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SYDNEY, Australia -- America's troop buildup in Iraq has sharply reduced sectarian killings and roadside bombings and lowered al-Qaida's influence, the top U.S. general in the country said in an interview published Friday. "We say we have achieved progress, and we are obviously going to do everything we can to build on that progress and we believe al-Qaida is off balance at the very least," The Australian newspaper quoted Gen. David Petraeus as saying. Petraeus said there had been a 75 percent drop in ethnic and religious killings since last year, a doubling in the number of seizures of insurgent...

IF you saw any news clips of intense combat last January, you were probably watching the fighting unfolding on Baghdad's Haifa Street: 10 days of grim sectarian violence. Until we put a stop to it. The boulevard of Sunni-inhabited high-rise apartments erupted in shootouts pitting the "Haifa Street Gang" and its al Qaeda allies against heavily Shia Iraqi army units. It was a recipe for massacre, as terrified residents - those who remained - cowered in their apartments. Then the U.S. Army moved in.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2007 – The provincial reconstruction team in Iraq’s Salah ad Din province is hard at work with local leaders to promote organization in governance, economic development, and rule of law, the team’s leader said yesterday. Steven Buckler, speaking with Internet journalists and “bloggers” in a conference call, said the Salah ad Din PRT has about 50 members. “A third of them are our security personnel, who escort us in the Humvees when we go into town,” he explained. The other two thirds, 35 or so, are a mix of civilian and military members. “We're in town five,...

A majority of Americans say the United States can win the war in Iraq, but the country is sharply divided along party lines about every aspect of the war, according to a United Press International/Zogby poll released today. The poll shows 54 percent of Americans said the war is not lost. However, among Democrats, 66 percent said the mission has failed already, compared to 9 percent of Republicans who shared that view. The survey also showed the country split on the success of the U.S. troop surge ordered earlier this year by President Bush and on the wartime performance of...

WASHINGTON - An independent assessment concluding that Iraq has made little political progress in recent months despite an influx of U.S. troops drew fierce pushback from the White House on Thursday and provided fresh ammunition for Democrats who want to bring troops home. The political wrangling came days before the report was to be officially released...

WASHINGTON — Congressional auditors have determined that the Iraqi government has failed to meet the vast majority of political and military goals laid out by lawmakers to assess President Bush's Iraq war strategy, The Associated Press has learned. The Government Accountability Office, or GAO, will report that at least 13 of the 18 benchmarks to measure progress in the rush into Iraq of increased numbers of U.S. troops are unfulfilled ahead of a Sept. 15 deadline for Bush to give a detailed accounting of the situation eight months after he announced the policy, according to three officials familiar with the...

BAGHDAD — For the second time in a little more than a month, the partnership between the Kindi Neighborhood Advisory Council and the Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment’s Company E, has led to another school being opened in the area. After opening the Waoud Kindergarten in July, the Andalas School, which will serve as a middle and secondary school, was opened Aug. 26. The project, which took nearly two months to complete, was one of the first that Co. E, which is attached to the 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division,...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2007 – Coalition and Iraqi forces have been making gains against al Qaeda in Iraq, as citizens step forward to help the security forces and take more responsibility for their country, two U.S. generals in Iraq said today. (Video) “We know this will continue to be a tough fight and that we must keep the pressure on these (insurgent) networks, but the courageous stand of the local citizens and their cooperation with Iraqi security forces is making a difference,” Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, said in a news conference in Baghdad....

There really is no particularly informative historical precedent for Gen. David Petraeus' upcoming public assessment of Iraq. Perhaps we are entering new historical terrain, where the commanding general's pivotal strategic gambit is a media event. And media event it is. With its certain long-term global import and short-term political impact, Petraeus' report meets a hustling television exec's primal requirement: drama. When the spotlight strikes his face and he begins to speak, we will witness drama in large letters. No one, however, should confuse the general's appearance with entertainment. The quick commentators will dub his report a historical pivot. That will...

Baghdad, Iraq - On this, my latest trip to Iraq, I have been embedded with the US military on the front lines for the last month, spending about three weeks in Salman Pak (just south of Baghdad) with the 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division, from Ft. Benning, GA, and spending another several days near the Turkish and Syrian borders with a US Special Forces team and an Iraqi Police SWAT unit. As one of the very few journalists (out of the hundreds who come here) who actually spends time out on the real front lines, seeing with my...

