoc caused on families by two wars that are showing no signs of ending soon.


As Wars Lengthen, Toll On Military Families Mounts

Last Update: 10:22 am

http://tinyurl.com/5ved92

EDITOR'S NOTE - With troops fighting on foreign soil since late 2001, the United States is learning about the long-term toll of modern war on the home front. In the first of a three-part package of stories, The Associated Press examines some of the consequences for military families. By DAVID CRARY= AP National Writer= FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) -

Far from the combat zones, the strains and separations of no-end-in-sight wars are taking an ever-growing toll on military families despite the armed services' earnest efforts to help.

Divorce lawyers see it in the breakup of youthful marriages as long, multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan fuel alienation and mistrust. Domestic violence experts see it in the scuffles that often precede a soldier's departure or sour a briefly joyous homecoming.

Teresa Moss, a counselor at Fort Campbell's Lincoln Elementary School, hears it in the voices of deployed soldiers' children as they meet in groups to share accounts of nightmares, bedwetting and heartache. "They listen to each other. They hear that they aren't the only ones not able to sleep, having their teachers yell at them," Moss said.

Even for Army spouses with solid marriages, the repeated separations are an ordeal. "Three deployments in, I still have days when I want to hide under the bed and cry," said Jessica Leonard, who is raising two small children and teaching a "family team building" class to other wives at Fort Campbell. Her husband, Capt. Lance Leonard, is in Iraq.

Those classes are among numerous initiatives to support war-strained families. Yet military officials acknowledge that the vast needs outweigh available resources, and critics complain of persistent shortcomings - a dearth of updated data on domestic violence, short shrift for families of National Guard and Reserve members, inadequate support for spouses and children of wounded and traumatized soldiers. If the burden sounds heavier than what families bore in the 20th century's longest wars - World War II and Vietnam - it is, in some ways.

Today's wars entail a deployment pattern of two, three, sometimes four overseas stints of 12 or 15 months - a schedule virtually unheard of in the past. "It's hard to go away, it's hard to come back, and go away and come back again," said Dr. David Benedek, an Army psychiatrist. "That is happening on a larger scale than in our previous military endeavors."

Almost in one breath, military officials praise the resiliency that enables most of these families to endure while acknowledging that the wars expose them to unprecedented stresses and the risk of long-lasting scars. An array of studies by the Army and outside researchers say that marital strains, risk of child maltreatment and other family problems worsen as soldiers serve multiple combat tours.

Continue read here: http://tinyurl.com/5ved92

WHAT FOX NEWS VIEWERS THINK IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN BARACK OBAMA'S TRIP TO BAGHDAD

While the WHOLE world is focused on Sen. Barack Obama's trip to Baghdad, and how his trip will impact on the lives of 160,000 young Americans serving in the military in Iraq, the FOX NEWS web site (http://foxnews.com/) features a block of "Most Read" articles by FOX NEWS viewers.

Here is what FOX NEWS viewers think are the most important stories:

Plea Deal Unlikely Before First Gitmo War Crimes Trial
ElectionHQ: James Dobson May Endorse McCain- Financial Outlooks Reflect Different Strategies
Paulson Braces Public for Tough Times Ahead
Bus Explosions Kill 2, Wound 14 in Southwest China
Woman Accused of Stealing Baby Charged With Homicide
Apparent Conjoined Barn Swallows Found in Arkansas
Pope Meets Clergy Abuse Victims in Australia
Zimbabwe Power-Sharing Talks Deal Struck
Investigator Into Madeleine McCann Probe Pens Book
$20,000 Earrings Found in New York Trash Dump
Tropical Storm Cristobal Weakens- Tropical Storm Dolly Forms in Western Caribbean
Landslide in Guatemala Kills 12 Family Members
Group Ordains Three Female Catholic Priests
Report: Genetic Similarities More Common Than Thought
Harrington Wins Second British Open PHOTOS
Racial Mix in U.S. Cities Marks End of White Flight Subscribe to RSS
Katie Holmes Shows Off Her New Severe Bob
B-52 Bomber Carrying 6 Crew Members Crashes Off Guam
Missing Fort Bliss Soldier Found Alive, Sister Says
French Tourist Allegedly Beats Daughter Into Coma Against Roman Monument
Paulson Braces Public for Tough Times Ahead
Changing Racial Makeup in U.S. Cities Marks the End of White Flight
Scientist’s Quest for ‘Megafish’ Leads Him to Giant Freshwater Stingray
Pop Tarts: Jessica Simpson's Super-Sexy (and Smelly) Photo Shoot
$20,000 Earrings Found in New York Trash Dump
Apparent Conjoined Barn Swallows Found in Arkansas
Activists: 9 Iranians Convicted of Adultery Set to Be Stoned to Death
Report: Genetic Profiles More Common Than Once Thought
'Dark Knight' Sets Weekend Box-Office Record With $155.34M
Rice: Iran Not Serious at Nuke Meeting, Could Face New Sanctions
Pa. Woman Accused of Stealing Baby Charged With Homicide
Bus Explosions Kill 2, Wound 14 in Southwest China

