Word: crockers
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Senator Joseph Lieberman has become something of an agent provocateur in the semiannual Petraeus-Crocker hearings staged by the U.S. Senate. This semester he chose to open his remarks by chastising unnamed colleagues for having a "hear no progress ... see no progress ... speak no progress" attitude about the war in Iraq. That may have been true in the past, as there was no progress. This time, however, nearly all the Senators, including most Democrats, opened their comments by praising the general and the ambassador for their fine work-noting the reduced casualty rates and the success against al-Qaeda...
Even as General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker made their case on Capitol Hill for maintaining U.S. troop levels in Iraq, a key Iraqi advocate of sending them home was making a power play. Tensions had been high in Baghdad Tuesday morning, in anticipation of a million-strong march against the U.S. occupation called by Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. His Mahdi Army had been engaged in weeks of violent clashes with U.S. and Iraqi government forces in the capital and in the southern city of Basra, and many in the capital feared the worst. But on Tuesday...
...Despite the cautiously optimistic assessments offered by Petraeus and Crocker, many Iraqis remain pessimistic about the weeks and months ahead. The country is still reeling from the fresh wave of violence brought on by Maliki's disastrous military offensive against Sadr's militia that began in Basra two weeks ago. On Tuesday, Sadr City - the sprawling Baghdad Shi'ite slum that is the capital's largest neighborhood and a stronghold of the Mahdi Army - remained locked down as fighting continued between militia fighters and Iraqi and American forces. Politicians from a number of parties warned of an impending humanitarian crisis...
Things in Iraq today are worse than they were a month ago, but they're far better than they were last September, when Ambassador Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus last testified before Congress. This Tuesday and Wednesday, Crocker and Petraeus will remind lawmakers how far Iraq has come since the "surge" of 30,000 additional U.S. troops arrived in Iraq last year. Expect at least two of their interlocutors, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, to focus on recent setbacks - increased violence, a continuing political stalemate, and mounting strains on the U.S. military - as both seek to demonstrate...
...Crocker's sentiment was echoed by Emad Mohammed Klantor, a close associate of Sadr, who told TIME that the demonstrations were indeed aimed at the U.S., which the party continues to view as the primary enemy. "But I do not expect the demonstrations to be violent. God willing, they will be peaceful," he said...