I think we replaced the "troops" with private contractors. And, we have a large number of military personnel in the region. My guess-the change is a net zero.

At least we can say that the troops were removed on the scheduled agreed to three years ago. One good point. Still - the NET reduction is close to zero.

@Mark-2446186 Only 100 to 150 officials at the new American Embassy larger than the Vatican. RIGHT. I believe that one.

You don't have to "believe" it. See, that's the thing with FACTS. You can just LOOK IT UP.

@Mark-2446186 4,000-5,000 Defense contractors will be in the Embassy for one.

You just said above "100% FALSE. No private contractors left. No "large number of personnel". You're either misinformed or intentionally misleading people."

I was responding to your comment. You are contradicting yourself. You going to back peddle on your statement now?

Look at Mark educating the masses. Well done sir!

SeaBa, don't you know...we built those huge military infrastructures just to leave them unattended! LOL!

If you are going to claim that the war in Iraq has not ended, please share your source. Thank you.

Mark #########. Basically most of us do not believe your version of the facts. Nothing personal, but many of us not longer believe the words of the American government. I make a serious effort to dig deep enough to find the truth and find only that the truth is buried beneath so many layers of BS that it is almost impossible to find. The lies are much easier to identify.

As to the 100 and some troops you claim to be remaining in Iraq. I would prefer to believe that our government is not stupid enough to maintain such a small presence.

Soldiers!!! We will keep the light on for you!! Thank you for your service and the sacrifices that you and your families made for our country. Hope you make it home in time for Christmas, but more importantly, hope that you are out of harms way.

Mark, (Defense contractors build things). Build? They only thing they will build will be their off-shore accounts through over priced services with under achieved results!

At least the contractors will have to hire their own security rather than depend on troop who make GS wages rather than the billions that the contractors make. If they can secure contracts there, fine, but they will have to take their chances like everyone else.

Who is this Mark-2446186 guy? You think you know everything? Stop deceiving the public ok. US military will forever remain in Iraq just like we did Germany, Korea, Japan and Kuwait. You don't know what you talking about and you don't have any facts. Of course nobody hear can get any facts so you keep telling people to do their homework. What homework? Go to the library and read about troops reduction that everyone knows? Stop being a douche guy!

Mark=2446186...The facts are as follows. There are 3k-4k private contractors made up of mostly security to protect the Embassy and the 157 ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY PERSONEL still in the country. How do I know this...my wife and mother of our two boys is one of those INVISIBLE troops that are still in country mopping up the pieces. They will not be coming home soon and our fingers are crossed that nothing happens to them in the mean time. When you people spout your "facts" remember there is always a margin of error and in this case those margins have names and families waiting for "The Last Troop To Leave Iraq" .

The significance of the troop departure is that it ends the presence of the U.S. military in Iraq. Going forward the State Department will take over the mission which will need to maintain security for personnel assigned to the embassy and two consulates. There is no doubt that it will be expensive.

Now we rejoice that our troops can come home, their mission accomplished - finally. A big thank you to all who served and sacrificed.

However, we should consider Bush and the Republicans' approach to getting rid of a dictator with that of Obama's. Bush went after Saddam Hussein; it took 9 years, 4000 American lives, billions of dollars. Obama aided in deposing Qaddafi; it took weeks, no boots on the ground, no lives lost and negligible costs in support of the Libyan uprising.

Ten years ago, America invaded Iraq claiming Iraq has WMD that threatens American security. When UN as well as American inspectors failed to find any evidence of WMD, the US mission was changed to destroying the terrorists or Al Queda. So for the past ten years, the American military conducted search and destroy missions aimed at annihilating the terrorists but also exacted a deadly toll on the Iraqi civilians. Tens of thousands of men, women, and children have been killed by US fire power. America's euphemism calls the slaughter "a collateral damage" as if Iraqi lives were dispensible inanimate objects.

The American occupation and governance of Iraq have brought resentment and anger from the Muslim communities that see American imperialism imposing its will upon the Middle East. For some, it is a another Crusader Army sent from the West to conquer the Islamic world. It is not surprising that America's invasion of Iraq served as a magnet for Jihadist who are willing to sacrifice all for the liberation of Iraq from the Crusaders.

