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Congressional Democrats are criticizing President Bush's speech on Iraq, saying he failed to detail a strategy for the eventual withdrawal of U.S. troops. Congressional Democrats say Mr. Bush's address did not offer a realistic assessment of the situation in Iraq, nor did it offer a plan for the future. In his speech at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, the president highlighted progress in the training of Iraqi security forces. He said as Iraqi forces gain experience and the political process advances, the United States will be able to decrease its troop levels. But he rejected setting a timetable...

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thanks, please be seated. Please be seated. Thanks for the warm welcome. It's good to be back at the Naval Academy. I'm pleased to provide a convenient excuse for you to miss class. This is the first year that every class of midshipmen at this Academy arrived after the attacks of September the 11th, 2001. Each of you has volunteered to wear our nation's uniform in a time of war -- knowing all the risks and dangers that accompany military service. Our citizens are grateful for your devotion to duty -- and America is proud of...

As President Bush prepares to make a new appointment to the Supreme Court, the lessons of the failed Miers nomination are still being absorbed. One that deserves study is how a lightning-fast news cycle, a flat-footed defense and the growth of new media such as talk radio and blogs sank Ms. Miers's chances even before the megabuck special-interest groups could unload their first TV ad. Ms. Miers herself has told friends that she was astonished at how the Internet became a conveyor belt for skeptical mainstream media reports on her in addition to helping drive the debate. The rapidity with...

I have several requirements for supporting Supreme Court nominees, among them being that Chucky Schumer and Harry Reid must hate them. Let’s face it, if these two clowns support you, you have about as good a chance of being a rational human being as Al Gore has of developing a personality. With that in mind, it should not be hard to understand why I practically jumped for joy when I heard that Harriet Miers was withdrawing her nomination to the high court. Even though most of my Republican friends kept telling me that I needed to give her a chance,...

What the World Should Know about Israel's Withdrawal from the Gaza Strip By Barry Rubin August 22, 2005 To withdraw from the Gaza Strip has been the most painful decision made by an Israeli government and the most traumatic political event for the country's people in decades. Indeed, such a voluntary relinquishment of territory captured in an ongoing war is virtually unprecedented in history. The choice to take this step was made by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon from a belief that it would promote peace. Sharon's real positions since becoming prime minister in 2001 stand in sharp contrast to...

WASHINGTON, July 31, 2005 – Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie cautiously predicted today that a large number of U.S. and multinational forces will be able to leave some of Iraq's provinces, regions and large cities by the year's end during an appearance on CNN's "Late Edition" talk show with Wolf Blitzer. But Rubaie emphasized that a reduction of foreign troops in Iraq depends on security conditions at the time. Blitzer pointed out that the top U.S. military commander, Army Gen. George Casey, said U.S. forces could begin a substantial troop pullout as early as next spring if positive progress...

MEMORANDUM TO: OPINION LEADERSFROM: William Kristol & Gary SchmittSUBJECT: Bring The Troops Home?Yesterday’s front page of the Washington Post carried a story about a classified memo from Britain’s defense minister to Prime Minister Tony Blair detailing “emerging U.S. plans” to reduce by half the number of soldiers in Iraq by next summer. This would leave American troop levels at around 66,000. The Pentagon has denied there are any fixed plans as yet and reductions will depend on conditions in Iraq.Although the Pentagon is surely accurate in saying that no final determination to reduce troop levels has been made, it is...

KIEV: Ukraine plans to start bringing its 1,600 troops home from Iraq this month and complete the withdrawal by Oct. 15, President Viktor Yushchenko said on Wednesday. Yushchenko, speaking after a meeting of the National Security and Defence Council, said the first group would leave Iraq on March 15 and servicemen would gradually be replaced by instructors and civilian specialists. “We are changing the form of our presence there,” he told reporters. Ukraine has lost 18 soldiers in Iraq during their service as part of the US-led force based in the country after last year’s removal of Saddam Hussein. Yushchenko,...

