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End of Iraq War
So it appears to be pretty official..
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-announces-total-iraq-troop-withdrawal-165635034.html
On a side note:
Do you think it is a good Military/War strategy to announce the withdrawal?
Re: End of Iraq War
Even at this point, my gut is telling me stuff it going to hit the fan when we leave. Although, at this point it appears we have overstayed our welcome. I hope things stay calm, safe etc.
I understand that we can't all leave without telling them. But we can step down gradually (which we have been doing). And if the Iraq gov't knows and ours, do they need to make a huge announcement? I just get the feeling that it's like saying, "Hey I'm going on vacation tomorrow will be gone for the summer" so if anyone wants to rob me, that's a great time.Because it's like saying "Hey, there's nobody here watching! Do what you want!". I have yet to hear from anyone coming back IRL where it sounded like the Iraqi troops knew their heads from their asses.
I don't think it needed a big media announcement. That is purely because there is an election coming up and someone wants votes. It's actually a pretty crappy idea.
I don't think an announcement could have been avoided but they made a dog and pony show out of it all day. His announcement was plugged over everything I came in contact with today. And I can say with confidence it was because approval ratings are down and an election is coming up.
Welcome to election season.
Also, someone is home. The Iraqis. We've been training them for years. Are you expecting them to fail? If so, why have we failed in training them and how would continued American presence fix that?
I agree with KC, even if it isnt election season, it would still have come without the pomp and show. IMO.
I really want it to be over, but my gut says it isn't. Maybe I am just being skeptical, but I will believe it when I see it.
Possibly?!?! There is zero question in my mind that this was 1,000% a political move. Otherwise it would have just been done, it would have gotten mention by the news stations, but nothing like how it has been handled. Pure political agenda with this.
Photo bomb, yeah!
Agreed.
And everything is a political move, no matter who the president is. It's our country in a media/soundbite driven world.
Sorry to P&R.
It's a big deal for our Military.. but I still think the public could have waited. I don't know why but I was uncomfortable with the big announcement. (whether it was political or safety..)
Agreed. This is a strange complaint IMO.
Ding ding ding!
We've been in Iraq for years. We in the United States have lost FOUR THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED SEVENTY NINE service members to that conflict. It's almost over. There will hopefully be no more American deaths there. That's kind of a big bloody deal, no?
These kinds of things (the ends of war, major events in war) are often announced, bloody election year or not.
This cynicism is odd. So he would not be too political if this had happened last year? Last month? Where's your cut-off line for election year and not criticizing him, not for his decision, but for his timing and politicalness? If we're being technical, it's NOT an election year. It's still October. If you want to talk about how this time is an election cycle, well, what would you have had him do? Pull out sooner? When the country was less ready?
I was Team McCain 100 years (the only thing I was Team McCain on), so I don't think leaving is necessarily the right call, but the President does. And why doesn't he wait until it's actually the election year if this is all so political? I think that would be worth more. In fact, what kind of moron orders that we kill Bin Laden when it's not even close to an election?
I was just reading the Fox News, and they reminded me that "The discussion apparently finalized negotiations that have dragged on for months over what, if any, military presence the U.S. would maintain in Iraq beyond a Dec. 31 withdrawal deadline set in 2008."
So, those shady politicians announced this in an election year after all. It was just the last presidential election year.
This is what rubs me the wrong way. You're absolutely correct...this was an agreement made in 2008 and there have been discussions about extending our presence but the Iraqi government was not agreeable to the terms that came with that extension so we're leaving. But instead of reminding the country of all of this the administration is acting like this is something they worked long and hard for and that's what bothers me about how they handled it.
(Disclaimer: I didn't see the speech live and I can't find a transcript at the moment so I'm basing my perception of the handling of the announcement off of the promotion leading up to it.)
T happily pointed this out to me at dinner last night. He speculated that we'll still keep Al Asad open and it will become an unaccompanied tour for many SMs.
Ha.
I think people (ie the general public) believe that since most Troops are leaving Iraq that they are coming home. But let's be honest, they are probably heading straight to Kuwait, Afghanistan, etc. It's a step in the right direction but I think people forget that we are involved multiple wars.
Very true. DH said the exact same thing.
Well, yeah. But all regular forces are leaving, and that is a big deal. Delta and the like are in places we're certainly not talking about them being, so that's a whole separate conversation.
They've been packing up the majority of the bases for a couple of years now. My friends's unit was activated for a short deployment earlier this year just to pack up a base. I don't know why this is such a surprise to anyone. Yeah, it's a big deal but it's old news.
I'm not surprised, I'm just surprised people are surprised at the media acting like it's VJDay. It's the media. They'll make big deals out of anything. So I'm not (yup, I'll say it one last time) surprised at the media, really ever anymore.
We have to end them the right way though. Just pulling out without making sure we've left the proper infrastructure leaves the problem for later, just like the last time we left Afghanistan with no infrastructure. Of course our economy is important, but we have to have foresight. We can't have ADD with our foreign policy and national security.
This. We fvcked up last time.
(Read bolded) That's what she said.
Seriously. Agree 100%.
This post is so bizarre. And if you really think his announcement should not have interrupted day time tv then you are ridiculous.