Monday, September 03, 2007
Bush arrives on surprise visit to Iraq
(Reuters) - President George W. Bush arrived in Iraq on Monday for a surprise visit along with his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the White House said in a call from Air Force One.
Bush landed at al-Asad Air Force base, west of Baghdad in Anbar province, the White House said as the president's plane touched down.
The White House said Bush's national security adviser Steven Hadley was on the plane also. The president had left early Monday for a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Sydney, Australia, with the leaders of Australia, China, Japan, Russia and other members of APEC. He was due to arrive in Australia on Tuesday.
Bush was to leave the APEC forum early to return to Washington to prepare for a crucial progress report on Iraq from U.S. commander General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. The report is a focal point of an intensifying debate over whether the United States should withdraw its forces from Iraq.
Bush landed at al-Asad Air Force base, west of Baghdad in Anbar province, the White House said as the president's plane touched down.
The White House said Bush's national security adviser Steven Hadley was on the plane also. The president had left early Monday for a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Sydney, Australia, with the leaders of Australia, China, Japan, Russia and other members of APEC. He was due to arrive in Australia on Tuesday.
Bush was to leave the APEC forum early to return to Washington to prepare for a crucial progress report on Iraq from U.S. commander General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. The report is a focal point of an intensifying debate over whether the United States should withdraw its forces from Iraq.
Labels: al-Asad Air Force base, Condoleezza Rice, George Bush, Iraq, Robert Gates, Steven Hadley
Friday, August 03, 2007
Gates pessimistic about Iraq's political progress
Politics
(McClatchy newspapers) - Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, returning from a four-day trip to the Middle East, offered a pessimistic view of Iraq's political progress Thursday, saying he thought that the United States had underestimated the level of distrust between the Shiite Muslim-led government and other ethnic groups.
"I just think in some ways we probably all underestimated the depth of the mistrust and how difficult it would be for these guys to come together on legislation, which, let's face it, is not just some kind of secondary thing," Gates said aboard his plane en route to Washington.
"The kinds of legislation they're talking about establish the framework of Iraq for the future, so it's almost like our constitutional convention. . . . And the difficulty in coming to grips with those we may all have underestimated six or eight months ago," when the Bush administration began implementing its policy of a U.S. troop buildup. Gates' assessment was the frankest by an administration official since the troop buildup began, and it came in the midst of heated debate in Washington about what the U.S. should do in Iraq in the face of an Iraqi government that hasn't met the benchmarks that Congress established in May.
While Gates was in the region, six Sunni Muslim ministers resigned from the Iraqi Cabinet, saying that Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, a Shiite, has done nothing to meet their demands, including disbanding Shiite militias. Gates called the resignations "discouraging." The bad news continued Thursday, as Sunni Vice President Tariq al Hashemi, the only Iraqi Accordance Front member who remains in Maliki's government, told McClatchy Newspapers that he also is on the verge of resigning.
Hashemi said he'd told U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker on Wednesday that the Iraqi government needed a "political shock" to stop it from continuing to marginalize the Sunnis. He said that without a change, Crocker and Army Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. military commander in Iraq, would be forced to issue a negative report on Iraq to Congress in September.
"We need these major political moves to tell everybody that what is happening is in no way tolerable," Hashemi said. "Nobody on earth or in Iraq is happy with the performance of the government."
Gates spoke at the end of a rare joint Middle East tour with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, during which both warned of the growing regional threat from Shiite Iran, urged Sunni Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia to throw their support behind the Maliki government and promised U.S. support for Israel and the Palestinians in establishing a Palestinian state.
Iraq's Sunni Arab neighbors expressed strong fears about the aftermath should U.S. troops pull out, but were reluctant to support the Maliki government, which Sunni politicians in Iraq accuse of turning a blind eye to Shiite militias' attacks on Sunnis.
"I just think in some ways we probably all underestimated the depth of the mistrust and how difficult it would be for these guys to come together on legislation, which, let's face it, is not just some kind of secondary thing," Gates said aboard his plane en route to Washington.