After ten years of waging war in Iraq, can America truely claim its military forces have eliminated all and any Iraqi terrorist threat directed toward USA? If not, then the nearly 5000 American soldiers sent to death and trillions of dollars spent in Iraq are for what purpose?

It is becoming apparent that the only beneficiaries of the Iraq War are the weapon profiteers and war lovers.

Mark, are you really as stupid as you sound? There will be 16 thousand to remain in the largest American Embassy in the world, that would be Iraq, and 5 to 6 thousand of them are contractors who will be there to defend them, it is all a political side show to achieve an objective before re-election, pay the mercenaries as we have been so we can look like were out of there,unlike you here is some proof for you.http://www.npr.org/2011/12/18/143863722/with-huge-embassy-u-s-still-a-presence-in-iraq

Wow just blows my mind how easily people are persuaded by our government!

Mark, there are 16,000 (sixteen THOUSAND) US personnel remaining at the embassy compound in Iraq. That's astounding. Sure, there's only 157 military personnel 'officially' remaining as security in the US embassy, but that's not quite the issue now is it? The US is not "leaving Iraq" at all by simply removing the "combat troops", and there are PLENTY of US military personnel surrounding Iraq, and Iran for that matter, at US bases in Kuwait, Turkey, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Djibouti, Jordan, and Kyrgyzstan, and the use of bases with smaller US contingents in Saudi Arabia, Georgia, Egypt, as well as thousands of sailors and Marines offshore in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Indian Ocean, etc... It's time to bring them all home.

Wisconsin Voter you also forgot to add that Obama got OBL within three years of assuming office while GWB had almost nine years to track him down and do the same thing. Instead he went after a faux threat in Iraq and decided to entrench us in a war which cost us hundreds of billions of dollars, thousands of lives and turned our country inside out with animosity toward one another.

After much delay the United States opened its new $700 million embassy in Iraq on Monday, inaugurating the largest — and most expensive — embassy ever built.

The 104-acre compound, bigger than the Vatican and about the size of 80 football fields, boasts 21 buildings, a commissary, cinema, retail and shopping areas, restaurants, schools, a fire station, power and water treatment plants, as well as telecommunications and wastewater treatment facilities.

The compound is six times larger than the United Nations compound in New York, and two-thirds the size of the National Mall in Washington.

It has space for 1,000 employees with six apartment blocks and is 10 times larger than any other U.S. embassy.

So please tell me, how are 16,000 people planning to live there? Sleeping in hallways, the grass, the bathrooms? Because they sure as hell are not going to barracks them in town.

Saw another article that states:

Lower-level employees will squeeze into 619 one-bedroom apartments.

But you know what? I can't find a single reliable source that backs up your ridiculous claim that we'll have 16,000 troops in that embassy. If you had any common sense at all, you'd realize that our embassy will be target #1 for attacks. So why would they cram 16,000 people in there? It would be the equivalent of firing a shotgun into a barrel packed with fish.

So please, lets see the source of your information. OR are you simply running off at the mouth as I suspect?

@ Chris - Did you actually read the article above before deciding to comment as it states there will 16,000 American in Iraq in pursuit of diplomatic goals with 2,000 being federal employees and the remain 14,000 being contracts of which about half will be security, or do you not consider this article to be a "reliable source"? Of course not all of those will be operating in the Embassy. We do have consulates in Iraq as well and smaller diplomatic missions scattered all over the country.

kacz- In that short post you just stated some very important facts. Well said.

Amazing the things that can happen when an election is coming up.

Bet it takes less than a year before this country heads for the Arab sh!tter

Iraq.what a massive waste of time,money and lives.all to kill one dictator.bush jr is the worst president ever.hes just too stupid to realize it

@Rusty

You beat me to the punch. Last two paragraphs of the article:

In the meantime, U.S. officials say there will be roughly 16,000 people involved in the American diplomatic effort in Iraq.

About 2,000 will be diplomats and federal workers. The remaining 14,000 will be contractors -- roughly half involved with security.

Unfortunately, most people don't read the whole article before they comment.

