What happens when the President of Iraq decides he does not like what the troops are doing, i.e., when he ended road blocks searching for hostages? What good does the surge do if the troops are prevented from doing their job because they step on a shiite leaders toes?

I just heard Sen. McCain say that he agreeded with Bush on troop surge. I have to say that McCain has to be senile. The Russians got their butt whipped with the help of the CIA right next door. I hate to say this, but Bush is going to get the same medicine in Iraq because the same ball game is in play.

Apparently Steve that is part of what Bush is going to address tonight. They are reporting that there is going to be a change in the rules of engagement that will allow the American forces to deal with any and all Militias regardless of political and religious ties. Yet to be seen if that will truly be the case though.

Since Muqtada controls 30 seats in the assembly, and apparently has a big hand holding Maliki up in power, it is just as likely that things will continue as they are. Really what needs to be done is that our troops need to be given the power to do what is right regardless of what Maliki says. Maybe when Muqtada is no longer an issue and the subject of a US airstrike, Maliki will actually become a decent leader of his country.

http://tlocfym.blogspot.com

Many months back I said it was time to let the troops do what they need to do. What is that you ask? They need to deal with anyone carrying a weapon as a threat and dispatch them with extreme prejudice. American soldiers suck at police actions. They are soldiers trained for combat. The US forces never should have stepped down from a combat role from the beginning... that was the mistake. Along with that ...the American people need to take something to settle their stomachs so they can handle the fallout from the media re. what they see. This is war...its not pretty, its not fun, and when we have our soldiers on the line we have to back them 100%.
Pulling out is not the answer.....time to pull off the gloves and deal with this bare knuckles , give the terroists what they want, let the dogs of hell off their leash.

How many times must my son go to the sand box? TWO AND A HALF YRS. ARE ENOUGH!!!!! He is told another yr. is coming.

A mother who loves her son and hopes to keep him alive

Ms. Quigley,

I understand your frustration and your grief. I have had family members go off to war before, to that very 'sand box'. I have had friends who have been over there even more recently. However, it is what they signed up for, and it is their job. As with all the other troops overseas, I keep them in my thoughts always, and hope that as many of them that can come back safely.

I don't mean that to sound harsh, or apathetic, but it is the truth. We have an all volunteer army, and it is the best force of men and women in the world.

http://tlocfym.blogspot.com

Bush is doing a really good job on this... I would do the same exact thing.. watch a fire turn into an inferno then try to put it out with some firewood.. GREAT!!

The world has become a sad sad place since 9-11.. a place filled with death, destruction, fear, prejudice, intollerance, anger.. the list goes on and on.

God Bless our service men and women!! They've done a helluva job. But now it's time to set a goal. Bring them home!!! Enough is enough!! Our commander-in-chief (joke) has failed us. Bring 'em home. NOW!!!!!

I used to have alot of respect for McCain, but I think he must be crazy (or bribed?)to agree with Bush's new idea for more troops. i think it is very narrowminded thinking to say we can "win". Why don't we just take the money that this war is costing us and use it to create more jobs drilling the massive amounts of oil we have out West, all we need. Forget the foreign oil. Sure there may be repercussions of getting out of Iraq, for a long time to come. But "winning" at the cost of more lives just seems so senseless at this point. My son is in the Army Reserves and will probably be deployed to Iraq. I respect his decision, but it is Viet Nam all over again.

T. Mitchell,
"All volunteer army" was a buzz word created to lift the guilt from asking our soldiers to perform repeat tours. The fact is, while some of our military is volunteer, a very large portion of it has been stop lossed, and involutarily activated after the expiration of their contracts. Our government has even sent involuntary mobilization letters to the residences of dead, and wounded soldiers. I know because it happened to me. If a soldier enlists for 3 years active duty, serves four, including a tour in Iraq in which he is wounded and less than a year later gets an activation letter, it is certainly not voluntary. And actually the pentagon has just said that they will violate their own policy of allowing reserve units to be inactive for >50% of their duty.

Goerge Bush is our modern day Napolian Bonaparte.

Good people of Iraq, old and young, woman and children save your-selves and get out of the land of Iraq as soon as you can. A terrible day has come upon your land and little time is been given you to make haste. The time is now for you to act and escape for a dark cloud enshrouds over the inhabitants of your land and there will be no escape. The men left are a company of murderous lawlessness men they abound from border to border committing unthinkable acts against their fellow men and have been sealed for destruction. It is been told of old for this appointed time.

wimps, wimps,wimps. everyone is forgetting about human nature. the iraq military and police are getting a PAYCHECK every week from the pentagon all 200,000 military and police. do you think they will quell the vilolence amd maybe stop their source of income, not in another 1500 years. grow up! get our men and women out now, i'm glad i believe in god because i know at least two people who will burn in hell forever.

After 9/11 it was clear that we were the good guys and UBL was the bad guy. After an unprovoked attack on Iraq and the daily slaughter of innocent Iraqis I am ashamed of being an US citizen.

I doubt that sending more troops will help, but as Colin Powell said "Mr. President you break it you own it", refering to Iraq.

May God forgive us for Iraq.

T. Mitchell your statement "However, it is what they signed up for, and it is their job." They signed up to protect the United States not to be a personal police force for a foreign country. "They are the most powerful force on the face of the earth second to none", and were established to conquer and destroy which they do very well.

