troop surge – News Stories About troop surge - Page 6

Aug 26, 2007 7:52 AM CDT

Post-Surge, Iraq Death Toll Mounts

Troop buildup makes some headway, doesn't quash insurgents

(Newser) - The average daily war-related death toll in Iraq has soared to 62 this year, up from 33 in 2006, and Baghdad is less perilous now than it was before the troop surge—but about as dangerous as it was a year ago. In a foreshadowing of next month's progress report,...

Iraq Detainees Swell by 50%

Aug 25, 2007 7:00 AM CDT

Iraq Detainees Swell by 50%

Most are Sunni, and many say they're motivated by lack of jobs, not jihadism

(Newser) - Since the January troop surge the number of detainees held by the American military in Iraq has increased by 50%, reports the New York Times. The overwhelming majority of those in custody, nearly 85%, are Sunni. And while Jihadism drives some Iraqi insurgents to plant roadside bombs, for many there...

Group Drops $15M on Pro-Surge Campaign

Aug 22, 2007 5:55 PM CDT

Group Drops $15M on Pro-Surge Campaign

TV, Internet, radio ads backed by GOP heavies

(Newser) - Launched today by ex-White House PR man Ari Fleischer and a laundry list of pro-Bush bigwigs, a new group called Freedom's Watch has spent $15 million on ads to support the president's troop surge in Iraq, Politico reports. The group aims to fill a conservative "vacuum" ahead of September's...

Army Can't Sustain Troop Demand in Iraq

Aug 20, 2007 3:28 AM CDT

Army Can't Sustain Troop Demand in Iraq

Not enough soldiers to support surge through spring

(Newser) - With nearly all its forces exhausted, the US Army will have to break some promises to sustain the current troop buildup through spring, according to new documents acquired by AP. The Army would have to extend tours, reduce rest, or accelerate use of National Guard members to maintain current levels—...

Iraq Blasts Toll Rises to 500

Aug 16, 2007 12:35 AM CDT

Iraq Blasts Toll Rises to 500

Deadliest terror attack since fall of Hussein

(Newser) - The death toll from Tuesday's series of suicide truck bombings in northern Iraq may exceed 500, with scores more lying injured in hospitals, CNN reports. The attacks were reportedly launched by al-Qaeda against the Yazidi, a pre-Islamic sect, spotlighting the religious warfare that US troop surge sought to quell.

White House
to Ghostwrite
Surge Report

Aug 15, 2007 9:47 PM CDT

White House to Ghostwrite Surge Report

Think Progress blogger furious over detail hidden in LA Times

(Newser) - An irate blogger has blown up the fine print in today's news, exposing a plan by Washington to pen a long-awaited report on Iraq’s troop surge. Think Progress blogger Faiz posted a paragraph he discovered deep in a Los Angeles Times story, revealing that the White House will secretly...

Joint Chiefs Nominee Offers Straight Talk
on Iraq

Aug 1, 2007 8:31 AM CDT

Joint Chiefs Nominee Offers Straight Talk on Iraq

Admiral points to political solution

(Newser) - The White House nominee to lead the Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday the troop surge has helped security, but without political progress "no amount of troops and no amount of time will make a difference." Admiral Michael Mullen toed the administration line at his confirmation hearing, saying...

Iraqi Parliament Takes a Break

Jul 30, 2007 4:45 PM CDT

Iraqi Parliament Takes a Break

Little movement on key legislation as body adjourns through August

(Newser) - Saying PM Nouri al-Maliki's government had given it little to work with, Iraq's parliament began a 5-week recess today, Reuters reports. The chamber normally begins its summer break in July, but with crucial legislation pending, members delayed. Squabbling between political factions then stalled laws seen as vital to mending the...

GOP Senate Bigwigs Push
for Iraq Shift

Jul 14, 2007 11:22 AM CDT

GOP Senate Bigwigs Push for Iraq Shift

Lugar, Warner seek redeployment, want specifics by October

(Newser) - Two of the GOP's most respected foreign policy experts want troop realignment in Iraq, and they proposed Senate legislation yesterday that calls for the White House to have a plan in place by mid-October. The move by Richard Lugar and John Warner was the latest sign of disintegrating Republican support...

Bush Appeals
for Patience

Jul 10, 2007 4:59 PM CDT

Bush Appeals for Patience

President reaffirms support for surge timetable as Congress readies for a fight

(Newser) - George Bush didn't want to be a "war president," he said today, but now that he is, he'll wait for a scheduled September update from the US commander in Iraq before planning "a way forward." Even as calls for policy change multiply, the Times reports, the...

