Presidential Promise Kept: US Marines ending role in Iraq today

[bigtree]

BAGHDAD (AP) - The U.S. Marine Corps is leaving Iraq. The U.S. military says the Marines will formally handover control on Saturday of Iraq's western desert to the Army during a ceremony at Camp Ramadi, about 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of
Baghdad.

The handover marks the end of the Marine mission in an area once considered a main battleground of the insurgency.

The departure of the Marines marks the beginning of an accelerated American drawdown in Iraq.

President Barack Obama has ordered all but 50,000 troops out of the country by Aug. 31, 2010, with most to leave after the March 7 parliamentary election.


read: http://www.whec.com/news/stories/S1380703.shtml?cat=566

[PSPS]

1. Sorry, but promise NOT kept

The US Marines may be ending their role, but not the US.

...the Marines will formally handover (sic) control on Saturday of Iraq's western desert to the Army...

We're still illegally occupying the country.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

5. Actually, "...all but 50,000 troops" is the operative phrase.

[bigtree]

6. There are plenty of countries with U.S. troops stationed there

I'm against the sizable 'residual force' that the president has made a part of his withdrawal strategy, but if he manages to reduce the troop level there to the 50,000 (and later, below), it's hard to see how that mostly-neutralized, skeleton force could credibly be characterized as the same pernicious threat to Iraq's sovereignty and stability that the larger (offensive, combat) force had been since the initial invasion.

Like I say, I'm going to be a lot more satisfied to see that force reduced to a handful (or the unlikely none), but this reduction is still an important promise kept. Well have to wait to see what the future brings, but I understand that the draw down in Iraq is actually moving ahead of the schedule set by the president.

[Arctic Dave]

11. I call bullshit on you. Leaving troops behind in a country we invaded and destroyed over a lie.

As far as I am aware, this the only one. Yo can say Japan or Germany but the HUGE DIFFERENCE is they never attacked us. SO FUCK THAT ITS ONLY 50,000 TROOPS THEIR. THEY ARE OCCUPIERS. In my books occupiers are shitbags that deserve every thing they get.

[bigtree]

12. it's a planned drawdown

. . . in stages.

from the White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy

By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end and Iraqi Security Forces will have full responsibility for major combat missions. After August 31, 2010, the mission of United States forces in Iraq will fundamentally change. Our forces will have three tasks: train, equip, and advise the Iraqi Security Forces; conduct targeted counterterrorism operations; and provide force protection for military and civilian personnel. The President intends to keep our commitment under the Status of Forces Agreement to remove all of our troops from Iraq by the end of 2011.

[cliffordu]

2. Now how does THIS fit with the Obama-is-a -warmonger

screed that some run with around here??

I wonder......


I'm glad we're going to be out of there.

[bigtree]

9. I think this speaks well of the president

. . . that he's proceeding (ahead of schedule), despite political problems with the Maliki regime. That used to be the hook that kept our forces in place there; the pretense of waiting for some political development before we could leave. I like the way he's sent Vice Pres. Biden to iron all of that out, instead of using the elections as a pretext to linger. For maybe the first time, the U.S. has moved past the excuse of waiting for Iraqi politics to develop and is removing a major part of it's force there. It's a milestone. I like the change.

[salguine]

3. What promise was kept? To bring the Marines home from Iraq? You dropped a pom pom.

[cali]

4. bigtree as cheerleader? shows that you are clueless.

and being glad that the Iraq war is shrinking, is not being a cheerleader.

[bigtree]

7. right

. . . marines exiting Iraq. Promise kept.

[cliffordu]

14. Bigtree as cheerleader???

:rofl:

Nice try, sparky. Bigtree keeps Obamamaniacs like me honest.

[treestar]

8. Promise kept

And hopefully a more peaceful Iraq.

[Jokerman]

10. The headline is a bit misleading.

"handover control on Saturday of Iraq's western desert"

"end of the Marine mission in an area once considered a main battleground"

This may be an incremental step in the right direction but it's down right pitiful to have to reach this far to find a silver lining.

[bigtree]

13. the Marines are 'leaving' Iraq

. . . at least that's what's being reported.

I wanted a faster withdrawal which just brushed off the March 7th elections to the Iraqis to defend themselves. But, the plan was to delay the exit until after the elections and use a 'residual' force to stay until 2011 to 'train' the Iraqi army. I'm not good with that either, but here we stand; on the way to a complete withdrawal in 2011. As far as I see, the president intends to keep to his commitment to pull our troops out. That's a big deal to me, despite my anguish over the lingering mission he's settled on.

[Robb]

15. Actually you're being misleading.

...Are there US troops in "Iraq's eastern desert?" That what you're implying? :eyes:

[Jokerman]

17. I'm saying that this sounds like typical military propaganda.

"U.S. Marines ending role in Iraq today" and "The U.S. Marine Corps is leaving Iraq" sounds substantially more positive than the subsequent explanation that they are merely handing over certain areas to another branch of the U.S. military.

