US troops unlikely to resume combat duties in Iraq

[babylonsister]

US troops unlikely to resume combat duties in Iraq
AP

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer – 29 mins ago


WASHINGTON – It would take "a complete failure" of the Iraqi security forces for the U.S. to resume combat operations there, the top American commander in Iraq said as the final U.S. fighting forces prepared to leave the country.

With a major military milestone in sight, Gen. Ray Odierno said in interviews broadcast Sunday that any resumption of combat duties by American forces is unlikely.

"We don't see that happening," Odierno said. The Iraqi security forces have been doing "so well for so long now that we really believe we're beyond that point."

President Barack Obama plans a major speech on Iraq after his return to Washington, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because details were being finalized. The speech will come shortly after Obama returns to the White House on Aug. 29 from his Martha's Vineyard vacation.

About 50,000 U.S. troops will remain in the country until the end of 2011 to serve as a training and assistance force, a dramatic drawdown from the peak of more than 170,000 during the surge of American forces in 2007.

more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100822/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_us_iraq

[quaker bill]

1. If there was even a small chance

the drawdown would have come to a halt with the recent and regular bombings. In about a year, there will be troops to protect the embassy, little if any more. Afghanistan will take a little longer, the checklist of Taliban and Al-Queda targets has to be gone through. Once we fry anough of them, the troops will be coming home from there as well.

We have defined victory fairly low.

[backscatter712]

3. I'm not particularly worried about Iraq anymore.

While there are some flare-ups, for the most part, the violence is dying down, and our troops are leaving Iraq. The Iraq War isn't over-over, but it's winding down, and hopefully will be over soon.

Afghanistan is a whole different mess - we're gonna be playing Whack-a-Mole there for the foreseeable future, until we get tired of seeing our troops get turned into hamburger, get tired of flushing money down the toilet, take our ball and come home.

[Exilednight]

7. It doesn't matter when you pull out the last soldier. Iraq will fall back into chaos and ..........

civil war. All we are doing is putting off the inevitable. Afghanistan is going to be much worse. Our appointed puppet in charge is so corrupt that he makes Bush and company look like amateurs.

[obxhead]

2. I feel it's all in how we react to the civil war that will likely break out

in the next couple of years. I just don't see the shreds of government in Iraq being able to hold the country together.

I guess our corporate masters will let us know how they want us to handle it when the situation devolves into that civil war that is inevitable.

[vaberella]

4. Well if it happens in the next couple of years..it's debatable.

In 18 months the rest of the troops will be completely removed from Iraq.

[obxhead]

5. I doubt that very seriously.

We didn't build all those permanent bases in Iraq to give them back.

We have troops in almost every country we have ever fought in. Why would Iraq be any different?

[vaberella]

11. Possibly however this was reported by Rachel Maddow and

later confirmed by the major she was interviewing at the time. which was like 2 weeks ago. So, as of now it is confirmed and that is part of the plan.

[IndianaGreen]

6. Fatality in Iraq Is First After Deadline

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x418800

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 732-10
August 17, 2010

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DOD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Spc. Jamal M. Rhett, 24, of Palmyra, N.J., died Aug. 15 in Ba Qubah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his vehicle with grenades. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13801

Fatality in Iraq Is First After Deadline

By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: August 22, 2010

BAGHDAD — An American soldier was killed in Iraq’s southernmost province on Sunday, marking the first American fatality since the military declared last week that the last combat unit had pulled out of the country, the military said.

The military withdrawal under way is supposed to bring the number of American troops in Iraq to 50,000 by the end of August, under a deadline set by the Obama administration. While military officials have said that casualties are likely to occur after that date, Sunday’s death underscores the semantic difficulties in describing precisely what their mission will represent and what roles they will be engaged in.

The military said the soldier was killed by indirect fire, a phrase that usually means a rocket or mortar attack. It said that the soldier was killed in “a hostile attack” in the province around Basra, and that the attack was “under investigation.”

The fatality came three days after what the military described as the departure of the last combat unit from Iraq. It left through Kuwait, to the south. About 52,000 troops remain, though the last 2,000 are scheduled to leave over the next week or so.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/world/middleeast/23iraq.html

[polmaven]

10. I think your post caption

is a little misleading. The soldier died 8/15/10...The "deadline" is 8/31/10....Isn't the 15th still BEFORE the 31st?

To be fair...I understand that is the NYT headline. But it is also wrong....!

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[babylonsister]

9. Take it up with Odierno, though I suppose you're more and better informed.

:rofl:

[LostinVA]

12. A soldier was killed yesterday in Iraq

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10235/1082069-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml


Sunday's death underscores the semantic difficulties in describing precisely what their mission will represent and what roles they will be engaged in.

The military said the soldier was killed by indirect fire, a phrase that usually means a rocket or mortar attack. It said that the soldier was killed in "a hostile attack" in the province around Basra, and that the attack was "under investigation."

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10235/1082069-82.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml#ixzz0xRyA74ya