Democracy Rising

www.DemocracyRising.US
This is a “time like no other” according to Sen. John Warner.

President Bush is putting false spin on ‘progress’ in Iraq while even the Green Zone is no longer safe, costs of the occupation soar and 7 out of 10 Americans want the U.S. out of Iraq. Even the N.Y. Times, a cheerleader for the war, put out a strong editorial calling for a rapid end to it.

Kevin Zeese
THIS WEEK IN IRAQ
July 13, 2007
BUSH ADMINISTRATION IRAQ REPORT FOUR CRITIQUES:
Bush Grades on a Curve: Report Is More About Domestic Political Maneuverings Than Iraqi Progress, >http://democracyrising.us/content/view/995/164/
Factchecking Iraq Progress Report, >http://democracyrising.us/content/view/996/164/
Iraq Misses All Targets, >http://democracyrising.us/content/view/991/164/
Bush Administration Spins Reality in Iraq Beyond Recognition, www.DemocracyRising.US.

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WAR COSTS SOAR BY A THIRD; TOTAL COULD TOP $1.4 TRILLION It's not just the troops that are surging. War costs are up for American operations in Iraq and Afghanistan -- way up, more than a third higher than last year. In the first half of this fiscal year, the Defense Department's "average monthly obligations for contracts and pay is running about $12 billion per month, well above the $8.7 billion in FY2006," says a new report, obtained by DANGER ROOM from the non-partisan Congressional Research Service. Meanwhile, Inside Defense reports that "top Pentagon budget and program officials have directed the military services to prepare spending proposals to finance Iraq and Afghanistan operations... through fiscal year 2009, which will span the last days of the Bush administration and the early months of the next administration." >http://democracyrising.us/content/view/986/164/

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MORE THAN 70% OF AMERICANS WANT OUT BY APRIL 2008 Opposition to the Iraq war has reached a record high, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, a development likely to complicate President Bush's efforts to hold together Republican support as the Senate begins debate this week on Pentagon priorities. Bush's approval rating has reached a new low: 29%. In the survey, taken Friday through Sunday, one in five Americans say the increase in U.S. forces in Iraq since January has made the situation there better. Half say it hasn't made a difference. More than seven in 10 favor removing nearly all U.S. troops from Iraq by April. Still, 55%o say Congress should wait to develop a new policy on Iraq until Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, delivers a promised assessment in September; 40% say Congress should act now...
>http://democracyrising.us/content/view/987/164/

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GREEN ZONE NO LONGER SAFE- TWO REPORTS
UN Report Finds Near Daily Attacks Inside Green Zone: The UN cites than two dozen killed inside the Green Zone since February. >http://democracyrising.us/content/view/993/164/
Barrage of Mortars Strike Green Zone, Up to 30 Hits Reported, Leaving At Least Three Dead, Two Dozen Wounded >http://democracyrising.us/content/view/992/164/

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NEW YORK TIMES CALLS FOR RAPID EXIT FROM IRAQ The New York Times, a newspaper that played a major role in the build- up to the Iraq War by reporting claims of the administration about Iraq as if they were fact and that has editorialized in support of the war, has made a major change and called for the immediate exit from Iraq. The editorial, "The Road Home," thoroughly discusses the various issues related to withdrawal, calls for an orderly exit from Iraq as quickly and safely as possible...
>http://democracyrising.us/content/view/988/164/

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THE DEAL: U.S. TROOPS STAY IN PERMANENT IRAQ BASES IN RETURN THEIR NUMBER IS REDUCED
The Pentagon is championing – reduce the number of troops in Iraq in exchange for the long-term stay of tens of thousands, perhaps more than a hundred thousand troops at four billion dollar mega bases in Iraq.
>http://democracyrising.us/content/view/994/164/

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SENATOR WARNER'S STATEMENT YESTERDAY ON SENATE FLOOR This is “a time in our history unlike any I have ever witnessed before.” Statement made by Senator John W. Warner yesterday, in a speech on the Senate floor, after a meeting on Iraq at the White House, as reported in this morning's Washington Post article, "Bush Plans To Stress Next Phase In Iraq War".
>http://democracyrising.us/content/view/990/164/