I've also had a previous disagreement with Bigtree as to whether Obama deserves applause for merely sticking to a withdrawal plan setup by the Bush administration.

[bigtree]

18. these are troops leaving Iraq who will not be replaced there by Americans

Marines exit Iraq in first wave of US forces out

AL-ASAD, Iraq -- The base loudspeaker no longer wakes them up with calls for blood donors; armored trucks sit idle in neat rows. The U.S. Marines who stood at some of the bloodiest turning points of the Iraq war are packing up and leaving.

Among the first troops to invade in March 2003, and the first to help turn enemy insurgents into allies, the Marines will be the first major wave of American forces to go as the U.S. military begins a withdrawal to be completed by the end of next year. For them, as for the rest of the U.S. military, this has been the longest war since Vietnam.

At their peak in October 2008, an estimated 25,000 Marines were in Iraq, mostly in the country's western Anbar province. Now only about 4,000 remain. They, too, will be gone shortly after the Marines officially hand over responsibility to the Army on Saturday.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/1431328.html


The last of Camp Lejeune’s Marines in Iraq are on their way home, base officials said.

The command element of II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) are expected to return to Camp Lejeune Monday, according to a press release from II MEF.

The return of II MEF is the first major wave of American forces to leave Iraq as the U.S. begins to withdraw, a process that is scheduled to be complete by the end of next year, according to the release.

Their return also ends the Marine Corps’ seven-year participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

http://www.jdnews.com/news/lejeune-72058-bodycopyrag-mef.html

[bigtree]

16. kick

[bigtree]

19. .

[Mari333]

20. until Bush and Co are investigated for this occupation

this occupation will continue to be legitimized. and it isnt legitimate.it's our country attacking another country and occupying it for no reason other then to secure the oil fields for corporations. thats all.
how many mercenaries will be there now?
this was and is still a war crime and no one has done anything about it.

[bigtree]

21. U.S. troops leaving

. . . that's not going to escape notice, for me.

President Obama is 'doing something' about the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq. U.S. oil doesn't have an advantage there at this point. I've always view the oil angle as the Saudis advantaging their own oil market from the U.S. suppression and control of Iraq's distribution and production, more than the actual advantaging of U.S. oil companies. And, the crime of invading and the rest remains Bush's, no matter how much some folks want to push it off on this president who is on track to ending the occupation by 2011.

[Mari333]

25. PNAC's plan all along was to secure the oil fields for corporate friends

besides, the soldiers are just being sent to Afghanistan, another stinking quagmire of hell.

[bigtree]

26. I think PNAC (and the pions who make up the membership)

. . . had mixed personal benefit from the chaos and the financial free-for-all they fostered in Iraq when they opened up the country to foreign investment - something Iraqis had never done before. But, as with all adventure capitalism, the benefits are risky and scattershot. It's a criminal shame what Bush has done to Iraq, but I'm not prepared to point to each and every financial enterprise there and scoff endlessly about the advantage some country has there. Do you believe Iraqis are going to be able to sort all of that out for themselves? I do.

At some point (and its coming) the regime in power will be left to defend their U.S. advantaged stake against the interests of their countryfolk without the leverage Maliki had hiding behind our military forces. Every troop withdrawn brings that day closer.

[Leopolds Ghost]

22. bigtree, you say it's unlikely we will end the occupation completely.

So, why should I be concerned how many troops remain in country?

If we're going to keep 10,000 permanently stationed to protect Exxon's oil which we invaded the country to secure, why not 50,000? They'd be safer, and more strategically positioned to handle future threats (to our oil) -- which is the only reason for having any troops there. To quote Hillary on the campaign trail: "vital US economic interests" require us to have troops there well into the far future.

:shrug:

[Leopolds Ghost]

23. Why do I keep hearing liberals who forgot about the Iraq war 2 yrs ago say Obama "won" the Iraq war?

They stopped shooting at us when we retreated into our desert bases, which we did as soon as Iraq passed the oil law Bush and the Clintons wanted.

[bigtree]

24. I don't think anyone 'won' anything there who deserves to

But I did think it was interesting to see the report on which countries and their oil interests actually benefited the most in the wake of the invasion and occupation. It wasn't America. I always though the oil interest was from Bush and Cheney's fealty to the Saudis in, first, preventing Saddam from gaining a port in Kuwait, and in the latter invasion, to suppress and manipulate Iraq's oil market to the Saudi's advantage.

But I'm certainly happy that our troops are mostly restricted to base and aren't trading fire as much with the locals.

[bigtree]

27. the president's plan is to get ALL troops out

. . . by the end of 2011.


from the White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy

By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end and Iraqi Security Forces will have full responsibility for major combat missions. After August 31, 2010, the mission of United States forces in Iraq will fundamentally change. Our forces will have three tasks: train, equip, and advise the Iraqi Security Forces; conduct targeted counterterrorism operations; and provide force protection for military and civilian personnel. The President intends to keep our commitment under the Status of Forces Agreement to remove all of our troops from Iraq by the end of 2011.

We should hold him to that.