I'm a little confused by Obama's speech, I haven't really listened to any analysis yet from the TV folks because I don't trust any of them to be nonpartisan.

The combat is over, but troops are remaining, but there's still a war in Afghanistan...

Was Mission Iraqi Freedom complete or are we just finally pulling out? Or are we not pulling out?

8/31/2010 11:25:51 PM

our combat mission is over, our training mission continues

8/31/2010 11:31:05 PM

Bush threw a boat party for this years ago.

8/31/2010 11:34:18 PM

we're cutting and running. chaos ensues and all we did was for nothing. We'll probably even be back eventually.

(and this is coming from someone who agrees with the move.)

8/31/2010 11:41:39 PM

It’s all semantics.

We have less troops, but obviously we will still have soldiers there, shooting people, and getting shot at.

8/31/2010 11:42:07 PM

^^that sounds familiar...

oh wait...


[Edited on August 31, 2010 at 11:43 PM. Reason : ^]

8/31/2010 11:43:04 PM

The page might have turned, but we are leaving a 50,000 troop 'bookmark' in its place.

Pres. Obama is in a tough spot. Obama for all his anti-Bush talk has followed the Bush policy in Iraq almost to the letter. But he cannot admit this to his Bush-hating base.

He railed against the Patriot Act and warrant-less wire-tapping. He has not only not ended the Act, but has worked to make it even stronger.

He pledged to close Guantanamo. Still open.

He railed against Bush bombing civilians...and then enlarged the drone attacks that have killed many civilians.

Republicans should be cheering on Obama for following the Bush strategy...but they won't. Democrats should be attacking Obama for following the Bush strategy...but they aren't.

Like I said..a tough spot for our president.

9/1/2010 12:39:03 AM

Is the war in Germany and Japan over?

9/1/2010 12:43:38 AM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100830/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq_biden

Quote :

"Just under 50,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq — down from a peak of nearly 170,000 ... Additionally, U.S. troops will no longer be allowed to go on combat missions unless requested and accompanied by Iraqi forces."

Added some numbers to address the points:

Quote :

"1) The combat is over, 2) but troops are remaining, 3) but there's still a war in Afghanistan..."

1) Not completely its just not being actively sought out by us any more, 2) not nearly as many as there used to be but still a substantial amount albeit with somewhat different objectives, 3) yes there is, but its good not to conflate the Iraq & Afghanistan... enough of that was done by those who got us in this mess

[Edited on September 1, 2010 at 1:39 AM. Reason : .]

9/1/2010 1:33:51 AM

The war in Iraq must be over, because Joe Biden has already started giving the Obama administration credit for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOYdFaaQeLc



I swear, the shit that flies outta my mouth sometimes! Whewee!

9/1/2010 3:38:31 AM

The war has been over for some time. In terms of dealing substantial damage to Iraq's ability to harm us and our allies, that was done within a few months of the invasion. And while Saddam did not have the capability to do some of the things that we claimed he could do, this is not an altogether irrelevant accomplishment. Iraq was not producing WMDs, but it was capable of doing so. Likewise it was not presently invading its neighbors, but it was capable of doing so. Now it is not capable of doing either, and won't be for some time. In those terms, the war was over and won a long time ago.

Now, the effort to make Iraq a democracy -- or hell, even stable and not hating us -- is a long ways from done. But to lump that in with "war" seems a bit silly. We didn't have a stable democracy in the Axis countries until well after the war was done (and, looking at Italy, we still haven't).

So in other words, we accomplished our immediate goals but "Iraqi Freedom," so to speak, is still a ways off.

9/1/2010 4:10:36 AM

^Thats bogus. One thing we knew is that Iraq was stable and Sudam kept everything in check. All we have done is destabilized Iraq and turned it into Afghanistan. Someone much worse will likely take over in the near future or, the country could fall into complete chaos and civil war. Becoming a Somalia type breeding ground for terror.

9/1/2010 6:30:16 AM

Quote :

"It’s all semantics. We have less troops, but obviously we will still have soldiers there, shooting people, and getting shot at."

Yep, just am attempted PR boost before the elections. Sadly we havent seen our last death in Iraq.

9/1/2010 7:24:21 AM

I'm sorry, but if you're pining for the day when we won't have another death in Iraq (I think we all are) we're going to have to continue pulling our men and women out. To suggest that this is nothing more than a PR stunt before an election is almost as disingenuous as people claiming Bush artificially elevated the terror level prior to elections (although, didn't George Tenet sort of give some validity to that? Bad example, maybe, but you get the point).

