Archive - Aug 2, 2010

• Obama says troops will stay in Iraq after combat operations end this month
• What the drawdown announcement means on the ground
  
• Midterm elections, politics play part in blocking small business tax bill
• Kashmir protests turn deadly as India plans response
• Burundi reacts to militant group’s threat over peacekeeping force

• Coast Guard grants numerous waivers allowing BP to use dispersants
• Afghan women join anti-war protests
• Floods in Pakistan leave 1 million in need of aid
• Israel strikes Gaza following rocket fire
• Israel agrees to UN investigation of flotilla raid
• House Ethics panel charges Maxine Waters with violations

Despite a drawdown of combat forces, many questions remain over the future of the US presence in Iraq. According to a July report from the Congressional Research Service, there are 19 percent more contractors than uniformed military in Iraq and Afghanistan. And it's still unclear how many will remain after combat troops pull out. The report says that as of March 2010, some 95,000 Department of Defense Contractors were in Iraq alone. Political stability within Iraq is another concern, the national leadership is at a stalemate after elections earlier this year led to no clear majority in Parliament.

For more we're joined by Zachary Lockman. He's the chair of the Department of Middle East and Islamic Studies at New York University.

Members of the House of Representatives went home last week for their summer break. The Senate now has one more week to finish a long list of Democrats’ legislative priorities. It includes energy legislation, Medicare funding for states, money owed to minority farmers and the confirmation of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. Senators have also been unable to pass tax cuts for small businesses.  As FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports, election year politics are a big factor in the Senate’s inaction.

The Indian government is clamping down on multiple protests in Indian administered Kashmir, where at least four more people died in separate incidents today.

Tension in the region has been boiling for the last seven weeks, with police repeatedly using deadly force against civilian protestors.

The region’s chief minister met with India’s prime minister in New Delhi today. He urged people to restore calm and not attack police. But as FSRN’s Shahnawaz Khan reports from Srinagar, the government's crackdown is actually stoking tensions.

Uganda hosted the African Union bi-annual summit in its capital Kampala last week. where the focus was on the threat from the Somali militant group Al Shabab. The group took credit for bombings in Uganda that killed at least 76 on July 11th. Al Shabab targeted Uganda because it has troops in Somalia. Now the group says Burundi is their next target. Zack Baddorf reports on how the Central African nation is responding to the threat.

President Obama said today that a planned drawdown of all US combat troops in Iraq was on schedule to be completed by the end of this month. But he described it as a transition and said that some 50,000 troops would stay in the country through 2011.

President Obama spoke today at the National Convention for Disabled American Veterans in Atlanta, Georgia.

"Shortly after taking office I announced our new strategy for Iraq and for a transition to full Iraqi responsibility and I made it clear that by August 31st, 2010 America's combat mission in Iraq would end. And that is exactly what we are doing, as promised and on schedule."

Obama highlighted the success of recent operations, saying that violence has been at its lowest in years. Yet according to data released by the Iraqi government over the weekend, July was the deadliest month for civilians since May 2008. During July almost 400 civilians and 50 Iraqi soldiers and 89 police officers were killed, according to the data. The US military disputed those numbers, saying they are nearly twice what has been recorded by the US.

President Obama also outlined the role that US forces would continue to play after combat operations end this month - which would stretch through 2011.

"During this period our forces will have a focused mission: supporting and training Iraqi forces, partnering with Iraqis in counter terrorism missions, and protecting our civilian and military efforts. These are dangerous tasks. There are still those with bombs and bullets that will try to stop Iraq progress and the hard truth is that we have not seen the end of America's sacrifice in Iraq. But make no mistake: our commitment in Iraq is changing from a military effort led by our troops to a civilian effort led by our diplomats.”