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Each individual goal is for the good of human kind,
not themselves...
Koran
Our allies, Arab countries, the UN and the Iraqis themselves will not step up to their responsibilities if
 we recklessly retreat
We're no longer staring into the abyss of defeat and we can now look ahead to the genuine
process of success...
I do not want to keep our troops in Iraq a minute longer than necessary,
to secure our interests there. Our goal - my goal - is an Iraq that no longer needs American troops. And I believe we can
achieve that goal, perhaps sooner than many imagine...
But I also believe that to promise a withdrawal of our forces, regardless of the consequences,
would constitute a failure of political and moral leadership...
John McCain
Sadr says US will always be enemy
 Radical Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has said the US will always be his enemy "till the last drop of blood".
Mr Sadr was responding to a statement by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who said that
all those within the political process were not enemies.
"I hav e no enemy but you. You are the occupier," Mr Sadr's statement said.
Iraqi forces have been clashing with militias such as Mr Sadr's Medhi Army since last
month. The US said 13 gunmen were killed in Baghdad on Saturday.
"I heard the statement of the terrorist American defence minister and I feel compelled to give a decent response
to such a terrorist. I have no enemy but you. You are the occupier."
Petraeus On Progress,Frustration In Ira q
(CBS) Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, insists the U.S. effort in Iraq is moving in the
right direction...yet
Last month, the Iraqi Army surprised the United States by attacking militant strongholds
in the southern city of Basra. The operation was badly planned. Some Iraqi troops stopped fighting - and ultimately U.S. air
power had to be sent back to the Iraqis. But, to Petraeus, the important thing is that Iraq's prime minister decided to fight.
 That may all be well and good for Malaki and Gates but the American troops that had to pull them out of the shit
might tend to differ...In VietNam some ARVAN's ran away or changed sides in the middle of a fire fight...till the air
power came in...The American Soldier is the best and bravest in the world  regardless of the generation yet that seems to get lost somewhere along the way by the movers and shakers....
The Big Report to congress by General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker brought little if
any new relevations and I  don't think anyone expected there to be...least not I...it's always the same... three steps forward then two steps back...no
real political gains in fact just the oppisite with Malaki threating Sadr and his 60,000 strong Army...nothing ever changes
and stays changed...especially the violence...
37 Killed Or Found Dead Across Iraq
12 Die After Car Bomb Explodes Near Iraqi Army Convoy; U.S. Soldier Killed By Roadside
Bomb
AP) At least 37 people were killed or found dead across Iraq - half of them in bombings near the northwestern
city of Mosul.
 The violence comes as the Iraqi government continues to deal with the failure of a major offensive
that began on March 25 to dislodge militia groups from Basra, Iraq's second-largest city.
Iraqi security forces were surprised by th e ferocious resistance mounted by the outnumbered militiamen, despite artillery and air support provided by U.S. and British
forces.
More than 1,000 security troops - including a full infantry battalion - refused to fight
or joined the militias, handing them weapons and vehicles.
Petraeus: Troop Buildup In  Iraq Unlikely
Top General Addresses Burden On U.S. Ground Forces; Bush To Announce Shorter Tours
(CBS/AP) America's war commander in Iraq told Congress Wednesday he is unlikely to endorse any fresh buildup
of troops even if security in the country deteriorates, signaling that the limits  of the U.S. military have been reached for now.
Gen. David Petraeus, closely questioned by lawmakers
for a second day, described Iraq as a frail state still struggling to provide its own security. That volatile situation figured
in his recommendation to President Bush that a gradual pullo ut of U.S. troops be halted this summer - a recommendation Bush is expected to embrace in a speech Thursday.
Petraeus
said, "I am keenly aware of the strain" on the military, noting his own deployment since 2001. "And I can tell you that there
is nothing that a commander feels more than, in fact, the losses that  we have sustained over there."
His resistance to the idea of any renewed increase of troops for
Iraq reflects - at least in part - the reality that the rotation pool of some 1.3 million soldiers and Marines has been exhausted.
