Hm...

[Drunken Irishman]

As I’ve said many times, we must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in. We can safely redeploy our combat brigades at a pace that would remove them in 16 months. That would be the summer of 2010 — two years from now, and more than seven years after the war began. After this redeployment, a residual force in Iraq would perform limited missions: going after any remnants of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, protecting American service members and, so long as the Iraqis make political progress, training Iraqi security forces. That would not be a precipitous withdrawal.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/opinion/14obama.html

Thank you, Pres. Obama for keeping your promise!

:patriot:

[Clio the Leo]

1. KICK! KICK! KICK! KICK!!!! nt

[jaxx]

2. It's a great day!

[azmouse]

3. Wonderful!!

:applause:

[Booster]

10. Now, that's perfect. LOVE IT!!!!

[tandot]

4. K & R

[KingFlorez]

5. Yes, a big accomplishment

[Coexist]

6. knr

[SeattleGirl]

7. Absolutely! n/t

[Scurrilous]

8. "Thank you, Pres. Obama for keeping your promise! "

Amen. :thumbsup:


:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

[quiet.american]

9. Irish, fantastic reminder. Thanks! nt

[SoxFan]

11. K&R

[Kind of Blue]

12. Kickety Kick! n/t

[NJmaverick]

13. K&R

[POAS]

14. Very happy to kick and rec!

[Political Tiger]

15. Big K & R !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

n/t

[Cha]

16. Thanks Irish~ You know he

wanted to make it happen.

[firedupdem]

17. That's a BFD! n/t

[madmom]

18. !

[Parker CA]

19. Right on, Drunken!! K&R!!!!

[DevonRex]

20. That's a HUGE BFD! K&R Irish!

:patriot:

[Whisp]

21. K&R!

[NYC_SKP]

22. K & R! nt

[Hekate]

23. KnR

:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

[johnaries]

24. Enthusiastic K&R!

[flamingdem]

25. hell rec nt

[grantcart]

26. Kick

[pezDispenser]

27. good job and all

but right place at the right time.

[Aramchek]

28. Obama = Bush

:sarcasm:

[impik]

29. Terrific thread

Thank you.

[cliffordu]

30. Kicketty!!!! Great post ya little hoser!!!

[era veteran]

31. Right On / K & R

[bobburgster]

32. One down, one to go.....

Afghanistan.

Thank you, Pres. Obama for keeping your promise!

[nofurylike]

33. K&R+!!! THANK YOU for this excellent post, Drunken Irishman!! nt

[lamp_shade]

34. Thanks, Irish. Those of us who are well-informed knew this. For some here, however, ignorance

is bliss... and they want to keep it that way.

[Radical Activist]

35. David Swanson: Obama Scraps Iraq Withdrawal

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8326038&mesg_id=8326038

A little dessert for a member of the professional left.

[JuniperLea]

56. Awesome!

:toast:

[Ineeda]

36. K & R

[rfranklin]

37. There are still 56,000 military people in Iraq...

When are they coming home?

[Javaman]

40. Shhhhh, stop with pointing out the obvious, no one likes that. Buzz kill!

As I have stated in the past, we are never leaving iraq.

[AllTooEasy]

69. We'll completely leave Iraq when we completely leave Germany and Japan

[Javaman]

70. pretty much.

I have been referring to the embassy in Iraq as the Western American Empire for a while now.

I wonder how many we will leave in Afghanistan?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

41. Shhh.

They're advisers.

I'd laugh if it wasn't so fucking insulting.

[MadMaddie]

45. I guess the 50, 000 that are coming home don't count right?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/world/middleeast/19withdrawal.html?hp



The Obama administration had already committed itself to reducing American troops in Iraq to 50,000 by the end of August, a goal the White House on Wednesday said would be met.

By October 2011, the State Department will assume responsibility for training the Iraqi police, a task that will largely be carried out by contractors.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

47. Sure they count.

As does reality.

Changing "combat" to "support" or "adviser" for political purposes is insulting.

Changing "mercenary" to "contractor" is doubly insulting.


I'm grateful for every returning service member.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

57. What if their mission changes, as well?

I mean, if we're leaving behind 50,000 combat troops, then it makes sense (by your logic) that they're still engaged in combat operations. And so it would make further sense that we would continue to see personnel killed in combat.

