European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 27, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                              Page 4 stars and stripes Mideast edition gop senator surge int working influential lawmaker defies Calls for to limit role in Iraq by Anne Flaherty the associated press Washington Rich Ard a senior Republican and a reliable vote for president Bush on the said monday that Bush Iraq strategy was not working and that the should downsize the military the unusually Blunt assess ment deals a political blow to who has relied heavily on gop support to stave off Antiwar it also comes As a most republicans have said they were willing to wait until septem Ber to see if Bush recently or dered troop buildup in Iraq was in my the costs and risks of continuing Down the cur rent path outweigh the potential benefits that might be said in a Senate floor persist ing indefinitely with the surge strategy will delay policy adjustments that have a better Chance of protecting our vital interests Over the Long Only a few republicans have broken ranks and called for a change in course or embraced democratic proposals ordering troops Home by a certain As the top Republican and former chairman of the Senate Lugar foreign relations sugars critique could provide political cover for More republicans wanting to Challenge Bush on the sugars spokesman Andy fish or said the senator wanted to express his concerns publicly be fore Bush reviews his Iraq strategy in Treyve known his position on this for quite a Fisher said of the White Fisher said the speech does not mean Lugar would switch his vote on the War or embrace democratic Mea sures setting a deadline for troop in Lugar voted against a Resolution opposing the troop contending that the nonbinding measure would have no practical in he voted against a demo cratic Bill that would have Trig gered troop withdrawals by 1 with the goal of completing the pull out in six next Senate majority Leader Harry plans to Force votes on several Antiwar proposals As amendments to a 2008 defense policy Mem Bers will decide whether to Cut off Money for demand troop withdrawals Start in four restrict the length of com Bat Tours and rescind Congress 2002 authorization of the Iraq in expected to fall Short of the 60 votes needed in the Senate to pass controversial the proposals Are intended to in crease pressure on Bush and play up to voters frustrated with the Musa Deq an afghan boy looks at a Flower in full Bloom in poppy Fields in the Rhoda District of Nang arhar East of in Afghanistan produced dramatically More opium in a report said afghan opium production is up 50 percent by Veronika Oleksyn the associated press Austria Afghani Stan produced dramatically More opium in increasing its yield by roughly 49 percent from a year earlier and pushing global opium production to a new record a report said opium production in Afghani Stan increased from metric tons in 2005 to metric tons in according to the 2007 world drug report released by the Vienna based United nations office on drugs and opium is the main ingredient for in Afghanistan accounted for 92 percent of global illicit opium up from 70 per cent in 2000 and 52 percent a de Cade the higher yields in Afghanistan have brought global opium production to a new record High of metric tons in a 43 percent increase Over the area under opium poppy cultivation in the country also sex from acres in to acres in 2006 an increase of about 59 this is the largest area under opium poppy cultivation Ever re corded in the re port noting that 62 percent of the cultivation was concentrated in the country Southern re Antonio Maria executive director of the drug warned that Afghanistan insure Genc plagued Helmand province was becoming the worlds biggest drug with illicit cultivation there larger than in the rest of the country put effective surgery on Hel mands drug and insurgency can cer will rid the world of the most dangerous source of its most dangerous narcotic and go a Long Way to bringing Security to the re Costa Early indications suggest Afghanistan could see a further in crease in opium production in the report developments in Afghanistan will continue to determine the lev Els of global opium the report an increase in Afghanistan opium cultivation in 2006 offset the sixth straight year of decline in opium cultivation in Southeast the annual report also found that the trafficking and consumption of other illicit drugs have largely stabilized Glo Bally and that the estimated level of global drug use has remained More or less unchanged for the third year in a approximately 200 million peo ple or 5 percent of the worlds population aged Between 15 and 64 used drugs at least once in the previous 12 it june 2007 troops destroy boats on Tigris by Kim Gamel the associated press Jiser Iraq newly arrived troops Southeast of Baghdad Are destroying boats on the Tigris River and targeting net works believed to be bringing powerful Roadside bombs from Iran As the military cracks Down on extremists from All military officials but a top commander warned on monday that three or four times More iraqi Security forces Are needed to sustain the Progress in Clearing the area and staunching the flow of arms and makeshift bombs into the Rick whose command covers the Southern rim of Baghdad and mostly shiite areas to the said the reinforcements who arrived As part of a troop buildup have had Success in rooting out militants from their sanctuaries and preventing them from fleeing the area in an opera Tion called Marne Torch one of a quartet of offensives in the Capi Tal and surrounding All along the Tigris River Val people knew this is where the sunni extremists were storing my training for building less to take them into he referring to improvised explosive the term the military uses for Road Side they just didst have the reach to get Down now with the surge brigades Treyve got the but the Issue is we cant stay Here and theres gotta be a persistent pres ence and that gotta be iraqi Security and that always our biggest he said while visiting troops from the 3rd infantry divisions 3rd brigade combat team at a patrol base on the Southeastern Edge of Lynch said his units had been successful in preventing the Mili Tants from fleeing the area ahead of the offensive and Overall detained 150 including at least 30 High value targets most from the Rural Arab Dubour area just South of the in the past they had exit routes so they saw the operation he what we did is establish blocking positions All around Arab Dubour so the enemy  leave but they had to stay and fight and As a re sult to either die or be the brigade Wayne Grigsby said 21 boats had been destroyed on the River and in the Reeds on the Banks since the operation began in Force on june most with secondary blasts indicating Many were filled with explosive Materi he also said the military had gained intelligence from a local Sheik about networks bringing armo penetrating explosively formed known As on a major Road that trav Els from the Border with Iran through shiite areas to