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A major development unfolded this week, with Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki floating, for the first time, a call for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal.  

Following broad Iraqi opposition to American demands in its so-called "status of forces" proposal, the Iraqi government on Monday "proposed a short-term memorandum of understanding with the United States rather than trying to hammer through a formal agreement on the presence of US forces," according to Associated Press. 

In a press conference to discuss the negotiations, al-Maliki said: "The current trend is to reach an agreement on a memorandum of understanding either for the departure of the forces or a memorandum of understanding to put a timetable on their withdrawal." 

"The goal," he told a number of Arab ambassadors to the United Arab Emirates at a meeting in Abu Dhabi, "is to end the presence" of foreign troops. 

This is a severe & unexpected blow to the bushit administration, that continues to insist on remaining in Iraq until it can declare "victory," & whose intention is to keep a US presence in the country indefinitely.  

Warmonger John McCain, too, opposes any timetable for withdrawal. With the US government's supposed ally & partner in Iraq issuing such a vast contradiction puts them in a compromising position. 

For analysis on Maliki's motivation in this significant change of course, read the latest from Robert Dreyfuss, who calls it a "bombshell" development.

 

And read Gareth Porter's explanation for why this marks Bush's final defeat in Iraq.

WAR machines

the use of chinese torture by the US for fake confession

“Improvements” of war
from the New York Times
U.S. Considers Increasing Pace of Iraq Pullout

By STEVEN LEE MYERS

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is considering the withdrawal of additional combat forces from Iraq beginning in September, according to administration and military officials, raising the prospect of a far more ambitious plan than expected only months ago.

Such a withdrawal would be a striking reversal from the nadir of the war in 2006 and 2007.

One factor in the consideration is the pressing need for additional American troops in Afghanistan, where the Taliban and other fighters have intensified their insurgency and inflicted a growing number of casualties on Afghans and American-led forces there.

More American and allied troops died in Afghanistan than in Iraq in May and June, a trend that has continued this month.

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Gus leonisky: A short analysis of US forces using wikipedia and other sources:

All branches are part of the United States Uniformed Services and are under civilian control with the President serving as Commander-in-chief. All branches except the Coast Guard are part of the Department of Defense, which is under the authority of the Secretary of Defense, who is also a civilian. The Coast Guard falls under the authority of the Department of Homeland Security. During wartime, the Coast Guard may be placed under the Department of Defense through the Department of the Navy.
There are also other military forces in the United States which fall solely under the individual control of each state, the State Defense Forces, which are not part of the Department of Defense. The United States Marine Corps is the only offical branch that is part of another military branch, as it’s was created as and still is a part of the Department of the Navy.

As of May 2007, about 1,426,705 people are on active duty in the military with an additional 1,458,400 people in the seven reserve components. As it is currently a volunteer military, there is no conscription. Women are not allowed to serve in some combatant positions, but they do serve in combat areas where they can and do come under enemy fire.

Much of U.S. military capability is involved in logistics and transportation, which enable rapid buildup of forces as needed. The Air Force maintains a large fleet of C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster, and C-130 Hercules transportation aircraft with a substantial fleet of aerial refueling tankers. The Marine Corps maintains Marine Expeditionary Units at sea with the Navy’s Atlantic and Pacific Fleets. The Navy’s 11 active aircraft carriers, combined with a military doctrine of power projection, enables a flexible response to potential threats.

US military doctrine
The United States military’s doctrine has espoused a strategic intent to be capable of achieving this state in a conflict, either alone or with allies by defeating any adversary and controlling any situation across the range of military operations.
The stated intent implies significant investment in a range of capabilities; dominant maneuver, precision engagement, focused logistics, and full-dimensional protection.

Criticism
As early as 2005, the credibility of full-spectrum dominance as a practical strategic doctrine was dismissed by Professor Philip Taylor of the University of Leeds an expert consultant to the US and UK governments on psy-ops, propaganda and diplomacy.
“It’s true, though rarely recognized in the control-freakery world of the military, that full spectrum dominance is impossible in the global information environment.”

Harold Pinter referenced the term in his 2005 Nobel Prize acceptance speech:
“I have said earlier that the United States is now totally frank about putting its cards on the table. That is the case. Its official declared policy is now defined as ‘full spectrum dominance’. That is not my term, it is theirs. ‘Full spectrum dominance’ means control of land, sea, air and space and all attendant resources.”