Army soldiers in particular have faced repeated tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and senior officers warn that the service's
"strategic reserve" is at an all-time low.
He deserves Paradise who makes his companions laugh.
Koran
The Koran declares that making the earth a better place is every human’s job in this world.
He who forgiveth, and is reconciled unto his enemy, shall receive his reward from God; for he
loveth not the unjust doers. -Koran.
Even as the fingers of the two hands are equal, so are human beings equal to one
another. No one has any right, nor any preference to claim over another. You are brothers. (Final Sermon of Muhammad)
Sadr demands forces be reinstated
 Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has demanded the Iraqi government reinstate 1,300 soldiers and police who were dismissed for desertion
during recent fighting.
His office said those who had handed their weapons to militiamen during the clashes in Basra and Kut were
following orders from their religious leaders.
Military: Mass grave found north of Baghdad
Discovery made in Diyala where al-Qaida Sunni Arab militants regrouped
BAGHDAD - U.S. forces found 20 to 30 bodies in a mass grave north of Baghdad, the U.S.
military said on Monday.
The bodies were found on Sunday in the town of Muqdadiya, 55 miles north east of Baghdad, in the restiv e province of Diyala where al-Qaida Sunni Arab militants regrouped after being driven out of other areas.
"All the bodies were badly decomposed and appear to have been at the site nearly eight
months," the military said in a statement.
"The coalition forces were unable to determine whether or not the bodies had been tortured at the time of
death."
Iraq’s financial free ride may be over
Many in Congress want Baghdad to pay more for rebuilding the country
WASHINGTON - Iraq's financial free ride may be over. After five years, Republicans and
Democrats seem to have found common ground on at least one aspect of the war.
From the fiercest foes of the war to the most steadfast Bush supporters, they are looking at Iraq's surging
oil income and saying Baghdad should start picking up more of the tab, particularly for rebuilding hospitals, roads, power
lines and the rest  of the shattered country.
"I think the American people are growing weary not only of the war, but they are looking
at why Baghdad can't pay more of these costs. And the answer is they can," said Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska
Their bill also would require that Baghdad pay for the fuel used by American troops and take over U.S. payments
to predominantly Sunni fighters in the Awakening movement. Plans are to propose the legislation as part of a war bill to cover
spending through September.
Dozens dead as Iraq cities bombed 
More than 70 people have been killed in blasts at three cities in Iraq, in one of the deadliest days there
for weeks.
At least 53 died and another 90 were injured when explosives packed in a bus detonated
outside a  restaurant near a court in Baquba, north of the capital.
And 13 more were killed in a suicide bombing at a kebab restaurant where policemen were eating in Ramadi,
which had seen a sharp decline in violence. 
Three people were also killed in Mosul in the north, and another in Baghdad.
Most of the dead were women and children and many of the bodies are said to be too badly burned to be identified.
McCain won't rule out pre-emptive war
 Would consult more closely and more carefully with leaders of Congress
WESTPORT, Conn. - Republican Sen. John McCain refused Wednesday to rule out a pre-emptive war against another country,
although he said one would be very unlikely.
The likely Republican presidential nominee was asked Wednesday at a town-hall style meeting if he would reject
"the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive war," a reference to Bush's decision to invade Iraq without it having attacked the United States.
"I don't think you could make a blanket statement about pre-emptive war, because obviously,
it depends on the threat that the United States of America faces," McCain told his audience at Bridgewater Associates Inc.,
a global investment firm.
"If someone is about to launch a weapon that would devastate America, or have the capability to do so, obviously,
you would have to act immediately in defense of this nation's national security interests.''
