Military

Early Bird Brief from the U.S. Department of Defense

August 6, 2008

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Early Bird Brief from the U.S. Department of Defense
Today’s top military news

Exclusive summaries of military stories from today’s leading newspapers, as compiled by the Defense Department for the Current News Early Bird.

IRAQ
As Iraq Surplus Rises, Little Goes Into Rebuilding (New York Times, August 6, 2008, Pg. 1) Soaring oil prices will leave the Iraqi government with a cumulative budget surplus of as much as $79 billion by year’s end, according to the Government Accountability Office. But Iraq has spent only a minute fraction of that on reconstruction costs, which are now largely borne by the United States. The unspent windfall, which covers surpluses from oil sales since 2005, appears likely to reinforce growing debate about the approximately $48 billion in American taxpayer money devoted to rebuilding Iraq since the American-led invasion.

Iraq Banks Billions In Surpluses, GAO Says Nation’s Oil Revenue Rising Sharply While U.S. Funds Reconstruction Projects (Washington Post, August 6, 2008, Pg. 6) Iraq’s oil income will more than double this year, even as Baghdad continues to spend only a small percentage of its own money on reconstruction and services while it banks billions in surplus funds, according to projections by U.S. government auditors. Between 2005 and 2007, only 10 percent of Iraq’s expenditures went toward reconstruction, with just 1 percent spent on maintaining U.S. and Iraqi-funded investments in roads, water, electricity and weapons, according to the report. Even when Baghdad has allocated larger sums, the report said, it has spent only a small portion of the budgeted money.

Iraqi Army Is Willing, But Not Ready, To Fight (New York Times, August 6, 2008, Pg. 6) While Americans and Iraqi civilians alike are increasingly eager to see combat operations turned over to the Iraqi army, interviews with more than a dozen Iraqi soldiers and officers in Diyala province, at the outset of a large-scale operation against insurgents led by Iraqis but backed by Americans, reveal a military confident of its progress but unsure of its readiness. The army has made huge leaps forward, most of the soldiers agreed, and can hold its own in battles with the insurgency with little or no American support. But almost all said the time when the Iraqi Army can stand alone as a national defense force is still years away.

Sunni Leader Reported Killed
(Los Angeles Times, August 6, 2008, Pg. 9) Gunmen killed a senior leader of a U.S.-allied Sunni Muslim group and six of his guards in an ambush south of Baghdad, a group member and residents said. Sheik Ibrahim Karbouli’s convoy came under attack Monday in Yousifiya, one of his followers and several residents said. The sheik was a senior leader of the so-called Awakening Council in the town, a former stronghold of the insurgent group al-Qaida in Iraq about 12 miles south of Baghdad.

Iraqis May Push Election Vote Despite Impasse (USA Today, August 6, 2008, Pg. 8) Several Iraqi lawmakers vowed to force a vote on one of the country’s most sensitive political issues, setting up a potentially violent showdown between Arabs and minority Kurds. The vote would set a legal framework for provincial elections, which President Bush has said are key to healing wounds between Iraq’s religious and ethnic sects. The issue has been stuck in parliament for weeks because the same law could also end up determining the future of the city of Kirkuk. The oil-rich area has long been contested between Arabs and Iraq’s Kurds, who want to incorporate it into their semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq.

Britain Looks At Long-Term Role In Iraq (Financial Times, August 6, 2008) Britain has begun negotiations with the government in Baghdad on a long-term military commitment to Iraq that U.K. officials say could leave significant numbers of British troops in the country beyond next year. The government is hoping that next year conditions in Iraq will be right for a big cut in troop numbers from the 4,000 now based there. But after that, they say, Britain expects to retain a long-term role that could mean U.K. troops in Iraq would number in the hundreds or low thousands.

British Commanders Wanted To Storm Basra But The Iraqi Leader Sent For US Marines (London Times, August 6, 2008) British and Iraqi commanders in Basra had their own troop-surge plan to rid the city of Shiite militia extremists but it was vetoed by the Iraqi prime minister, the British Defense Ministry confirmed. The planned surge of Iraqi troops into Basra with "low-profile" support from British soldiers was due to have started this month. But when it was presented to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on March 21, he surprised the British by announcing that he had his own troop-surge plan that he would launch the following day, with 900 American soldiers and Marines being sent into the city.

Joint Base Balad
(FNC, ‘Special Report with Brit Hume,’ August 5, 2008) A little bit of America has been created in the desert 60 miles north of Baghdad. Welcome to Joint Base Balad, the home of 30,000 members of the U.S. military and private contractors. It has everything you would find in a small city, such as a post office, supermarkets, theaters, and even a bus service.