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U.S. companies talk a lot about going green, but so far there hasn't been much of an impact on improving the environment, according to a report released today. In its first State of Green Business report, Oakland's Greenbiz.com acknowledges slow and inconsistent progress. "Companies, in aggregate, aren't changing quickly or significantly enough to move the needle on climate change and other challenges," said Joel Makower, executive editor of the news-and-research Web site and the 64-page report's primary author. The GreenBiz Index considered 20 indicators of environmental progress, ranging from carbon emissions to paper use to what kind of vehicles are...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2008 – Coalition forces are making slow but steady progress training the Afghan police force, a top leader in the effort said Jan. 25. Army Col. Edward Kornish, commander of Regional Police Advisory Command, is training police in western Afghanistan, a high-risk area. In a conference call with online journalists and “bloggers,” he credited a variety of new strategic programs and new tactics with bringing progress about. One such strategy, checkpoint consolidation, is being adopted countrywide, he said. “We have worked with the Afghans and convinced them that they can have better security and better survivability of...

Be Our Guest 'War is just like boxing," said Gen. George Patton. "When you get your opponent on the ropes, you must keep punching the hell out of him and not let him recover." Today in Iraq, the enemy is on the ropes. Our Air Force has pummeled Al Qaeda with 40,000 pounds of bombs. Soldiers and Marines have reduced northern Al Qaeda safe havens to rubble. Contractors are delivering tons of supplies and securing our diplomats. One-time insurgent strongholds are returning to peace. One would expect aspiring political leaders not only to laud our troops for their great work...

The Republican retreat at Greenbrier has produced the first signs that House leadership wants to rescue the party's credibility on fiscal discipline. John Boehner and the pork crusaders dragged the rest of the caucus almost literally kicking and screaming to challenge the Democrats to a one-year moratorium on all earmarks. It's not perfect, but it's a start: House Republicans called on Friday for “an immediate moratorium” on earmarking money for pet projects. They urged Democrats to join them in establishing a bipartisan panel to set strict new standards for such spending. As an interim step, House Republican leaders said, they...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2008 – Over the past year, NATO members have been working to train the Iraqi navy and its petty officers, a U.S. Marine involved in that training said yesterday. The training is focused on developing leadership skills in Iraqi noncommissioned officers, Lt. Col. David L. Coggins, who is in charge of NCO training and mentoring for the NATO Training Mission in Iraq, said during a teleconference with online journalist and “bloggers.” “The NCO corps is truly the backbone of any military branch, especially small-unit leadership,” Coggins said. Coggins and two others, a Danish sergeant major and a...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2008 – The commander of coalition troops in central Iraq said today he’s dismayed that the American people aren’t getting word about progress in Iraq. At the same time, he insisted it’s too soon to declare victory and give Iraq’s enemies an opportunity to retake it. Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of Multinational Division Central, told military analysts via teleconference that he was struck during his weekly phone call to his parents that success in Iraq has become yesterday’s news. “Last Sunday, my dad asked if I was still in Iraq,” Lynch said. “He’s not seeing...

IMF Predicts Good News for Iraq's Economy, but Growth Depends on Security Iraqis received a rare piece of good news this week, when the International Monetary Fund predicted that the country would see an overall growth rate of 7 percent in the coming year. The country will benefit from oil prices reaching record highs and the forecast that Iraq's own oil production would go up by 200,000 barrels a day, to a daily output of 2.2 million barrels, the IMF predicted. The optimism is visible everywhere on the streets of Baghdad. The shops are full of produce and electronics and...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2008 – Operation Phantom Thunder, under way in Diyala and Ninevah provinces in Iraq, builds on previous operations as coalition and Iraqi forces target al Qaeda in Iraq and other extremist groups, the commander of the Multinational Corps Iraq said today. Phantom Phoenix builds on operations Phantom Strike and Phantom Thunder, launched in June and August 2007, Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno from his headquarters in Baghdad during a video teleconference with Pentagon reporters. The surge of five U.S. brigades into Iraq and the commitment of Iraqi forces to operations in and around Baghdad allowed these...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2008 – Operations in 2007 gave the Iraqi people hope, and operations this year must capitalize on that hope, a top commander in Iraq said today. In January 2007, al Qaeda in Iraq was entrenched in numerous safe havens around the country, including the entire western Euphrates River Valley, Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, said during a video teleconference with Pentagon reporters. The terrorist group dominated many Baghdad neighborhoods and cities, and its venomous influence was spiraling sectarian violence out of control. “They claimed Ramadi as the (al Qaeda in Iraq)...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2008 – Developing the Iraqi security forces is hard, slow work, the commander of Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq said today. Army Lt. Gen. James M. Dubik told the House Armed Services Committee today that the Iraqis already have security responsibility for nine of the country’s 18 provinces. Dubik said the Iraqi security forces will assume internal security responsibility for the whole country “sometime between 2009 and 2012.” He said the Iraqis will assume responsibility for external security “in the 2018, 2020 period.” There has been success in Iraq, but that success is mixed with challenges, the...

