Change? Don't think so - US Army Prepared to Stay in Iraq for a Decade

[avaistheone1]

The Pentagon is prepared to remain in Iraq for as long as a decade despite an agreement between Washington and Baghdad that would bring all American troops home by 2012, according to the US army chief of staff.

by Alex Spillius and agencies in Washington

Gen George Casey said the world remained "dangerous and unpredictable", and the Pentagon must plan for extended US combat and stability operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan that could deploy 50,000 US military personnel for a decade.

"Global trends are pushing in the wrong direction," Gen Casey said. "They fundamentally will change how the army works."

His planning envisioned combat troops in Iraq and Afghanistan for a decade as part of a sustained American commitment to fighting extremism and terrorism in the Middle East.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/5391252/US-Army-prepared-to-stay-in-Iraq-for-a-decade.html



New boss same as the old boss.

[EFerrari]

1. Careful. If you check, this same Casey got chewed out in public by Junior

for giving his opinion as policy, too.

Eta: I found this last night in his wiki entry:

In 2005, General Casey was hopeful that the December 2005 Iraqi elections could lead to a more unified and moderate Iraq which—in conjunction with the training of Iraqi security forces—could pave the way for U.S. troop reductions in early 2006. In August 2005, Casey used specific troop numbers in his public discussion of a possible drawdown. He said the then current troop level of 138,000 could be reduced by 30,000 in the early months of 2006 as Iraqi security forces took on a greater role. President Bush publicly called the talk "speculation" and rebuked the general.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Casey,_Jr.#Military_career

[Rosa Luxemburg]

2. there are UN peacekeeping troops (the US can leave now)

[masuki bance]

3. This story got a big yawn here.

..Army chief says US ready to be in Iraq 10 years
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3893831&mesg_id=3893831

Is it any wonder why there's skepticism about whether we'll ever end the Iraq ocupation?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5726237

*edit 2 add links

[avaistheone1]

5. I am not surprised.

This story will not be on the cover of Teen Beat magazine either.

[redqueen]

4. Oh for cryin out loud.

Did anyone really think we'd pull ALL the troops out?

Every candidate but Kucinich planned on a continued US presence.

"New boss same as the old boss"... :eyes:

[masuki bance]

7. Did you forget Richardson?

[redqueen]

8. Apparently, yes...

if he said the same.

Thanks for the reminder.

[avaistheone1]

10. During the campaign President Obama promised to have all troops out of Iraq

within 16 months, though he abandoned that policy just days after taking office. His current policy is to declare an end to “combat” in August 2010, but to keep troops in the nation engaged in combat operations for an indefinite period past that. He has insisted that he still intends to abide by the SOFA deadline, however.

http://news.antiwar.com/2009/05/26/pentagon-us-ready-to-keep-troops-in-iraq-for-another-10-years/


You grow up and face the music - we are never getting out of Iraq. Our own country will go down the tubes first, but we are never getting out of Iraq. More lives and $$$ down that rat hole.

We keep getting these announcements that things are better and then of course things turn bad once it is time to make a decision to end things and our presence and the war keeps getting extended.

Same boss & Same war! I am totally disgusted.


You are correct. Kucinich was the most honest candidate. Too bad we did not all realize it then.

[mkultra]

12. i guess he has 13 months left

And the pentagon will make whatever plans they deem necessary. These two things are not directly related.


Gen. Casey’s planning was focused on troop rotations, and he emphasized that he wasn’t responsible for making decisions about policy, but that he believed the US would need to be ready for “sustained” wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, in which he saw a similar timeline.

[ClarkUSA]

13. Um, he never said that. You need to read his '08 campaign website Issues page on Iraq. (link->)

Link: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/iraq/index_campaign.php#phased-withdrawal

[redqueen]

15. No, he didn't. Far too many here didn't pay nearly enough attention.

He has always said we'd continue to have a military presence there... as did Clinton and Edwards.

[dionysus]

18. it's a damn good thing we didn't nominate him, we would have lost all 50 states.

