President Bush said Thursday that Gen. David Petraeus will “have all the time he needs” to decide how and when to reduce American forces after the additional troops that were sent to Iraq last year are withdrawn by the end of July. A resolute, sometimes defiant Bush gave a status report on Iraq to members of veterans organizations at the White House, saying that the American troop “surge” has been a success
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/whitehouse/story/33299.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/14/AR2008021403480.html
nor be able on its own to defend Iraq’s borders from external threat until at least 2018.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/world/middleeast/15military.html?scp=102&sq=iraq&st=nyt
The U.S. intelligence community yesterday released a starkly pessimistic assessment of the situation in Iraq, warning that even if security improves, deepening sectarian divisions threaten to destroy the government and ultimately could lead to anarchy, partition or the emergence of a new dictatorship.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/02/AR2007020200685.html
RECOMMENDATION 22: The President should state that the United States does not seek permanent military bases in Iraq. If the Iraqi government were to request a temporary base or bases, then the U.S. government could consider that request as it would in the case of any other government.
RECOMMENDATION 35: The United States must make active efforts to engage all parties in Iraq, with the exception of al Qaeda. The United States must find a way to talk to Grand Ayatollah Sistani, Moqtada al-Sadr, and militia and insurgent leaders.
RECOMMENDATION 40: The United States should not make an open-ended commitment to keep large numbers of American troops deployed in Iraq.
Read the rest.
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/pdf/iraqReport_120606_part1and2.pdf
The surge being planned
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15953835/
By hanging
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15567363/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/21/AR2006042100385.html?nav=rss_world
The following document articulates the broad strategy the President set forth in 2003 and provides an update on our progress as well as the challenges remaining.
Download the entire document
http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/iraq/iraq_national_strategy_20051130.pdf
Sheehan was the mother of Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, a soldier who was killed near Baghdad on 4 April 2004. Sheehan announced that she would camp near the president's ranch until he agreed to talk to her about the U.S. policy in Iraq.
http://www.answers.com/topic/cindy-sheehan-1
The report, written by Charles Duelfer of the Iraq Survey Group, was posted by the Central Intelligence Agency on its web site at: https://www.cia.gov/library/reports/general-reports-1/iraq_wmd_2004/index.html on October 6, 2004. At the time each of the three volumes were 50-70 MB, making it impossible for most citizens to read, even with a broadband connection. This version of the report is divided into smaller segments, even though a broadband connection is still advisable. A more readable HTML version was posted to the web in December 2004.
Read entire report.
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/duelfer.html
Bush’s response: “Let freedom reign!”