A "Thank you" form Bush and Cheney to the soldiers returning from Iraq is in order; but then again, when have they ever done the right thing? This war was for oil. Anybody that thinks otherwise should just see the kind of "embassy" that "We" have built there with tax money. It is another pentagon. It is the largest embassy in the whole world. I hardly think that the building is full of "diplomats"

Basically we are starting a new "cold war" the Middle East. Iraq will be the headquarters for espionage, oil resources, etc. Please don't kid yourselves that the government is just going to let go 1 trillion dollars slip away!

Not only the largest embassy, but it cost $700 million. It will be worth nothing when Iran invades.

This war was a total waste and we were lied to bigtime. 4000 American lives and untold wounded. This generation's Vietnam. Not to mention the cost in $$$ which will never end.

What happened to that BS were fed that Iraqi oil revenues will pay for reconstruction? Another BIG lie.

Thanks to President Obama for being a level-headed President and ending this useless Republican Bush-Cheney Iraqi War.

Such a waste of Innocent Lives and future American Tax Dollars. The Republicans are in sad, sad shape, such idiots. They market themselves as the party of responsibility when in reality, they're the Party of Irresponsibility. Such lies they continue to feed to the American People, but this time its over for good.

Thanks to the American Troops for as always performing as required, and thanks to the Democrats and President Obama for keeping their Campaign Promise to the American People.

In the world we now live, OIL IS MORE VALUABLE THAN GOLD. You can have trillions in gold reserves, but if you don't have easy access to petroleum energy, your economy dooes not exist. Look at what happened to the US economy in 2007 when gas prices shot to record highs - it started the greatest economic meltdown since the Great Depression. No one talks about that though - they talk about the dirty deals of the banks, but it was the price of oil that caused the price of EVERYTHING to nearly double. People who were living paycheck to paycheck before suddenly were underwater because they couldnt pay $400 a month for food or $1000 to fill their heating oil tank or $200 a month for gas in their car. The price of oil is why the economy is STILL struggling to recover and why the poor continue to get poorer. Hence, OIL is the key to the health of the world economy, and which ever nation has the easiest access to oil will fare the best in the coming decades.

So, that being said, the war in Iraq was NEVER about weapons of mass destruction. It was about the United States' need for continued easy access to petroleum. The US now has a base of operations from which to defend its access to the largest supply of petroleum in the world.

I will not make any case one way or another regarding the morality of that move, but don't try to claim that was not the reason for it.

Why did MSNBC post the story of the last person to die in Iraq to the grio as some sort of black interest story? The last person to die in Iraq is a NATIONAL news story and should be in their main news section just like their other Iraqi coverage.

The war is over? Hail to our troops. God bless those who gave their lives. God help those who were so damaged.

When is the parade? Let's not wait, as we did with our Viet Nam warriors.

Will, you are exactly right! We need to develop our own energy, and foster ideas for alternative energies of the future without punishing the energy of the present.

Phil Katz.......But wasn't the War completely Paid for from the Iraqi Oil Revenues. Seems to me I recall someone promising us that that was going to be the case. Now who was that that told us that ?

MM- I believe that would be that lying sack of @!$%# and traitor, Dick Cheney.

The claims:

For President Barack Obama, the military pullout is the fulfilment of an election promise to bring troops home from a conflict inherited from his predecessor that tainted America's standing worldwide.

The reality:

The timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops in Iraq was decided during the Bush administration with the signing of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) by U.S. and Iraq officials on Nov. 16, 2008. The Iraqi parliament signed SOFA on Nov. 27, 2008.

The agreement, which had been in negotiations since 2007, set a timetable calling for most U.S. troops to leave Iraqi towns and cities by June 30, 2009, with about 50,000 troops left in place until the final withdrawal of all U.S. military forces by Dec. 31, 2011.

The only time Obama can correctly blame Bush for anything but of course he tries to take credit. Sorry Barrack, your lies and incompetence are easily exposed.

What a pathetic opportunist we have trespassing in our White House.

So when 'all' the troops leave the country the war is over? Then we are still at war with Japan and Germany?

A smell a policitician stretching the truth again. U.S. troops are STILL in Iraq and will be there for a decade or more. Next lie please.

BTW, any of you chumps believe ANY politician shows how big of a fool you truely are.

Thank you for your service and the sacrifices that you and your families made for our country

The sacrifice our soldiers and their families made had nothing to do with our country.

Welcome home all the same, guys. I'm glad it's over.

