Violence in Iraq Drops to Six-Year Low

By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2009 – Violent attacks in Iraq are at their lowest levels since August 2003, a U.S. commander in Iraq said yesterday.
Army Maj. Gen. David Perkins, director for strategic effects at Multinational Force Iraq, told reporters in Baghdad the downtick in violence marks a 90-percent decrease since the surge of U.S. troops began in 2007.

Perkins added that on Feb. 20, no Iraqi civilians were killed or even targeted in attacks.

“This is a very significant event, and we are seeing more and more days like that throughout Iraq,” he said.

Contributing to the improved security are the growing Iraqi security forces, which have increased the size of their ranks from 463,000 last year to 618,000 now – a 25-percent boost.

“It’s not only an increase in the size and numbers, but the capability such as planning, orchestrating these very complicated operations, and then leading throughout the country of Iraq,” Perkins said.

He added that Iraqi forces led and planned security for the countrywide provincial elections last month, in which some 7 million Iraqis participated in balloting that featured 14,000 registered candidates.

“On election day this year, there were no attacks which resulted in any disruption to any of the voting that went on,” Perkins said. “This is in comparison to the last national election period in 2005, where we had hundreds of attacks on election day, with 44 deaths.”

Election results are being widely accepted by victors and vanquished alike, he said.

“If you take a look at emerging democracies, historically, it is generally the second election that is sometimes more difficult than the first election,” the general said. “By the time the second election comes, those who may have to lose power or give up power are not necessarily as excited about doing that.

“But the fact that we’ve had this second election and a very large number of people participating, both as candidates and as voters,” he continued, “shows the enthusiasm that Iraqis have for the democratic process here in Iraq.”

The downturn in violence comes as U.S. forces begin transferring a greater share of power to Iraqi forces in keeping with the status-of-forces agreement that became effective Jan. 1. The agreement between Washington and Baghdad stipulates that American combat forces pull back from cities and villages to major bases by June 30.

“There is no doubt that we will be out of the cities by June, and we are working this day by day,” Perkins said. “And you can see many of these facilities we have already transferred, as well as the upcoming ones, are part of this plan to move out of the cities.”

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In twist, GOP Likes Obama’s Iraq Plan, Democrats Don’t

By Mark Johnson, Ryan Beckwith and Steven Thomma | McClatchy Newspapers

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — President Barack Obama announced here Friday that he’ll withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq by Aug. 31, 2010, but his plans to leave as many as 50,000 U.S. troops there through 2011 made many Democrats in Congress angry, while Republicans cheered.

It was an ironic reception for a new commander-in-chief whose presidential campaign was built initially on his early opposition to the Iraq war and his promise to end it if elected.

“I am deeply troubled by the suggestion that a force of 50,000 troops could remain in Iraq,” said Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif. “This is unacceptable.”

“I question whether such a large force is needed to combat any al Qaida affiliates in Iraq or whether it will contribute to stability in the region,” said Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis.

“You cannot leave combat troops in a foreign country to conduct combat operations and call it the end of the war. You can’t be in and out at the same time,” said Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio. “We must bring a conclusion to this sorry chapter in American history.”

The Republican Obama defeated in November for the presidency, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, lauded the plan …

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Bush a Four-letter Word at CPAC

By ANDY BARR | Politico

Conservatives aren’t sure who’s the Republican presidential frontrunner in 2012. They disagree over how sharply to attack President Barack Obama and on the question of whether a back-to-basics approach is the path back to majority.

But if there’s one thing those attending the annual Conservative Political Action Conference this week agree on, it is this: They don’t want another George W. Bush.

Few come out right out and say it, but they don’t have to. There’s no nostalgia for the past eight years, no tributes to Bush and no sessions dedicated to exploring his presidency.

Indeed, for a president who publicly embraced conservative principles, there is little evidence that the movement returns the sentiment.

When the subject of the 43rd president has come up at CPAC—where he spoke each year of his presidency—it’s usually been in an unflattering context …

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Amid Obama’s Change, There’s also More of the Same

By NANCY BENAC | Associated Press

WASHINGTON – For all the sweeping changes that President Barack Obama has delivered, there also has been an ample helping of more-of-the-same.

The Bush policy of imprisoning enemy combatants in Afghanistan without trial? The Obama White House is OK with that.

The Bush tax cuts for the rich that candidate Obama promised to wipe out early? President Obama will let them run their course.

The Bush team’s claim of a “state secrets” privilege to avoid releasing information? The Obama White House has agreed thrice over, even as it reviews the policy.

Across the landscape of government, there are plenty of other instances in which Obama is staying his Republican predecessor’s course — at least for now …

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Obama Challenges Lobbyists to Legislative Duel

By CHARLES BABINGTON | Associated Press

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama challenged the nation’s vested interests to a legislative duel Saturday, saying he will fight to change health care, energy and education in dramatic ways that will upset the status quo.

