Comments for Troops begin Iraq pullout »
Posted By STONERS 8 months ago in NewsBritish forces officially began withdrawing from Iraq on Tuesday, signalling the end of six years of military operations that began with the US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.
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STONERS8 months ago
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"The flag of the British headquarters in Basra was lowered at a solemn ceremony that marked the start of a months-long process that will see all 4,100 British troops out of the violence-wracked country by the end of July."
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"Our nations are bonded by the blood we have shed together. That is a bond that no man can break."-
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hyperbola8 months ago
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Now we need a credible plan for US withdrawal. So far Obama is just continuing old, failed policies while trying to cover that up with "new rhetoric".
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Obama's Nightmare in Iraq
With last week's announced escalation of the war in Afghanistan, including an Iraq-like "surge" replete with 4,000 more U.S. troops and a sizable increase in private contractors, President Barack Obama blew the lid off of any lingering perceptions that he somehow represents a significant change in how the U.S. conducts its foreign policy.
In the meantime, more reports have emerged that bolster suspicions that Obama's Iraq policy is but a downsized version of Bush's and that a total withdrawal of U.S. forces is not on the horizon.... In the latest episode of Occupation Rebranded, it was revealed that the administration intends to reclassify some combat forces as "advisory and assistance brigades." While Obama's administration is officially shunning the use of the term "global war on terror," the labels du jour, unfortunately, seem to be the biggest changes we will see for some time.
While Obama -- and public attention -- shifted foreign policy focus last week to Afghanistan, lost in the media blitz was another important report that examines how taxpayers will continue to pay for the Iraq occupation for years to come, withdrawal or not. This report, released in March by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, provides a sobering look at Obama's "massive and expensive" Iraq plan, identifying several crucial questions that have yet to be addressed.
...Among the questions the Obama administration has yet to answer: How to dismantle or hand over the 283 U.S. installations in Iraq (including more than 50 large military bases); What to do with the 160,000-plus private U.S. contractors in Iraq; Who will provide security for the massive -- and likely expanding -- army of diplomats deployed in the country at the monstrous U.S. embassy in Baghdad?
...It is very hard to imagine that the U.S. will simply walk away from large bases it spent years building. So, will they be turned over to Iraq? If so, to whom? What guarantee is there that they would not be used as operating bases for death squads? Will some be destroyed? What about the environmental impact?
... Despite his much-celebrated troop withdrawal announcement, Obama has said nothing publicly about what he intends to do with the 163,000 "security contractors" deployed in Iraq, whose ranks outnumber U.S. troops. This is most likely because, as the GAO reports, there is no plan.-
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hyperbola8 months ago
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... Another important figure included in the report that is anything but humorous -- and rarely talked about -- is the huge number of people imprisoned or detained by the U.S. in Iraq: 15,000. Many of these prisoners are being held without charge or access to due process. Under existing agreements between Iraq and the U.S., they are slated to either be turned over to Iraq's legal system or released.
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.... Perhaps the saddest portion of the GAO report relates to what should be done to address the massive suffering in Iraq and what the U.S. responsibility should be for paying for the tremendous devastation of Iraq's civilian infrastructure over the past 20 years.
Before one more cent is spent on bailing out corrupt corporations that destroyed the U.S. economy, Iraqis should have clean drinking water. After all, it was the illegal U.S. wars that took it from them in the first place. And that is not logic based on lies.
http://www.propeller.com/story/2009/03/31/obama39s...
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prophyporcritesComment removed: Spammer, Hard Banned2 Replies
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Daylight8 months ago
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It is evident that Obama is the same old Bush. It looks like America has achieved it's goals by killing millions of Muslims in the name of war on terror and also destroying a couple Muslim countries. America is a super power without cloths.
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Mikunited8 months ago
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As A Brit, I feel a great link with folks from the USA.Whereas I'm happy we have taken our troops out of Iraq,I won't be really happy to every American is home with their loved ones.
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I was always opposed to the Iraqi war,but have never questioned the bravery and skill,of the vast percentage of troops.It makes no difference to me,if they are British or American.I do have some serious issues,with a minority of troops,who have shamed their flags.I have a distaste,for the politicians and their crazy policies,that have cost so much bloodshed and pain,for "our boys"and the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi families.I have nothing but respect for the troops,they don't make the crap policies,they just do their job and bloody well at that!
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