Free Republic

Shia populist cleric and Iraqi nationalist Moqtada al Sadr won the May 12 Iraqi elections to the surprise of Iran, Turkey, the United States and many Iraq experts. Sadr is against Israel, the United States and Iran, and also opposes the presence of Turkish troops on Iraqi territory. Now he is the kingmaker of Iraq’s elections, winning 54 out of 329 seats in the Iraqi parliament. Washington was hoping Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al Abadi would win as a result of his defeat of Islamic State (ISIS), while Iran backed the Conquest alliance headed by the leader of the paramilitary...

If the U.S. military held a yard sale, the rummaging would look a lot like what has been going on in Iraq. Troops are leaving a bounty of leftovers as they exit the country this month, abandoning dining-hall tables and chairs, tents, air conditioners and old vehicles. Unlike a traditional American yard sale, the military bric-a-brac is free. The stuff likely would be dumped back home. For an Iraqi force moving into once-bustling U.S. bases, the accouterments are just the thing to make the soldier’s life a little more comfortable as he takes on the full load of fighting insurgents...

The House on Friday voted 256-153 to support the military mission in Iraq Forty-two Democrats bucked their leadership to join a virtually united Republican Party and declare that the United States must complete "the mission to create a sovereign, free, secure and united Iraq" without setting "an arbitrary date for the withdrawal or redeployment" of U.S. troops. Three Republicans — Reps. Ron Paul of Texas, John Duncan Jr. of Tennessee and Jim Leach of Iowa — joined 149 Democrats and one independent to oppose the resolution. Three Democrats and two Republicans voted present in protest. Nineteen lawmakers did not vote....

WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Lieberman, fresh from a two-day visit to Iraq over the Thanksgiving holiday, said Monday he was hopeful U.S. forces could begin a "significant" withdrawal by the end of next year or in 2007. "The country is now in reach of going from Saddam Hussein to self-government and, I'd add, self-protection," the Connecticut Democrat said in a conference call with reporters. "That would be a remarkable transformation ... I saw real progress there." Lieberman, one of the most hawkish Democrats in the Senate, said the effectiveness of Iraqi security forces and the ability of a new Iraqi...

Aaron Brown of CNN fame had Randy Beers, the key Kerry foreign policy advisor, on his show tonight to discuss the future of Iraq. Well, all he talked about was doom & gloom. Beers mentality was that the US was an occupier, not a liberator. The US was evil (my words). It was pure defeatism. Aaron asked him when should US troops leave Iraq. He said at the end of this YEAR or after UN sponsored elections which would be early 2006(my guess). So, Comrade Kerry’s policy in Iraq would have been cut and run. A Kerry Presidency would have...