The Way Forward in Iraq: A Bloggers Conference Call
January 10th, 2007 by Marcus
The White House held a conference call this afternoon with bloggers to discuss tonight’s speech by President Bush, and I was able to attend. Press Secretary Tony Snow and Brett McGurk, Director for Iraq, National Security Council were the two officials speaking, and both took questions after Tony Snow quickly outlined the President’s plan. The White House has published a fact sheet that gives the complete outline, so I won’t cover everything listed there in this topic here. What I will over is the security portion in Baghdad and Anbar province.
The big thing Tony told us was Baghdad would be divided into 9 districts and that Iraqi forces would have to start taking the lead. Each district will have a full brigade of Iraqi soldiers supported by one battalion of American forces. These forces will go door to door and make themselves known. The Iraqi and American forces will be staying in their districts 24/7 to keep the neighborhood from falling back into the clutches of sectarian violence. This is a change from the past when American forces would leave the neighborhoods after missions.
Two Marine Regiments will be sent to Anbar province to eliminate al-Qaeda in the area from the Syrian border through Ramadi and Fallujah into Baghdad. Brett McGurk said, “Tribal elements who are sick and tired of al-Qaeda are actually rising up and fighting these guys and killing a lot of them.� The additional forces will keep pressure on the terrorists in Anbar and eliminate them. A lot of American casualties are coming from this province mainly in the form of IED attacks. The casualty numbers will come down once this province is rid of al-Qaeda.
The President will also discuss that outside influences that are creating problems. The President will mention Iran and Syria, and we will deal with citizens of those nations when picked up in Iraq. A question was asked during the Q&A section if there would be any forces assigned to the borders to keep instigators out. Tony admitted he was deliberately vague on this topic, but didn’t rule out any option to deal with them in the future. Weapon imports as well people from Iran acting as advisers to terrorists are also a concern. However, the central front in the war on terror is Iraq.
This is all I will cover for now. I am going to watch the speech by President Bush in about 90 minutes and may come up with a few new ideas. I didn’t keep detailed notes of the call since I was recording it, but John Hawkins did. Check out his notes (note quotes) in addition to the White House fact sheet linked in the first paragraph.
Posted in Military Perspective
How many questions did OU get to ask? What? They weren't invited?!
You know what I find cool is something that Tony Snow said at the end of the press conference: "All of the bloggers here are from blogs I have bookmarked. So, it's great to have you here."
The White House Press Secretary reads (or at least says he does) ASP! Remember, this was a by invitation only event and we were on the list. Great job, CPL M. I wish I could have been there.
That's fantastic that ASP was invited to this event and I'm sure that Cpl M did ya proud! Great job Marcus and CJ for everything you do here!
I think it is great that they included bloggers. Is this the first time? I guess they finally seeing that bloggers are an important part of getting things out there to the world.
KUDOS Cpl M on your invitation and ASP's acknowledgement by the White House. I watched the President's address tonight and I must say I was very impressed. One of the most impressive things he said was that the failures and mistakes in Iraq are his responsibility. When was the last time you heard a politician take responsibility for anything?
Second, the plan itself sounds close to several others I've heard on MilBlogs over the last year or so. I'm glad if the White House has come to the conclusions that were reached by men who had boots on the ground.
Third, the plan could be effective if he and all the politicians keep their noses out of it as he promised tonight.
My loyalty can never be to any temporary occupant of the White House. My loyalty lies with the men and women who are ther and all around the world making it possible for me to be typing these comments and posting on a blog. They are the ones who are getting the job done in Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere they're needed.
If this plan suceeds, everyone will be taking credit for it all over the front pages of every paper and on every TV and radio news and talk show. I hope America can finally realize who deserves the credit. The American soldier.
PJ I couldn't have said it better myself!
Ditto what PJ said!
Also, congrats on being invited! That is quite an honor!!