[Occam Bandage]

24. He's always said that. Don't confuse your level of ignorance with his level of honesty.

[uponit7771]

33. No he did NOT!!!! DAMN!!! Pay the F**K attention!!!!

[Thrill]

6. Sounds like he's talking out his ass. If this was Mullen talking

I would buy it. But this isn't the first time Casey has done this

[ClarkUSA]

9. Thanks for bringing this speculative loose cannon opinion from a British rightwing rag to GDP.

[avaistheone1]

11. I thought the General Casey was talking, not the right wing rag.

What is wrong with right wing rags, when so much of DU has embraced right wing ideology and calls it middle of the road? lol

But no matter who is doing the talking.

I bet that is exactly how the U.S. presence in Iraq unfolds. You can bank on it.

[ClarkUSA]

14. Will you quote Drudge next if Casey talks out of his ass again? I guess so.

Oh, and you missed this part of Casey's brain fart:

"Gen. Casey’s planning was focused on troop rotations, and he emphasized that he wasn’t responsible for making decisions about policy..."

[avaistheone1]

16. Well isn't Drudge considered center of the road around here?

lol

All the right wingers love Obama's Iraq and military policies. So I would suppose that would be fitting. Even wacko Ann Coulter praises them.

Do you think Gen Casey will be chastised for speaking. I don't. I think this statement is to prepare for what is to come - with only too many here ready to acquiesce and let it happen.

[ClarkUSA]

17. You've officially jumped the shark. I'm done kicking this lame disingenuous OP.

:nopity:

[redqueen]

21. It got a rec!

:rofl:

[dionysus]

22. prolly from bs or bbi....

:rofl:

[dionysus]

19. what planet are you on if you think DUers are right wingers?

would that make you a socialist or a communist or something?

[dionysus]

20. this is speculative, from a guy talking out of his ass. why do you post it as fact?

if i didn't know better, i'd say you're making up reasons to be angry.

[Occam Bandage]

25. Sotomayor was a great SCOTUS pick. The dedicated Obama bashers need to change the subject.

And since Obama hasn't recently done anything outrage-worthy, they'll take whatever they can get.

[avaistheone1]

30. This article is posted on more left wing websites than right wing websites today.

Sorry to break your bubble.

Carry on.

[redqueen]

31. You say that like it's surprising... like the left isn't well-known

for it's fractious nature and readiness to form circular firing squads.

[dionysus]

32. where it gets posted doesn't mean a damn thing.

[Occam Bandage]

23. So a general said we ought to have a plan for a long-term fight.

That means we don't currently have such a plan. Which means Obama isn't planning on a long-term fight.

Which means your reading comprehension and analysis levels are probably somewhere in the high-school level, if not lower.

[Oregone]

26. Yeah, but Bob Dylan sold out to Cadillac and Victoria Secret...

So while we should realize our "heroes" makes great speeches, music, and culture, the reality is that humans suck. You didn't expect us to actually withdraw, did you? You did read about the size of our embassy there, right?

Instead, we just get to feel better about being there (or forget we are there).

[Kaleva]

27. "Emphasising he was not a policy maker,....

he was adamant he did not intend to contradict Obama administration policy, which is to bring US combat forces home from Iraq in 2010. The US and Iraq have agreed that all American forces would leave by 2012."

[ksoze]

28. I missed your posts about troops still in Japan and Germany

[boppers]

35. We've also been at Guantanimo since 1898.

We still have troops deployed at bases from the Spanish-American war.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

29. "prepared for" does not necessarily mean "going to"

Have there been any new pronouncements by President Obama that I must have missed that definitively changes the timetable for withdrawing all of our troops to a decade? Seems to me that this article is simply quoting a GENERAL as saying that the Pentagon is PREPARED to stay for a decade (planning for all contingencies is - or used to be- standard practice I think) but nowhere in there does it say that President Obama himself is saying that we WILL be there for a decade and the General apparently even emphasized that no decisions along these lines had been made by policymakers (i.e. President Obama). So, why all the brouhaha? :shrug:

[SamCooke]

34. If this is true, this could cost Obama a second term

[snowdays]

36. but as some one upstream

stream said--and gave 2 du links--this got a big yawn.

[redqueen]

38. Welcome to DU!

[vaberella]

37. CONJECTURE!! No truth and nothing stated by our President. n/t