9/1/2010 7:35:17 AM

Yes. Now go back to sleep.

9/1/2010 11:03:04 AM

Quote :

"Bush threw a boat party for this years ago."

LOL

9/1/2010 11:20:49 AM

This will be one of hundreds of bases we have around the world. This is American foreign policy. Wreck, rebuild, occupy. That way, we can sort of say that a country has their independence, but in reality we stay to make sure they don't get too far out of line. I hope no one believed that Obama wasn't an imperialist.

9/1/2010 11:34:54 AM

I did during the campaign

9/1/2010 11:37:31 AM

Quote :

"lafta: the contest to identify a celebrity is over, but the mission to collect the stated $5 reward continues"

PAY UP, SHIT EATER

9/1/2010 11:48:37 AM

Quote :

"Pres. Obama is in a tough spot. Obama for all his anti-Bush talk has followed the Bush policy in Iraq almost to the letter. But he cannot admit this to his Bush-hating base. He railed against the Patriot Act and warrant-less wire-tapping. He has not only not ended the Act, but has worked to make it even stronger. He pledged to close Guantanamo. Still open. He railed against Bush bombing civilians...and then enlarged the drone attacks that have killed many civilians. Republicans should be cheering on Obama for following the Bush strategy...but they won't. Democrats should be attacking Obama for following the Bush strategy...but they aren't. "

Holy shit, an EarthDogg post I agree with.

9/1/2010 12:30:07 PM

I read an interesting analysis of the situation in Iraq with respect to their currency and how it's sharp rise in value is what is keeping things calm in the country. Before we went in it's value was being supressed because of trade restrictions and sanctions. Once those were lifted and in conjunction with the vast sums of US troops proping up their economy their currency increased in value to 4 times what it was worth before we came in.

As their currency went up in value - it devalued the buying power of other currencies or more specifically it took down the buying power of those looking to lure/hire locals to the cause of insurgency.

As we begin to pull soldiers out of that country the currency will begin to loose value as the economy slows without US forces proping it up. When this happens it will once again become easier for insurgents to attract people in need of income to their cause.

Getting out of Iraq will be a long and slow process unless we want the situation to deteriorate to the levels it was a few years ago.

9/1/2010 12:32:45 PM

Whoa, whoa...currency with more purchasing power? What if that equates to lower prices? Crank up the printing press or it'll be a disaster.

9/1/2010 1:36:30 PM

Quote :

"All we have done is destabilized Iraq and turned it into Afghanistan. Someone much worse will likely take over in the near future or, the country could fall into complete chaos and civil war."

An Afghanistan isn't going to build the bomb or invade its neighbors. And while now we have the possibility of someone worse taking over, with Saddam we had the certainty -- either of his lunatic sons would have been worse yet. All of the brutality and selfishness of their dad, plus the sort of bizarre, twisted worldview you can only get from being the boss's son!

9/1/2010 2:05:20 PM

We can be dicks to the Saudis now.

9/1/2010 2:11:17 PM

Quote :

"I'm a little confused by Obama's speech, I haven't really listened to any analysis yet from the TV folks because I don't trust any of them to be nonpartisan. The combat is over, but troops are remaining, but there's still a war in Afghanistan... Was Mission Iraqi Freedom complete or are we just finally pulling out? Or are we not pulling out?"

1. Afghanistan is a wholly separate animal. It was OEF as opposed to OIF, and now Afghanistan is controlled by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), though obviously with the American presence being the heaviest, followed by the British (but ISAF is not directly subject to us).

2. OIF as we know it is over. There still remain 50k troops (really, more than that...various creative accounting measures account for a 50k total, but I'll bet it's more like at least 55k, maybe 60.) These troops will continue to draw down, too...but 50k by 1 Sep was a milestone agreed upon by the U.S. and Iraq. Additionally, we have crossed an important line--we are, as best as I understand, no longer engaged in offensive combat operations in the country (I'm sure that various special forces units will still conduct operations, as well as CIA stuff), but there won't be Army battalions patrolling around (and the USMC has been gone from Iraq for a while, now).

From here forward, the plan is to have our involvement in Iraq dominated by the State Department rather than the Department of Defense. Once DoD no longer has a significant presence there, I believe that the plan is for State to field its own forces, as needed, with contractors (read: Xe, etc), and maybe non-DoD government employees (GS). Still, this is much more limited and very different in scope and purpose than our military involvement has been for the last 7 years.