Serena, yes the world has become a very sad place since 9/11...that's because, I believe, at the very least, bush knew about 9/11 and let it happen, if not being involved with it. I absolutely believe he was. He needed his "new Pearl Harbor" as his PNAC friends say and all the misery that went along with it to push his neo-con agenda, including Iraq. 9/11 did NOT happen the way he says it did. The evidence is overwhelming about that.
Please watch the Google video: 911 Press for Truth.
Also do a Google search on 9/11 Truth...you will be amazed at what you find. We need a new, REAL investigation into 9/11. Even Lee Hamilton, co-9/11 Commissioner, said they were set up to fail! Search for the truth! Oh, and bush's troop surge is just going to be a pre-text to attack Iran and maybe Syria...he's setting the trip wire.

In response to Morgan, while it is true that many have been called up from either Stop Loss, or IRR, or many other things, it does not change the fact that they signed up for the military. My father spent a portion of his service time as a recruiter, and when I went to join myself he said one thing to me that I will always remember. "Son, they are salesmen, and they will try to sell you the biggest and most exciting job, just remember, nothing is certain until you sign that last paper, and everything is stated on that paper. Make sure you read it."

Anyone who signs up for the military knows the commitment they are making is not just for the amount of time that they sign up for, and they agree to it by signing up. If they do not, they should do more research just like any other contract you go into. So in a way, yes, they did volunteer for those possibilities, regardless of how probable they thought they were.

I too have heard the stories of wounded or deceased veterans receiving letters asking them to come back. Just because I believe it is all volunteer, and I believe that it is a cause that is worth fighting for, does not mean that I find such acts tolerable or acceptable, I don't. That is a seperate issue though, one that needs to be resolved in a seperate discussion.

To 'Paw Paw',

I have to correct one little inaccuracy. The oath of service taken by troops is too wordy to fully quote in an already lengthy post but it actually is an oath to defend the constitution of the US, swear allegiance to the same, and obey all orders given by the president and officers above them, pursuant to military law.

They signed up not just to defend the US, but to defend our constitution and obey the orders of the President, as long as they follow the Military Code. If that means running a Lemonade stand or fighting off Irani invaders, it is one in the same.

If their only purpose was to defend us, we would have only fought Japan in WWII. We wouldn't have been a part of WWI or many other conflicts. They are a force that is used to engage in any conflict deemed of strategic value by the President and their commanders, from the authorization of Congress forward.

http://tlocfym.blogspot.com

To Nick Phoenix,AZ:
Remember the Iran-Contra-hearings? There were bits and pieces of that shown on Irish television back then, about twenty minutes or so every morning.
Wonderfully boring- except for this particular morning. *There* was the fellow on the panel, asking his questions, and getting cautious answers like always. Until he asked a really intelligent question:
"Why is it that there are ten million Dollars from the transaction with Iran, which are supposedly earmarked for the Contra-rebels in Nicaragua- and instead, this money ends up in a Swiss number-account? Why was this money kept in a Swiss number-account?"
And to my utter amazement, he got an equally intelligent answer:
"Oh- this money was earmarked for a small group within the CIA. The idea was to use the money in regular investment (i.e., money-laundering), and then use the income so generated to finance the operations of that little group without the knowledge and outside the control of congress".
The reaction in that room was a somewhat subdued "...ohhh".
I listened to what was said, and i remembered reading somewhere that in America, the main way of controlling the Intelligence-services was not so much by way of the secret-service-comittees, but by way of the finance-comittees. If anyone therefore provides his own funds- by investing in "harmless" companies like- say- hotels, (or private security-companies...ever read George Orwell's 1984?), he will exist completely outside the control of parliament: a state within a state. And so i half-expected an uproar, rolling heads- anything. But the subdued "...ohhh" was all there was ever going to be.
It was left intact- which means that by now, those people had decades to dig in.
And so, i eventually stopped waiting for any kind of reaction to those statements, and instead i began to wait for the "operations" they intended to finance with their ill-gotten gains...
Of course i'm not an expert, and don't have a monopoly on the truth- occasionally i get it quite wrong (see my post regarding the soldier's reaction to Bush's announcements),not to mention that i live in a little remote place with a population of 1000. What would i know...I shall have me head examined immediately...

Why did Bush not send this surge of troops to Iraq when he and the Republican controlled congress had the power to do that? Why did this not occur then?? Was this some type of political move knowing that a Congress controlled by Demoncratics would never issue the funding for such an irrational request?? Our nation has lost so much credibility in the world's eye since Bush "took" the highest office in the nation.

Nick, i know what you mean i have been reading up..It has just come to the point where i dont want to know who did what for what reason.. i just want it to stop.. Nature eliminates enough of us every year; i just think wars are a dreadfull reminder of the true presence of evil in the world
Naive as it may be.. it still breaks my heart

The world is a sad place since 9/11? What planet have you people been on? Weren't you paying attention before 9/11? There is so much sad and pathetic tripe in what I've read hear I regret blundering into this page.

Vietnam all over again, you bet. When did we last have well-defined war?? WWII. Quit crying in the salad and lift your head and look around. Terrorists have been terrorizing our whole world in an organized fashion since the late 60's and everyone has been acting confused, sad and agonized, just like we are supposed to be--that is the normal result of terrorizing-whether it be the bully in the family or the bullies in the schools or the world. Gees, let's get some backbone and start living "codependent no more" and believing and acting as if there is a Power greater than our puny interests and attempts at action. Prayer for victory in removing the obstructions to justice and peace (whether these are in financial, oil, or the selfish/fearful hearts of men and women) is what is needed. Prayer for God's will be done-He is a merciful and forgiving God of justice and love---a hard combination for humans, but for Him it is easy--we need to ask His help and stay out of our and His way!