Nov 19, 2008
While the election of Barack Obama heralds an impending change in U.S. policy toward Iraq, defense officials in Washington and Baghdad continue to focus on transforming the Iraqi military into a legitimate fighting force. Both the United States and Iraq seem to agree that no matter what President-elect Obama’s new strategy looks like, bolstering the strength and effectiveness of the Iraqi Security Forces will play a key role in stabilizing Iraq in the wake of U.S. troop withdrawals.
Nov 14, 2008
Ambassador Peter Galbraith, senior diplomatic fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, talked about Iraq on NPR's All Things Considered on November 12.
Oct 21, 2008
An English translation of the U.S.-Iraq security agreement was released just this week. The agreement already has come under fire in Iraq because many Iraqi lawmakers oppose it and now are seeking to reopen negotiations. This analysis provides a brief look at four elements covered in the agreement.
Oct 16, 2008
Many Americans may not realize that the United States will spend more on defense over the next 365 days than on the $700 billion bailout package. In this commentary for Foreign Policy in Focus, Travis Sharp considers what might happen with future U.S. defense budgets now that the economy is in shambles.
Oct 2, 2008
At a time when people are losing their homes and struggling to make ends meet, many Americans find the $700 billion cost of the financial rescue package to be simply unacceptable. What many Americans probably don’t realize is that the United States is likely to spend $711 billion, more than the cost of the financial bailout, on national defense in the fiscal year that began on October 1, 2008.
Sep 29, 2008
We hear again and again from Washington that we have turned a corner in Iraq and are on the path to victory. In his latest essay for the New York Review of Books, Ambassador Peter Galbraith, Senior Diplomatic Fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, disputes the notion that the current state of affairs in Iraq can be called a success - or a path to victory.
Sep 25, 2008
With members of Congress eager to leave town for the campaign trail, and Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 starting on October 1, Congress slapped together a consolidated appropriations package that includes several appropriations bills and a continuing resolution (known as a 'CR') all rolled into one. The package provides $487.7 billion in total defense funding, $4 billion less than the administration's request but 6.2 percent above the FY2008 funding level.
Sep 24, 2008
Congress decided to skip the normal conference procedure for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 Defense Authorization bill (S.3001). Working together, the House and Senate produced a joint bill that now must gain final approval from the House and Senate before it can be sent to President Bush for his signature. The bill fully authorizes the administration’s $542.5 billion National Defense (function 050) request. The bill also authorizes $68.5 billion in "bridge" funding for ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, for a “base” budget plus “bridge” budget grand total of $611.1 billion.
Sep 10, 2008
In early September, several news outlets reported that Iraq is interested in buying 36 F-16 fighter jets from the United States. This proposed sale is the latest development in an intense push by the United States and Iraq to transform the Iraqi military into a legitimate fighting force. Recent weapons acquisition proposals would enlarge the Iraqi Security Forces’ purview from merely enforcing internal order to counterbalancing other countries in the region.
Aug 7, 2008
During the last week of July, the Department of Defense notified Congress about the proposed sale of $10.9 billion in U.S. military equipment and support to Iraq. Besides the eye-catching price tag, the equipment included in the proposed agreement represents a potential watershed in the development of Iraq’s military capabilities. In this new article published on IraqSlogger.com, military policy analyst Travis Sharp considers the implications for the balance of power in the region and raises questions about oversight, accountability, and transparency in a country riddled with internal violence.
Jul 23, 2008
A summary of Iraq and Afghanistan war funding to date.
Jul 16, 2008
With U.S. troops still in Iraq, rising tensions between the United States and Iran, and the looming threat of nuclear terrorism, foreign policy and arms control have once again taken center stage on the presidential campaign trail. In order to get a detailed picture of Barack Obama and John McCain’s positions, the Center has produced a series of analyses on arms control and national security issues in the 2008 presidential race.
Jul 1, 2008
In this useful analysis, Executive Director John Isaacs compares and contrasts John McCain and Barack Obama's positions on Iraq, Iran, nuclear weapons, missile defense, and much more.
Jun 30, 2008
This spring, the New York Times exposed a six-year-long Bush administration propaganda campaign using retired military officers to disseminate pro-Iraq war messages to the American public. In this op-ed published in the Asheville Citizen-Times on June 27, Outreach Coordinator Ashley Hoffman explains how the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation is fighting back against the administration's spin through its own Military Outreach Program.
Jun 26, 2008
Iraqi leaders have not been shy about publicly expressing their opposition to the proposed long-term agreement between the United States and Iraq. This resource provides a list of Iraqis who oppose the agreement and links to their statements.
Jun 25, 2008
The Bush administration and Iraq war supporters trumpet the surge as a success, since the number of violent incidents and casualties has indeed dropped. Yet such an assessment conveniently ignores the lack of political progress by the Iraqi government, which was the whole point of the surge in the first place. In its latest report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concludes that the Bush administration has overstated gains in Iraq.
Jun 25, 2008
General David Petraeus's new counterinsurgency guidance document contains many useful prescriptions, but it does not offer the strategic guidance that is still missing from U.S. policy toward Iraq. Despite recent tactical successes, we still don't have an answer to Petraeus's haunting question: "Tell me how does this end?"
Jun 25, 2008
With the aim of restoring America's standing in the eyes of the world, a bipartisan group of high-level former administration officials, retired military leaders, World War II military interrogators and religious leaders of many faiths are releasing today a blueprint to re-establish our values and moral principles.
Jun 12, 2008
The Senate Armed Services Committee released its markup of S. 3001, the Fiscal Year 2009 Defense Authorization bill, on May 1, 2008. S. 3001, as reported to the full Senate by the Armed Services Committee, fully funds the administration's $612.5 billion FY2009 National Defense request. As part of this total, the Committee authorized $70 billion in additional funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Jun 11, 2008
As is usually the case in Iraq, the significance of recent events is more than the sum of its parts. In this web commentary, Military Policy Analyst Travis Sharp goes beyond the headlines to examine what is really motivating negotiations on the U.S.-Iraq long-term agreement.
American and Iraqi motives
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