DAMASCUS, Syria Feb 19, 2005 — The barrage of criticism aimed at Syria after the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has some Syrians saying it's time to withdraw the 15,000 troops their country has in Lebanon. This is not yet the opinion of the Syrian government, which has spent the week denying responsibility for Monday's assassination and reaffirming its close ties to Lebanon. But some here feel the Syrian presence in Lebanon has become too troublesome. "Syria should withdraw its army and intelligence agents from Lebanon immediately, today rather than tomorrow," said Michel Kilo, a prominent Syrian...

''We must recognize what a large and growing number of Iraqis now believe,'' said Sen. Ted Kennedy last week, that ``the war in Iraq has become a war against the American occupation.''Even with the heroic and heartening election turnout, Kennedy is not entirely wrong. The insurgency has always been a war against the U.S. occupation and those Iraqis who cooperate with us. But the paradox that Kennedy fails to address is this: While the U.S. invasion and occupation precipitated the insurgency, it has grown to where only the U.S. military keeps it from seizing power. Should we withdraw now, there...

EVEN by its own disturbing standards, this was a hallucinatory week in Iraq. Beheadings, kidnappings, bombings, outbreaks of deadly disease and everyday mayhem were accompanied by interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's upbeat statement to Congress: "We are succeeding in Iraq." Are we? The discordant images and messages captured a central difficulty of defining an Iraq policy. In the absence of any semblance of agreement on what the situation is, or even who is behind the insurgency, setting a course is problematic. But with more than 1,000 Americans already dead, and more dying each week, one question has begun to be...

This is appearing today on the S. Korean conservative Chosun Ilbo Daily newspaper website and in their paper today, slamming 50 lawmakers in Korea who immediately called for a S. Korean retreat from Iraq in the wake of the beheading of Mr. Kim Sun-il.Captions:(Comment): "Hey Boss! Things are going as we have planned!"(TV News): "S. Korean Lawmakers Push for Iraq Withdrawl After Hostage Death"(Terrorist, sitting down): "Abu Musab al-Zarkawi"(terrorist)

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is expected to fire National Union ministers Avigdor Lieberman and Benny Elon unless a compromise is reached by Friday morning that will enable the approval of the disengagement plan on Sunday at the government's weekly meeting, the prime minister's associates said Thursday night. Sharon on Thursday summoned the ministers to his office for a meeting at 9 A.M. on Friday. He would need to fire the ministers in order to achieve a majority that will enable him to approve the plan. Lieberman said that he was busy, and would not be able to attend the meeting....

THE FRONT PAGE of the November 7 Washington Post says it all. The first headline, in large type: "Bush Urges Commitment to Transform Mideast." Below, in slightly smaller type: "Pentagon to Shrink Iraq Force." And below that: "Iraqi Security Crews Getting Less Training." It's a jarring juxtaposition. The president eloquently makes the case for a necessarily and admirably ambitious foreign policy. Yet his own administration's deeds threaten the achievement of his goals. In his fine speech to the National Endowment for Democracy last Thursday, the president made the case for "a forward strategy of freedom" in the Middle East. He...

NEW DELHI, India (AP) — India has started withdrawing its troops from the border with Pakistan, the defense minister said Thursday. ``The process has started,'' George Fernandes said of New Delhi's announcement earlier this month that it would recall tens of thousands of soldiers from the border to ease tension in the region. India and Pakistan have deployed more than 1 million soldiers along their frontier since a Dec. 13 attack on the Indian Parliament, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based Islamic groups and Islamabad's spy agency. Pakistan rejected the allegation, but attacks in India's Jammu-Kashmir state again pushed the...

WASHINGTON: President George W Bush sternly warned Israel and the Palestinians on Thursday to work harder to make peace and ordered Secretary of State Colin Powell to the region next week to work on an elusive ceasefire. "Progress is impossible when nations emphasize their grievances and ignore their opportunities. The storms of violence cannot go on. Enough is enough," he said as he unveiled his stunning shift in policy towards the bloodied region. The president made the announcement with Powell at his side in the White House Rose Garden, amid mounting global pressure to beef up US peace efforts, including...