Freedom,

When Bush takes the blame for the economy he decimated on his watch, he'll then have the right to take credit for foreign policy endeavors instituted on is watch.

He can't have his cake and eat it, too.

Thank you for your sacrifice, brave men and women.

It's NOT your fault you work for a bunch of dumba$$es in Washington.

To Will:

So, that being said, the war in Iraq was NEVER about weapons of mass destruction. It was about the United States' need for continued easy access to petroleum. The US now has a base of operations from which to defend its access to the largest supply of petroleum in the world.

With all due respect to you, what do we have to show for all the lives lost and trillions wasted???

That's right, GOOSE EGG!

Did we see so much as a DROP of that oil????? NOPE!!!!!!!

With all the blood and treasure we have put into this cat litter box, we should ALL be driving around in FORD EXCURSIONS with the EMERGENCY BRAKE ON and have the thermostats in our homes cranked up to NINETY DEGREES with the windows open!

Dude, get real.

The surge(Bush's policy) worked to allow this. The economy went south because of policies by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. they gave loans that they shouldn't have and we have Barney Frank to thank for this.

"For President Barack Obama, the military pullout is the fulfillment of an election promise to bring troops home from a conflict inherited from his predecessor that tainted America's standing worldwide."

______________________________________________________________________

Barack Obama Promise to End War;

"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank. " - Barack Obama Campaign Promise - October 27, 2007

____________________________________________________________________

What bank would that be, Barack ????

(We FINALLY left Iraq because the Iraqis would not extend immunity and asked us to leave, not because of Barack's long past due promise.)

What bank would that be, Barack ????

I'm guessing it's the banks that Bush bailed out in 2008.

God bless our honest, Christian, capitalist, Hawaiian-born President for keeping his campaign promise.

Obama / Biden 2012

Will-1091847

Excellent post.

In the world we now live, OIL IS MORE VALUABLE THAN GOLD.

So, that being said, the war in Iraq was NEVER about weapons of mass destruction. It was about the United States' need for continued easy access to petroleum. The US now has a base of operations from which to defend its access to the largest supply of petroleum in the world.

Correction.

The United States of America has the largest supply of petroleum in the world. Along with some of the largest supplies of natural gas and coal, we are the most energy resource rich nation in the world.

If oil, or more specifically energy, is more valuable than gold we are sitting on the mother-lode of wealth in the world. The problem is we haven't had a coherent domestic energy policy for decades. The current "Green Initiative" is noble but in reality it is another Obama wet-dream. No industry has ever been legislated successfully.

Of course the tree-huggers and Spotted-Owl useful idiots are convinced that the largest energy consuming nation in the world will somehow become driven by alternative energy in the near future.

Good luck with that delusion.

We are decades away from any possibility of total alternative energy dependence. Accepting the obvious tremendous energy needs to drive our massive economic engine, the fact is that thousands of everyday products we rely on are the result of oil, natural gas and coal. Every sector of our economy, private and public, is dependent on energy. Affordable, efficient, available energy.

The Congressional Research Service released a report on November 10, 2010, showing that America has the largest endowment of recoverable oil, natural gas and coal in the world.

The US has a total endowment of 163 billion barrels of recoverable oil. This would more than cover America’s current rate of production as the third largest producer of oil in the world and allow us to rely on domestic oil production for more than 50 years. Our shale-oil deposits contain between 1.5 and 2 TRILLION barrels of oil.

In terms of natural gas, the CRS report included a study from the Potential Gas Committee that estimated we have 2,047 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas. At our current rate of demand, we have enough natural gas to last about 90 years.

The CRS report also showed that America has the largest amount of coal resources in the world with an estimated 28% of the world’s coal. We have 262 billion short tons of coal, not including the “inaccessible coal deposits… estimated to be more than 3,200 billion short tons” in Alaska.

These new estimates of our vast energy resources that show America has larger energy resources than Saudi Arabia, China and Canada combined. By our own government’s research, we should be the largest energy exporter in the world.

What does the world constantly need more and more of? Energy. What does America have more of than any other nation in the world? Energy. What can we use as an immediate domestic exportable industry to help eliminate our massive, and criminal, Debts and Unfunded Liabilities? Energy.