The name of Anbar will probably never appear on the list of battle honours of the US Marine Corps, along with Belleau Wood, the Argonne, Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima. But in its own way, the struggle there ranks with amongst the greatest successes in the history of the Corps. A year ago, the Marines were close to defeat in Anbar; insurgents controlled whatever territory Marines did not stand on. But the Corps is a curious beast; in addition to having impeccable fighting traditions, it is a remarkably cerebral organisation. All its officers are university graduates, who are encouraged to think...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16, 2008 – Operation Phantom Phoenix, a series of division- and brigade-level strikes against al Qaeda and other extremists in Iraq, continues to disrupt terrorist safe havens and bases, a top military official said. The joint coalition-Iraqi forces operation, launched Jan. 8, also is achieving gains for Iraqi citizens, Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, told reporters today during a briefing at Camp Victory. in Baghdad. “This is a tough fight on many levels, and it will continue to be so,” he said. “But even as offensive operations pressure the extremist networks, there...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2008 – With more than 31,000 citizens now providing security assistance to coalition forces in southern belts of Baghdad and the southern provinces of Iraq, the Iraqi people continue to move forward, a U.S. commander said yesterday. The concerned local citizens man more than 1,400 checkpoints and have pointed out more than 400 weapons caches and improvised explosive devices, Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of Multinational Division Center, said yesterday during a teleconference with online journalists and “bloggers.” “We are working to establish a sustained security presence and bring Iraqi security forces into specific areas,” Lynch...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2008 – Iraq’s new air force passed its infancy in 2007 and will continue to build and grow over the next few years, a U.S. unit commander in Iraq said yesterday. Air Force Lt. Col. Cy Bartlett, commander of 770th Air Expeditionary Squadron, is finishing a 12-month deployment at Taji Air Base, Iraq, and said he witnessed the Iraqi air force “getting off the ground” over the past year. “The Iraqi air force is coming on strong. They have limited resources right now, but they’re building and they’re growing, and this is going to be the case...

CAMP RIPPER, Iraq, Jan. 14, 2008 – After more than 12 months of hard work in Iraq’s Anbar province, the Marines and sailors of Regimental Combat Team 2 are finally heading home. Marine Staff Sgt. Thomas R. Johnson, a platoon commander with Company C, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 2, walks away from a truck the company found in Rawah, Iraq, which was rigged with a detonation trigger and believed to be intended as a vehicle bomb. The company used fuel and an incendiary grenade to safely destroy the vehicle and deny its use against coalition...

Joint Statement By Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker and General David H. Petraeuson the Passage of the Accountability and Justice LegislationWe offer our sincere congratulations to the members of the Iraqi Council of Representatives who worked extremely hard to reach a series of political compromises that resulted in passage on January 12 of the Accountability and Justice Law.  Passage of this law represents a signal achievement in that Iraqi political leaders have collectively chosen to reform a de-Ba’athification process that many regarded as flawed, unfair, and a roadblock to reconciliation.  This is an Iraqi law, formulated by Iraqi leaders, that addresses...

House prices on the up and increased banking business are not readily associated with Iraq. Yet as Humphrey Hawksley reports, there are entrepreneurs who see good times in the horizon. "This is the entrance hall," said Naimah Abdul Jabbah, throwing open a huge pair of wooden double doors. "How much?", I asked. "$1m. Maybe some negotiation. But $1m, I reckon." He turned to my interpreter to confirm the dollar exchange rate to the dinar, because in recent months Iraq's currency has been creeping up in value. Business playground Naimah, in his early 40s, is a leading Iraqi estate agent. He...

Bush lauds Iraqi reconciliationMANAMA, Bahrain — President Bush yesterday praised the Iraqi parliament for passing a reconciliation law, an action seen as undercutting Democrats' criticism of his Iraq policy. "It's an important step toward reconciliation," Mr. Bush said of the law that will allow past members of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party to re-enter government posts... continue Economic boost gives hope to IraqisHouse prices on the up and increased banking business are not readily associated with Iraq. Yet as Humphrey Hawksley reports, there are entrepreneurs who see good times in the horizon... continue Sorry, Barack, You’ve lost Iraq....In remarks to the...

BAGHDAD, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Al-Qaida in Iraq has been successfully penetrated and is virtually an "open book," the Iraqi Interior Ministry announced Friday. "We have succeeded in establishing a capable intelligence apparatus to penetrate the al-Qaida organization in Iraq and all armed groups targeting Iraqi national security," said Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf, director of operations at the Interior Ministry. Khalaf added that sectarian sedition in Iraq has virtually ended, KUNA reported Friday. "Al-Qaida is now an open book for us, now that we have succeeded in penetrating it," Khalaf said. He did not reveal the extent of al-Qaida's...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2008 – The situation in Iraq has improved significantly over the past year, and that progress is enabling some U.S. troops to return home, President Bush today told reporters in Kuwait. President Bush reaches out to troops at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, Jan. 12, 2008. White House photo by Eric Draper   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “Iraq is now a different place from one year ago. Much hard work remains, but levels of violence are significantly reduced,” Bush, who is continuing his week-long trip across the Middle East, told reporters at Camp Arifjan. The...