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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jlallen who wrote (340020)	6/11/2007 1:03:25 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1576972

Nah...its a BDS inspired lie... If anyone is deranged, its a bushie.

To: jlallen who wrote (340020)	6/11/2007 1:05:03 AM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1576972

Improvement sparse in Iraq, war czar says Despite U.S. surge, little progress seen toward reconciliation. Bee News Services Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, June 8, 2007 WASHINGTON -- President Bush's "war czar" nominee said Thursday that conditions in Iraq have not improved significantly despite the influx of U.S. troops in recent months and predicted that, absent major political reform, violence will continue to rage over the next year. Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, tapped by Bush to serve as a new high-powered White House coordinator of the war, told senators at a confirmation hearing that Iraqi factions "have shown so far very little progress" toward the reconciliation necessary to stem the bloodshed. If that does not change, he said, "we're not likely to see much difference in the security situation" a year from now. Lute's dour assessment mirrored the views of U.S. intelligence officials, who told the Senate Armed Services Committee in a closed session last month that trends in Iraq remain negative and that the prospect for political movement by the nation's feuding Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds appears marginal. The secret intelligence conclusions were disclosed during Thursday's hearing by Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and confirmed by a Republican official. Lute also said that national security adviser Stephen Hadley will no longer be responsible for Iraq policy, indicating the administration has quietly engineered a significant change in foreign policy leadership that could directly affect U.S. war strategy. Lute testified at his confirmation hearing that he will report directly to Bush on all issues involving the war, as well as the current conflict in Afghanistan, while Hadley would deal with the president "on matters outside of Iraq (and) Afghanistan." The testimony stunned leading Democrats and at least one Republican, who appeared taken aback by the extent of the shake-up in Bush's inner circle of advisers. Lute was skeptical about the troop increase before Bush announced it in January, arguing that a military solution wasn't enough to bring lasting national stability. Thursday, he promised to give Bush his unvarnished military advice and to keep the lives of U.S. military men and women foremost as the administration shapes its war policy. Lute said the Iraqis want to meet benchmarks they've set that are designed to lead to an end of factional fighting but "have shown so far very little progress." Unless they start making progress, there's unlikely to be any decrease in violence, he said. "I have reservations about just how much leverage we can apply on a system that is not very capable right now," Lute said. But he noted that the Iraqi government had been in power just over a year. "I think we're in the early days and time will tell." His comments came as the four-year U.S. military death toll in Iraq passed 3,500 after a soldier was reported killed in a roadside bombing in Baghdad. A British soldier was also shot to death Thursday in southern Iraq as Western forces find themselves increasingly vulnerable under a new strategy to take the fight to the enemy. The British ambassador to Iraq, meanwhile, signaled his government was ready to talk to those behind the abduction of five Britons in Baghdad last month. Iraqi officials have said they believe the Britons were taken by the Mahdi Army militia, which is largely loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. In a rare televised interview, al-Sadr blamed the United States for Iraq's woes, often referring to it as "the occupier" and accusing it of being behind the sectarian violence, the growing schism between Iraq's majority Shiites and once-dominant Sunni Arabs and economic hardships. "We are now facing a brutal Western assault against Islam," he said, draped in his traditional black robe and turban. "This agenda must be countered with a cultural resistance." A U.S. soldier was killed and two others were wounded Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded during combat operations in a southwestern section of Baghdad, the military said Thursday. Suicide attackers and car bombs, meanwhile, struck targets in central, western and northern Iraq on Thursday, leaving at least 26 people dead and 42 wounded, Iraqi security officials said. Compiled from McClatchy Newspapers, the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post. sacbee.com