To meet June deadline, US and Iraqis redraw city borders

[slipslidingaway]

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0519/p06s05-wome.html

"Baghdad - On a map of Baghdad, the US Army's Forward Operating Base Falcon is clearly within city limits.

Except that Iraqi and American military officials have decided it's not. As the June 30 deadline for US soldiers to be out of Iraqi cities approaches, there are no plans to relocate the roughly 3,000 American troops who help maintain security in south Baghdad along what were the fault lines in the sectarian war.

"We and the Iraqis decided it wasn't in the city," says a US military official. The base on the southern outskirts of Baghdad's Rasheed district is an example of the fluidity of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) agreed to late last year, which orders all US combat forces out of Iraqi cities, towns, and villages by June 30...


...Apart from the issue of designating US bases as inside or outside cities, Iraqi authorities are also approving the existence of combat troops within select joint security stations in and around Baghdad to be able to maintain security in places that have been key to the reduction in violence, a US military official says.

Although the mission for most brigades and battalions is not expected to substantially change after June 30, US military officials have stopped using the term forward operating base in favor of the more benign-sounding contingency operating site..."

[rug]

1. They're not soldiers either; they're advisers.

[slipslidingaway]

2. Yes, another way to fool the people :( n/t

[Winterblues]

3. I have to Admit I was fooled. I thought Obama was serious about getting us out of Iraq

I be one big dummy..:shrug:

[slipslidingaway]

5. No doubt there will be a significant reduction at some point...

also sometimes we just need to believe and hope for the best.

:)

[Vidar]

4. Gerrymandering goes international.

[slipslidingaway]

6. :)) Most people will not notice. n/t

[slipslidingaway]

7. kick nt

[slipslidingaway]

8. kick again because I have not seen this mentioned on DU. nt

[Solly Mack]

9. K&R