Iraq -- Mission Never-Ending

May 2, 2008

by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Ali Frick, Benjamin Armbruster, and Matt Duss

IRAQ

Mission Never-Ending

Five years ago, in a tightly-orchestrated public relations stunt that featured him landing on an aircraft carrier, President Bush announced to the world, "In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." Asked a question about that declaration a few days ago, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino could do little more than express exasperation that "the media" would "play this up again...as they do every single year." Yet the numbers speak for themselves. Since Bush declared the Iraq mission accomplished, 3,919 more Americans have been killed, and over 29,000 more have been wounded or maimed. There are more troops in Iraq today than there were when the president announced that "major combat operations have ended." In a speech yesterday at the Center for American Progress, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) remarked, "1,827 days later, the U.S. occupation of Iraq continues, and our 'mission' remains undefined and open-ended." In a starkly symbolic turn, U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, the aircraft carrier from whose flight deck Bush made his now infamous premature declaration of victory, was deployed once again this week to the Persian Gulf to support continuing combat operations in the region.

STILL SEARCHING FOR A STRATEGY: Since 2003, Americans have heard a series of constantly changing rationales for continuing the Iraq war, each of which was discarded when no longer politically useful or when its premises were revealed as false. The administration currently presents the war in Iraq as a fight against both al Qaeda terrorists and Iranian influence, insisting that "retreat" would embolden al Qaeda and Iran and put the United States at risk. This argument ignores the fact that al Qaeda affiliates in Iraq -- which did not exist prior to the invasion -- are rallied and emboldened by the open-ended presence of U.S. troops in Iraq, according to leading counterterrorism experts. This argument also ignores the fact that Iran's influence in Iraq is a main consequence of the invasion and occupation. The destruction of Saddam Hussein's regime created a new front that al Qaeda has used to recruit, indoctrinate, and train new followers, as well as to refine new terrorist tactics. Likewise, the newly-empowered Iraqi Shia majority, including Shia Islamist parties with close ties to Iran, have provided Iran with influence and access through the new Iraqi government.

A FAILING STATE: Late on Thursday, two suicide bombers killed 30 people and wounded 65 others when they detonated explosive vests in a market northeast of Baghdad. Iraqi government figures show April 2008 was the deadliest month for civilians since August 2007. U.S. forces are also engaged in some of the most intense combat since the height of the insurgency, battling Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in the markets, homes and alleyways of Sadr City. The "freeze" declared by Sadr, credited by Gen. Petraeus and others for much of the drop in violence over the last six months, is threatening to completely unravel and plunge Iraq back into civil war. According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, 4.7 million Iraqis have so far had to leave their homes -- roughly two million as refugees and another 2.7 million internally displaced. Sectarian militias such as the Mahdi Army are the main providers of services and shelter to displaced persons, resulting in these militias gaining support and allegiance at the expense of the central government. As Center for American Progress national security analysts Brian Katulis and Peter Juul wrote in a recent report, "Iraq’s internally displaced population -- not Al Qaeda in Iraq or Iranian influence -- is the primary threat to the country’s future stability. ... Ignoring it threatens the future stability of Iraq and the entire region." Yet, like so much else in Iraq, the Bush administration appears to have no plan for dealing with this problem.

NO END IN SIGHT FOR OVERBURDENED U.S. MILITARY: The recent nomination of Gen. Petraeus to be the next commander of U.S. Central Command, and the nomination of Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno to replace Petraeus in Baghdad, clearly indicate Bush's intention to continue his current strategy and maintain American forces in Iraq for as long as possible. This month, Congress will consider the Bush administration's latest request for war funding. CQ reported that "the House Democratic leadership is close to finalizing a decision to combine all outstanding Bush administration requests for war funding -- totaling at least $170 billion -- into one huge bill." American taxpayers are currently spending an estimated $2.4 billion per week on the Iraq war. The war also continues to put a crushing burden on America's armed forces. Murtha noted that since the beginning of the war, the readiness of our forces, both active and reserves, "has plummeted. " Today, there is not one brigade in the that is rated at the highest level of readiness. In so many ways, and on so many fronts, the mission of the next administration will be to clean up the messes of this one.

EDUCATION -- BUSH'S READING PROGRAM DEEMED INEFFECTIVE: A long-awaited study by the Institute for Education Science reported yesterday that President Bush's $1 trillion "Reading First" program, which is aimed at teaching low-income children to read, was wholly ineffective. The study said that children in the program, which is part of Bush's No Child Left Behind initiative, "had virtually no better reading skills" than children not involved. The program was the subject of a congressional investigation last year, when three education advisers, "who played important roles in advising states on how to apply for Reading First grants, testified that they had collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties from curriculums and tests they had authored, whose use grew exponentially through the program." The Washington Post wrote in 2006 the Reading First steered billions "to what is effectively a pilot project for untested programs with friends in high places," one of which was owned by a top Bush fundraiser. "This report makes it shamefully clear that the only individuals benefiting from this significant investment were the President’s cronies," Rep. George Miller (D-CA) said yesterday.