Do we need energy? Yes. Do we have energy? Yes. Should we be developing alternative energy resources? Yes. The problem is, we have competing Agencies and Departments, EPA vs. DOE, which are even in disequilibrium with our needs. When we even stifle development of alternative energy due to lizards, birds or aesthetic desires, we will never become competitive in the global economy again.

Instead of legislating clean energy and failing we need to be rewarding the successful companies and encouraging their expansion. In the meantime exploiting our massive natural and proven energy resources must begin immediately. For those of you who don’t believe we can accomplish this safely, affordably and profitably, you probably doubted we could send a man to the moon, build a space station 13 years ago 250 miles above earth and have a robotic Rover still wandering the surface of Mars seven years longer than it was intended.

If energy is gold, our nation should be debt-free and leading the world in technology and entrepreneurism as it always has.

Obama's word is worthless. Listen to what he promised about Iraq when trying to get our vote last time. Is he making you feel all warm and fuzzy just before another election? Or do you remember the TRUTH..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUTYLH8HfCGo&feature=channel_video_title

Irony = About 7% in the poll call that bogus war a success or necessary. About half of the posts defend Bush's illegal unpunished war crimes. Lots of shills on this board. Bring those troops home from Kuwait , Afghanistan and all corners of the earth.

The only winners in this whole scam are defense contractors and their stockholders.

My bad. Reposted the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUTYL8HfCGo&feature=channel_video_title

Try to imagine how a soldier must feel...He is sent by his commander-in-cheif to fight a war maybe to die or to be severely disfigured or something even worse. Then your hands are tied behind your back by the rules of engagement and you can't trust all of your comrades to watch your back (Ft. Hood). Then the commander says that you should pay for your own medical costs if you get wounded because "...you knew the risks when you enlisted...". Then you discover that you will be placed on a potential terrorist list when you return home and oh, by the way, commander-in-cheif now wants you to shoot and kill the very American citizens that you were just overseas fighting for......

Folks:

The one good thing about the Iraq War is that is makes the Vietnam Military Advisement/Conflict/War-like Sort Of Thing look like it made sense, in comparison....so that's one good thing....it's not a total loss....right?....plus we lost a lot less of our troops, which is good, so two good things....ooh, ooh, I got another one, no Agent Orange was used! That's three good things. So if we divide the cost of the Iraq War by the benefits we come up with:

One Trillion Dollars / 3 good things = $333,333,333,333.33 per each good thing

....and

4,500 killed American Troops / 3 good things = 1,500 killed American Troops per each good thing

So it's not a total loss, huh? And a big improvement over 'Nam, since no good things seemed to come out of that one....we're doin' better!

Good Luck Out There!

FreedomRingsLoud............. Good Post...... I, usually don't read a post, as long winded as yours. I usually, only read the first and last paragraphs...... You have posted, something that is very true........ Its UNFORTUNATE, that it will fall on death ears........

Freedom rings---I prefer to save OUR resources rather than sell them to other countries. WE do not receive any benefit that is long term by letting the oil companies sell OUR resources to foreign countries. The profiteers will make huge profits and OUR resources will have been depleted.

@Freedom

The US has a total endowment of 163 billion barrels of recoverable oil. This would more than cover America’s current rate of production as the third largest producer of oil in the world and allow us to rely on domestic oil production for more than 50 years. Our shale-oil deposits contain between 1.5 and 2 TRILLION barrels of oil.

When I did the math of 163,000,000,000 divided by 20,000,000 (America's daily usage), and then divided that by 365, I came up with 22 years. There is also the question of daily demand vs. the amount that can be produced daily. Where is this oil? The oil in Western Pennsylvania, Texas, Oklahoma, etc that came gushing out the ground was CHEAP and EASY to extract, and if you needed more of it faster, you would build a new $10,000 oil derrick. However, the remaining oil is in some very difficult to reach places and will be very expensive to extract. For example, oil from the continental shelf is WAY more expensive to find, and then the initial discovery well costs many millions of dollars to drill, and assuming that the results of this are good, then many more dozens of millions of dollars will go into bringing the oil field online. Even then, you cannot simply suck the oil out of the ground at any arbritrary rate that you need to - there are physical limits on how much oil can be extracted at one time.

Hence, when they say that the oil will supply our daily demand for 50 years, what they may mean is that it will take us 50 years to extract it all, which is half the rate of daily demand on average.

