When Republicans stole the 2000 election for GW Bush, that awakened me from my political doldrums, but the event that really got me moving again was the run-up to and the beginning of, Bush’s Republican war for oil and conquest in Iraq. Most Democrats, to their shame, feared challenging the invasion. Figuring out that Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld and Tenet were lying did not require rocket science. If I could find the evidence, anybody could. I had predicted the invasion on 9/11/2001, and during the run-up to the war, I said that I doubted Saddam still has WMD or a relationship with Al Qaeda. So this for me is especially good news.
The U.S. is abandoning plans to keep U.S. troops in Iraq past a year-end withdrawal deadline, The Associated Press has learned. The decision to pull out fully by January will effectively end more than eight years of U.S. involvement in the Iraq war, despite ongoing concerns about its security forces and the potential for instability.
The decision ends months of hand-wringing by U.S. officials over whether to stick to a Dec. 31 withdrawal deadline that was set in 2008 or negotiate a new security agreement to ensure that gains made and more than 4,400 American military lives lost since March 2003 do not go to waste.
In recent months, Washington has been discussing with Iraqi leaders the possibility of several thousand American troops remaining to continue training Iraqi security forces.
But a senior Obama administration official in Washington confirmed Saturday that all American troops will leave Iraq except for about 160 active-duty soldiers attached to the U.S. Embassy.
A senior U.S. military official confirmed the departure and said the withdrawal could allow future but limited U.S. military training missions in Iraq if requested.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <MSNBC>
Hurrah for peace. Next, Afghanistan!
7 Responses to “A Nightmare Ending”
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Halleluja!
Now let’s get out of Afghanistan too!
Amen ❗
OK– Good deal so far ; But more to come–Afghanistan –!! NO MORE WAR!!!!
Yes ❗
No more war – please, this is the United States.
The option was voting for Obama who stated he would enlarge the Afghanistan war, or McCain who wanted to bomb Iran.
Either choice was for more war.
I agree with Obama’s prosecution of these military escapades, and he has gotten MUCH better result than Bush did in 7 years. Of course, I was one of those who was called a traitor, for being against invading Iraq.
I would ask – Was Bush right about unleashing a movement of freedom and Democracy in the Middle East as a result of overthrowing Saddam? That was one of Bush’s deceptive promises to Americans, for why we should be there.
When Obama was campaigning, I supported cleaning up Afghanistan. Subsequently I realized that Bush screwed it up beyond repair.
I was one of them too. I used to blog under my real name. Half a dozen wingers were waiting outside my apartment with clubs one day..
Bush never unleashed freedom or democracy. He unleashed crony capitalism and corruption.
As much as I’d like to see true democracy take hold in Iraq, I believe that they must now find their own way; they must build their own bridges with other groups within their nation. They must find their own way to consensus as a people or it will never last. The US, based on what I see of the Republican version of democracy, is in no position to flog democracy to fledgling foreign governments where they do not, nor can understand the culture. They are too broken at home.
I also believe that the American military industrial complex machine must stay out. If they are allowed in, I believe that we will see them encouraging arms sales etc to all sides in the country, escalating tensions and increasing the likelihood of civil war. If such should happen, the US government must not be involved in any way, including the rescuing of American citizens. It is not that I am against American citizens, I am against deliberately inflaming any tensions with the purpose of fomenting war.
The world has had enough war! We sang it in the 60’s — We ain’t goin’ to go to war no more — and it is time to sing it loud and clear again. Concentrate on the home front and fix American problems with American solutions.