TORTURE -- CHENEY AIDE AGREES TO TESTIFY ON INTERROGATIONS IF SUBPOENAED: Late last month, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) requested that Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, David Addington, "testify about his involvement in the approval of interrogation tactics used at Guantanamo Bay." Responding to the request, Counsel to the Vice President Kathryn Wheelberger claimed that "Congress lacks any authority to examine [Cheney or Addington's] behaviour on the job." Cheney's office has since shifted its position, indicating yesterday that it would agree to let Addington testify about the Bush administration's interrogation policies if he is subpoenaed by Congress. Cheney spokeswoman Megan Mitchell "said that if a subpoena is issued, Addington would 'review it and respond accordingly.'" After receiving the letter, Conyers announced yesterday that "his committee will convene next week to vote on whether to issue a subpoena." Conyers has also asked that former Office of Legal Counsel chief John Yoo and former attorney general John Ashcroft, both key players in the torture program, testify. While they have rejected the invitation, Conyers said this week, "I will have no choice but to consider the use of compulsory process."

ADMINISTRATION -- EPA OUSTS OFFICIAL WHO PUSHED INDUSTRY TO CLEAN UP CHEMICALS: Mary Gade, who is the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) administrator for the Midwest region, "won high marks from EPA officials during her last performance evaluation." However, in an interview with the Chicago Tribune, "Gade said two top political appointees at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington stripped her of her powers as regional administrator and told her to quit or be fired by June 1." As a congressional investigation revealed this week, the EPA's regulation of toxic chemicals like dioxin has been corrupted by interference by the White House. Gade's resignation appears to be premised on her efforts to clean up dioxin from Dow Chemical's Midland plant in Michigan. Dioxin levels in parts of the region have measured as high as "1.6 million parts per trillion, the highest amount ever found in the U.S." Gade "said top lieutenants to Stephen Johnson, the national EPA administrator, repeatedly questioned her aggressive action against Dow." "There's no question this is about Dow," she said. Gade added that "this problem has been out there for more than 30 years, and it's unconscionable that action hasn't been taken."

Thousands of immigrants and their supporters turned out in several cities across the nation yesterday to hold "May Day" rallies, calling for an end to workplace raids and deportations. "We want a commitment from the three presidential candidates to pass humane immigration reform in the first 100 days in office," said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, one of rally's organizers.

Sen. John Warner (R-VA), "an early supporter of Sen. Jim Webb's (D-VA) GI Bill," said he's "quite certain" Congress will pass the bill, but he hinted at changes ahead. "There's a possibility that we might make some changes in the Webb bill...reflecting what I believe are some important points raised by other senators," said Warner.

The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved language in a bill that would "require military contractors, like KBR Inc., to report sex crimes committed by or against their employees, and provide employee victims with assistance and protection."

"Significant needs remain unmet" in treating soldiers with traumatic brain injury, according to a report released yesterday by the Veterans Affairs inspector general, which said many veterans "are not getting adequate healthcare and job assistance." "Brain injuries have become the dominant wounds from the Iraq war, Pentagon and VA records show, but the Pentagon has been slow to react to the growing problem."

"In what industry analysts are calling a first, about one in five vehicles sold in the United States was a compact or subcompact car during April," compared to a decade ago, when only one in in eight cars sold were compact. Rising gas prices are fueling the "dramatic shift," analysts say.

And finally: Even the rich and famous are facing foreclosure. Former U.S. baseball star Jose Canseco, who retired in 2001, has admitted that he has "lost his California mansion to foreclosure -- one of the first celebrities to publicly admit being a statistic in the U.S. housing crisis." Canseco owed a bank more than $2.5 million on his 7,300 square-foot house located in a Los Angeles suburb. "I decided to just let it go, but in most cases and most families, they have nowhere else to go," he said.

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The Senate Intelligence Committee voted yesterday "to forbid the CIA from using private contractors to interrogate detainees. The agency would also be limited to interrogation techniques approved" by the Army Field Manual.

KANSAS: A "stunning victory" for Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) and coal opponents as state House upholds her veto of new coal plants.

NEW YORK: "State budget officials said on Thursday that New York's economy was slipping into a recession that could last through early next year."

SCIENCE: Creationists and "intelligent design" proponents are turning to state legislators to push their agenda.

THINK PROGRESS: Rep. John Murtha (D-PA): The military has been "dishonored" by the "untruths" of the Pentagon's propaganda program.

WONK ROOM: State Department: "The Internet is a virtual safe haven for terrorism."

ABU AARDVARK: The "underappreciated limitations" of al Qaeda's use of the Internet.

ESCHATON: Conservative columnist George Will doesn't understand the basic facts about taxation.

"Critics of the war in Iraq often try to minimize -- if not dismiss -- the links between Saddam Hussein and terrorists. As they say, facts are stubborn things."
-- Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), 5/2/08

VERSUS

"Saddam [Hussein] did not trust al-Qa'ida or any other radical Islamist group and did not want to cooperate with them."
-- Senate Intelligence Committee report, September 2006

Think Progress

Mission Never-Ending

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