February 26, 2009
Obama Exit Plan Announced
As that video showed by Sept. 1st only 50,000 troops will remain in Iraq. Those 50,000 troops who remain will be part of six brigades organized as trainers; a much thinner force than the 140,000 there when Mr. Obama took office. These troops were split up and stationed at several large military bases now to be used as training facilities, so the Iraqi troops could fend for themselves when the troops all leave for good on Dec 31st 2011 after the 18 month plan. However while the troops are here they could still be sent into combat, depending on what happens around them. But that possibility has been relegated to an unwanted contingency — one the Obama administration hopes is remote — rather than the mission. Ultimately, Mr. Obama’s Aug. 31 deadline for ending “combat operations” is a self-imposed political one, a fulfillment of his campaign pledges to withdraw from a deeply unpopular war. It was never a legally binding one, like the two negotiated by President Bush and Iraq’s leaders before Mr. Obama took office. One of those was met by the granting of sovereignty to Iraqi security forces on Jan. 1, 2009; the other — for a final withdrawal of all American forces by Dec. 31, 2011, however it was a good thing that got done doesn't matter how or why, but as was said before it is a positive and important step in the direction towards the end of the Iraq war.
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/29436081#29436081
Obama Exit Plan Announced
As that video showed by Sept. 1st only 50,000 troops will remain in Iraq. Those 50,000 troops who remain will be part of six brigades organized as trainers; a much thinner force than the 140,000 there when Mr. Obama took office. These troops were split up and stationed at several large military bases now to be used as training facilities, so the Iraqi troops could fend for themselves when the troops all leave for good on Dec 31st 2011 after the 18 month plan. However while the troops are here they could still be sent into combat, depending on what happens around them. But that possibility has been relegated to an unwanted contingency — one the Obama administration hopes is remote — rather than the mission. Ultimately, Mr. Obama’s Aug. 31 deadline for ending “combat operations” is a self-imposed political one, a fulfillment of his campaign pledges to withdraw from a deeply unpopular war. It was never a legally binding one, like the two negotiated by President Bush and Iraq’s leaders before Mr. Obama took office. One of those was met by the granting of sovereignty to Iraqi security forces on Jan. 1, 2009; the other — for a final withdrawal of all American forces by Dec. 31, 2011, however it was a good thing that got done doesn't matter how or why, but as was said before it is a positive and important step in the direction towards the end of the Iraq war.
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/29436081#29436081