"The kinds of legislation they're talking about establish the framework of Iraq for the future, so it's almost like our constitutional convention. . . . And the difficulty in coming to grips with those we may all have underestimated six or eight months ago," when the Bush administration began implementing its policy of a U.S. troop buildup. Gates' assessment was the frankest by an administration official since the troop buildup began, and it came in the midst of heated debate in Washington about what the U.S. should do in Iraq in the face of an Iraqi government that hasn't met the benchmarks that Congress established in May.
While Gates was in the region, six Sunni Muslim ministers resigned from the Iraqi Cabinet, saying that Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, a Shiite, has done nothing to meet their demands, including disbanding Shiite militias. Gates called the resignations "discouraging." The bad news continued Thursday, as Sunni Vice President Tariq al Hashemi, the only Iraqi Accordance Front member who remains in Maliki's government, told McClatchy Newspapers that he also is on the verge of resigning.
Hashemi said he'd told U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker on Wednesday that the Iraqi government needed a "political shock" to stop it from continuing to marginalize the Sunnis. He said that without a change, Crocker and Army Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. military commander in Iraq, would be forced to issue a negative report on Iraq to Congress in September.
"We need these major political moves to tell everybody that what is happening is in no way tolerable," Hashemi said. "Nobody on earth or in Iraq is happy with the performance of the government."
Gates spoke at the end of a rare joint Middle East tour with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, during which both warned of the growing regional threat from Shiite Iran, urged Sunni Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia to throw their support behind the Maliki government and promised U.S. support for Israel and the Palestinians in establishing a Palestinian state.
Iraq's Sunni Arab neighbors expressed strong fears about the aftermath should U.S. troops pull out, but were reluctant to support the Maliki government, which Sunni politicians in Iraq accuse of turning a blind eye to Shiite militias' attacks on Sunnis.
Labels: Condoleezza Rice, Robert Gates, Tariq Al Hashemi
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Pentagon finds $1.2 bn. for mine resistant vehicles for Iraq
Security
(McClatchy Newspapers) - Military to buy Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, or MRAPs for use in Iraq Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, shifting money among the military branches, has come up with another $1.2 billion to supply troops in Iraq and Afghanistan with special armored vehicles that are built to withstand explosive devices and mines.
The money, which awaits a sign-off by key committee chairmen in Congress, would allow the military to order another 2,650 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. Officials think that the vehicles are best equipped to fend off improvised explosive devices, the most common type of weapon launched against soldiers in the two countries.
Gates has said that getting more of the special vehicles to Iraq and Afghanistan is his highest priority, since such homemade bombs are responsible for 70 percent of U.S. casualties. Three times heavier than armored Humvees, MRAPs have V-shaped hulls designed to deflect blasts from below.
The money, which awaits a sign-off by key committee chairmen in Congress, would allow the military to order another 2,650 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. Officials think that the vehicles are best equipped to fend off improvised explosive devices, the most common type of weapon launched against soldiers in the two countries.
Gates has said that getting more of the special vehicles to Iraq and Afghanistan is his highest priority, since such homemade bombs are responsible for 70 percent of U.S. casualties. Three times heavier than armored Humvees, MRAPs have V-shaped hulls designed to deflect blasts from below.
Labels: IEDs, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, MRAPS, Robert Gates
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
U.S. warns Turkey against attacking northern Iraq
Security, Region
(AFP) - The US military warned Turkey Tuesday against destabilizing northern Iraq by carrying out a threatened cross-border raid on Kurdish rebels. The US armed forces have a "great relationship with the military of Turkey," said Brigadier General Perry Wiggins, deputy director for operations of the Pentagon's Joint Staff.
But he cautioned: "As the secretary of defense (Robert Gates) has said, any disruption up in northern Iraq would not be helpful at this time." Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Friday his country had drawn up plans for an eventual incursion into neighboring northern Iraq to pursue rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) taking refuge there.
