Help The Middle ClassNews and Information For The Heart Of America
Timetable for U.S. Troop Withdrawal on Track, Obama Says, After Iraqis Vote (CSNnews.com)
The timeline for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq remains on course, President Obama said Sunday as he hailed the country’s national election as a “milestone.”
“We will continue with the responsible removal of the United States forces from Iraq,” he said at the White House, confirming that “by the end of the next year, all U.S. [...]
THE POWER OF DEMOCRACY: Iraqis Flock To Polls, Despite Violence Leaving 25 Dead (Wall Street Journal)
Despite a spasm of violence early Sunday, Iraqis flocked to polling stations in what appeared to be large numbers, marking the country’s first parliamentary polls since 2005.
Polls were scheduled to close at 5 p.m. local time (9 a.m. Eastern time), but some voting stations accommodated crowds lined up after closing time. Iraq’s high electoral commission [...]
TERROR UPDATE: Al-Qaida Calls On US Muslims To Attack America (Associated Press)
CAIRO — Al-Qaida’s American-born spokesman on Sunday called on Muslims serving in the U.S. armed forces to emulate the Army major charged with killing 13 people in Fort Hood.
In a 25-minute video posted on militant Web sites, Adam Gadahn described Maj. Nidal Hasan as a pioneer who should serve as a role model for other [...]
WAR UPDATE: U.S. Death Toll in Afghanistan Hits 1,000 (Yahoo! News & AFP)
KABUL (AFP) – A bomb strapped to a bicycle exploded near a busy bus terminal in Afghanistan, killing eight people Tuesday as the death toll of US troops in the Afghan war surpassed the grim milestone of 1,000.
The attack took place in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province where a massive US-led military offensive [...]
AFGHANISTAN WAR UPDATE: Prize on the Battlefields of Marja May Be Momentum (The New York Times)
KABUL, Afghanistan — Any historian, or any general, would tell you the same: Lose the initiative on the battlefield, and it’s awfully hard to get it back.
In the Korean War, for instance, the Americans lost the initiative in the beginning, took it back with a dramatic and daring operation, and then lost it again, finally [...]
Alexander M. Haig Jr. Dies at 85, Military Hero, Commanding White House Aide (New York Times)
Alexander M. Haig Jr., the four-star general who served as a confrontational secretary of state under President Ronald Reagan and a commanding White House chief of staff as the Nixon administration crumbled, died Saturday at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, according to a hospital spokesman. He was 85.
Mr. Haig was a rare American breed: [...]
WAR UPDATE: In Blow to Taliban, 2 More Senior Leaders Are Arrested (New York Times)
KABUL, Afghanistan — Two senior Taliban leaders have been arrested in recent days inside Pakistan, officials said Thursday, as American and Pakistani intelligence agents continued to press their offensive against the group’s leadership after the capture of the insurgency’s military commander last month.
Afghan officials said the Taliban’s “shadow governors” for two provinces in northern [...]
Afghans Lend Hand To Anti-Taliban Efforts (USA Today)
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — Afghans who had been under the rule of the Taliban for years in Marjah are starting to offer help to U.S. and Afghan troops, pointing out the locations of buried roadside bombs as fighting continues in the town.
“Most of the people know where they are already,” said Lt. Col. Jeff Rule, [...]
WILLIAM MCGURN/OPINION: Biden Tries To Rewrite History (Wall Street Journal)
It’s easy to pile on Joe Biden. Vice presidents, after all, acquire reputations in Washington they never really shake. Dick Cheney was Darth Vader, and now Joe Biden is the embarrassing uncle you try to keep away from the microphone.
Neither is entirely fair. Still, when Mr. Biden claims success for a victory won by a [...]
WAR UPDATE: Taliban Fighters Said to Flee Under Coalition Pressure (New York Times)
KABUL, Afghanistan — A large number of Taliban fighters have fled the city of Marja, their former stronghold in Helmand Province, under pressure from United States and Afghan forces and may have crossed the border into Pakistan, the Afghan interior minister said on Monday.
At a news conference held by senior Afghan officials and Gen. Stanley [...]