Oil shale is another story. You have to dig it up (using oil powered machinery), boil it using fresh water and natural gas, a process in which you burn more energy producing it that you get out of it by burning it. And the final product is low quality oil that is more expensive to refine.

One more wrinkle to throw out there. The US CURRENTLY uses 20,000,000 barrels of oil a day. As the population increases and the economy continues to grow, the demand for oil will continue to grow. So, the domestic oil supplies are already insufficient to keep up with the US daily demand, but add more population and more cars, and how much more so will it become insufficient.

Will alternative energies save the day? No, their level of energy density is nowhere near what is needed to replace what comes from oil. Ethenal is an energy negative source of fuel, meaning more energy goes into producing it than we get back from burning it. Solar panels are expensive to produce, install, and maintain, and will never replace the amount of energy that comes from fossil fuels. Wind energy - besides low power density, you have to figure out how to get the electricity from the middle of nowhere to the places where it is actually used, a very inefficient process.

Let China and India's economies continue to grow at the rate that they have, and world demand is going to EXTREMELY overshoot daily production before we know it.

BTW, has anyone figured out what the heck the world is going to do 50 years from now when we have double the population and the energy reserves are well and truly definately depleted???

A low key welcome home. Hmmpf. There should be a parade or two just to say thanks. Soldiers go where they are sent, they don't make the political decisions or have the opportunity to state the right or wrong of the matter. Many thank-you's to all the military personnel and welcome home and the deepest and profoundest thank-you to those who lost their lives or were grievously wounded. I honor and respect your sacrifices.

What about the troops, the very people that have given so much of themselves for our country. Imagine how a soldier must feel...that young person is sent over there, frequently on multpile deployments, seperated from his own family and life at home. He is sent by his commander-in-cheif to fight a war maybe to die or to be severely disfigured or something even worse. Then your hands are tied behind your back by the rules of engagement which give the terrorists an advantage and you can't trust all of your comrades to watch your back (Ft. Hood). Then the commander says that you should pay for your own medical costs if you get wounded because "...you knew the risks when you enlisted...". Then you discover that you will be placed on a potential terrorist list when you return home and oh, by the way, commander-in-cheif now wants you to shoot and kill the very American citizens that you were just overseas fighting for which may now include members of your own family, friends and co-workers. How can one person ever ask that of another.

FatCatGets$700Bil - Ten years ago,

It was more than ten years ago when we first conducted all out US Military Actions at Iraq. And even before that my men, women sent to US Ally Iraq during the Iran Iraq Wars; Special Reconnaissance prior to the First Gulf War; 1998 H.R.4655 "Liberation of Iraq Act of 1998"; Operation Desert Fox; 2002-2003 Operation Hotel California; various Task Forces (Rescue of Jessica Lynch, Hunt for President Hussein, minimizing Al Quada Iraq, etc.); Northern Iraq with US Ally Turkey.

Ron-2115409,

There are more US Military still there than most want to admit.

The Close Out Unit (they close up the former US Military Bases, and transfer them to the Iraqis) is the 25th Infantry Division, estimated date of departure from Iraq, Not Later Than, December 31, 2011.

In just 3 days, soldiers from Schofield's the 25th infantry division will be the very last US troops to leave the warzone. They're getting picked up by the Hawaii Air National Guard.

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/category/227869/operation-new-dawn-the-homecoming

So until you hear that the 25th Infantry Division has left Iraq as the Last to leave, the US Military is still at Iraq.

Also what is also not included are those US Military Personnel attached to the Embassy Office in Basra, the US Military Asymmetric Warfare Forces, those US Military Personnel attached to the US Department of State (by the way it is more than 157 ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY PERSONNEL still in the country, 16,000 - 1,000 US Embassy Staff = xx,xxx; they did not spend $1 Billion on the US Embassy Compound (Acres) with all those buildings, just so that the buildings would remain empty. By being attached to the US Department of State and being on the US Embassy Compound they have Diplomatic Immunity (one of the conditions that was demanded if US Military were to remain after President Bush's withdrawal date.), the 16,000 does NOT include the Foreign Security Contractors (FSC's) employed by the US Department of State (Diplomatic Immunity) and the US Agencies that I previous warned all of you about (as those that would hunt us (US Military) like depicted in the movie "Green Zone", as we US Military Asymmetric Warfare Forces (depicted in the movie as Special Forces) do not hunt our own (in the movie Rangers, Rangers as our future candidates to become SF) as we must adhere to the Four Legal Authorities over the US Military (UN Laws, Rules; Local Laws; US Civil Laws; UCMJ), the Foreign Security Contractors do not (even worse than Xe), and NO they (FSCs) are NOT there to build sh!t.