Have we seen our last American death in Iraq? I can't imagine so. There's still work to be done there. Still, I do think that we've passed a very meaningful marker in our involvement in Iraq.

9/1/2010 10:42:45 PM

If the Iraqi government and its people don't pull their shit together and run the country effectively, it will fall in chaos and the US will be back as UN peacekeepers.

9/2/2010 12:05:32 PM

9/2/2010 3:42:08 PM

^I really hope this isn't just a rerun.

9/5/2010 11:12:11 AM

Your kids will still be fighting in Iraq.

9/5/2010 1:15:02 PM

my cousin just got back a month ago after serving for 5 years

9/5/2010 1:16:17 PM

Shit going down in Iraq today, 500 inmates escaped

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/22/world/meast/iraq-violence/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

7/23/2013 3:05:28 PM

They were released voluntarily at our behest.

7/24/2013 5:56:58 PM

Special Report: Iraqi forces, images testify to atrocities in new fighting
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/20/us-iraq-anbar-specialreport-idUSBREA2J11720140320

3/20/2014 1:50:20 PM

Third time's the charm.

3/20/2014 7:00:48 PM

So rebels have taken control of the countries 2nd largest city Mosul. That's not good.

6/10/2014 2:54:35 PM

but it comes with a free frogurt!

6/10/2014 4:18:53 PM

Who knew that bombing the crap out of a country, ripping apart the fabric of its society, and destabilizing it's social and poltical institutions doesn't encourage a successful democracy?

6/10/2014 4:27:17 PM

the US the world's greatest threat to peace and stability

6/10/2014 4:42:31 PM

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/militants-seize-key-sections-of-iraqi-city-mosul-and-free-1000-people-in-prison-break-9520982.html

This reporters name is Cockburn.

6/10/2014 5:15:54 PM

Iraqi soldiers are deserting by the thousands, seeking shelter in Kurdistan, which is expected to declare independence from Iraq later this week. Their American vehicles/tanks/weapons have been surrendered to ISIS fighters.

The third American-Iraqi war is inevitable...one per decade seems about right.

6/10/2014 7:39:35 PM

ISIS is making a big play in Iraq. They now control territory from Mosul to Samarra and have taken a key road leading to Syria. Should be an interesting few days coming up.

6/10/2014 10:46:33 PM

The insurgents have now take over Saddam's hometown of Tikrit and are closing in on the country's biggest oil refinery. Is this like the Tet Offensive?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/11/us-iraq-security-idUSKBN0EM11U20140611

6/11/2014 12:53:01 PM

How are they so well funded and organized? If they can make these gains against the Iraqi army that the "official" leaders have failed to train properly, maybe the deserve to run the country...

6/11/2014 12:54:57 PM

*sigh*

Saddam was bad, but at least he was predictably bad. We don't know what these people are going to do.

I hope there won't be a third invasion.

6/11/2014 12:57:53 PM

I don't think Obama would do a 3rd invasion. He's going to get hammered by the GOP for it though.

I could see another Republican president invading, and possibly Hillary just because she's going to feel the need to "prove" she's strong.

6/11/2014 2:51:08 PM

Hillary is an old guard centrist, we'd definitely be back under Hillary

6/11/2014 3:12:50 PM

Quote :

"Is this like the Tet Offensive?"

Or the fall of Saigon?

6/11/2014 3:50:43 PM

Smc, where'd you read that the Kurds were declaring independence?

6/11/2014 4:08:10 PM

Just a hunch. Kurdistan began selling their oil directly through Turkey this week, bypassing a furious government in Baghdad. This combined with the Iraqi refugee crisis and their precarious position, surrounded by ISIS, they might as well go for it now or never.

Speaking of Baghdad, it very well may fall within the month.

6/11/2014 6:16:06 PM

This is just the latest chapter. It seems to be getting a little more attention and press, but rebels and insurgents have been gaining significant ground for a while now. Fallujah (very near Baghdad) and Ramadi fell months ago; ISIS controls probably most of the northern part of Iraq now, along with a good bit of Syria. Things are getting worse, not better.

I think that Iraq did take delivery of their first shipment of F-16s this week.

I kinda expect that this is going to get really, really fucked up before it's all over.

6/11/2014 7:16:10 PM