Officially deliciously done!
Operation Iraqi Freedom finishes up today seven years and 5 months after kicking off. Combat Ops (with a tiny tiny thong of cover) are over. A new phase of Great Satan's ME Adventure commences.
44's pre commander in chief campaign promise to totally unass all combat cats in the Land betwixt the two rivers within 16 months—sometimes hinting of an even faster schedule, to pull out one to two combat brigades per month (and there were 15 in the country on inauguration day) has been a myth.
19 months later - Great Satan sweetly deploys five brigades and 50K troops in house, with full stashed suites of weaponry accoutrements.
Re designated as 'advise and assist brigades', their composition and capabilities still have a killer 85 to 90 percent overlap with traditional combat units. And they will continue to go on joint patrols, man joint checkpoints with Iraqis and otherwise continue many of the tasks that they were carrying out before. Also, in the absence of a peace treaty or ceasefire accord, Great Satan doesn't really get to decide when combat is over.
Operation New Dawn will be kicking off now - and that includes the Iraq SOFA thingy that 43 negotiated - that Great Satan is totally welcome military in Iraq til December 2011.
44 played it as "...Bottom line is this: the war is ending. Like any sovereign, independent nation, Iraq is free to chart its own course. And by the end of next year, all our troops will be home."
Uh, yessir -got it.
"...Of course Iraq is free to chart its own course—as is South Korea, and for that matter Afghanistan or Pakistan or, say, Mexico."
If Great Satan works out an arrangement for advisory and training forces to stay in Iraq, that would be very much worth considering, and shouldn't be ruled out because of a campaign promise.
Great Satan has an opportunity, "...to help make Iraq a success and an ally, shouldn't we take it?
Pic - "New Dawn"
Yes we should take the opportunity to stay and help turn Iraq into an ally. When we finally really leave the insurgency will ramp up and this will strengthen Iran's hand in the region. Need to maintain that balance of power.
ReplyDeleteAnd it only cost us 14 times von Rumsfeld's original estimate of $50 billion. Huzzah.
ReplyDeleteSo when do the Iraqis start construction of George W. Bush Square?
You are absolutely right. The U.S. does not get to decide when combat is over. With about 50 people dying each day from bombings, etc. and members of the awakening council being targeted for assassination this war is only over when the people of Iraq find a way to live together.
ReplyDeleteRaedwulf,
ReplyDeleteThe best hope for Iraq is for it to spin off into at least three more unified nation-states. They were artificially yoked together by British occupiers after WWI.
It's time to free the forces of self-determination.
First, Iraq occupies a key position in the Persian Gulf, a strategically important region of the world — a position that is all the more important because of the dangerous ambitions of Iran’s rulers.
ReplyDeleteSecond, whatever the failings of Iraq’s democracy, it bears no comparison to the regime that other hostile elements would impose. With all its imperfections, Iraq today is more democratic than South Korea was at the end of the Korean War, and more democratic than any other country in the Arab Middle East (with the possible exception of Lebanon).
We have withdrawn so many of our troops and relinquished a combat role because Iraqi security forces have been able to take on most of the security burden. Their numbers have grown from about 320,000 in December 2006 to more than 600,000 at the end of last year; they are also becoming more capable.
Of course, numbers are only part of the story, and Iraqi security forces still need assistance from the American military. Not surprisingly, the enemy has increasingly focused its attacks on Iraqi soldiers and police officers as the United States withdraws, although Iraqi losses are still far below what they were earlier in the war. Since June 2003, about 10,000 Iraqi security forces have been killed, twice the total of the United States and the entire international coalition.
Even as our combat commitment ends, our commitment to supporting Iraq must continue. That means continued political support, including offering our help in resolving the current stalemate over forming a government. (It’s worth remembering that much of the difficulty the Iraqis are encountering arises from a Constitution and electoral system that the international community helped design. Moreover, this example of peaceful negotiations to create a government is something new in the Arab world.)
Our commitment must also include continued material support, particularly in the form of military and technical assistance. And though we have agreed to withdraw all our troops by the end of next year — a pledge that we must honor if the Iraqi government so desires — we need to remain open to the possibility of a mutually agreed longer-term security commitment or military presence for deterrence and support.
It is well worth celebrating the end of combat operations after seven years, and the homecoming of so many troops. But fully abandoning Iraq would damage the interests of the United States in the region and beyond. Maintaining a long-term commitment, albeit at greatly reduced cost and risk, is the best way to secure the gains that have been achieved with so much sacrifice.
TSUSHOGO
ReplyDeleteAnd it only cost us 14 times von Rumsfeld's original estimate of $50 billion. Huzzah.
ReplyDeleteLol what do you care how much it cost? Your Messiah Obama is running up the deficit so high and so fast 700 Billion is chump change.
Let's have some context please.
Dundes,
ReplyDeleteI don't think the 100,000 dead Iraqis would agree their country is better. Nor the 2 million refugeed.
And we've lost over 4,200, and tens of thousands are seriously wounded.
Then there's the financial cost, which we cannot afford.
All for a war based on lies? No, thanks.
Jpck20,
ReplyDeleteIf you think I regard O as my messiah, you might want to read this:
http://lsrebellion.blogspot.com/2009/05/its-increasingly-evident-that-obama.html
A little context, you might say.
100K? LOL! Combat Ops against Great Satan run about 1:10 - ie, for every loss America suffers - her enemies lose about 10 times that amount. Giving Great Satan credit for 100K is fake believe.
ReplyDeleteRefugees? Again - consider putting the blame for that on intolerant militias, Foreign hajis, Syrian agents and Iranian minions.
The Iran Iraq war cost over a million lives - and didnt change one border or any status quo. Russia/Chechnya cost over 200K in Chechnya with yet another battle most likely in the near future
Ease up, rejoice - it's over. And be thankful - We coulda gone Grozny on 'em.
courtneyme,
ReplyDeleteHate to interrupt while you're dancing in the blood of others, but the 100K is the low estimate of civilians killed, not those who fought invaders.
Incorrect Old Rebel - 55K is the TOTAL low estimate for ALL deaths in Iraq since March 2003
ReplyDelete