Just the US Embassy Building at Baghdad is the size of a large Shopping Mall (not including the other buildings on the acres of the US Embassy Compound).

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01862/embassy_1862795c.jpg

Take a guess how many people can be housed in these Buildings:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/att/site1/20070520/xin_090504200930871419721.jpg

Concrete wall indicates a small portion of the over 104 Acres of the US Embassy Compound. Part of the apartments in the background are actually used by the US Embassy Personnel.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_c5gWEDWWN1E/TCnIo2UG80I/AAAAAAAAAYA/IBaNRogg8hM/s1600/060414_embassy_hmed_3p.hlarge.jpg

I was told that I cannot use my photos.

So someone elses view of how large the US Embassy Compound is:

http://media.photobucket.com/image/us%20embassy%20iraq%20pictures/johnlknight/USEMBASSYIraq-1.jpg

You can comfortably house over a US Military Infantry Division on the current US Embassy Compound (new buildings are tan). Think how many it takes to secure and guard the over 104 acres. This is the old map (104 acres), the current US Embassy Compound is larger.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/us%20embassy%20iraq%20pictures/johnlknight/USEMBASSYIraq.jpg

FreedomRingsLoud,

Enough with the nonsense. Most of the US Oil was depleted during the "Black Gold Rushes" at Texas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, California, etc. at the very beginnings of the 1900s.

This left the US with only Low Grade high sulfur content Oil (during the 1970s the use of this was protested successfully, as one of the Main Causes of Acid Rain (Sulfuric Acid)) and a bunch of empty depleted Oil Wells (like those abandoned at Texas, California, etc.); the Oil Corporations to squeeze everything out of the depleted Oil Wells started pushing Natural Gas (NG) without telling everyone about the consequences, as NG is Methane, Methane being extremely toxic and at least 2x more harmful to the Ozone Layer than CO2.

Methane was previously a nuisance and explosive hazard during Oil Drilling (methane usually burned off). After pushing NG (Methane) on everyone the amount of Methane deceased significantly, forcing the Oil Corporations to increase NG Exploration and extraction. This extraction being hydraulic fracking, by pumping under high pressure toxic chemicals to crack miles of areas underground, with these toxic chemicals under high pressure contaminating the underground rivers, streams, etc. and permanently poisoning most drinking water, as well as thru springs poisoning above ground drinking water. There is also the denials that all this hydraulic fracking will increase the instability miles underground resulting in increased seismic activity (earth quakes and sink holes).

Sink holes

http://sweetetcetera.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/sink-holes.jpg

http://thetruthbehindthescenes.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/116.jpg

http://www.savingwater.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/sinkhole.jpg

http://www.flatrock.org.nz/static/frontpage/assets/money_politics_law/guatemala_sinkhole_aerial.jpg

Also go do the research into the different Grades of Oil, in relation to the quantities required of each grade to produce Fuel.

The idea most say President Bush stated that the (High Grade Sweet Crude) Iraqis Oil would pay for the US Military Liberation of Iraq for decades, was defeated by President Obama's 2009 Improved Relations with Iran Policy, that allowed Iran to eventually gain control of the Iraqis Northern and Southern Oil Fields, Iran giving the Iraqis Oil Contracts to their Allies the Chinese and Russian Federation, 2010. This loss made the Libyan Oil of Strategic Importance to the US European Allies.