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US BRASS army navy marines airforce total (ACTIVE DUTY only)
GENERAL ADMIRAL 11 11 4 13 39
LT GENERAL VICE ADMIRAL 53 33 16 35 137
MAJ GENERAL REAR ADMIRAL(U) 93 74 25 99 291
BRIG GENERAL REAR ADMIRAL(L) 154 110 41 144 449
COLONEL CAPTAIN 4,040 3,150 698 3,599 11,487
LIEUTENANT COL COMMANDER 9,367 6,744 1,847 10,268 28,226
MAJOR LT COMMANDER 15,434 10,415 3,634 15,069 44,552
CAPTAIN -LIEUTENANT 25,202 17,401 5,594 23,744 71,941
Ist LIEUTENANT-LIEUTENANT 7,061 6,053 3,097 8,014 24,225
2nd LIEUTENANT-ENSIGN 9,620 6,253 2,861 6,974 25,708
CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER W-5 458 60 87 605
CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER W-4 2,359 243 277 2,879
CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER W-3 3,336 789 549 4,674
CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER W-2 4,446 508 767 5,721
WARRANT OFFICER W-1 3,165 232 3,397
TOTAL OFFICER 84,799 51,844 19,729 67,959 224,331

TOTAL ENLISTED 430,256 282,424 164,845 264,938 1,142,463
CADETS-MIDSHIPMEN 4,416 4,403 0 4,415 13,234
GRAND TOTAL 519,471 338,671 184,574 337,312 1,380,028

disparity between some quoted figures are due to the date at which these figures have been compiled between 2005 and 2008

defense forces in various countries:

Active Service Personnel (ASF) Reserve Force (RF) Paramilitary (PM) Total (T) Active troops per thousand citizens (AT/C)

Country (ASF) (RF) (PM) (T) (AT/C)

1 People’s Republic of China 2,255,000 800,000 3,969,000 7,024,000 1.71
2 United States 1,426,026 1,458,500 53,000 2,937,526 4.76
3 India 1,325,000 1,155,000 1,293,300 3,773,300 1.20
4 North Korea 1,106,000 4,700,000 189,000 5,995,000 49.03
5 Russia 1,037,000 2,400,000 359,100 3,796,100 7.24
6 South Korea 687,000 4,500,000 22,000 5,209,000 14.20
7 Pakistan 619,000 528,000 302,000 1,449,000 3.72
8 Iran 545,000 650,000 11,390,000 12,585,000 11.74
9 Turkey 514,850 380,000 148,700 1,043,550 7.03
10 Vietnam 484,000 4,000,000 5,080,000 9,564,000 5.79
11 Egypt 450,000 254,000 405,000 1,109,000 5.81
12 Myanmar 428,250 0 72,000 500,250 7.42
13 Indonesia 410,000 400,000 207,000 1,008,000 1.26
14 France 361,085 419,000 0 780,085 4.27
15 Thailand 306,600 200,000 113,700 625,300 4.80
16 Syria 296,000 132,500 108,000 536,500 15.89
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32 Israel* 177,000 408,000 8,050 584,050 23.90
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68 Australia 53,572 20,300 0 73,872 1.25


United States troops stationed overseas: total 393,569

140,000 Iraq-OIF (CENTCOM) ("170,000 with the surge")

73,500 Germany (EUCOM)
41,360 South Korea (PACOM)
40,680 Japan (PACOM)
38,160 Kuwait-OIF (CENTCOM)
11,965 Italy (EUCOM)
9,877 United Kingdom (EUCOM)
8,500 Afghanistan-OEF (CENTCOM)
4,500 Bahrain (CENTCOM)
4,490 Guam (PACOM)
3,300 Qatar (CENTCOM)
2,306 Cuba (NORTHCOM)
2,030 Spain (EUCOM)
1,742 Turkey (EUCOM)
1,658 Iceland (NORTHCOM)
1,300 Pakistan-OEF (CENTCOM)
1,220 United Kingdom (NORTHCOM)
970 Portugal (Azores) (NORTHCOM)
950 Belgium (EUCOM)
800 Djibouti (CENTCOM)
800 Bermuda (NORTHCOM)
800 Netherlands (EUCOM)
668 Diego Garcia (PACOM)
570 UAE (CENTCOM)
390 Honduras (SOUTHCOM)
310 Greece (EUCOM)
270 Oman (CENTCOM)
151 Singapore (PACOM)
110 Australia (PACOM)
73 Norway (EUCOM)
69 Thailand (PACOM)
50 Portugal (EUCOM)

Iraq War Results & Statistics at July 1, 2008