Not really since we are leaving an embassy the size of a city, with armed contractors to guard it.
"‘It’s their country; let them have it’; Weary of Iraq war’s sacrifice, but proud they gave democracy a chance, the last unit out of the country reflects on nine long, hard years" by Brian MacQuarrie | Globe Staff, December 18, 2011
ON THE IRAQ-KUWAIT BORDER - “Take a good look,’’ the driver, Staff Sergeant Justin McCarty, said as he approached the dusty checkpoint. “This will probably be the last time you’ll ever see Iraq.’’
I wouldn't be so sure of that!
See: Occupation Iraq: US Returning in 2012
According to Obama, it will be anytime the Iraqis pick up a phone and make a call.
“Ain’t much to look at,’’ his gunner, Sergeant Jerry Chambers, replied in a Tennessee twang.
We didn't rebuild it into a shining example?
After a road march of nearly 22 hours and more than 300 miles, McCarty and his squad from the 82d Airborne Division had finally left Iraq, part of an achingly slow procession of 700 soldiers.
The squad had been among the last American soldiers to pass through Baghdad. They had observed a predawn moment of silence at the spot where their squadron lost seven soldiers in 2007.
They counted themselves among the final US military units to depart Iraq nearly nine years after an invasion that led to 4,500 deaths of US service members, 32,000 wounded, and perhaps more than 100,000 Iraqis killed, mostly by sectarian violence that ravaged the country....
That does it for me.
The number of Iraqis killed by the surge alone was around 300 per day, 10,000 per month -- with 1.2 million Iraqis dead since the invasion (must be nearly TWO MILLION by now).
Also see: Story Iraq: MSM Lied About Death Tolls
Memory Hole: 600,000 DEAD!
Occupation Iraq: One Million Dead Iraqis
Then again, should I really be surprised a lying, enabling, agenda-pushing, war-promoting paper is minimizing those killed in the mass-murdering exercise built upon lies?
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And speak of the devil:
"Iraq veterans get a presidential welcome home; At Fort Bragg, Obama praises troops, families" December 15, 2011|By Helene Cooper, New York Times
FORT BRAGG, N.C. - President Obama observed the end of the war in Iraq yesterday before an audience of those who fought in it, telling a crowd of returning troops that the nine years of conflict in Iraq, a war now indelibly imprinted on the national psyche, had come to a close....
It was a tough balance to strike; Obama had to speak of legendary battles in places like Fallujah without referencing the weapons of mass destruction that were never found; he noted the sectarian violence without bringing up the years of fear that gripped both the United States and the rest of the world back in 2004, 2005, and 2006, when it looked as if the US invasion of Iraq would engulf an already volatile region.
“We remember the early days - the American units that streaked across the sands and skies of Iraq,’’ Obama said. “In battles from Nasiriyah to Karbala to Baghdad, American troops broke the back of a brutal dictator in less than a month.’’ And yet, Obama said, “we know too well the heavy costs’’ of the Iraq War: “Nearly 4,500 Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice, including 202 fallen heroes from here at Fort Bragg. 202.’’
The speech was the latest in a series of public appearances orchestrated by the White House to signal the end of the conflict and to drive home the point that Obama fulfilled one of his 2008 presidential campaign promises.
I am SO TIRED of POLITICAL PUBLIC RELATIONS and PROPAGANDA!!
At times somber, at times ebullient, the president tried to project an understanding of the painful ordeal of people who have seen their family members go off to fight a war that most Americans came to oppose....
I did before it started. Actively, like in the streets (you know, the millions forgotten in the wake of Occupy). Please judge me on that, readers.
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And about that leavin':
"As last US troops head home, Obama vows to stand by Iraq; President meets with Maliki to discuss next steps" December 13, 2011|By Ben Feller, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Eager to put the long and divisive Iraq war to rest, President Obama declared yesterday “those days are over’’ with the last American troops heading home, but he pledged the United States will remain committed to the fledgling government they leave behind.
Obama and Iraq’s prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, later somberly saluted America’s war dead at Arlington National Cemetery.
“A war is ending,’’ the president said, standing with Maliki at the White House. US troops are leaving “with honor and with their heads held high,’’ said Obama, who strongly opposed the war as a candidate for the White House....
He did? Strongly?
The withdrawal will cap a war in which nearly 4,500 Americans were killed, roughly 32,000 were wounded, hundreds of billions of dollars were spent, and the American political debate wrangled on until economic woes brought attention back home....
That last phrase is why government and papers are trying so hard to get us into a World War III with an attack on ran and Syria.
The United States, in fact, needs the help of Iraq in dealing with the volatile Middle East and with two neighbors in particular, Iran and Syria....
What did I just type?
In the midst of a reelection run, Obama is using the war’s end to both honor the military’s sacrifice and to remind the nation the unpopular war is ending on his watch. He is to deliver his war-is-over message in television interviews today and again tomorrow in remarks to troops at Fort Bragg, N.C.
The endless politicking is really starting to bug me.
Obama opposed the war from the start and eventually rode that stand to the White House.
In a 2002 speech during the months before the US-led invasion of Iraq began, when Obama was a senator from Illinois, he said, “What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war.’’
Yesterday, Obama put the focus on Iraq’s future.
“I think history will judge the original decision to go into Iraq,’’ Obama said. What’s clear, he added, is that because of the huge sacrifices by American soldiers and civilians and the courage of the Iraqi people, “we have now achieved an Iraq that is self-governing, that is inclusive, and that has enormous potential.’’
Said Maliki: “Anyone who observes the nature of the relationship between the two countries will say that the relationship will not end with the departure of the last American soldier.’’
Early signs of how Iraq may orient itself could come from how it handles troubles in Syria, where the United Nations says 4,000 people have been killed in a government crackdown. The crisis has exposed differences in the US and Iraqi positions: Obama says President Bashar Assad of Syria must step down. Maliki has not.
“I do not have the right to ask a president to abdicate,’’ said Maliki. He suggested anew that Assad’s removal could lead to a civil war in Syria that could spread across the region and be difficult to control. He called for some other solution that would “avoid all the evils and the dangers.’’
Obama said he and Maliki had “tactical disagreements’’ on Syria but share the goals of free expression there without violence. Obama said he had no doubt that Iraq was acting in its own interests and not under the meddling influence of Iran. Tehran is Syria’s main backer.
Obama spoke repeatedly of Iraq as a nation demanding respect, describing it as a sovereign country and an equal partner. Maliki said his nation still welcomes help, such as in drawing on American and other outside expertise so that Iraq can better exploit its own wealth.
Yet significant questions remain over the details of the security relationship once all American troops are withdrawn.
Iraqi leaders have said they want US military training assistance for their security forces but have been unable to agree on what type of help they would like or what protections they would be willing to give American trainers....
They are already there and will be left behind under State Department auspices.
But, hey, what is one more obfuscation in a media full of them?
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Good night, readers.
