U.S. troops should stay no longer than necessary in Iraq, and the Bush administration should show a healthy respect for concerns there about a long-term American “occupation.”
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called this week for some sort of timetable for the withdrawal of American troops, echoing widespread public sentiment both in his country and in the United States.
By E. Thomas McClanahan, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
It’s odd how things turn out. Barack Obama’s long opposition to the Iraq war has been a big part of his success in clinching the Democratic presidential nomination.
It’s impossible to know what went through the mind of Pfc. Ross McGinnis at the moment of decision. He was in Iraq, in a Humvee with four other soldiers. A grenade plopped through the hatch.
By E. Thomas McClahanan, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Interesting piece from Strategypage on the withdrawal of the surge units. The criteria used to determine the pace of the withdrawal are secret, and are based on the effectiveness of Iraqi army and police units.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
On Memorial Day, lay a wreath for Travis “T-Bo” Twiggs, a decorated Marine Corps staff sergeant who apparently shot his brother and then himself in Arizona on May 15, perhaps to fulfill a suicide pact.
By E. Thomas McClanahan, Kansas City Star Editorial Board
Nancy Pelosi gets an indifferent welcome in Iraq.
By Robert Sommer, Midwest Voices Panelist 2008
The final day of this year’s dreary winter should have come as a relief. But while the day itself was fair, March 19 also marked the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Albert St. George, Reader Advisory Panel 2008
I’ve heard people comment recently that those who claim invading Iraq was a mistake are practicing hindsight. “Sure, you can say now that we shouldn’t have invaded Iraq. But that’s hindsight; based on what we knew in early 2003, it was absolutely the right thing to do.” Some even say based on what we know now it was the right thing to do, but we’ll save that for another discussion.
By Steven O'Hern, Reader Advisory Panel 2008
While Warrant Officer Randell Hettinger is serving his country, his countrymen are helping themselves to his property. When Hettinger returns from Iraq, his farmhouse will be downwind from 4,800 hogs in an indoor hog farm a quarter-mile away.
By E. Thomas McClanahan, Kansas City Star Editorial Board
Strategypage provides a brief update: The coalition is decimating al-Qaida's top leadership, and uncovering more weapons and ammo supply dumps. The posting notes: "All this is good news, meaning it's not reported." Sad but true.
By Steven O'Hern, Reader Advisory Panel 2008
The next site for a clash between Moqtada al-Sadr and his opponents is likely to be Najaf, the Shiite religious center in Iraq. The battle in Basra earlier this month revealed that there are limits to the power of Sadr and his Mahdi Army. Sadr's power, although significant, can be neutralized.
By E. Thomas McClanahan, Kansas City Star Editorial Board
The Iraqi Army continues to press the Sadrist militia in Basra, and for average residents the situation is improving. Markets are opening and life is returning to normal -- hardly the picture suggested by initial media reports, which portrayed the operation as a near-fiasco.
What do you think of President George Bush's latest plan in Iraq? Leave your comments here.
The Bush administration’s stalling game on Iraq continues, amid a flurry of confusing rhetoric.
Essentially, President George Bush remains wedded to the policy that so many military and diplomatic experts have long warned against: an unlimited military commitment to a badly divided country that is far too reluctant to mend its ways.
By E. Thomas McClanahan, Kansas City Star Editorial Board
As often happens when violence flares in Iraq, the recent fighting in Basra prompted media accounts that were almost diametrically opposed.
By E. Thomas McClanahan, Kansas City Star Editorial Board
Most media portrayals played the fighting as a loss for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Certainly, the clash didn't settle anything for the long-term.
President George Bush ordered the Iraq invasion in 2003 amid a cloud of misinformation, misjudgments and misleading rhetoric.
So five years later, perhaps no one should be surprised to hear Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney talking about the bungled war effort in Iraq as though it were some sort of historic victory.
By Lewis Diuguid, Kansas City Star Editorial Board
Prince Harry, third in line to the British throne, left combat duty in Afghanistan last month because of the danger posed to him.
Soon after the surge of U.S. troops in Iraq began, U.S. commanders reached out to Sunni leaders and began organizing Sunni forces against insurgents. Some who have studied the surge warn that working with Sunni factions, which has helped lower casualties, may cause long-term instability in Iraq and surrounding areas.
With casualties dropping, the proponents of the surge point to its success and warn that politicians should not interfere. Stephen Biddle, adviser to General Petraeus cautioned in the San Francisco Chronicle that a cease-fire among the factions in Iraq may be at hand "U.S. politicians of all stripes will have to resist the strong temptation to jeopardize this progress by reducing forces too soon and too fast."
Yesterday the Star published Joseph Galloway's column about the high cost to the readiness of our military by fighting an extended war with a small military. The new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff hopes to change the current cycle of 15 months deployed followed by 12 months at home. But the immediate best result he can achieve is 15 months deployed followed by 15 months at home.
Having experienced only an Army of constant deployments, 58 percent of West Point's Class of 2002 has separated from the Army after their service commitment was up. I will be surprised if the percentage doesn't continue to grow. Captains and non-commissioned officers are the heart of our Army and the "seed corn," as Galloway puts it, for our future. But Galloway sees our current burn rate of using up young officers and enlisted personnel as eating the seed corn.
A recent news story illustrates a problem with private military contractors (PMCs) that has been no secret to Iraq war vets. Wednesday's (10/10/2007) Kansas City Star (page A9) reports that employees of an Australian-owned security company fired on a car killing two Iraqi women. An update on the Star website is at http://www.kansascity.com/449/story/310966.html.This comes on the heels of recent stories about Blackwater's alleged abuses while carrying out its duties guarding State Department employees in Iraq.
