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WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2006 – Although progress has been profound and his country continues to move forward, terrorists have stepped up their efforts to derail that progress, Afghanistan’s president told the United Nations General Assembly in New York yesterday. “We have seen terrorism rebounding as terrorists have infiltrated our borders to step up their murderous campaign against our people,” Hamid Karzai said. Terrorists, he told the assembly, see a successful and prosperous Afghanistan as a knockout blow for their aims there. “That is why our schools and clinics get burned down and our … teachers and our doctors get killed,”...

Trade Show Highlights Progress in Irbil More than 800 companies from 27 countries were represented insidea makeshift convention center in the capital of the Kurdistan region. By U.S. Army Sgt. Frank Pellegrini IRBIL, Iraq, Sept. 19, 2006 -- It was just an ordinary trade show - booths papered with colorful displays and overflowing with brochures. It was the hum of business, the sound of sales pitches and the slap of handshakes. Except this trade show was in Iraq.The city of Irbil hosted “Rebuild Iraq 2006” Sept. 14-17. More than 800 companies from 27 countries were represented inside a makeshift...

BAGHDAD — Gauging the progress of security, reconstruction and governance efforts in Iraq is a challenge unto itself, U.S. officials said Tuesday. While in Baghdad senior U.S., Iraqi and Coalition leaders discussed signs of improved security in the capital’s Adhamiyah district, in Washington Pentagon officials stressed the importance of recognizing that security conditions in Iraq vary widely by region. On Sunday, the Baghdad provincial chairman, accompanied by the deputy chief of mission for the U.S. Embassy and the deputy commanding general for Multi-National Division – Baghdad, visited the recently cleared district of Adhamiyah for the first time since the start...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- The August 2006 quarterly U.S. Pentagon Report to Congress, "Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq," describes progress in terms of politics, economics and security. The Department of Defense report concludes that violence has increased, but there has been progress on the political and economic fronts. The report emphasizes that these factors do not operate in isolation, but are interrelated. According to the Armed Forces Press Service, the DOD's public relations arm, signs of political progress include the Iraqi parliament's approval of three national security ministers and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's introduction of a national reconciliation...

Since the previous report for May 2006, positive trends have continued. Some concern is expressed due to sectarian violence, however it is stressed that the violence neither constitutes civil war, nor is civil war inevitable. It looks like they've spent some time making the reports more reader friendly, so if you want to check out the pdf on the link, you might find it's more readable than past reports have been. Major Governmental Achievements For August 2006 1.) Jul 13, 2006-- Transfer of Muthanna(Province) to Provincial Iraqi Control 2.) Jul 26, 2006-- Prime Minister al-Maliki Addresses Joint Session of U.S....

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2006 -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is now officially the commander in chief of his troops. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and U.S. Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr. sign documents to mark the hand-over of control of the Iraqi armed forces to Maliki. U.S. Army photo  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Coalition forces handed over operational control of Iraq’s navy, air force and the 8th Iraqi Army Division in a ceremony today at the Ministry of Defense in Baghdad’s International Zone. “It’s fitting I follow the commander in chief of the Iraqi forces,” said...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2006 -- Five years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the United States is safer because it’s made sweeping changes to close security gaps revealed that day and has taken the terrorist fight to the enemy, President Bush said today in Marietta, Ga. Bush, addressing the Georgia Public Policy Foundation during his fourth major speech in the past week about the terror war, provided a progress report on steps taken since Sept. 11 to protect the American people and win the war against extremism. The past five years have seen “an unprecedented campaign” that has succeeded...

For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary September 7, 2006 President Bush Discusses Progress in the Global War on Terror Cobb Galleria Centre Atlanta, Georgia       Fact Sheet: Progress Report: Fixing the Problems Exposed by the 9/11 Attacks      In Focus: National Security 10:24 A.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Please be seated. (Applause.) Thank you. Sonny, thanks for the introduction. Thanks for your leadership. It's always a pleasure to be in Georgia. I appreciate you coming -- (applause) -- and I appreciate the chance to speak here before the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. And I...

The US-led coalition in Iraq has formally handed control of the country's armed forces to Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. He signed an accord with the US military at a delayed ceremony in the capital, Baghdad. The first units to be transferred are Iraq's small navy and air force, and the 8th Army Division, based in Najaf. But correspondents say it is unclear how fast the complete transfer of security control can be achieved. The handover ceremony is five days later than scheduled, although the delay has not been explained. US-led forces disbanded what was left of the Iraqi army after...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2006 -- For the first time since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, the Iraqi prime minister, through the Iraqi minister of defense, will take operational control of the Iraqi ground forces command structure and the country’s air forces and navy tomorrow, a U.S. military spokesman in Iraq said today. “This is such a huge, significant event that's about to occur tomorrow,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. “It's the one event that puts the prime minister directly in the operational control of his military forces as his role as the...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq will take control of its armed forces command on Thursday, a major step on its painful path toward independence and an essential move before international troops can eventually withdraw.Despite the progress, there was more bloodshed with at least 36 people killed across the country in car bombs, mortar attacks and drive-by shootings. Police also found 29 bodies. “This is such a huge, significant event that’s about to occur tomorrow,” U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said of the shift in the Iraqi command. “If you go back and you map out significant events that have...

