Success of the Surge

Has There Really Been a Policy Change in Iraq?

Jon Soltz | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Iraq War, Iraq Surge, Kirkuk, Al-Qaeda, Violence in Iraq, Success of the Surge, votevets.org, President Obama, Votevets, Iraq, Barack Obama, Al Qaeda, Nouri Al Maliki, Politics News

There haven't been any results in Iraq, either because President Obama hasn't tried hard enough, or because his efforts have failed.

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Fiasco Author: Obama's Iraq Optimism "Sounds a Lot Like Bush"

David Quigg | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Iraq War, John McCain, The Gamble, Thomas Ricks Fiasco, Thomas Ricks, Afghanistan, Success of the Surge, George W. Bush, David Petraeus, Iraq, Counterinsurgency, Barack Obama, World News

There's the saying about how people who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. But what about people who actively lie to themselves about the past, about something like the surge?

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While Obama Escalates War in Afghanistan, Iraq Could Blow Up in His Face

Jeremy Scahill | Posted 05.25.2011

There is great reason to suspect that the timeline for withdrawal -- all troops out by 2011 -- announced in February by the Obama administration will prove to be a fallacy.

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"We Won't Take That History Lightly"

Harry Shearer | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Afghanistan, Petraeus, Iraq Surge, General Petraeus, Afghanistan Surge, Success of the Surge, David Petraeus, World News

It's neat that Petraeus should pause to remember history at this juncture, after he's helped perpetuate an Iraqi adventure that completely ignored history in the same part of the world.

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In Iraq: Forget Michael Goldfarb, Remember Inigo Montoya

David Quigg | Posted 05.25.2011

As Andrew Sullivan noted in the earliest hours of the Obama presidency, It only took Michael Goldfarb twenty-two minutes to start blaming Obama for Iraq.

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Who Are the Most Overrated -- and Underrated -- People of 2008?

Johann Hari | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: James Wood, Newspapers, John McCain, 2008, Beijing Olympics, Success of the Surge, Sarah Palin, John Edwards, Media, Plane Stupid, Johann Hari, Overrated, Johann Hari Most Overrated People, World News

It should be part of everyone's New Year routine to ask: Who did we overrate in '08, and who didn't get their due? These are my proposals.

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An End in Sight for Some, but Not Others

Charles Ferguson | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Iraq War, John McCain, Anti-Americanism, Success of the Surge, George W. Bush, Victory, Documentary, Iraq, Shiites, Politics News

John McCain, the Bush administration, and a number of neoconservatives believe we're at the beginning of an American victory. If this is winning, I'd hate to see what losing would look like.

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John McCain's Surging Lie

Johann Hari | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: John McCain Lies, The Surge, John McCain, Iraq, Success of the Surge, Politics News

McCain wants us to talk solely about whether the surge of US troops last year has been successful. But a hole was just blown in that argument -- and blood is rushing through.

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Conventional Wisdom Surging

Edward Humes | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Iraq Surge, McCain War, The Surge, John McCain, McCain Vietnam, Surge, Success of the Surge, 2008 Election, Politics News

Two highly suspect yet seemingly unkillable narratives continue to swirl through the election largely unchallenged: the undeniable success of "The Surge" and McCain's reputation as a proven military leader.

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Satellite Shows Ethnic Cleansing In Iraq Was Key Factor In "Surge" Success

Reuters | Maggie Fox | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Iraq Surge, Ethnic Cleansing, Success of the Surge, War Wire, Iraq, Sunnis, Shiites, Foreign Affairs, Home News

WASHINGTON - Satellite images taken at night show heavily Sunni Arab neighborhoods of Baghdad began emptying before a U.S. troop surge in 2007, graphi...

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The Dark Side Of The Surge: Cleansing, Partitioning, Imprisonment

AlJazeera Magazine | Robert Parry | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Iraq War Wire, Surge, Success of the Surge, Iraq War, War Wire, Iraq, Sunnis, Shiites, Home News

Since Jan. 10, 2007, when George W. Bush announced his troop "surge," more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers have died in the Iraq War - about a quarter of the...

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McCain: The Fundamentals of Madonna's Marriage are Strong

Andy Borowitz | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Borowitz Report, Iraq Surge, Guy Ritchie, Madonna Divorce, John McCain, Andy Borowitz, Presidential Debate 2008, Success of the Surge, Madonna, Politics News

In what his aides are hoping could be a "game-changer" in advance of tonight's debate, McCain today expressed a strong vote of confidence in the marriage between Madonna and Guy Ritchie.

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New Feuds Form In The Wake Of The "Surge"

The Guardian | Jonathan Steele | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Iraq Surge, Kurds, Success of the Surge, The Guardian, War Wire, Shia, Iraq, Sunnis, Shiites, Home News

Back in Baghdad for the first time this year, I was consumed by the issue of change. What's different, I would ask almost every Iraqi I met. "What abo...