Gul warned that Turkey would activate its plans if the Iraqi authorities or the United States failed to curb the PKK, which is listed as a terror organization by both Ankara and Washington. "Unfortunately, the level of cooperation by the United States is below our expectations," he said in remarks published by the Radikal daily.
Army chief Yasar Buyukanit has long been calling for a strike against PKK rebels based in Kurdish-run northern Iraq where, Turkey says, the PKK enjoys free movement and obtains arms and explosives for attacks on its soil. But US officials, fearful of havoc in the only part of Iraq that has enjoyed relative calm, are anxious to forestall any Turkish intervention.
"We hope there is no unilateral military action taken on the other side of the Iraqi border," Gates said on June 3. On June 18, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice assured Ankara that the United States and Iraq were against any "terrorist" actions conducted from Iraqi territory against Turkey.
But he cautioned: "As the secretary of defense (Robert Gates) has said, any disruption up in northern Iraq would not be helpful at this time." Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Friday his country had drawn up plans for an eventual incursion into neighboring northern Iraq to pursue rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) taking refuge there.
Gul warned that Turkey would activate its plans if the Iraqi authorities or the United States failed to curb the PKK, which is listed as a terror organization by both Ankara and Washington. "Unfortunately, the level of cooperation by the United States is below our expectations," he said in remarks published by the Radikal daily.
Army chief Yasar Buyukanit has long been calling for a strike against PKK rebels based in Kurdish-run northern Iraq where, Turkey says, the PKK enjoys free movement and obtains arms and explosives for attacks on its soil. But US officials, fearful of havoc in the only part of Iraq that has enjoyed relative calm, are anxious to forestall any Turkish intervention.
"We hope there is no unilateral military action taken on the other side of the Iraqi border," Gates said on June 3. On June 18, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice assured Ankara that the United States and Iraq were against any "terrorist" actions conducted from Iraqi territory against Turkey.
Labels: Abdullah Gul, Brigadier General Perry Wiggins, Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, PKK, Robert Gates, Turkey, U.S.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Gates seeks U.S. troop cuts in exchange for a smaller longterm presence
Security
(AFP) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates is seeking a political deal in Washington to trade off troop cuts in Iraq for support for a long-term, smaller presence there, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Citing unnamed US government officials, the Journal said that Gates and some political allies are pursuing political support for maintaining a US military presence in Iraq to continue the fight against Al-Qaeda.
The tradeoff, according to the report, is a commitment to slashing back troop levels -- now about 155,000 -- by the end of President George W. Bush's term in office, in January 2009. Gates's goal is to mollify the strong US sentiment for a pullout of US forces, while not abandoning Iraq altogether.
"The complicating factor is how long the administration will stick with its 'surge' strategy of keeping high levels of troops in Iraq to try to tamp down violence there. On this issue, the administration -- and even the military -- is deeply divided," the Journal said.
In Gates's plan, the US would trim back its presence and its goals to fighting Al-Qaeda and simply containing a civil war that might erupt, rather than the current aim of defeating all insurgents and ending the conflict between Iraqi groups, mostly aligned on Sunni and Shiite Muslim lines.
"The change in thinking underscores administration officials' increasing concern that rapidly diminishing support for the war among Americans and in Congress could spark a precipitous withdrawal," the newspaper said. "Administration officials fear such an outcome could endanger US national security by leaving a failed state in the hands of Shiite and Sunni Islamic extremists."
The tradeoff, according to the report, is a commitment to slashing back troop levels -- now about 155,000 -- by the end of President George W. Bush's term in office, in January 2009. Gates's goal is to mollify the strong US sentiment for a pullout of US forces, while not abandoning Iraq altogether.
"The complicating factor is how long the administration will stick with its 'surge' strategy of keeping high levels of troops in Iraq to try to tamp down violence there. On this issue, the administration -- and even the military -- is deeply divided," the Journal said.
In Gates's plan, the US would trim back its presence and its goals to fighting Al-Qaeda and simply containing a civil war that might erupt, rather than the current aim of defeating all insurgents and ending the conflict between Iraqi groups, mostly aligned on Sunni and Shiite Muslim lines.
