troop surge – News Stories About troop surge - Page 7

Bush Prepares Iraq Plan That Includes UN

May 23, 2007 11:22 AM CDT

Bush Prepares Iraq Plan That Includes UN

With troop surge faltering, new strategy spreads responsibility

(Newser) - Four years after the US went into Iraq without Security Council support, the administration may be ready to ask the UN for help. The Guardian reports that a plan to "internationalize" the peace process reflects President Bush's concern about the 2008 elections and the apparent failure of the troop...

Troops May Double in 'Second Surge'

May 22, 2007 3:33 PM CDT

Troops May Double in 'Second Surge'

Analysis of Pentagon orders shows 8 more brigades in Iraq by year's end

(Newser) - The number of US combat troops in Iraq is being quietly doubled this year in what the San Francisco Chronicle calls a second surge, the paper concludes from an analysis of Pentagon orders. The combination of new combat brigades and lengthened tours for troops already stationed in Iraq could bring...

Contractor Fatalities Soar in Iraq

May 19, 2007 9:13 AM CDT

Contractor Fatalities Soar in Iraq

New numbers show soaring increases in civilian casualties, even as the troop presence rises

(Newser) - Private contractors have been killed in Iraq in record numbers this year, the New York Times reports, as the deployment of U.S. forces in outside the Green Zone amps up the danger for both soldiers and civilians. Through March, there were at least 146 killed, compared to 224 troops...

September Looms as
Iraq Watershed

May 8, 2007 8:18 AM CDT

September Looms as Iraq Watershed

Legislative, military timetables converge with fiscal year

(Newser) - September is likely to be put-up-or-shut-up time for supporters of the Iraq war, legislators from both parties tell the Washington Post. Gen. David Petraeus has said he will have a sense of whether the surge is working by then, and lawmakers want a clearer picture of America's future involvement before...

Some Mahdis Going Freelance

May 2, 2007 1:58 PM CDT

Some Mahdis Going Freelance

What's worse than Moqtada al-Sadr? The Mahdi Army ignoring him

(Newser) - The Madhi Army is letting loose. Officially locked down by leader Moqtada al-Sadr during the troop surge, renegade Mahdis are unleashing a wave of random violence on once-peaceful areas of central and southern Iraq, Newseek reports. That worries even al-Sadr's commanders, who are now seeking U.S. help to control...

Bush Doubts Surge Success

Apr 28, 2007 12:51 PM CDT

Bush Doubts Surge Success

Privately, Bush seeks to lower expectations on the surge—and the prime minister

(Newser) - The Bush administration is quietly rijiggering its internal expectations for Iraq, senior administration officials have told the New York Times. In spite of a publicly optimistic stance, Bush is already preparing for the possible failure of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's regime and readying to maintain a troop surge well into...

Reid Declares War Is Lost

Apr 20, 2007 8:31 AM CDT

Reid Declares War Is Lost

Rhetorical bombshell fires up pundits, but will policy consequences follow?

(Newser) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has upped the ante in the Dems' rhetoric on Iraq, saying the U.S. has "lost" in Iraq, and warning that, "the surge is not accomplishing anything." But he stopped short of threatening to pull funding from the war, the biggest gun...

Baghdad Blasts Claim Nearly 200 LIives

Apr 19, 2007 7:35 AM CDT

Baghdad Blasts Claim Nearly 200 LIives

On bloodiest day since surge, Maliki promises transfer of power by 2008

(Newser) - Nearly 200 people were killed, and more than 200 injured, by five apparently coordinated explosions that rocked Baghdad yesterday. It was the deadliest day since the U.S. troop surge in the besieged capital, and a chilling backdrop to an announcement by PM al-Maliki that Iraqis will be completely in...

Baghdad No Safer 2 Months Into Surge

Apr 9, 2007 1:40 PM CDT

Baghdad No Safer 2 Months Into Surge

As insurgents adapt, the body count is rising again

(Newser) - Baghdad is no more stable than it was before the American troop surge, the Times reports. With death squads trying to stay off the radar, sectarian executions have dropped in some corners of the city. But executions have given way to increased car bombings, chlorine gas attacks, and the burning...

Iraq Is Breaking the Army

Apr 6, 2007 8:47 AM CDT

Iraq Is Breaking the Army

Inadequate training, gear, hobbles troops

(Newser) - The U.S. Army is stretched so thin in Iraq and Afghanistan that it's sending ill-prepared and ill-equipped young people into harm’s way, Time reports. And the surge in troops is only deepening the crisis: Two of the five new brigades bound for the Middle East will skip vital...

The Surge Is
Our Last Stand

Apr 3, 2007 3:37 PM CDT

The Surge Is Our Last Stand

By the beginning of the coming year, "the Army will begin to unravel"

(Newser) - "We are in a position of strategic peril," says a retired general who's just back from Bagdhad in a blunt, sobering piece in the L.A. Times. Barry McCaffrey, now at West Point, urges support of the surge and the new strategy to secure Baghdad without sugar coating...

Pentagon Exit Strategy Relies on Advisers

Mar 12, 2007 11:03 AM CDT

Pentagon Exit Strategy Relies on Advisers

Hopes for surge waning, DoD plans to replace troops with teams of advisers

(Newser) - Pentagon top brass preparing an exit strategy for Iraq should the troop surge fail are following the outlines set by the Iraq Study Group, using a small team of military advisers to replace troops as they stand down. It mirrors the strategy the military used in El Salvador in the...