“The system we have now might work for the powerful and well-connected interests that have run Washington for far too long,” Obama said in his weekly radio and video address. “But I don’t. I work for the American people.”

He said his ambitious budget plan, unveiled Thursday, will help millions of Americans, but only if Congress overcomes resistance from deep-pocket lobbies.

“I know these steps won’t sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business, and I know they’re gearing up for a fight,” Obama said, using tough-guy language reminiscent of his predecessor, George W. Bush. “My message to them is this: So am I.”

Some analysts say Obama’s proposals are almost radical. But he said all of them were included in his campaign promises. “It is the change the American people voted for in November,” he said.

Nonetheless, he said, well-financed interest groups will fight back furiously …

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AP Source: Obama to Rescind Bush Abortion Rule

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR | Associated Press

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama plans to repeal a Bush administration rule that has become a flash point in the debate over a doctor’s right not to participate in abortions. The regulation, instituted in the last days of the Bush administration, strengthened job protections for doctors and nurses who refuse to provide a medical service because of moral qualms.

A Health and Human Services official said Friday the administration will publish notice of its intentions early next week, opening a 30-day comment period for advocates on both sides, medical groups and the public.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the notice has not been completed.

The Bush administration rule was quickly challenged in federal court by several states and medical organizations. As a candidate, President Barack Obama criticized the regulation and campaign aides promised that if elected, he would review it.

The news that he was doing so drew praise from abortion-rights supporters and condemnation from groups opposed to abortion …

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Labor Lobby Enjoys a Return to Prominence With Democrats in Charge

By Bennett Roth | CQ Politics

With Congress and the White House in Democratic hands, organized labor has reemerged as a political force.

“We have an opportunity to legislate and pass things and have an impact on people’s lives. Four years ago we were just hoping things wouldn’t get any worse,” said Michael J. Wilson, international vice president of the United Food & Commercial Workers.

Long a powerful constituency within the Democratic Party, union leaders relish the prospect of playing an influential role in Congress and the Obama administration.

Wilson’s union, which spent more than $1 million on federal lobbying last year, is placing particular emphasis on a measure to make it easier for unions to recruit new members. Health care and immigration are also high on labor’s agenda.

Labor leaders are finding the welcome mat rolled out again at the White House. Union representatives are being asked to join presidential advisory panels.

Labor claimed an early legislative victory when President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (PL 111-2), which extends the deadline for filing gender-based pay discrimination claims …

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Court Rejects Obama Bid to Stop Wiretapping Suit

By DEVLIN BARRETT | Associated Press

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration has lost its argument that a potential threat to national security is a good enough reason to stop a lawsuit challenging the government’s warrantless wiretapping program.

A federal appeals court in San Francisco on Friday rejected the Justice Department’s request for an emergency stay. The Obama administration, like the Bush administration before it, cited the so-called state secrets privilege as its defense. The government claimed national security would be compromised if a lawsuit brought by the U.S. chapter of an Islamic charity was allowed to proceed.

The case was brought by the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, a defunct charity with a chapter in Oregon.

The decision by the three-judge appeals panel is a setback for the new Obama administration as it adopts some of the same positions on national security and secrecy as the Bush administration …

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Most Iraqis Welcome Obama’s Pullout Plan

By Mark Kukis | Time

It should come as no surprise that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been quick to endorse emerging plans to hasten the departure of U.S. forces from his country. Maliki, after all, had opposed the Bush Administration’s decision to increase U.S. troop levels in the surge of 2007, and he had forced a reluctant Washington to accept a hard deadline for withdrawal in the Status of Forces Agreement adopted late last year. The growing abilities of the Iraqi security forces and the strengthening of his political position after last month’s provincial elections have added to Maliki’s confidence in managing without the Americans. “We welcome such a decision and support it,” said Tahseen al-Shekhli, a spokesman for the Iraqi government, of Obama’s intention to end the U.S. combat mission in Iraq by August 2010. “We consider this as a good-faith sign from the American Administration toward Iraq and Iraqis.”

Word of the new White House drawdown plan, which Obama officially announced on Friday morning in a speech at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, was greeted with shrugs of contentment by most Iraqi political figures, largely because the Obama plan appears to be in step with what Iraqis had expected as a result of the Status of Forces Agreement signed by the Maliki government and the Bush Administration last December. That agreement requires most U.S. combat troops to be off the streets of Iraq by this summer and all U.S. troops to have left the country by 2011. (See pictures of Basra’s return to normality.)

The most powerful political factions in Iraq would prefer to see U.S. forces leave sooner rather than later …

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Senate 2010: A Look at the Republicans

A Commentary By Larry Sabato | Rasmussen Reports

Two weeks ago we discussed the basic framework for 2010′s thirty-six Senate elections. Last week we reviewed the seventeen Democratic Senate seats that are on the ballot in the midterm year. Now let’s see how the nineteen Republican-held seats for 2010 are shaping up in the initial stages …

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