"The change in thinking underscores administration officials' increasing concern that rapidly diminishing support for the war among Americans and in Congress could spark a precipitous withdrawal," the newspaper said. "Administration officials fear such an outcome could endanger US national security by leaving a failed state in the hands of Shiite and Sunni Islamic extremists."
Labels: Iraq, Robert Gates, U.S. troop cuts
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Al-Maliki refuses timetable for national reconciliation
Politics, Security
(KUNA) - Al-Maliki announced during a June 18 press conference that Iraq will not accept a timetable imposed on it to achieve national reconciliation, KUNA reported the same day. Al-Maliki's statements were seen as a response to comments from U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on June 16, in which he said Washington is disappointed with the Iraqi government's efforts at fostering national reconciliation.
Al-Maliki stressed that only his government can impose any sort of timetable on the reconciliation process. "We set timetables based on humanitarian and national considerations," al-Maliki said. "Our priority comes in sensing the suffering of citizens, which forces us to set time tables and executable solutions for citizens."
Labels: national reconciliation, Nouri Al-Maliki, Robert Gates
Friday, April 20, 2007
Gates: U.S. commitment to Iraq not open-ended
Security, U.S.
(RFE/RL) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on an announced visit to Iraq, says the U.S. commitment to the war in Iraq is not open-ended. Gates, who arrived in Baghad on April 19 from Israel, flew on by helicopter to Al-Fallujah along with the most senior U.S. military officials. In the city that was once the symbol of the Iraqi insurgency, Gates told reporters that "the clock is ticking." He added that he will tell Iraqi leaders that they must move faster on political reconciliation and in passing legislation on sharing oil revenues.
Gates' visit came one day after bombers killed more than 200 people in attacks mainly in Baghdad, and one week after a deadly bombing inside the Iraqi capital's heavily fortified Green Zone. Meanwhile, Harry Reid, the leader of the Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate, said on April 19 that the war in Iraq "is lost." Reid told reporters in Washington that a U.S. troop surge ordered by President George W. Bush is failing to bring peace to Iraq.
Reid says he delivered the same message to Bush on April 18, when the president met with senior lawmakers to discuss how to end a standoff over an emergency war-funding bill. The senator said he believes the Iraq war at this stage can only be won diplomatically, politically, and economically. Congress is seeking to tie funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to a timetable to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq next year. Bush has vowed to veto any such bill.
Labels: Fallujah, Iraq, Robert Gates, U.S.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Overstretched U.S. military to send more troops to Iraq for longer deployments
Security, U.S.
(Al Jazeera) - The Pentagon has said that US soldiers will serve up to 15 months in Iraq and Afghanistan instead of one year, showing more signs of the strain the wars have taken on the military. "Our forces are stretched, there's no question about that," Robert Gates, the defence secretary, said on Wednesday.
He said the move would allow the military to sustain for a year the increased troop level in Iraq ordered by the president in January. Critics say the decision was a blow to the military, the troops and their families. Ike Skelton, a Democrat who chairs the Armed Services Committee in the House of Representatives, said: "This new policy will be an additional burden to an already overstretched army. "I think this will have a chilling effect on recruiting, retention and readiness. We also must not underestimate the enormous negative impact this will have on army families."
He said the move would allow the military to sustain for a year the increased troop level in Iraq ordered by the president in January. Critics say the decision was a blow to the military, the troops and their families. Ike Skelton, a Democrat who chairs the Armed Services Committee in the House of Representatives, said: "This new policy will be an additional burden to an already overstretched army. "I think this will have a chilling effect on recruiting, retention and readiness. We also must not underestimate the enormous negative impact this will have on army families."
Gates admitted that "this decision will ask a lot of our army troops and their families". The policy is effective immediately and also applies to units already in the region, he said. There are about 145,000 US troops in Iraq and 25,000 in Afghanistan. As part of George Bush's plan, the military is the midst of boosting its Iraq force by 28,000 combat and support troops.
