Fair Proxy Web

Report: Iraqi PM backs Obama’s withdrawal plan

(CNN) — Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine that he backed a proposal by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq within 16 months.

U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months, he said in an interview with Der Spiegel that was released Saturday.

That, we think, would be the right time frame for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes, he said.

Al-Maliki said his remarks did not indicate that he was endorsing Obama over presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain.

Who they choose as their president is the Americans’ business. But it’s the business of Iraqis to say what they want. And that’s where the people and the government are in general agreement: The tenure of the coalition troops in Iraq should be limited, he said.

Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic, al-Maliki said.

The interview’s publication came one day after the White House said President Bush and al-Maliki had agreed to include a general time horizon in talks about reducing American combat forces and transferring Iraqi security control across the country.

The Bush administration has steadfastly refused to consider a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq.

But, in a statement issued Friday, the White House said that improving conditions in Iraq would dictate the pace of the negotiations and not an arbitrary date for withdrawal.

found here.

Missing florida girl

Liveblogging “Ask the Speaker”

in the value of write ‘finis’ to my trip without having any unpleasant chats or encounters with refuge personnel, i have decided to take a seat in the back half of the range and observe and listen, and bottle up my damned mouth shut.whoa - speaker pelosi has agreed to accept an extended question session - but any disruptions and the program stops and the jackboots take our credentials and throw us ended. since harold ford got heckled, i can understand, but harold ford needs heckled - and there is a case to be made for heckling pelosi, too, unchanging though i won’t engage in such activity.9:05 lloyd doggett, townsman favorite and self-governing congressman from austin is kicking things off. i dialect mayhap shouldn’t bring up this, but we could let him talk till 11:00 and i wouldn’t be disappointed…9:18 - she is taking the stage. i am neither standing nor clapping. but she does look fabulous. she is lauding lloyd doggett for his dedication to the constitution - i think she could use a lesson or two from him in that point.9:25 - she knows everyone is irritated of clash - so why doesn’t she do something about it? oy - seldom she is quoting hannah arendt. i could hurl.9:27 - it’s all the ‘publicans fault. who knew they had the majority?9:28 - primary question is about inherent contempt and why is impeachment off the offer still? “given that the constitution calls for impeachment if high crimes or misdemeanors sire been committed, and the current president has flouted constitutionally mandated checks and balances, why is impeachment below average the mesa? how do you intend to not give him free reign if you remove one of the only constitutionally given ways of limiting a president’s abuse of his authority?”um, i didn’t hear much of an answer….9:32 - telecom immunity - why did you fuckers cave??? she says she went to the house to protect well-mannered liberties? she blames the senate and the blue dogs, like that miserable pos and bitter disappointment, claire “bond girl” mccaskill. i see a trend emerging in her answers…it’s the senate’s fault. it is always the senate’s fault. we passed a bill that wasn’t as spoiled as theirs. pathetic.9:40 - she keeps repeating that it’s only 107 days ’til the designation (impeachment could happen tomorrow, however, and we every at one damned probably know it.)9:49 - is a gm bailout coming? she doesn’t think so, and instead of addressing the question she is yammering about how she got cafe standards raised. 9:53 - a doubtful on healthcare. abstinence only wastes bucks, will you take steps to correct this misguided idiocy? “yes.” abstinence only is not just inadequate game plan, it is risky. mindful of the health of brood women. “so why are abstinence only earmarks holding their own?” we need more pro-choice congressmembers.9:56 - back to telecoms…article i section 8…founders had in mind keeping us in come with a particular another…can congress step in and put broadband access on a par with the send office? communication and transportation used to be the same thing. universal broadband is a democratic goal. the whole world needs to be connected. 10:01 - why are soldiers forced to cadge for care packages that contain toothpaste, protein bars and tampons - things that our government isn’t providing for the troops in the field? “it isn’t right but it is emblematic of other needs that aren’t being met.” wtf??? “debt of gratitude” blah, blah blah. just do something about it. what is so hard to understand concerning that???10:06 - now i will continue and clap and stop snarling - al gore is on the stage. 10:14 - okay, i am listening with rapt r?clame. more later… 10:20 - you can temporize along at home…effusion it here.10:30 - questions: would you accept a settle in an obama dispensation? grub causes more emissions than cars. what should we do? west va and mountaintop sacking? telecom immunity?he is honored by the idea that we want him in th obama administration, but he doesn’t think that is how his talents will be best utilized. he is distressed with the climate. (he think twice hurry up with the answers, i am almost out of battery power…) meat ardour is a problem for the purpose the environment. mountaintop mining is an attrocity and an outrage. it is part and parcel of the after all is said dysfunctional energy policies of this territory. the idea of coal fueling our cars is insane…stream it, he explains why…in sight of battery. more later…

Deep south crane and rigging

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Obama makes first trip to Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) — Sen. Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan on Saturday, met with American forces and, according to a U.S. official, is expected to meet Sunday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee was visiting the southern Asian nation before he embarks on a tour of the Middle East and Europe, a trip aimed at boosting his foreign policy credentials.

The trip, which comes four months ahead of the presidential election, marks Obama’s first visit to Afghanistan.

On Saturday, the senator from Illinois traveled to eastern Afghanistan to visit Americans forces under NATO’s Regional Command East. Obama is accompanied by Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Nebraska and Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island.