Iraq to take control of armed forces By ELENA BECATOROS, Associated Press Writer 31 minutes ago BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq will take control of its armed forces command on Thursday, a major step on its painful path toward independence and an essential move before international troops can eventually withdraw. Despite the progress, there was more bloodshed with at least 36 people killed across the country in car bombs, mortar attacks and drive-by shootings. Police also found 29 bodies. "This is such a huge, significant event that's about to occur tomorrow," U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said of the...

U.S., Iraq near handover By Ibon Villelabeitia BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States and Iraq hope to sign an agreement by next week to hand operational command of Iraq's new army to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq said on Monday, after wrangles on wording had held up the accord. A day after the government hailed the arrest of al Qaeda in Iraq's purported deputy head as a coup against insurgents, the bodies of 33 men, some with their hands bound and bearing signs of torture, were found in Baghdad, and foreign forces announced the death of four Americans and two...

BAGHDAD -- Money set aside for Iraq reconstruction must be allocated by the end of next month or the remaining balance will revert to the coffers of the U.S. Treasury, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction said here Thursday. Stuart W. Bowen, Jr. and his team of investigators make sure the $22 billion from the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund gets spent wisely. SIGIR was created by the U.S. Congress in Oct. 2004 to oversee reconstruction by detecting waste, fraud and abuse of the funds. Bowen said nearly $20 billion has been spent or allocated so far and that...

Iraqi Soldiers Take the Lead Two battalions of the Iraqi Army assume responsibility of security for the majority of Kirkuk Province. By U.S. Army Spc. Michael Alberts 1st Brigade Combat Team, (Air Assault) KIRKUK, Iraq, Sept. 1, 2006 -- Soldiers of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division transferred responsibility of security for the majority of the Kirkuk Province to two battalions of the Iraqi Army during a ceremony at an Iraqi military compound just outside of Kirkuk, Aug. 31. “With this ceremony, we complete the transfer of security responsibilities from our friends, the Coalition Forces, to our...

Speaking after a Cabinet meeting, Nouri al-Maliki said Iraqi forces will assume responsibility for Dhi Qar province in the south, making it the second out of 18 provinces that the Iraqis would take control of. The Iraqis took over Muthanna province in the south from British forces in July.

BAGHDAD (AFP) - It was too soon to be sure, and the threat of violence still hung heavy in the hot Baghdad air, but the US troops bargaining for fruit and chatting with locals seemed to have made a minor breakthrough. ADVERTISEMENT The neighbourhood of Ameriyah, once a virtual no-go zone roamed by sectarian death squads and anti-American insurgents, was extending a nervous hand to its new protectors, a squad of American armoured cavalry troopers. "We're going to block off these roads," Major Scott Coulson explained to an Iraqi father and his boisterous kids on Monday. "The only two ways...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2006 – The primary threats to Iraq's security are terrorists and death squads, the coalition commander in the country said today, and both must be addressed if Iraq is going to progress. Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr. said the Iraqi people “aren't going to have the security that they want until the Iraqi security forces are the primary and dominant providers of security in the country. That won't happen until all militias and insurgents are disbanded.” Casey spoke to reporters this morning in Baghdad. He said the Iraqi security forces are developing and continue to evolve...

BAGHDAD — In a meeting with reporters Wednesday, the commander of Multi-National Force – Iraq said he believes Iraqi security forces are progressing enough that Coalition forces will have a diminished role in Iraq within 18 months. The Coalition sees improvements in the Iraqi security forces everyday, said Gen. George W. Casey, Jr. “I don’t have a definite date, but I can see, 12 to 18 months, the Iraqi security forces progressing to where they can take on security responsibilities with very little Coalition support,” Casey said. The general also said within that time frame it will be Iraqis who...

BAGHDAD — Over 100 Iraqi Army officer cadets graduated from the Iraqi Military Academy, Al Rustamiyah, near Baghdad, in a ceremony which had more than a hint of Britishness to it. The UK is the lead nation for the NATO assistance provided to the Iraqi Military Academy, known to those who train and work there as IMAR. An Iraqi commander, Brig. Imad Mohammed reflected the pride he felt in his men on the occasion. “What they get here in 12 months turns them from nervous young men into confident leaders who have learned to work as a team and face...