Obama to Visit Fort Bliss to Highlight End of Iraq War

US May Have Wasted $8 Billion in Effort to Rebuild Iraq

Mar 062013

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Almost ten years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, an accounting of the $60 billion the U.S. spent to help rebuild the country has determined that at least $8 billion of it may have been wasted, a figure equal to 15 percent of the funds the U.S. dedicated to the effort.

The special inspector general for Iraqi reconstruction (SIGIR) said it has been unable to find record-keeping to justify where the $8 billion may have been spent.

Established by Congress nine years ago to keep tabs on how the $60 billion in Iraq reconstruction money was being spent, SIGIR is wrapping up its work after having conducted 390 audits and 600 inspections.

Throughout those investigations, SIGIR officials often complained about shoddy record-keeping that made it difficult for them to track the funding and oversight of the reconstruction projects in Iraq.

According to the audit, “We found that incomplete and unstandarized databases left us unable to identify the specific use of billions of dollars spent on projects, because the U.S. government agencies involved were not required to manage project data in a uniform and comprehensive manner.”

SIGIR also released a 186-page final report entitled Learning from Iraq that contained interviews with senior American and Iraqi leaders who lamented the missed opportunities the aid money presented. Their comments reaffirmed what SIGIR officials had determined over the years – that the U.S. undertook large projects in Iraq without much input from Iraqis or long-range planning for how they would be maintained after the U.S. military left Iraq, including $40 million spent on a prison in the Diyala province that was never finished, and that Iraqis have no plans to use.

Senate Panel Grills Candidate to Head Central Command

Feb 152013

PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The general assigned to head the U.S. Central Command in the Middle East was grilled on Thursday about Afghanistan and Iraq by members on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

As it happened Army Gen. Lloyd Austin oversaw the final drawdown of forces in Iraq in 2011 that left virtually no American soldiers other than those who protected the embassy in Baghdad.

At the time, Austin’s recommendation was for a force of above 3,500 troops but because Baghdad refused to grant U.S. soldiers immunity from prosecution, the Obama administration decided against leaving a residual force.

Austin told the Senate panel that he found ongoing violence in Iraq troubling and that a residual force might have acted as a stabilizing influence as Iraqi national soldiers and police still get their bearings.

Meanwhile, the general suggested that plans for the U.S. and its coalition partners to fund a reduced Afghan force of 230,000 after 2014 could result in shakier security with the Taliban still threatening to take over the country.

Austin added that he has no input yet on the Obama administration’s post-Afghanistan war strategy and how many American forces will be left there when the major withdrawal is completed next year.

Joe Biden Calls GOP a ‘Different Breed of Cat’

Sep 092012

ABC News(PORTSMOUTH, Ohio) – Vice President Joe Biden often proclaims how different the Republican Party is from generations ago, but in Portsmouth, Ohio, Sunday, he had a new way to describe them – a “different breed of cat.”

“They’re not bad guys. It’s just a different, as my brother would say, different breed of cat,” Biden said at Portsmouth High School.

In nearly every speech, Biden cites the transformation of the GOP with Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan now at the helm of the party, telling audiences, “This is not your father’s Republican Party.”

Biden, whose son Beau is an Iraq war veteran, stressed the importance of acknowledging the sacrifices and contributions made by U.S. troops, a talking point he’s focused on since Romney failed to mention Afghanistan in his convention speech in August.

“Folks, folks, let me ask you: How many of you, like me, had a son or a daughter who went to Iraq or Afghanistan? How many of you have a brother or sister. How many of you know somebody who’s gone? You all know, you all know, we owe these young women and men an incredible debt to them, we owe those families an incredible debt,” he said.

“Those of you who have people deployed, you know — five, ten times a day, it just flashes through your mind. Folks we owe so much,” Biden later added. “This is going to go down, when we record this 9/11 generation, as the second greatest generation in the history of this country.”

On NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday, Romney continued to defend his omission of Afghanistan from his speech at the Republican National Convention, saying that policy is more important than words.

“I have some differences on policy with the president. I happen to think those are more important than what word I mention in each speech,” Romney said.

A crowd of 700 gathered at the local high school to listen to Biden, who has campaigned in the state over the weekend and will return to the state Wednesday. The vice president expressed his comfort level campaigning in an area similar to where he grew up in Pennsylvania.

“If you know northeast Pennsylvania, you’ll not be surprised. It’s not a whole lot different than southern Ohio, or actually a lot of parts of Ohio,” Biden said. “I feel really comfortable here. I’ve been here a lot. I plan on coming back a lot.”