The senators met service members at Jalalabad airfield in Nangarhar province.

Upon arrival at Bagram Air Base, the senators were briefed by Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser, commanding general of the Regional Command East.

Ahead of the trip to Afghanistan, the senators stopped in Kuwait to visit U.S. troops, said Obama campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs. They left Washington on Thursday.

In Kuwait, the senators visited Camp Arifjan for about two hours to meet with U.S. Army Central leadership, take a brief tour of the base and talk with soldiers, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Bill Nutter said.

They met with about 1,000 military members at a gymnasium, and Obama played basketball with some soldiers before conducting a meet-and-greet there which included photo opportunities, Nutter said.

Following the events at the the gymnasium, they met with Lt. Gen. Jim Lovelace, the U.S. Army Central Commander, and senior leadership who gave them an overview of the command, Nutter said.

Obama spoke briefly to a pool reporter about his trip just before leaving Washington.

I’m looking forward to seeing what the situation on the ground is, Obama said. I want to, obviously, talk to the commanders and get a sense, both in Afghanistan and in Baghdad of, you know, what the most, their biggest concerns are. And I want to thank our troops for the heroic work that they’ve been doing.

Asked if he would have tough talk for the leaders of Afghanistan and Iraq, Obama said he was more interested in listening than doing a lot of talking.

I think it is very important to recognize that I’m going over there as a U.S. senator. We have one president at a time, so it’s the president’s job to deliver those messages, Obama said. Watch Obama’s foreign policy adviser discuss overseas trip

The fight in Afghanistan has become a more pressing issue on the political radar. Three times as many coalition soldiers and other military personnel have died in July in Afghanistan than in Iraq.

On Sunday, nine U.S. soldiers were killed in a fight with about 200 Taliban militants in eastern Afghanistan. It was the deadliest attack on U.S. troops in Afghanistan in three years.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that U.S. officials are looking for ways to send more troops to Afghanistan, amid the resurgence of violence nearly seven years after the ousting of the Taliban government.

Gates said the hope is to send additional forces sooner rather than later.

He said the Pentagon is working very hard to see if there are opportunities to send additional forces sooner rather than later. That likely means further reductions in troop levels in Iraq later this year to free up forces for Afghanistan. Watch officials discuss need for more troops in Afghanistan

Shortly after Obama laid out his foreign policy vision in Washington on Tuesday, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain criticized his proposals as naive and premature. McCain visited Iraq in March.

I note that he is speaking today about his plans for Iraq and Afghanistan before he has even left, before he has talked to Gen. [David] Petraeus, before he has seen the progress in Iraq and before he has set foot in Afghanistan for the first time, McCain said.

In my experience, fact-finding missions usually work best the other way around: First, you assess the facts on the ground; then you present a new strategy.

Obama on Tuesday called the war in Iraq a dangerous distraction from the battle in Afghanistan, and said if he is elected one one of his top goals will be to finish the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda, which their regime harbored in Afghanistan.

As should have been apparent to President Bush and Sen. McCain, the central front in the war on terror is not Iraq, and it never was, Obama said. He said part of his new strategy will be taking the fight to al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

found here.

Sunni Arab bloc rejoins Iraqi Cabinet

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Iraq’s largest Sunni Arab bloc rejoined the Cabinet Saturday after a year-long boycott.

Saleem Abdullah, a spokesman for the Iraqi Accord Front bloc, said the parliament voted overwhelmingly Saturday to appoint six members of his bloc to Cabinet posts, including one as deputy prime minister.

The Accord Front’s return was part of a deal announced July 1 in which Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki accepted proposals from the bloc for five candidates to fill the several ministries that bloc members vacated last summer.

The new deputy prime minister is Rafeh al-Issawi, Abdullah said.

The other five ministries going to Accord bloc members include higher education, culture, minister of state for foreign affairs, minister of state for women’s affairs and telecommunications, he said.

The parliament also approved four independents to fill cabinet posts vacated by Sadrists, he said.

The United States and Iraq have cited the inclusion of Sunni Arabs in Iraq’s political lifeblood as a major factor in restoring political stability and improving the atmosphere for national unity.

Sunni Arabs had a great deal of power during Saddam Hussein’s regime but became marginalized after he was toppled in 2003 and a Shiite and Kurdish power structure emerged.

found here.

The dark knight cast

“Same Planet. Different World.”

at first i thought that this would be another a person of those remakes. i intention wrong, of course. journey to the center of the dirt proved to be a very engrossing, and jocose, motion picture on the jules verne prototypical. it was great the way they were proficient to interlace the talking picture with the real story.brendan frazer was as wonted, the well-spring of laughing. his punchlines were right on the mark and they made the movie livelier.the special effects were awesome too. it really looked like caboodle from down there were true. the pre-historic animals looked physical too! there were some scenes that made me by off my seat a bit…well i was already at the edge of my tail to begin with, so…although personally, i think the trek to the center of the earth was a share too short and it kinda lacked some real story. sure, it’s almost a man who discovers the way to the center of the earth, and who goes through an risk to find the way back gone but…that’s all there is to it. they didn’t even splash out 3 days at the center. buuuuuut. it’s still a good watch.i think we’ve caught a glimpse of a potential sequel too!

The dark knight movie quotes

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