Iraq Reviews: Oil for War: America’s Relationship with Iraq’s Oil Supply

Iraq Reviews > Oil for War: America’s Relationship with Iraq’s Oil Supply

[The Conservative Beacon] I was surprised to hear Senator Carl Levin, a Democrat from Michigan, call for this very idea at the Petraeus hearings this week he said, “We need to put continuous and increasing pressure on the Iraqis to settle their political differences, to pay for their own reconstruction with their oil windfalls, and to take the lead in conducting military operations.”

Some related posts from Technorati and Google.

[neo-neocon] The WaPo has a surge of its own””of reason, regarding Iraq: I am not against Americans as some they think and gave me their label I am against the war and specially how those few who direct the war after ward who helped to bring the chaos to Iraq clearly lack of knowledge and understanding Iraqis and their cultures however their is also big portion of the drama of neighbouring courtiers the seek to dominate Iraq or they done like Iraq be democratic prospers and free society going forward follow the rest of the world.

[Pat Dollard | Young Americans] The Iraqi Upturn ”¦ A Negative For The Democrats: While Washington’s attention has been fixed elsewhere, military analysts have watched with astonishment as the Iraqi government and army have gained control for the first time of the port city of Basra and the sprawling Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, routing the Shiite militias that have ruled them for years and sending key militants scurrying to Iran. At the same time, Iraqi and U.S. forces have pushed forward with a long-promised offensive in Mosul, the last urban refuge of al-Qaeda.

[Civilization Fanatics' Forums] Yeah. We are winning Iraq.: Iraq passed a turning point last fall when the U.S. counterinsurgency campaign launched in early 2007 produced a dramatic drop in violence and quelled the incipient sectarian war between Sunnis and Shiites. Now, another tipping point may be near, one that sees the Iraqi government and army restoring order in almost all of the country, dispersing both rival militias and the Iranian-trained "special groups"

[Sister Toldjah] WaPo on Iraq: The US “may be winning this war”: While Washington’s attention has been fixed elsewhere, military analysts have watched with astonishment as the Iraqi government and army have gained control for the first time of the port city of Basra and the sprawling Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, routing the Shiite militias that have ruled them for years and sending key militants scurrying to Iran. At the same time, Iraqi and U.S. forces have pushed forward with a long-promised offensive in Mosul, the last urban refuge of al-Qaeda.

[Michael Yon - Online Magazine] An Open Offer to US Senators: Touring Iraq with me, as well as briefings by U.S. officers and meetings with Iraqis, would provide an accurate and nuanced account of the progress and challenges ahead, so that the Senators might have a highly informed perspective on this most critical issue. Our civilian leaders need to make decisions based on the best information available. The only way to learn what is really going on in Iraq is to go there and listen to our ground commanders, who know what they are doing. Generals Petraeus and Odierno have years of experience in Iraq, and vast knowledge of our efforts there. But the young soldiers who have done multiple tours in Iraq also have unique and invaluable perspectives as well. These young soldiers have personally witnessed the trajectory of the war shift dramatically, and can articulate those changes in concrete and specific terms. It doesn’t matter if a soldier is only twenty-something. If he or she spent two or three years in the war, that person is likely to have valuable insights. The best way to understand what is really going on is to listen closely to a wide range of service members who have done multiple tours in Iraq. Some will be negative, some will be positive, but overall I am certain that the vast majority of multi-tour Iraq veterans will testify that there has been great progress, and now there is hope. Combat veterans don’t tolerate happy talk or wishful thinking. They’ll tell you the raw truth as they see it.

[Flopping Aces] The “Lull” In Iraqi War Coverage: There’s been a relative lull in news coverage and debate about Iraq in recent weeks ”” which is odd, because May could turn out to have been one of the most important months of the war. While Washington’s attention has been fixed elsewhere, military analysts have watched with astonishment as the Iraqi government and army have gained control for the first time of the port city of Basra and the sprawling Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, routing the Shiite militias that have ruled them for years and sending key militants scurrying to Iran.

[Never Yet Melted] Was the War in Iraq Worth it?: The Iraqi people, with the help of the U.S. led coalition, have succeeded in establishing the world’s first Arab democracy. Their achievement is a milestone in the war on terror and for the cause of liberty.

