Last Combat Troops Leave Iraq!

Wonderful news!

It is really great news!! We are leaving 50,000 soldiers there for a while, but I love this exit!!

Wonderful news! [Guess wonderful news doesn't trump other non-important issues like mosques and Dr.Laura].

Thanks for posting Glenda!

Definitely good news. I have a lot of gripes about this administration's policies, but thus far Obama's handling of Iraq and Afghanistan isn't on my gripe list. We started troop draw downs in early 2007.. it's been a long slow road to minimizing our presence there. This is a huge mile stone. Let's hope the Iraqi people take it upon themselves to make the best of the sacrifices we've made to free them from the rein of Saddam Hussein.

Great news!

I really hope that Iraq can now move forward and rebuild so that all of this wasn't in vain. Time for them to step up!

I know I should be positive and happy. And well- I am for the troops who are coming home. But I can't help but think that semantics are at work. That we committed to an arbitrary date and that since the conditions don't actually warrant meeting that date that we are leaving 50,000 troops there to finish the job but making a faux distinction between the purpose of those who just left and those who remain.

Didn't we invade with 50,000 troops? So the idea that we have the same number of uniformed armed personnel in Iraq as the day we invaded Iraq makes it hard for me to say it and mean it- that combat operations are over and we are out of there.

Someone pls help me feel better about this if you would...

I know I should be positive and happy. And well- I am for the troops who are coming home. But I can't help but think that semantics are at work. That we committed to an arbitrary date and that since the conditions don't actually warrant meeting that date that we are leaving 50,000 troops there to finish the job but making a faux distinction between the purpose of those who just left and those who remain.

Didn't we invade with 50,000 troops? So the idea that we have the same number of uniformed armed personnel in Iraq as the day we invaded Iraq makes it hard for me to say it and mean it- that combat operations are over and we are out of there.

Someone pls help me feel better about this if you would...

The initial invasion invovled around 145K ground troops and support personel from what I remember. That total peaked during the surge at around 180K. It's been declining since about sept. of 2007.

Geo, I think there truly are some differences in semantics. From my understanding: the troops that left last night were the last of the designated combat troops--their mission/task was combat.

The 50,000 who remain are there in a training, advisory, diplomatic, special ops, and force protection role. Their mission is not combat.

However, there are force protection troops -- translated somewhat loosely into "cops" to protect the U.S citizens whether they are military or civilian employees.

And since as I said before there is no "safe" place in Iraq--everyone who wears a uniform also wears a weapon at some points in time for their self protection. (and the civilians are probably armed at times too).

So we now (as of 31 August) have a new mission/task--it is no longer to engage in combat, but rather to support/train Iraqis and protect US citizens.

Geo, I think there truly are some differences in semantics. From my understanding: the troops that left last night were the last of the designated combat troops--their mission/task was combat.

The 50,000 who remain are there in a training, advisory, diplomatic, special ops, and force protection role. Their mission is not combat.

However, there are force protection troops -- translated somewhat loosely into "cops" to protect the U.S citizens whether they are military or civilian employees.

And since as I said before there is no "safe" place in Iraq--everyone who wears a uniform also wears a weapon at some points in time for their self protection. (and the civilians are probably armed at times too).

So we now (as of 31 August) have a new mission/task--it is no longer to engage in combat, but rather to support/train Iraqis and protect US citizens.

Understood. But hasn't our mission there for a very long time to support/train Iraqis and protect US citizens? Which "combat" operations have ceased compared to six months ago.

I thought I heard Rachel Maddow say last night that as of Sept 1, the state department is taking over responsibility from the DOD. If this is true then I can better wrap my brain around something changing other than reducing the numbers of troops.

Maybe I am being too cynical.


Thx for setting me straight on the numbers, Shopper.

how many countries, other the the usa, invade and occupy other countries?

I think many, Bob. We aren't occupiers......although, I know many Americans believe we are.

Understood. But hasn't our mission there for a very long time to support/train Iraqis and protect US citizens? Which "combat" operations have ceased compared to six months ago.

I thought I heard Rachel Maddow say last night that as of Sept 1, the state department is taking over responsibility from the DOD. If this is true then I can better wrap my brain around something changing other than reducing the numbers of troops.

Maybe I am being too cynical.
:idontno:

Thx for setting me straight on the numbers, Shopper.

Maybe so, but frankly, a little cynicism is not out of order IMO considering all that has happened in the last seven years. I think we have been drawing down combat troops for a few months; this was just the last of them.

how many countries, other the the usa, invade and occupy other countries?

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_orbat_coalition.htm#Armenia, Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, South Korea, Japan, Portugal, Singapore, the Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

They also had troops there.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_orbat_coalition.htm#Armenia, Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, South Korea, Japan, Portugal, Singapore, the Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

They also had troops there.

you mean the coalition of the unwilling? how about china and tibet?? i guess that's like us invading texas.

Armenia, Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, South Korea, Japan, Portugal, Singapore, the Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

They also had troops there.

Those 53 Lithuanians were a big help, I bet.

Speaking as someone who had a family member in Iraq, we should never have gone in the first place. I'll be amazed if the country we know as Iraq even exists in 10 years.

Speaking as someone who had a family member in Iraq, we should never have gone in the first place. I'll be amazed if the country we know as Iraq even exists in 10 years.

I agree that the war was a huge mistake, based on deliberate lies. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the men and women in uniform for their service--but, they should never have been sent to invade a country that had done us no harm. I pray that it never happens again and I am happy that so many returned safely; at the same time, my heart breaks for those families who can not celebrate a homecoming for their loved ones. Until one has stood in an airport hangar and watched young troops walk bravely to a plane loaded with equipment and weapons...and then spent the next weeks or months or years praying that the plane will bring them back again alive, until you've done that, you can not really appreciate what a person who has done that is going through...nor, can you fully appreciate the meaning of war. It is bad enough when it is a war to defend our country against an enemy, it is worse when it is a war that did not need to happen.
Senator Bob Graham was the chair of the Intelligence Committee and one of the few senators to vote against the war. Here are his comments on the end of the combat from last night:http://www.clicker.com/tv/countdown-with-keith-olbermann/As-war-winds-down-a-look-back-1055176/. I think he sums it up pretty well.

let's see now, we have 52k troops left in iraq. i wonder how long they will stay there, and what the annual price tag for their never ending deployment will be? i'm sure conservative voices will bemoan the wasteful spending there.