Iraq Gov't Fails Progress Report

Jul 10, 2007 11:26 AM CDT

Iraq Gov't Fails Progress Report

US-backed regime lags on all economic and political targets

(Newser) - The Iraqi government has failed to meet any of the benchmarks for reforms mandated when Congress funded the troop surge, according to a progress report due out this week. An unnamed official tells the AP that the disappointing outcome will accelerate the administration's decision-making process on Iraq, but another anonymous...

White House Escalates Pullout Talk

Jul 9, 2007 1:12 PM CDT

White House Escalates Pullout Talk

Right-wing defectors speed ‘post-surge’ mindset

(Newser) - The White House is worried that Republican support for its Iraq strategy is collapsing faster than Bush can offer an alternative, the Times reports. The inside plan has been to await a mid-September report on the troop surge’s success, but rapid-fire defections may mean Bush will have to offer...

Bush Seeks Deal with Congress on Iraq

Jun 25, 2007 3:01 PM CDT

Bush Seeks Deal with Congress on Iraq

President wants to avoid nasty floor fight on post-surge strategy

(Newser) - President Bush has quietly dispatched top officials to work with lawmakers who've defected on the war in Iraq, the Los Angeles Times reports. With support of the war plummeting, the goal is a revised war plan that could avoid bruising battles as the mixed results of the troop surge come...

Bush Preps for Exit Strategy on Surge

Jun 23, 2007 9:00 PM CDT

Bush Preps for Exit Strategy on Surge

White House orders reports that could counter pro-surge Petraeus come Sept.

(Newser) - The Bush administration has commissioned a slew of reports that could help it justify an end to the troop surge later this fall, the New York Times reports. Three months before Gen. Petraeus's planned report on the efficacy of the troop increase—expected to recommend a continuation of the surge—...

US Goes on Move Against Qaeda

Jun 16, 2007 5:42 PM CDT

US Goes on Move Against Qaeda

New strategy will refocus troops away from Baghdad

(Newser) - In a major tactical shift, the US is set to launch a large-scale offensive against Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, General David Petraeus said today. The new campaign moves attention away from Baghdad's sectarian violence to the outskirts of the capital, where the military will target Al-Qaeda strongholds and aim to destroy...

Surge Fizzles in Iraq

Jun 14, 2007 11:45 AM CDT

Surge Fizzles in Iraq

Troop buildup fails to curb violence

(Newser) - A new report shows no overall drop in bloodshed in Iraq despite the three-month-old troop surge. Violence has fallen slightly in Baghdad and Anbar province, where troops are concentrated, but a corresponding rise everywhere else more than compensates. And while sectarian killings have dropped slightly, civilian casualties are up, and...

Surge Fails to Quell Baghdad

Jun 4, 2007 11:18 AM CDT

Surge Fails to Quell Baghdad

US forces control only a third of Iraqi capital, new report says

(Newser) - U.S. and Iraqi forces control only a fraction of Baghdad, despite the three-month-old troop surge. An internal assessment leaked to the Times found two thirds of the city's neighborhoods are still in open rebellion, although surge architects planned to have Baghdad under control by July. “We were way...

G.I.'s Disillusioned About the War

May 28, 2007 8:45 AM CDT

G.I.'s Disillusioned About the War

Soldiers from 82nd Airborne say they favor withdrawal

(Newser) - More than a dozen soldiers from the elite 82d Airborne division tell the New York Times that they now see the war in Iraq as futile. “In 2003, 2004, 100 percent of the soldiers wanted to be here, to fight this war,” says one platoon sergeant who advocates...

Morgue Stats Show Surge in
Iraqi Killings

May 24, 2007 3:04 PM CDT

Morgue Stats Show Surge in Iraqi Killings

321 corpses found in Baghdad in first three weeks of May alone

(Newser) - Statistics from Iraqi morgues show that three months into the surge, sectarian killings are rising, the Washington Post reports. In the first three weeks of May, 321 unidentified corpses, many showing signs of exectution and torture, were found in Baghdad. The number equals those found in all of January, the...

Iraqis Seek Employment—
In Prison

May 23, 2007 4:16 PM CDT

Iraqis Seek Employment— In Prison

The troop surge has produced a surge in prisoners, and new demand for guards

(Newser) - Iraq has a new growth industry: prisons. A post-surge increase in Iraqi prisoners has put guards in hot demand, and other employment is scarce. So former shopkeepers and farmers are flooding over the border to reach American training facilities in Jordan, where they learn skills like cell-searching and how to...