President Obama to Troops: ‘I Meant What I Said’ on War, Veterans’ Care

Aug 312012

JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/GettyImages(FORT BLISS, Texas) — President Obama told several hundred troops with the 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss in Texas that he kept his promises as commander-in-chief during the past three-and-a-half years, ending the war in Iraq, drawing down forces in Afghanistan and redoubling care for returning veterans.

His record, he said, was proof that he can be trusted at the helm for four more years.

“I told the American people that all our troops would be out of Iraq by the end of [2011],” Obama said. “At the time I know some folks didn’t believe me. They were skeptical. Some thought the end of combat was just word games and semantics. But I meant what I said.”

“Two years ago I also told you that we’d keep up the fight in Afghanistan,” he said. “I’ve got to tell you the truth. This is still a very tough fight…. Just as in Iraq, we are going to end this war responsibly.”

The message, coming on the heels of the Republican National Convention and exactly two years after the U.S. ended combat operations in Iraq, was as much an appeal to war-weary voters as it was to the troops he leads. Both constituencies are seen as key voting blocs by Obama’s re-election campaign.

As Obama spoke, his top aides pointed out that campaign rival Mitt Romney made no mention of war — or the troops — in his prime time convention address on Thursday night.

“In an almost 45-minute speech, Romney didn’t find a moment to mention our troops in Afghanistan or how we’re providing for our veterans when they return home,” said senior Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod. “So American people last night didn’t get any straight answers from Mitt Romney. They got nothing but evasion, distraction and insults.”

White House press secretary Jay Carney said that he was “surprised” that Romney failed to “mention the 70,000 men and women who are serving in Afghanistan, executing a mission that is profoundly important to America’s national security in a conflict that was the direct result of an attack on the United States by al Qaeda.”

Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams noted that on Wednesday the governor addressed the American Legion national convention, a group whose invitation Obama declined.

“The Obama campaign’s attack on Governor Romney today is another attempt to politicize the war in Afghanistan, a war in which President Obama has dangerously based his decisions on political calculations, endangering our mission,” Williams said.

Obama has implemented a timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, with all American troops set to be out of the country by 2014.

The president last visited Ft. Bliss two years ago — Aug. 31, 2010 — to announce the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq. Sixteen months later the final U.S. troops withdrew from that country after nearly a decade of war. Nearly 4,500 Americans died in the Iraq War, including 198 from the 1st Armored Division based at Fort Bliss.

“When I was here last I made you a pledge. I said that as president, I will insist that America serves you and your families as well as you’ve served us,” Obama told the troops. “And there again, I meant what I said.”

Earlier Friday, Obama signed an executive order to expand mental health services and suicide prevention efforts for veterans and military families.

“I know that you join me in saying to everyone who’s ever worn the uniform, if you’re hurting, it’s not a sign of weakness to seek help. It’s a sign of strength,” he said.

Obama to Visit Fort Bliss to Highlight End of Iraq War

Aug 312012

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — As his Republican rivals kick off the final stretch of their campaign, President Obama on Friday will publicly remind voters of his record as commander-in-chief, traveling to a Texas military base to thank service members and commemorate a war he brought to an end.

Obama will visit Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas — home to Army units that deployed in the Iraq War — to hold a private roundtable discussion with service members and deliver an address to mark the two-year anniversary of the end of U.S. combat operations Iraq. The last American troops withdrew from the country in December 2011.

The trip, billed as an official White House visit, is also an opportunity for Obama to highlight what is one of the signature achievements of his first term and the fulfillment of a popular campaign promise from 2008.

“His record is a substantive record when it comes to the profound commitment and decision to end the war in Iraq and bring our troops home. And his record is substantial when it comes to supporting our veterans,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Thursday of the trip.

The president will emphasize “the effort that his administration is continuing to make and steps that the administration is continuing to take that are essential to ensure that those who fought for us overseas are being fought for by us here at home,” Carney added.

Obama has repeatedly over the past three years sought to remind Americans of his pledge to bring the increasingly unpopular war to a close, hoping to leverage public support for his leadership on the issue into a boost in the polls.

After returning from his first visit to Fort Bliss on Aug. 31, 2010, Obama delivered a nationally-televised Oval Office address to declare Operation Iraqi Freedom over. In October 2011, he took to the White House briefing room to herald a planned complete drawdown of U.S. troops from Iraq by year’s end. Three months later, Obama hailed the official end of war in Iraq on a visit to Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

“This is an extraordinary achievement, nearly nine years in the making,” Obama said in December. “And today, we remember everything that you did to make it possible. … Hard work and sacrifice. Those words only begin to describe the cost of this war and the courage of the men and women who have fought it. We know well the heavy cost of this war.”

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