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Home Front: Politix
B.O. Calls for Withdrawal of Troops From Iraq By 2010
2008-07-15
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is calling for U.S. combat troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by mid-2010. In an opinion article in The New York Times Monday, Obama says he will not hold the U.S. military or its resources "hostage" to what he called a misguided desire to maintain permanent bases in Iraq. Obama says a residual force would remain in Iraq to perform limited service missions such as fighting remnants of al-Qaida and protecting U.S. military personnel.

Obama says he believes the war in Iraq was a mistake and should be brought to an end. Obama has faced criticism in recent weeks over charges that if elected, he may delay the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

The article Monday comes as Israeli and Palestinian officials announced that the Illinois senator will visit Israel and the West Bank next week.
Posted by:Fred

#13  MILITRYA.com > STRATEGIST[S] MULLS EXPANDING US GROUND FORCES. "Regime Change" [US very good at] versus "National Stabilization-Engineering" roles [not so good]. STephen Metx argues that only reason for POTUS MCCAIN or OBAMA to suppor expansion of US ARMY-USMC Ground Forces is iff US intends to occupy and administer foreign nations for a protrcative periof of time.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2008-07-15 22:33  

#12  See also BIGNEWSNETWORK > IBRAHIM AL-DOURI: FUGITIVE SADDAM AIDE SEES US TROOPS GONE FROM IRAQ IN 2008 [December? December 2009?]

Title says "2008" but Artic Date + Content says "next year" inferring 2009???
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2008-07-15 21:47  

#11  Obama says a residual force would remain in Iraq to perform limited service missions such as fighting remnants of al-Qaida and protecting U.S. military personnel.

How many brigades would that be your holiness?


Posted by: Besoeker   2008-07-15 21:21  

#10  Iranian AF has problems, but they still have operations fighters and bombers.

Iraq has some Cessnas. And that's it.

Out AF need to be there for quite a while - its a complex task to build an effective modern airforce, and will likely take beyond 2012 to achive any fully independent operational air superiority and tac-air capability.

Thats why we will likely be in Balad for 10 years or so.

And the Kurdish north already wants to give us basing rights to deter the Turks and the Iranians, and the shia-sunni in the south.
Posted by: OldSpook   2008-07-15 15:27  

#9  I thought he was going to consult the military command, then follow their recommendations?
Posted by: trailing wife    2008-07-15 13:08  

#8  Let him go there in their place.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon   2008-07-15 11:14  

#7  a residual force of unspecified size. Could be 100, could be 40,000.

Will fight AQ 'remnants' and will train Iraqi troops IF there is political accomodation. Obama admin will, of course, decide what is political accommodation. And will, presumably, decide what is "training" If a battalion of Iraqi troops finds itself in a cross fire with 'special groups" in Basra, and asks for a battalion of "trainers" to rejoin them for "refresher training" what then?

And what about air support?


As for bases, of course they will keep their current temporary bases. We will NOT say that those are permanent bases like Korea, we will not build facilities for dependents, etc. Yes, that means losing strat benefits, which OS points out - but the politics in Iraq make that virtually impossible. This isnt South Korea.

Im not an expert on air defense, but my impression is the Iranian air force also has its problems, and with US AF assets in Turkey, Kuwait and KSA, and USN carriers in the Gulf, Irans air position wont be dominant. It would of course be worthwhile to have Iraq possess its own bases of a size and quality that US AF assets could be deployed there quickly and easily, as we did in KSA in 1990.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2008-07-15 09:37  

#6  Obama says a residual force would remain in Iraq to perform limited service missions such as fighting remnants of al-Qaida and protecting U.S. military personnel.

How they gonna do that without a base?
What a weasel.
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2008-07-15 08:56  

#5  The thing is, is is geopolitically speaking, an idiot.

One brigade sized base in Kurdish area, and a brigae and USAF base at Balad woudl provide ENORMOUS leverage throughout the region, and are out of the way enough as to not cause an issue with the Iraqi people. And as a bonus for hte Iraqis, those serve as our bases in the cold war did: a deterrent against agression - from Iran in this case. These two bases would also provide training cadre for Iraqi forces as well.

But they are especially important in providing Iraq with air defense, especially since Iraq lacks an air force that is adequate to defending it against Iranian attacks, and will be lacking that for 5-7 years it takes to put the infrastructure, aircraft, command contol, and pilots all together.

Posted by: OldSpook   2008-07-15 08:39  

#4  Let's see...

*The minute after he's inaugurated he'll order them home
*Within 30 days he'll order them home
*He'll order them home after a 'review'
*Now no permanent bases (like we have no airbases in the UK, all US aircraft are stationed at RAF bases) but troops will remain.

MAN, this guy is not ready or prime time.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2008-07-15 06:45  

#3  With luck, LG5566, he'll enrage his base and not convince anyone else of his sincerity.

Well, the main stream media would have to disappear, of course...
Posted by: Bobby   2008-07-15 06:05  

#2  Hmmmm. Moving the goal posts again, eh Obama?
Posted by: Lampedusa Glack5566   2008-07-15 03:56  

#1  Reportedly also desires as per TOPIX to send 10,000 US troops to Afghanistan.

ION REDDIT > seems MISS USA fell down while on-stage.

2008-2012 strikes yet again.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2008-07-15 00:16  

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