What exactly are we doing in Iraq these days?

[TheCowsCameHome]

It has been nearly six years since the ill-conceived and unnecesary invasion of Iraq took place.

For the first few years we saw continuous footage of US troops breaking down doors in search of insurgents, rounding up suspected terrorists, manning checkpoints, and all the stuff that goes with waging a war.

Nowdays we see nothing on the TV tube, only an occasional photo of a military vehicle or a few troops in one of the cities, yet the troop strength is still around 140,000. Are troops there still scouring the countryside as in the early days, or is it more nation building and maintaining a military presence there?

I find it hard to believe that after all this time the US still sees fit to invest so much manpower and money in that rathole.

Surely the needs there have changed - why has there been no reduction in our committment?

I think we're being duped.

[babylonsister]

1. Testing exit routes for the military to leave...

US Tests Military Exit Routes Out of Iraq
Submitted by Chip on Sat, 2009-02-21 22:06.


US tests military exit routes out of Iraq
By Chelsea J. Carter | Yahoo!News


The American military is shipping battlefield equipment through Jordan and Kuwait, testing possible exit routes in advance of a U.S. withdrawal in Iraq, military officials said.

The convoys — carrying armored vehicles, weapons and other items — mark the Pentagon's first steps in confronting the complex logistics of transporting the huge arsenal stockpiled in Iraq over nearly six years.

It's also part of a wider assessment, ordered by U.S. Central Command, to decide what items the military can transfer, donate, sell or toss away once a full-scale withdrawal is under way, Marine Corps and Army officials told The Associated Press.

"Because they are starting to see a potential reduction of forces, they are looking to get more stuff out," Terry Moores, the deputy assistant chief of staff for logistics for Marine Corps Central Command, said Saturday.

"We started slow," Moores said, but added "it's picked up speed" in recent months.

more...

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/40077

[MichiganVote]

2. Spending money we don't have on a population who could give a shit and want us out.

[leftstreet]

3. Creating and maintaining instability in Pipelineistan n/t