Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Obama Redefines Troops to ‘End’ Iraq Combat Mission


(Cartoon by Carlos Latuff)

50,000 Troops To Be Renamed 'Transitional' Forces

by Jason Ditz, August 02, 2010
Antiwar.com

"To great fanfare, President Barack Obama has pledged to put an end to America’s “combat mission” in Iraq by the beginning of September “as promised and on schedule.” There may be no small measure of incredulity for those who remember his campaign promise to have all the troops out by May, but it seems the 50,000 figure, announced shortly after he took office, will be met, give or take a few thousand.

This will mark the formal end to America’s combat mission in Iraq, but the combat won’t actually end, nor will the troops stop engaging in it. Rather, the administration has decided to redefine the 50,000 combat troops that will still be in Iraq, still engaging in combat, as a transitional” force......

While we may be glad that the level of US soldiers in Iraq has dropped somewhat since President Obama took office, large portions of these troops were “transitioned” straight into Afghanistan, and with violence still on the rise the US role in Iraq doesn’t look to be ending any time soon."

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