Poor Richard: With Thousands of American special forces and support troops still in Iraq, the danger is now a new Iran-Iraq war. Ideologically, Iran sees an opportunity to expand their power and bring Iraq back under “true” Islamic control. Iran’s temptation to invade Iraq will be great. Their temptation to kill remaining “undefended” American support troops may be greater.
Internal security of a country is one thing. Fighting a war is another thing entirely. It’s highly unlikely “The Empty Suit” appreciates (or cares) about the distinction. We’re out.
Is Iraq ready? I pray we don’t have to find out. I don’t want to go back.
Obama is a rigid ideologue who opposed Iraq before, during and after the Surge, despite it’s success internally. Robert Gibbs pathetic attempt to rewrite history on Fox and got caught in a blatant lie about Obama supporting the surge is just another dishonest attempt to rewrite history. Obama is determined that ending the Iraq war “proves” him right — ready or not. He also hopes this long-planned announcement will deter Democrat midterm losses. Fat chance.
Expect the left wing media to trumpet “He ended the Iraq war” at the top of their lungs. Yet, nary a whisper will be paid to the wildly unpopular “Obamacare” or the disastrous “Summer of Recovery”. It’s the perfect diversion. Blame Bush (2 years later), deny responsibility for everything — especially what they’ve done, and hope nobody notices.
Too late — but they’ll keep playing “ostrich” right up until election night. Many happy returns.
Remember in November.
http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/globlogization/tag/iraq
FACT CHECK: Is Iraq combat really over for US?
By CALVIN WOODWARD and ROBERT BURNS, Associated Press Writers Calvin Woodward And Robert Burns, Associated Press Writers 24 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Despite President Barack Obama’s declaration Tuesday of an end to the combat mission in Iraq, combat almost certainly lies ahead.
And in asserting the U.S. has met its responsibilities in Iraq, the president opened the door wide to a debate about the meaning of success in the muddle that most — but not all — American troops are leaving behind.
A look at some of the statements Obama made in his Oval Office speech and how they compare with the facts:
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OBAMA: “Tonight, I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended.”
THE FACTS: Peril remains for the tens of thousands of U.S. troops still in Iraq, who are likely if not certain to engage violent foes. Counterterrorism is chief among their continuing missions, pitting them against a lethal enemy. Several thousand special operations forces, including Army Green Berets and Navy SEALs, will continue to hunt and attempt to kill al-Qaida and other terrorist fighters — working closely with Iraqi forces. Obama said, “Of course, violence will not end with our combat mission,” while stopping short of a full accounting of the hazards ahead for U.S. troops.
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OBAMA: “We have met our responsibility.”
THE FACTS: That depends entirely on how the U.S. responsibility is defined.
Sectarian division — the danger that Obama said as a presidential candidate had to be addressed before Iraq could succeed — continues to deprive the country of a fully functioning government. U.S. goals for reconstruction are unmet. And although the U.S. says Iraqi forces can handle the insurgency largely on their own, Iraq is expected to need U.S. air power and other military support for years to control its own air space and to deter a possible attack by a neighboring state.
It was the U.S. that invaded Iraq, overthrew its government, disbanded its security forces and failed in the early phases of the conflict to understand the depth of Iraq’s sectarian and ethnic divisions and its political paralysis. The U.S. in some minds is responsible for putting Iraq back together again, yet today Iraq has no permanent government and its security forces arguably are not fully prepared to defend the country’s skies and borders.
1975: Settlement on frontiers between Iran and Iraq that involved increased territory for Iran compared to the borders prior to 1971.
1980 September 22: Iraq invades Iran, and has early victories.
1982: Iraq is driven out of Iran.
1982-87: The war enters a phase in which Iranian soldiers try to invade Iraq, while Iraqi aircraft bombs Iranian cities and oil installations. Both nations started attacking each other’s oil tankers on the Persian Gulf, in reciprocal retaliation. Few territorial advances are made on either side.
1987 July 20: Iran accepts a UN resolution to cease fighting.
1988: Peace is achieved between the two countries, even if the fighting actually ceased months earlier.
Brig. Gen Tom Vandal: Ninewa Province illustrates U.S. progress in Iraq
Read more at the Washington Examiner