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Close Presidential Race? Don't Blame the Media, Blame the Voters

Mitchell Bard | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Sarah Palin Qualifications, Iraq Surge, Success in Iraq, John McCain, Bush Surge, Obama Muslim, Success of the Surge, Palin Investigation, Palin Bridge to Nowhere, Independent Voters, Michael Dukakis, McCain Offshore Drilling, Barack Obama Race, Barack Obama, Offshore Drilling, 2008 Presidential Election, Mainstream Media, Al Gore 2008, 2006 Election, Palin Independence Party, 60 Minutes, Palin National Guard, Media Coverage of 2008 Election, John Kerry, Sarah Palin, Willie Horton Dukakis, Proximate Cause, Politics News

Voters have (or could have) all the information they need to make a choice this year. They're just making a choice that those on the left would consider a bad one.

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Woodward: Washington Misrepresented The Success Of The "Surge"

Washington Post | Bob Woodward | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Iraq Surge, Success in Iraq, Success of the Surge, War Wire, Iraq, Politics News

Throughout the summer of 2007, as the troop surge in Iraq reached full strength, Gen. David H. Petraeus kept waiting for the tide to turn. By summer's...

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How Did the RNC Insult Troops and Veterans? Let Me Count the Ways...

Jon Soltz | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Iraq Surge, Department of Veterans Affairs, John McCain, Surge, Success of the Surge, Sarah Palin, Fred Thompson, Opsec, Wesley Clark, Republican Convention, 2008 Presidential Election, Veterans, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Iraq Veterans, Walter Reed Middle School, Walter Reed, Politics News

Last week's convention sure made every superficial effort to come off as pro-Troop. And the media ate it up, not challenging a single thing. But to those of us who did serve, it was offense after offense after offense.

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General: Winter "Surge" Planned For Afghanistan

AP | JASON STRAZIUSO | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Afghanistan, War Wire, Iraq Surge, Success of the Surge, Home News

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALAGUSH, Afghanistan — American troops in Afghanistan will step up offensive operations this winter because insurgents a...

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The Game Is Over--The Media and Rick Warren Can't Protect McCain Anymore

Larry Gellman | Posted 05.25.2011

When it comes to Barack Obama, the news media does its job with a vengeance. When Obama goes to Germany and draws a crowd of 200,000 they ask if he's ...

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Exactly What are We "Winning" in Iraq?

Larry Gellman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: John McCain Iraq, Cut and Run, Iraq War, Politics, John McCain, Success of the Surge, Ron Suskind, George W. Bush, Winning in Iraq, Iraq, General Petraeus, Barack Obama, Politics News

Fortunately for Bush, an organization calling itself Al Qaeda in Iraq emerged -- a group having no relationship to Osama Bin Ladin or the Al Qaeda that attacked us years earlier.

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'Surging' McCain

The Real News | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Iraq War, John McCain, Military, Success of the Surge, Al-Maliki, Muqtada Al-Sadr, President Bush, Iraq, Politics News

Real News Network analyst, Pepe Escobar looks at the flipping and the flopping of McCain's "surge" message.

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Jon Stewart Mocks John McCain During Oscars

Huffington Post | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Jon Stewart Opening Oscar Monologue, Success of the Surge, Jon Stewart, John Stewart, Jon Stewart Mocks McCain, McCain Iraq, John McCain Iraq Surge, John McCan, Video, Entertainment News

Oscar host Jon Stewart mocked republican presidential candidate John McCain during his opening monologue. "The films that were made about the Iraq wa...

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Why the Media Fears John McCain

Ben Cohen | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Mainstream Media, Iraq Surge, John McCain, Iraq, Success of the Surge, Barack Obama, Media News

The mainstream media is doing exactly what it did before the build up to the Iraq War -- sucking up to McCain's perceived power and not asking relevant questions because it's fearful of being labeled unpatriotic.

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Supposedly Pro-American Iraq Groups Termed 'Enemies With Benefits'

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Spencer Ackerman, Success of the Surge, War in Iraq, Anbar Awakening, Surge, Politics News

Spencer Ackerman, one of the internet's trusted sources of real talk on Iraq, today promotes a great new way of terming ongoing relationships with the...

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The Surge Postgame: How Effective Was It?

The American Prospect | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Iraq War, Iraq Surge, John McCain, Warwire, Iraq, Success of the Surge, Politics News

The past few weeks have been momentous for the national conversation about Iraq. Nouri al-Maliki's explicitly stated insistence on a timetable for Ame...

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By McCain's Measure, the Surge Failed
(Just Ask an Iraqi Leader)

Adele Stan | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: John McCain, Success of the Surge, Ayad Allawi, Barack Obama, Nouri Al Maliki, Iraq, Politics News

Critics may quibble with John McCain's definition of the surge in Iraq -- a little bit this, a little bit that. But to go after McCain on his definit...

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