But if the number of combat fatalies drop to zero (or nearly zero - it's still a dangerous place), that would indicate that the mission has shifted from combat to support and training, correct?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

64. Bookmarking "Zero."

If "if" is zero, I whole-heartedly support it.

If "if" is a continuing trickle, not so much.

[FiveGoodMen]

77. One reason none of us will be able to retire before we die

is because we have to keep paying for all these mercs and "trainers".

Even without combat it's still unforgivably stupid to stay there.

Unless you own an oil company, of course.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

78. Or drive a car...

Or heat your house...
Or own anything made of plastic...

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

80. Or wake up in he morning...

:think:

[demwing]

50. War is Peace

And 56000 American Troops in Iraq is a complete withdrawal.

:P

[jeff47]

54. 2011, according to our current agreements

But I'm sure that fact that could be easily googled wasn't really the point, was it?

I'm surprised at the number of people who want to shit on good news because it's not great news.

[NewJeffCT]

55. That's the "residual force" mentioned in the statement

It's still 56,000 too many, though, and combat brigades are generally a lot more expensive than non combat brigades.

now, if we can just get out of Iraq & Afghanistan and then allow the Bush tax cuts to expire, our deficit will suddenly look a hell of a lot better.

[liquid diamond]

79. If one soldier stayed behind handing out food and water you

people would still complain. It must suck living under a cloud all the time.

[BklnDem75]

38. K&R!

Thank you, Mr. President

[tallahasseedem]

39. K & R

Because this post is just...awesome! :)

[Frisbee]

42. As someone who frequently criticizes Obama,

let me say, THANK-YOU Mr. President for keeping your promise and sticking to the timetable. I will continue to be a critic of this administration, and there is a lot that still needs to be done and addressed, but it doesn't hurt to give credit were credit is due. :applause:

[great white snark]

43. K&R!

Thank you President Obama.

[Sentath]

44. Whooo

:party:













:cry:

[BlancheSplanchnik]

46. YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY !!!!!!!

:patriot: , President Obama!

[tiny elvis]

48. half a pony for christmas

[thereismore]

49. Obama quietly keeps another promise. nt

[DoBotherMe]

51. k & r

Git 'er done! YAY! :toast: Dana ; )

[Stellar]

52. K&R

:toast: :toast:

[fasttense]

53. Thanks for keeping your campaign promise and getting most of

our troops out of Iraq Mr. President.

The remaining numbers are about how many troops we still have in Germany.

So, this is a big deal. It never would have happened under a RepubliCON President.

[Roland99]

58. That's a first. Hopefully this starts a trend of keeping campaign promises.

[NoSheep]

59. I think I'm going to cry..

:cry:

[Oceansaway]

60. wooooohoooooo !!...nt

[janx]

61. kick

[dhill926]

62. I'll give this a boot............

[liberation]

63. Good news...

... I disagree with Obama in regards to a lot of the directions his policies are taking. But anything that helps end this quagmire ASAP is good news. Now, I want to know how many non-combat troops are going to remain in Iraq though?

[zipplewrath]

65. One thing I don't get

How does 16 months from July 2008 become the summer of 2010? Even if he meant from January 2009, that'd be more like April 2010. And how does half the force qualify as "residual"? We invaded Afghanistan with fewer people.

[SammyWinstonJack]

71. Oh you are "just unable too process good news". Killjoy!

:silly:

[jeff47]

72. The residual aspect is the jobs performed by these troops

They're training Iraqis and helping with logistics. They're not out on patrol.

[zipplewrath]

81. Yes they are

They are out there if the Iraqis request their participation. They will still be conducting raids on suspected Al Quaida locations. The president himself told you himself that the "sacrifices haven't ended". I do wish you folks would actually listen to what the president says. People will still be fighting and dying. The truth is that they will be doing today, what they've been doing for the last year or so. It's just a different unit that is doing it. The shoulder patches have changed, not much else.

[JuniperLea]

66. "You have already recommended this thread."

:applause:

I had to come back and read again... wow... great stuff!

[SalviaBlue]

67. Thank you, President Obama for keeping your promise.

[catzies]

68. GREAT CATCH!!!

:thumbsup:

K and R'd!

[JNelson6563]

73. Rock on.

:toast:

[mzmolly]

74. Happy to K and R and see this on the greatest

vs. the sh*t that spends time here all too often. :hi:

[FSogol]

75. Kickedy-Kick. n/t

[Tarheel_Dem]

76. A huge K&R from me......(nt)