President Obama marks formal end of US combat in Iraq

[cal04]

Source: Associated Press

President Barack Obama said Saturday the end of combat operations in Iraq doesn't just reaffirm the country's sovereignty, but also makes good on one of his principle campaign pledges.

Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address to highlight Tuesday's formal end to U.S. combat missions in Iraq — the realization of a promise he made as a candidate in the 2008 election.

Remaining troops will assume a backup and training role, a shift Obama will underscore with a visit to Fort Bliss, Texas, and an Oval Office address to the nation on Aug. 31, the date he targeted last year for the change in focus. U.S. troop strength dropped below 50,000 this week, a milestone also highlighted by the administration.

"In the months ahead, our troops will continue to support and train Iraqi forces, partner with Iraqis in counterterrorism missions and protect our civilian and military efforts," Obama said, a day before ending his 10-day Martha's Vineyard vacation to travel to New Orleans and mark another somber date: the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38892198/ns/us_news/

[japple]

1. President Obama has a lot more class than this man...

[Lasher]

2. I've gotta give Obama credit.

I didn't think we would be down to 50K by now.

[Ticonderoga]

16. Throw in the 100,000 government paid mercenaries

and we're actually not. But what the hey...Obama will take a bow regardless of what the facts are.

[Lasher]

21. I've got a problem with that, as well as other aspects in Iraq.

All those other things notwithstanding, I didn't thing we'd see a 50K troop level by this time. But we did and that's not a bad thing. I'll give Obama credit for achieving that goal, and will set aside these disappointments for now.

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. So... war is peace?

"In the months ahead, our troops will continue to support and train Iraqi forces, partner with Iraqis in counterterrorism missions and protect our civilian and military efforts," Obama said, a day before ending his 10-day Martha's Vineyard vacation to travel to New Orleans and mark another somber date: the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina."


Sounds a lot like war to me.

[mbperrin]

4. Me, too.

Words, words, words, while people continue to die.

How comforting that they are not being killed by official combat troops.

[another saigon]

6. it sure does

re-branding a military occupation is par for the course for empires.

[DemEyeDick]

5. Thank you President Obama

Bless you President Obama. Bless you for doing the right thing. Our young men and women should not be in Iraq or Afghanistan. Bring our men and women home sooner rather than later. Bush and his cronies never should have sent them over in the first place.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

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

[Aristophrenia]

10. Worth it

[bahrbearian]

20. Well worth it and noted, good job

[Igel]

11. First wait until they're out by end 2011.

In other words, if the status of forces agreement signed in 2008 is honored and remains in force.

The redesignation of the remaining troops isn't entirely subterfuge but is still knowingly more misleading than I'd like. Let's not celebrate the kind of intentional ambiguity that makes the fulfilment of promises vacuous.

[Lightning Count]

7. Obama Declares Victory, Sort Of, Depending On How You Look At It, In Iraq

http://www.theonion.com/articles/obama-declares-victory-sort-of-depending-on-how-yo,17916/

[IndianaGreen]

9. Sgt. Brandon E. Maggart, 24, of Kirksville, Mo., died Aug. 22 at Basrah, Iraq

DOD identifies US casualties 23 Aug-25 Aug

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 770-10
August 25, 2010

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DOD Identifies Army Casualty

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

Spc. Justin B. Shoecraft, 28, of Elkhart, Ind., died Aug. 24 at Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device at Kakarak, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, Vilseck, Germany.

UPDATE: August 27, 2010 – Pfc. Shoecraft was posthumously promoted to specialist.

http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13834

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IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 764-10
August 24, 2010

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DOD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Lance Cpl. Robert J. Newton, 21, of Creve Coeur, Ill., died Aug. 23 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.

http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13829


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IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 763-10
August 24, 2010

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DOD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Sgt. Ronald A. Rodriguez, 26, of Falls Church, Va., died Aug. 23 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13828


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IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 762-10
August 24, 2010

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DOD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

They died Aug. 22 at Paktika, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked their unit with small arms and rocket propelled grenade fire.

Killed were:

Sgt. Steven J. Deluzio, 25, of South Glastonbury, Conn.

Spc. Tristan H. Southworth, 21, of West Danville, Vt.

They were assigned to the 172nd Infantry, 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Jericho, Vt.

http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13822

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IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 761-10
August 24, 2010

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DOD Identifies Army Casualty

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

Spc. Pedro A. Millet Meletiche, 20, of Elizabeth, N. J., died Aug. 22 at Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13824

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IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 760-10
August 24, 2010

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DOD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Sgt. Jason D. Calo, 23, of Lexington, Ky., died Aug. 22 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13825

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IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 759-10
August 24, 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.

Sgt. Brandon E. Maggart, 24, of Kirksville, Mo., died Aug. 22 at Basrah, Iraq, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using indirect fire. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13823

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IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 755-10
August 23, 2010

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DOD Identifies Army Casualty

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

Pfc. Alexis V. Maldonado, 20, of Wichita Falls, Texas, died Aug. 21 at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire in Zhari province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 20th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas.

http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13821

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IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 754-10
August 23, 2010

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DOD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Lance Cpl. Nathaniel J. A. Schultz, 19, of Safety Harbor, Fla., died Aug. 21 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13820

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IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 753-10
August 23, 2010

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DOD Identifies Army Casualty

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

Spc. Christopher S. Wright, 23, of Tollesboro, Ky., died Aug. 19 in Pech, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Hunter Army Air Field, Ga.

http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13819

[frylock]

12. call me when president obama marks formal end of us combat deaths in iraq

[ixion]

13. And the endless war operations continue on.

Joy.

[Phlem]

14. Oh!

OK then, I can get on with looking for a job, wait aren't wars supposed to stimulate the economy? Shouldn't that mean I would be rolling economic opportunity with the 2 wars going on?

NO!!???

Fuck.

[grahamhgreen]

15. Meantime, How many more troops & kids will die for the corrupt ISLAMIC REPUBLIC we set up in Iraq?

[PacerLJ35]

17. Their current government is a hell of a lot better than their last one...

[grahamhgreen]

19. By what metric? So, it's OK for US troops to fight for corrupt Islamic republics?

I think if you look at infant mortality, health care, electricity, price of gas, security, etc, you will see that few things are "better".

If they really wanted a democracy over there, they should have written it into the constitution.

Instead Islamic law is the highest ruling body - the country will never be free from religious zealots until the constitution is written properly.

One might ask: why would GWB install an Islamic republic? Why do Saudi sheiks hold Bush's hand in public? Why did they sleep at the Bush White House? How long was Bush in business with the bIn Ladens.

Or, we can pretend that we are bringing democracy to the middle east in the form of Islamic republics.

Not one more soldier for tis joke, IMHO.

[nightrain]

18. It's not nearly over, the deaths just keep rollin in... 72K mercenaries + 50K troops???

[ManiacJoe]

23. Your "merc" count includes all the non-security contractors, right?

[paulk]

22. "formal" ?

I wonder what an "informal" war looks like...

[nightrain]

24. maybe prettier, less blood, seen from a distance??