TROOP LEVELS IN 2008 LIKELY TO BE THE SAME AS BEFORE THE SURGE
Bush administration is sending strong signals that U.S. troop reductions in Iraq will slow or stop altogether this summer. This would increase the strain on already overused Army and Marine Corps and revive debate over an open-ended U.S. commitment in Iraq. The indications of a likely slowdown reflect concern by U.S. commanders that the improvement in security in Iraq since June is tenuous and could be reversed if the extra troops come out too soon. Petraeus seems to be inclined to declare a pause in troop reductions after July, although no decisions have been made and there are competing pressures from within the Pentagon. On Monday, Petraeus said he is still analyzing conditions in Iraq and may want to wait until after this current series of troop reductions is completed in July before setting a new course. "We think (it) would be prudent to do some period of assessment, then to make decisions," he said. [AP, 1/29/08]
RECONSTRUCTION CONTINUES TO BE MISMANAGED
Report criticizes oversight on Iraq work. A federal report released Tuesday says the Army Corps of Engineers charged the government hundreds of millions of dollars for supervising projects in Iraq that have been identified as having failed or fallen behind schedule specifically because oversight was lax or nonexistent. Although the corps' practice of charging such fees is not limited to its work in Iraq, the report points out that its rates were on average more than twice as high as those charged by an Air Force office that has also been active in Iraq reconstruction. [NY Times, 1/30/08]
VIOLENCE CONTINUES TO RAGE ESPECIALLY IN MOSUL
Another bomb explodes near U.S. patrol in Mosul. A suicide car bomb exploded near an American patrol in the northern city of Mosul on Tuesday, a day after Sunni Arab guerrillas killed five American soldiers during an ambush on a convoy there. In the latest attack there were no American casualties, but one Iraqi was killed and 15 others were wounded. The attack is the latest sign that the main front of the insurgency has shifted to northern Iraq. [NY Times, 1/30/08]
Iraqi television cameraman and his driver were killed in a roadside bombing north of Baghdad reported on Wednesday. The female correspondent and camera assistant traveling with them were wounded. Alaa Abdul-Karim al-Fartoosi, 29, was traveling with the three colleagues Tuesday when a roadside bomb went off next to their car in Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad, said Haider Kadhum, an Al-Forat news editor. He did not identify the others in the party by name. Al-Fartoosi is survived by his wife and two children. [AP, 1/30/08]
US TO EXPAND BAGHDAD OUTPOSTS BY 30%- EVEN AS FORCES BEGIN TO WITHDRAW
The U.S. military plans to boost the number of neighborhood outposts across the capital by more than 30 percent this year. Maj. Gen. Jeffery W. Hammond said he would increase the number of garrisons in the city from 75 to 99 by June to "push ourselves into locations where maybe in the past we didn't go before." [Washington Post, 1/30/08]
AID PLEDGES FALL SHORT
Allies fall short on Iraq aid pledges. Nearly five years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, allied countries have paid only 16% of what they pledged to help rebuild the country, according to a report scheduled for release today. According to a new report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Foreign countries have spent about $2.5 billion of the more than $15.8 billion they pledged during and after an October 2003 conference in Madrid. The biggest shortfalls in pledges by 41 donor countries are from Iraq's oil-rich neighbors and U.S. allies. [USA Today, 1/30/08]