Amazing, but not one mention of Sen. Barack Obama's trip to Baghdad.

FOX NEWS continues to feed their audience "tabloid"news and that is why the average FOX NEWS viewer hasn't got a clue what is going on in the world.

Bill Corcoran, EDITOR: CORKSPHERE: url http://corksphere.blogspot.com/

IRAQ NEWS SOURCE REPORTS AL-MALIKI AND OBAMA HAVE MET

Maliki, Obama tackle future of U.S. military presence in Iraq – source

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq
Monday , 21 /07 /2008 Time 1:09:06
http://www.aswataliraq.info/look/english/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrArticle=86499&NrIssue=2&NrSection=1


BAGHDAD, July 21 (VOI) – Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and visiting U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama discussed a number of topics including the future of U.S. military presence in Iraq, according to a cabinet media source on Monday.

"Maliki received Obama as soon as he arrived in Baghdad and the two sides discussed the possibility of U.S. troop cuts in Iraq," the source, who asked that he is name not be revealed, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).The source said the Illinois Senator would possibly meet other Iraqi officials today.Earlier in the day the U.S. army's media advisor Abdellatif Rayan told VOI Obama arrived in the Iraqi capital as part of a tour he started with Afghanistan earlier this week.Obama had pledged to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq if he won the presidential elections to be held next November.The U.S. White House hopeful had paid a single visit to Iraq in January 2006.

CNN: DEADLY CAR BOMB GOES OFF IN BAGHDAD AS OBAMA ARRIVES

Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama arrived in Baghdad and hours later a car bomb went off in Baghdad killing a civilian and wounding four others as a sign that peace in Iraq is still very fragile.

Baghdad hit by deadly car bomb

Story Highlights
NEW: Barack Obama arrives in Iraq for talks with Iraqi officials, U.S. commanders
U.S. military kills two relatives of Salaheddin governor
Police official, who's governor's brother, says dead includes governor's son
U.S. military says troops encountered two armed men, killed in "self-defense"

http://tinyurl.com/5dl5vv


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A car bomb blew up in Baghdad, killing a civilian and wounding four others, an Interior Ministry official said.

The Sunday attack underscored the fragility of relative calm in the Iraqi capital; violence levels have dropped sharply in Baghdad and across the country over the past few months.

Early Sunday in northern Iraq, U.S. forces killed two relatives of Salaheddin's governor Hamad al-Qaisi and identified them as members of al Qaeda in Iraq.

But a Baiji police official who is al-Qaisi's brother said the two males were al-Qaisi's 16-year-old son and the teenager's cousin. Lt. Col. Saad al-Qaisi said the two were "executed," as they headed to morning prayers.

Al-Qaisi said his nephew, Hussam Hamad al-Qaisi, and Badri Khalaf Issa walked out of a house next door to the building that was being raided by the U.S. military at around 3:30 a.m. He said the young men "were taken and executed" by the military.

WASHINGTON POST: OBAMA ARRIVES IN BAGHDAD: "SURGE" TROOPS LEAVE WITH DOUBTS THAT PEACE WILL HOLD

Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has arrived in Baghdad, and many of the "surge" troops are leaving, but according to the Washington Post the troops are not sure that peace will hold in the war torn country.

What many people don't know is the United States has been arming the various militia groups and this could lead to an all out civil war when the U.S. leaves Iraq and there is nobody left to hold the fragile peace together.

For 'Surge' Troops, Pride Mingles With Doubt: Soldiers Leave a More Secure Iraq but Are Unsure if Hard-Won Gains Will Hold

By Ernesto Londoño
Washington Post Foreign ServiceMonday, July 21, 2008; A01
http://tinyurl.com/6ymm6h

BAGHDAD -- This time last year, Capt. Wes Wilhite's men were getting ready to move into an abandoned house in western Baghdad wedged between cells of Sunni insurgents to the south and strongholds of Shiite militias to the north.