Defeat Of Al Qaeda Close, Iraqi PM Says
 Optimistic Comment Follows Day Of Bombings That Killed Nearly 60 People
CBS/AP) A day after nearly 60 people died in a series of bombings in four cities in northern
and central Iraq that were blamed on al Qaeda, the country's prime minister claimed Iraq would soon defeat the terrorist group.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki voiced optimism  Wednesday that his government would conquer al Qaeda in Iraq. "We are today more confident than any time before that we are
close to the point where we can declare victory against al Qaeda ... and its allies," he said Wednesday in an address to the
European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.
The deadly bombings struck directly at U.S. claims that the Sunni insurgency is waning and
being replaced by Shiite militia violence as a major threat.
Attacks Kill 11 Afghan Cops, 2 NATO Troops
 Militants Kill Open Fire In Latest Attack On Vulnerable Police Force, Blast Kills 2 NATO Soliders
(CBS/AP) Taliban militants attacked a police checkpoint in a dangerous region of southern Afghanistan early
Monday, killing 11 policemen in the latest assault against the nation's vulnerable police force.
Insurgents opened fire on the police in the Arghandab district of Kandahar province, said deputy provincial
police chief Amanullah Khan. Preliminary reports indicated that one of the policeman had links with the Taliban, he said.
Meanwhile, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said later Monday that two of its soldiers were killed in
an explosion in southern Afghanistan. NATO said two other soldiers were wounded in the blast, which took place on Sunday.
U.S. To Up Troop Levels In Afghanistan
Defense Secretary Offers No Specific Numbers For 2009 Increase
 (AP) The United States intends to send many more combat forces to Afghanistan next year, regardless of whether troop levels
in Iraq are cut further this year, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday.
It is the first time the Bush
administration has made such a commitment for 2009.
Gates, speaking to reporters on his way to Muscat, Oman, from a NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania,
said President Bush made the pledge at the summit on Thursday.
Mr. Bush was not specific about the number of
additional troops that would go to Afghanistan in 2009, Gates said. The United States now has about 31,000 troops there -
the most since the war began in October 2001 - and has been pressing the allies to contribute more.
Suicide Bomber Kills 8 Afghan Civilians
 Another 25 Wounded In Powerful Kandahar Blast Apparently Targeting NATO Convoy
AP) A suicide car bomber targeting a U.S.-led coalition convoy in southern Afghanistan
Thursday killed eight civilians and wounded 25 other people, including three coalition soldiers, officials said.
The
car bomber blew himself up shortly after the convoy passed near him in Kandahar city, said provincial police chief Sayed Agha
Saqib. Eight civilians were killed in the powerful explosion, Saqib said.
Three coalition soldiers were slightly wounded in the attack, said Lt. Cmdr. Pierre Babinsky, a spokesman
for NATO's International Security Assistance Force in southern Afghanistan. The nationalities of the wounded soldiers were
not disclosed.
Also wounded were two policemen and seven people who were in serious condition.
Well maybe it's just me but as i said...there is no new accomplishments in the government
nor th e military...Secular tensions are at there highest to the point our taxpayer's money is paying the insurgents not to fight...Absurd...simply
absurd...paying the enemy not to fight is not a noble and just cause that leads to Honorable Victory in Iraq
or anywhere else.....
Bush  asks for more time as well as troops and money...when will it end...with a 60 Billion surplus this yearin Iraq...let them
pay off there own people...It's the least they could do considering we are doing the dying...but that's just me....
Iraq
There have been 4,340 coalition deaths -- 4,036 Americans, two Australians, 176 Britons, 13 Bulgarians , one Czech, seven Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 33 Italians, one Kazakh, one Korean, three
Latvian, 22 Poles, three Romanians, five Salvadoran, four Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians -- in the war
in Iraq as of April 16, 2008
Afghanistan
There have been 783 coalition deaths -- 488 Americans, four Australians, 91 Britons, 82 Canadians, two Czech,
14 Danes, 14 Dutch, two Estonians, one Finn, 12 French, 22 Germans, 11 Italians, three Norwegians, three Poles, two Portuguese,
six Romanians, one South Korean, 23 Spaniards, two Swedes -- in the war on terror as of April 16,2008.
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