Oh, BTW lefties, this was Bush’s exit strategy:

Win then leave.

It seems to be working out pretty well.

29Victor on February 24, 2009 at 5:34 PM

I saw a left winger crowing about this on another board. I couldn’t say McCain doesn’t withdraw troops in August 2010 he just would be less of a liar about how certain it was.

Nobody wants to stay forever for no reason. If things stay quite I don’t know who would want to stay past Aug 2010 with more than a residual force.

Today the AP is reporting that Obama will remove US combat troops from Iraq by August 2010, and that all US troops will be pulled out by December 2011. On the surface this looks good for Obama supporters, but Obama can’t take credit for getting …

When do we get some acknowledgement from Obama and the media that all of his campaign words were BS and that we were right all along?

Sadly, never; No one on the left will acknowledge that, simply by following the current (working!) strategy, this war could be won, and the majority of currently deployed troups could come home.

Then, we will have a relatively stable Iraq, free of the tyranny of Sadaam and his sons, with at least a reasonable chance of becomming, over the long haul, a functioning democracy in the middle east.

Put another way; Obama’s winning strategy in Iraq could have been called “staying the course.” (Where have I heard that before?

He can leave 50,000 troops there and simply call them something else… border security, training and support.

He can have it both ways… as he always tries to.

Still-A-Neocon

Everyone will be out by 2011 per the SOFA between the U.S. and Iraq, unless security deteriorates in the interim. In that case, no doubt the agreement will be hastily amended and The One’s plans elegantly finessed, probably by slowing down the pace of withdrawal and tasking combat troops in the theater with nominal training duties so that they can be recharacterized as “residual” and he can claim to be keeping his promise.

Dead wrong. Obama is committed to bring those troops home regardless of conditions. 1) He needs to appease his left-wing base, and 2) He needs to cut down the financial commitment in order to free up some money for his social programs.

An uptick in violence is, like all things for Obama, a political problem. He will look for a solution to the political fallout which means he’ll continue the draw-down and blame the violence on Bush and the Republicans. His supporters will back him and the media will provide the cover. The Republicans, wary of starting the whole Iraq debate again, will run for cover.

But one thing he won’t due is try to respond to a deteriorating situation with U.S. and renewed commitment. I mean, where’s the political advantage of that? And for Obama everything is politics. It’s the only thing he knows and the only thing he’s over responded to.

Of course, I would need to have my enemy announce when his troop withdraw would reach that level…..

When do we get some acknowledgement from Obama and the media that all of his campaign words were BS and that we were right all along?

And of course none of this has anything remotely to do with the success of the surge or the success of Bush/ Petraeus initiatives or the fact that significant progress has been made in transitioning Iraq into a self-sustaining democracy.

Nope. It’s because Chimpy McBush and Darth Cheney started an illegal war and occupation of an otherwise peaceful land for the purpose of getting corrupt Haliburton contracts and tap the demonic nectar of capitalism- oil. We’re leaving because we are a terrorist occupation that bombs villages, rapes women and kills innocent children. Thank all that is sacred that our Messiah has descended from Mt. Olympus to lead our wayward soldiers (who were forced into sadistic action by corporate greed) out of the Utopian cradle of civilization and return them home to face the consequences of their war crimes.

Yup, and no residual force; and by that I mean we’re leaving slightly less than pre-surge levels of troops there.

And BTW- there is nothing political about this decision.

Yeah…

We can’t win wars with the Department of Defense. We can win wars with a War Department. We don’t fight to victory, we fight to the peace. That is asinine.

jukin on February 24, 2009 at 7:22 PM

Nope. Just Blackhawks. /s

Exit question: To what extent is the speed of withdrawal tied to the economic recovery?

Well, since Professor, sorry, CIC Obama plans to pay for much of his unprecedented expansion of government with what we’re not spending in Iraq, I’d say it’s all tied together. Also, it will be time for the 2010 congressional elections and the Dems will want to crow about how they ended the war.

The one question no one is asking O is how he will pay for his mega-entitlement programs if we happen to end up in another war theater in the future (beyond Afghanistan).

uncivilized on February 24, 2009 at 7:05 PM

Interesting point. Serious point, too,

Fortunately, unless there is a resultant major draw down in the Army, and a BRACC 3.0, the impact of returning soldiers from Iraq will not have a major impact on the economy…at least not right away.

But, if the “workload” as you refer is cut back, will there be a call for a cutback on units, contractors, related services and so forth? Obama has called for a 10% cut in defense spending, and has cited Iraq and Afghanistan as places that some of that cut will come. Have seen a few estimates of upwards toward 18% cuts in defense spending.

Should those cuts go into effect…then…then we will see a major impact on the economy. From the companies that build the aircraft and provide the ammunition and ordnance, to the guys who build the desks and in/out boxes, and all the related service jobs…if there is suddenly no longer a need for desks and in/out boxes and other things, then there will be no contracts let, and jobs will vanish.

And these folks will have to compete with everyone else for all those promised new jobs.

Exit question: To what extent is the speed of withdrawal tied to the economic recovery?

Here’s another question – how will pulling all of the combat troops out of Iraq impact the economy as a whole? I work in the defense industry (for the Federal Government, in fact, as an aircraft mechanic), and things are already getting tight. Cut our workload, and we’ll be making major cutbacks in short order. If it happens here, it’ll happen at every facility and defense contractor in the country.

That’s about as many troops as we have in Afghanistan

Hmmmm… or about 1/15 to 1/10 of the Total US Army.

or 1/4 to 1/3 of the troops there now.

Gabe on February 24, 2009 at 6:04 PM

Already been discussed on an earlier thread. (I’m waiting for the Article 32 investigation to commence and a violation of Article 88 being announced. Hard to ignore something like that.)