Democratic Congressman Brian Baird got an earful Monday from constituents in his politically-mixed district during a town hall meeting in Vancouver, Washington. Baird voted against the Iraq war resolution and has supported timelines for troop withdrawal. But he reversed himself after a recent trip to the war zone — and says he thinks most Americans agree with his new position. One activist called his switch a betrayal — and said "there is only one way to end an illegal and immoral war, and that's to end it." Baird is taking the heat in stride — saying — "Somebody said to...

Hello Everybody! It's been another successful couple of weeks in my area of operations. My Soldiers continue to impress me on a daily basis, making me proud as they work hand-in-hand with our Iraqi Army and Police counterparts, and secure the population in and around Baqubah. Much of our progress in the past two weeks has been focused on the non-lethal fight. As you know, our fight does not just include bringing terrorists to justice, but includes assisting the provincial and local governments form a functioning government that upholds the rule of law and provides assistance to its citizens. When...

Just as the rockets landing in the Green Zone are from a foreign source -- Iran -- the jihadis who destroy themselves in explosions aimed primarily at mass killings of Shia civilians are almost all foreigners. This is al Qaeda, not Iraq. Even more to the point: The Iraqis basically ignore the al Qaeda car bombs, mourn the dead and then go to work, to school, join and continue to serve in the military and police -- and life goes on. There is no terror if no one is terrorized. Let us, the American people, not be terrorized into retreating...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHARANA, Afghanistan, Aug. 27, 2007 – Afghans and multinational forces are working hand in hand on a variety of construction projects here. Polish Pvt. Piotr Oparski works on the final touches of a culvert in Forward Operating Base Sharana, Afghanistan, as a scoop loader hauls the rest of the dirt. Photo by 1st Lt. Kenya Virginia Saenz, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 864th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy); 1st Construction Company, 100th Republic of Korea Engineering Group; and Polish 1st Engineer Brigade are working together to construct metal building systems,...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2007 – President Bush today praised Iraqi leaders for an agreement that will allow former low-level Baath Party officials to serve in the Iraqi government. The agreement helps meet one of the specific benchmarks set by U.S. legislators and shows progress in the political arena, Bush said during a stop at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, N.M. Iraqi President Jalal Talibani; Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki; Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi; Vice President Adil Abd al-Mahdi; and Massoud Barzani, president of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, hammered out the agreement and announced the breakthrough yesterday in Baghdad. The...

Politics Of War: The surge is working, and now Iraq's leaders appear to have forged a political deal that could serve as a template for a lasting peace in the fractious country. What's that you say? First you've heard of it? That doesn't mean it didn't happen. As the Reuters news service dutifully reported Monday, "Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish leaders announced yesterday they reached consensus on several key measures seen as vital to fostering national reconciliation." Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced the deal standing with leaders of Iraq's major political groups — President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd; Vice...

BAGHDAD - Iraq's top Shi'ite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish political leaders announced on Sunday they had reached consensus on some key measures seen as vital to fostering national reconciliation.The agreement by the five leaders was one of the most significant political developments in Iraq for months and was quickly welcomed by the United States, which hopes such moves will ease sectarian violence that has killed tens of thousands.But skeptics will be watching for action amid growing frustration in Washington over the political paralysis that has gripped the government of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore congratulated Iraq's...

As the new season of HBO's "Real Time" began Friday night, I watched with great trepidation, especially given host Bill Maher's disgraceful special on that network back in July wherein he spent virtually two-thirds of the program bashing President Bush and anyone with an "R" next to his/her name. With that in mind, my stomach started turning during his opening monologue as he made joke after joke about our president. I was put in further unease as he introduced his first guest, New York Times correspondent Damien Cave, currently in Baghdad, who seemed likely invited on to speak the liberal...

Updates with Islamic Party official's denial) By Waleed Ibrahim BAGHDAD, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Iraq's prime minister said on Sunday the country's biggest Sunni Arab political party had agreed to join a new alliance with Shi'ites and Kurds to end political paralysis, but a top official of the party denied it. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, under pressure from the United States to show progress towards national reconciliation, said the Iraqi Islamic Party of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi would join the alliance of moderate Shi'ite and Kurdish parties. The party has rebuffed overtures by the four leading parties in Maliki's government...

Iraq's top Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish political leaders reached consensus on some U.S. benchmarks on Sunday that are seen as crucial to healing the deep rifts in the country, Iraqi officials said. Three Iraqi officials said the leaders had signed an agreement that would ease curbs on former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party joining the civil service and military. Two of the officials also said consensus had been reached on holding provincial elections and releasing many detainees held without charge across the country.