Think of it as President Obama’s Mission Accomplished moment. The moment, that is, when he announced that the American combat mission in Iraq was over thanks to his decisive leadership.
Reuters – left wing Reuters, of all places – has the details:
U.S. Staff Sergeant Kendrick Manuel swung his rifle over his shoulder and grumbled about being viewed as a “non-combat” soldier in Iraq.
“When NBC talked about the last combat troops are gone, they made it sound like everything is basically over,” he said, after escorting a 19-truck convoy through a part of northern Iraq where roadside bombs and mortar attacks are still a danger.
“To us it was like a slap in the face, because we are still here … we are still going in harm’s way every time we leave out of the gate,” Manuel said at a U.S. military base, Camp Speicher, near Saddam Hussein’s home town of Tikrit.
On August 31, the U.S. military formally declared an end to its combat mission in Iraq, 7-1/2 years after the invasion that removed Saddam and led to sectarian warfare and a fierce insurgency in which tens of thousands of Iraqis were killed.
More than 4,400 U.S. soldiers have been killed since 2003.
U.S. networks such as NBC showed what the U.S. military labeled the last combat brigade rumbling into Kuwait. Soldiers whooped and shouted on camera that the war was over.Yet, there are still six brigades made up of 50,000 troops in Iraq, ahead of a full withdrawal at the end of 2011. Their focus is to assist and advise their Iraqi counterparts, not lead the fight against insurgents, but they remain heavily armed and face frequent threats.
Well, what the hell. We say cut the Obama administration a little slack on this one. It’s as close to the truth as they’ve come in many months.
Source: Reuters
This post was last modified on September 14, 2010
View Comments (13)
Two soldiers were killed right after this decision and the main stream media stated they were" non combat casualties " . I think OSAMA OBAMA forgot to give AL Qadia the memo
No, now when any of our brave boys die Obongos propaganda machine can label them as non-combatant or accidental. It's all in the libtard spin... when reality dosn't fit their agenda, they change the words to make it fit... Now that's the real "Change" he campaigned on.
Obama lied, more died !
Actually, given who gets the short end of the medical stick no thanks to his health care thing, it's
"Obama lies, so your Grandma dies."
Did you notice all the anti war protests stopped the day obamano was "elected"...
The second obama became lord the war suddenly wasn't "bad" anymore.
So, do the soldiers no longer receive combat pay? Maybe this was just a cost cutting ploy, renaming the Brigades.
Wow. I think you might be right... and also cut their combat support funding like they did under Clinton.
Of course, since they're not engaging in combat, there would be no reason to send them armor, or ammo, or the latest weapons technology. Right? And if you get injured, no Purple Heart, or course. They're just walking around, "supporting" the Iraqi troops. There's no IEDs, no snipers, nothing dangerous going on. Obama must be removed from office.
Of course of course he should be removed from office...just like George Bush should have been for starting a war we didn't need and sending our troops ill prepared without armor and the necessary men to do the job.
Just like the Summer of Recovery, eh?
I have friends who are still serving in the combat brigades in Iraq. I'm told this:
The combat brigades have been renamed Advise and Assist Brigades. The name has a very non-combat sound to it, but the reality is that they are still doing the exact same combat missions that they were doing before the name change.
I can think of no other reason to change the name of a combat brigade to an advise and assist brigade except to give Obama and the Democrats cover for the November elections.
'Left Wing Reuters'
I laughed. You don't actually believe the crap you write, right?
Great the war is over, that means lower taxes, and let the prisoners free like the Germans were after WW1, some stayed here in USA and became model citizens. oh boy! More stupid stuff for our glorious gaovernemt to do. (you know they won't lower taxes)