The Pentagon's goal for active duty army troops is that they spend two years at home for every year deployed, but it has not been able to meet that target in recent years. At the moment, army units average about a year at home for every year deployed, Pentagon officials say. In an effort to tackle the strains on the military, Gates has ordered an increase in the size of both the army and the Marine Corps.
The Pentagon's goal for active duty army troops is that they spend two years at home for every year deployed, but it has not been able to meet that target in recent years. At the moment, army units average about a year at home for every year deployed, Pentagon officials say. In an effort to tackle the strains on the military, Gates has ordered an increase in the size of both the army and the Marine Corps.
Labels: Robert Gates, U.S. military
Friday, April 06, 2007
U.S. - no plans to release Iranian detainees in Iraq
Iran, U.S.
(Al Jazeera) - Robert Gates, the United States defence secretary, has said that the US has no plans to release five Iranians who were captured in Iraq and accused of supporting anti-government fighters there. He also rejected speculation that the US had been part of a deal which led Iran to release 15 British servicemen earlier on Thursday.
"I think there's no inclination right now to let them go," Gates told reporters in Washington when asked about the five Iranians, who were captured by US forces in northern Iraq in January. Washington has denied that it had been involved in any deal which offered concessions to Iran in return for the release of the 15 British servicemen, who were seized by Iranian troops near the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
George Bush, the US president, said on Tuesday that he agreed with Tony Blair, the British prime minister, "that there should be no quid pro quos when it comes to the hostages". Gates, however, said that US and Iraqi officials were considering arranging for Iranian representatives to visit the captured men, whom Iran says are legitimate diplomats.
Iraqi government officials and US officials are discussing if there's some way, perhaps, that there could be some kind of Iranian access to them," he said. "But as far as I know, there's no requirement for that. "I don't think that consular access is being considered. I think the issue is whether there's some other means by which some other access might be given."
Gates's comments came after Major-General William Caldwell, a US military spokesman, told reporters in Baghdad that a consular request to visit the five Iranians was "being assessed". The five Iranians were arrested by US forces in the northern city of Irbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, on January 11.
US officials accused the men of being members of the elite Al-Quds brigade of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and of helping organise attacks on US and Iraqi forces. Washington and Tehran broke off diplomatic ties almost 27 years ago and US interests in Iran are conducted via Switzerland.
(Al Jazeera) - Robert Gates, the United States defence secretary, has said that the US has no plans to release five Iranians who were captured in Iraq and accused of supporting anti-government fighters there. He also rejected speculation that the US had been part of a deal which led Iran to release 15 British servicemen earlier on Thursday.
"I think there's no inclination right now to let them go," Gates told reporters in Washington when asked about the five Iranians, who were captured by US forces in northern Iraq in January. Washington has denied that it had been involved in any deal which offered concessions to Iran in return for the release of the 15 British servicemen, who were seized by Iranian troops near the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
George Bush, the US president, said on Tuesday that he agreed with Tony Blair, the British prime minister, "that there should be no quid pro quos when it comes to the hostages". Gates, however, said that US and Iraqi officials were considering arranging for Iranian representatives to visit the captured men, whom Iran says are legitimate diplomats.
Iraqi government officials and US officials are discussing if there's some way, perhaps, that there could be some kind of Iranian access to them," he said. "But as far as I know, there's no requirement for that. "I don't think that consular access is being considered. I think the issue is whether there's some other means by which some other access might be given."
Gates's comments came after Major-General William Caldwell, a US military spokesman, told reporters in Baghdad that a consular request to visit the five Iranians was "being assessed". The five Iranians were arrested by US forces in the northern city of Irbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, on January 11.
US officials accused the men of being members of the elite Al-Quds brigade of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and of helping organise attacks on US and Iraqi forces. Washington and Tehran broke off diplomatic ties almost 27 years ago and US interests in Iran are conducted via Switzerland.
Labels: Al-Quds brigade, British sailors, Iranian detainees, Irbil, Robert Gates, U.S.
