Free Republic

Sheik Kamal Maamouri, the leader of one of the largest Shiite-dominated tribes in Iraq, used to call the United States troops here occupiers, demanding that they withdraw because he said they killed and imprisoned innocent members of his tribe. But now he is not so sure he wants the Americans to go, at least not yet. Like many others across Iraq, he felt conflicted, and a bit frightened, after it was revealed last week that the United States may keep 3,000 to 4,000 troops in Iraq next year. “The political changes that have occurred here and the security problems have...

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is sharply critical of President Bush's call for Democrats in Congress to "rise above partisanship" over Iraq. Bush has accused Democrats of wanting a political debate instead of giving the troops what they need to carry out their mission, but Pelosi calls those comments out of line. "I'm sad about what the president said. It's beneath the dignity of the debate on a war that has taken over 3,600 lives, injured tens of thousands of our young people, some of them permanently," she said. Pelosi said the president is out of touch,...