The AP has a piece out this morning about the Obama administration reaching a final decision on pulling the remaining US troops out of Iraq at the end of this year; effectively ending 8 years of military intervention in that country. As you can imagine, there are a couple of interesting elements to this story. First of all, there is the fact that there was any debate over this decision in the first place. I mean Obama did campaign on ending our military involvement there and George W Bush had signed an agreement in 2008 to leave at the end of 2011 right? Well according the AP article:
”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.”
So what was the issue that most concerned the Obama administration and our military leaders and gave way to this seemingly final decision to withdraw our troops?
“The issue of legal protection for the Americans was the deal-breaker.
Throughout the discussions, Iraqi leaders have adamantly refused to give U.S. troops immunity from prosecution in Iraqi courts, and the Americans have refused to stay without it…Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has told U.S. military officials that he does not have the votes in parliament to provide immunity to the American trainers, the U.S. military official said…Iraqis are still angry over incidents such as the Abu Ghraib prison scandal or Haditha, when U.S. troops killed Iraqi civilians in Anbar province, and want American troops subject to Iraqi law…American commanders don't want to risk having their forces end up in an Iraqi courtroom if they're forced to defend themselves in a still-hostile environment.”
Well, whatever the reasoning, it sure feels good to finally be getting out there right? Well, not so quick there.
“Regardless of whether U.S. troops are here or not, there will be a massive American diplomatic presence.The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is the largest in the world, and the State Department will have offices in Basra, Irbil and Kirkuk as well as other locations around the country where contractors will train Iraqi forces on U.S. military equipment they're purchasing.
About 5,000 security contractors and personnel will be tasked with helping protect American diplomats and facilities around the country, the State Department has said.”
Can you say “Blackwater/Xe”? That’s right. 5,000 PRIVATE security contractors (mercenaries) paid for with US tax dollars (that’s our money). You do understand that these mercenaries typically are paid at a much higher rate than our own military? From a study published in 2007:
“And even without overbilling, weapons-toting employees of private military contractors are often paid about $600 per day, five or six times what the average U.S. soldier earns.”
But even if we are to continue to funnel Billions of dollars into that country, at least our troops will finally be coming home, right?
“An advisor close to al-Maliki said the Americans suggested during negotiations that if no deal is reached in time, U.S. troops could be stationed in Kuwait.
With the U.S. military presence in Iraq currently at about 41,000 and heading down to zero, almost all of those forces will be flowing out of Iraq into Kuwait and then home or other locations.
A western expert in Iraq said it is conceivable that if the Iraqi government asks early next year for U.S. troops to return, there will be forces still in Kuwait able to come back and do the job.”
I’m not holding my breath.
Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue
0 comments:
Post a Comment