Violence in the Iraqi capital seemed unstoppable. U.S. military vehicles were getting attacked with armor-piercing roadside bombs almost daily, and a raging sectarian war was Balkanizing once-mixed neighborhoods.

"A slaughterhouse," is how Steve Murrani, an interpreter working with Wilhite's men, described it.

The soldiers, who came to Iraq as part of President Bush's troop increase, began returning home last week. They leave with sunburned faces, calloused hands, tattered boots. On their wrists they wear black metal bracelets inscribed with the names of five soldiers killed on a clear afternoon in March, just as progress was starting to seem irreversible.

For more from the Washington Post, click here: http://tinyurl.com/6ymm6h

TIMELINE. TIMETABLE, TIME HORIZON. WHATEVER. DID SOMEONE GET TO IRAQI PM?

Everyone from George Bush to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has got a different spin on the the word "time."

Last week the Iraqi PM said he wanted a "timeline" for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq.

Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama wants a "timetable."

And now the Bush administration is calling for a "time horizon."

It appears as though all these leaders and prospective leaders have too much "time" on their hands.

Der Spiegel quoted the Iraqi PM as saying he agreed with Obama's 16-month plan for troop withdrawals from Iraq, but now al-Maliki is saying he was misunderstood.

Could it be that someone from the Bush White House told the puppet leader of Iraq to get back in line with President Bush or face having funding cut off?

It sure looks like it.

COMMENTARY BY BILL CORCORAN, EDITOR OF CORKSPHERE


Iraqi PM denies supporting Obama pullout proposal

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki did not back the plan of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to pullout American forces from Iraq and his comments to a German magazine on the issue were misunderstood, the government's spokesman said on Sunday.

According to Ali al-Dabbagh, Maliki's remarks to Der Spiegel were translated incorrectly. The German magazine said on Saturday that the Iraqi leader endorsed Obama's proposal that American soldiers should leave Iraq within 16 months. The interview was released on Saturday.

"U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right time frame for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes," Der Spiegel quoted Maliki as saying.

According to Reuters, Dabbagh conveyed statements by Maliki or any other member of the government should not be seen as support for any U.S. presidential candidate.

Maliki's remarks were published a day after the White House said he and U.S. President George W. Bush had agreed that a security agreement currently being negotiated between them should include a "time horizon" for withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

THEY'RE GANGING UP ON BUSH: BRITISH PM JOINS IRAQI PM ON OBAMA PLAN FOR TROOP PULLOUT FROM IRAQ

Brown backs Obama on 2010 Iraq troop pull-out

Last updated at 02:52am on 20.07.08
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23518247-details/Brown+backs+Obama+on+2010+Iraq+troop+pull-out/article.do#readerComments

Gordon Brown has privately backed American presidential candidate Barack Obama’s plan for all foreign troops to be pulled out of Iraq by summer 2010.

Downing Street sources say that the UK is ‘working to the same end’ as Mr Obama, who has said that he would remove all US troops from Iraq within 16 months if he won the presidential election in November.

The disclosure came as Mr Brown paid a surprise visit to Baghdad yesterday for talks with the Iraqi government.

His meeting with Iraqi premier Nouri al-Maliki, President Jamal Talabani and General David Petraeus, the head of the American military operation, came 24 hours before Mr Obama was also expected to arrive in Baghdad.

Mr Brown and Mr Obama are due to meet in Downing Street later this week.

But any suggestion of a tacit ‘deal’ between the two men is likely to be greeted with fury by Mr Obama’s presidential rival, John McCain, who has not pledged to withdraw American troops.

The complete withdrawal of UK troops on the same timetable would come as a relief to the British Armed Forces, who have complained about the pressure of maintaining 4,000 troops in Iraq and 8,000 in Afghanistan.

Britain has retained a larger troop presence in Iraq for longer than anticipated because of delays in training Iraqi forces to take their place.

However, the task has become easier in recent months because of a dramatic improvement in the political and economic situation in Basra, where the British troops are stationed.

Mr Brown yesterday set out four key objectives for the British operation in Iraq.

These were transferring responsibility for security to Iraqi people, the holding of democratic local elections, economic and social development and transferring the country’s airports from military to civilian use.

He said: ‘We are making very significant progress.

'There have been great steps made since my last visit in December.’

Publicly he refused to say when the last British soldier would leave Iraq.
‘I’m not setting an artificial timetable, but there has been significant progress,’ he said.