Progress Illinois

While the evening news is being dominated by the AIG bonus controversy tonight, it's important to remember that today marked the six-year anniversary of the Iraq war, a conflict that has claimed over 4,250 American lives -- including 154 from Illinois -- and left over 31,000 ...

The war in Iraq has internally and externally displaced an estimated 5 million people, the largest relocation in the Middle East since 1948. It's both a massive humanitarian and political problem
and it's received scant attention in the United States -- ironic, as it
...

In an episode that filmed last week and aired yesterday morning, GOP Rep. Mark Kirk and Democratic challenger Dan Seals appeared separately on NBC 5's City Desk.  Host Carol Marin immediately asked Kirk why he refused to directly debate Seals on the program.  Kirk first tried ...

Here's a ringing endorsement for the ongoing war in Iraq. Despite describing itself as the "largest Iraq and Afghanistan veterans organization in America,"
Vets For Freedom (VFF) had some trouble scaring up like-minded folks to rally at the
vice presidential ...

According to John McCain, the decision to increase troop levels in Iraq has been an unmitigated success,
responsible for all that is wonderful about life there today. Even though
President Bush didn't deploy additional forces until 2007, McCain's
definition of the "...

It's great that the Tribune's Swamp blog is publicizing
John McCain's latest lie about Iraq, in which he falsely credits
America's troop surge for the "awakening" of Sunnis in Anbar province.
As MSNBC's Keith Olbermann noted last night, the Anbar Awakening in ...

Over the weekend, Chicago Public Radio's Chip Mitchell caught up with Jason, a 33-year-old
former Marine from Wisconsin who served in Iraq. During the past four years, the
veteran has lived on the streets in and around Chicago's Greektown, a
life he thought ...

After his grandfather and uncle were arrested and detained by officials from Saddam Hussein's Baath Party in the early 1970s, Robert DeKelaita and his family decided it was time to flee Iraq. Now as an immigration lawyer who focuses on securing political asylum for displaced ...

Much like columnist Dennis Byrne, the Tribune editorial board is displeased that the recent security gains in Iraq are not being covered by the national press:

There are tremendously encouraging signs, though, that Iraq has come through the worst. The breathtaking ...

Today's Tribune column from Dennis Byrne features another doozy of a thesis: the Iraq war will soon end in an American "victory":

[Barack Obama], his fans and much of the media haven't noticed in the heat of the presidential campaign, but the war is winding ...