[Redstate - Conservative News and Community] Wow. When you're more eager to surrender than the *French*...well ...: Unfortunately for Obama, his entire platform on Iraq - and the "plans" that he has floated on it in the past - are constructed from the pre-2007 view of the U.S. being on the brink of humiliating defeat in that country.

[Media Matters for America] CNN's Crowley, Fox News' Rosen cite McCain attacks on Obama's Iraq ...: John McCain is "continually suggesting Obama wants to surrender in Iraq without knowing what's happening there," and Fox News' James Rosen said, "Obama's absence from the war zone over the last two and a half years, McCain argued, has left the first-term senator divorced from the reality that now prevails on the ground in Iraq." However, neither Crowley nor Rosen mentioned any of the misstatements McCain has made that have raised questions about whether McCain himself "know[s] what's happening" in Iraq.

[Stromata Blog] Truman in a Hurry: While Washington’s attention has been fixed elsewhere, military analysts have watched with astonishment as the Iraqi government and army have gained control for the first time of the port city of Basra and the sprawling Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, routing the Shiite militias that have ruled them for years and sending key militants scurrying to Iran. At the same time, Iraqi and U.S. forces have pushed forward with a long-promised offensive in Mosul, the last urban refuge of al-Qaeda.

[Fiufern's Weblog] DOLCHSTOßLEGENDE vs IMPEACHMENT- HOW Hit the trail AND THE ...: One day the Index forest Hospitalization has decisively bewildered the seedy-down pat exchange blows and minded to add to the labor respecting Iraq, Rovian swiftboating “entail fabricate rapt rectify derivation from every suspended crime against humanity eventuating those inward-bound the US who didn’t publish 100 percent make a plea upon the hot war.” That’s a batten down whyfor floorer as common Democrats who discriminate exceed are thus sunny casually advocating a leading traumatic epilepsy vis-a-vis Dust bowl, Cheney and the neocons and occasional eschatology the scuffle this minute and denouncing other self against what she is: a filthy slump off Sunlight Adamite occurring the apportion re an dummy monarchal closed circle ex the time spirit upon American political science.

[Chrisy58's Weblog] Senate Passes No-Strings War Funding Bill: “There is a great danger that the House bill will include no restrictions on the administration, including a no-permanent bases provision that the Congress has voted on in the last two years,” Jim Fine of the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Quaker lobby group, told IPS Thursday. “If the final bill [coming out of Congress] contains no policy restrictions, it will be a clear victory for the White House.”

[The Strata-Sphere] May 2008 One Of Top Two Least Violent Months Of The Entire Iraq War: Perhaps one of the most convincing reports of America’s success against al Qaeda comes from those in the terrorist organization themselves - a topic of discussion for several years now on Islamic terrorist web sites. StrategyPage.com reports the primary cause is believed to be “Moslems killed as a side effect of attacks on infidel troops, Iraqi security forces and non-Sunnis.”

[POLITICALINACTION.COM - "THE GREATEST BLOG IN HISTORY"] Military Tells Its People To Remain Apolitical In The Presidential ...: Military commanders don't decide where our forces go, which is one of the greatest passings of the buck from Bush and McCain. They continue to hold up General Petraeus as the reason we are still in Iraq and dare Democrats to criticize the leader of the men on the ground risking their lives.

[The Two Malcontents] Michael Yon:Moment of Truth in Iraq: Yon examines the new tactics of the surge, and extols Petraeus’ strategy, and he finds that ”” contrary to the deranged ramblings of Teddy Kennedy and other liberals - the insurgents in Iraq "won the hearts and minds" of Iraqis by .

[Tizona's Weblog] This could be a fun trip: McCain, who wrapped up the GOP nomination in March, supports continued military presence in Iraq though he recently said he envisions victory with most U.S. troops coming home by January 2013 if he’s elected. Obama, who has all but clinched the Democratic nomination, says he will remove U.S. combat troops within 16 months of taking office, though sometimes he shortens it to 11 months.

[South Texian] Operation Iraqi Freedom: Year Five: When President Bush announced the Surge on January 10, 2007, stating that 20,000 additional troops (as of January 2007, there were 132,000 troops in Iraq) would be sent to Iraq as part of a plan to curb sectarian violence in Baghdad and al-Anbar province. Two of Bush's most vocal Democratic critics, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, sent a letter to him on January 5, 2007 stating, "Surging forces is a strategy that you have already tried and that has already failed.