I previously, posted the World Situation in relation to the Iraqis Oil. Pertaining to the Kuwaitis Oil Laundrying Iraqis Oil, then after the Kuwaitis running out of their own Oil, "Slant Drilling" (diagonal drilling) into the Iraqis Oil Fields (an Act of War), resulting in the Iraqis Military Invasion of Kuwait, with my men, women, myself escaping into Saudi Arabia as the Iraqis Military was coming in the other side of Kuwait. The Saudis were also Oil Laundrying Iraqis Oil, with loss of the Iraqis Oil, they started to do deep sand desert Oil Exploration at Saudi Arabia. The Canadians were also Oil Laundrying Iraqis Oil, when this was lost, the Canadians started their expensive environmental disaster of strip mining oil sand and oil shale, tons used to produce a few barrels of oil. The Mexicans also were Oil Laundrying Iraqis Oil, so after the loss of the Iraqis Oil, authorized more high risk deep water Oil Explorations (like BP), 2011. Most of the European Oil Corporations (BP, Eni, Elf, OMV, Stratoil, etc., same greedy that demanded Military attacks against Gaddaffi to stop his Nationalization of Libyan Oil) were also doing the Oil Laundrying of the Iraqis Oil (making the Europeans hypocrites for saying the US went to Iraq to steal the Iraqis Oil). During this time many Scientist were demanding to the United Nations that Iraqis Oil be "Oil Tagged" with cheap inert chemicals to stop the Oil Laundrying during the Iraqis Oil for Food Program (this idea was immediately stopped by the very Rich Oil Lobbyists, US, Foreign, OPEC, etc.).

FreedomRingsLoud, just do the research. I kept very detailed notes while at Iraq (to cover my arse, as not to be used as a "Politically Expedient" scapegoat; especially the results of the Scientific Teams attached to SAD, with us providing security for them. I did the same thing (detailed notes) for the High Tech Mineral Wealth that we found here at Afghanistan by spelunking 2009). This is also important just in case SAD and the attached Scientific Teams do not make it out and we do.

Will-1091847, is correct. As even prior to the 9/11 2001 Attacks, the US was in a critical energy situation, with the loss of 2/3rds of the Daily US Oil from Venezuela. US had only 6 months of Strategic Oil Reserves, just like Japan before invading China. US Congress disapproves President Bush'sOil Exploration of the ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Reserve). US Congress reappropriates more funds to US Law, 1998 H.R.4655 " Iraqis Liberation Act of 1998", some tell President Bush if you want Oil go to Iraq and get it. The Rich US and Foreign Oil Corporations are demanding the Overthrow of President Hussein to stop his "Modernization of the Arab World" that includes Iraqis Oil Nationalization that would take away control of the US and Foreign Oil Corporations control of the Iraqis Northern and Southern Oil Fields (also ending the Oil Laundrying of Iraqis Oil by the Kuwaitis, Saudi Arabians, Mexicans, Canadians, most European Oil Corporations, etc. a means of getting around the UN Sanctions, Embargoes, etc. and the Iraqis Oil for Food Program. Buying cheap Iraqis Oil, then calling it their own, selling to US for huge profits.).

Iraq......war....industrial military complex..money:

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Think_Tanks/Military_ThinkTanks.html

and now, the republican party wants war with Iran...almost all of those up for presidential elections, want a war.

Enough money yet?

Now it is proved that the 1991 and 2003 Iraqi wars to save the seventh century, highly corrupt, bigoted Sunni ruling beasts of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE and others were disasters.

What did we get in return?

Is Iraq safer?

No more intervention in Iran on directions of Saudi rulers!

I just hope it works out somehow, although I doubt it will. I feel like we will be back sometime soon. I hope it was just media hype that we left the country destroyed, that seems like a great way to make enemies of friends. Anyway, I am glad to see our troops off the ground and I hope it stays that way.

Like most of us (who are honest with ourselves) I supported going in there. I bought the hype. Glad to see us leave, hope I am not just buying hype with this. Time will tell.

lol, they are not in America; These troops are in Kuwait.

Well - on the way home now. But way to ruin the mood.

Hopefully they will get a nice respite before having to go to Afghanistan.

Can we have a plane waiting to send all our war mongering politicians over there? All those whining that we are "giving up", cutting and running, all those stating that we will lose the results of our "hard work"? Let's have a few planes waiting to send them and their military age family members back to Iraq!! In the meantime thank you President Obama for being better at ending a war than starting one!!

And all those contractors now will have to buy their own protection. It was not fair to keep the military there to protect them, considering they are making a lot of money. The soldiers were risking their lives for a few bucks, protecting these people. Hire mercenaries -plenty of them in those areas- to protect you. The military is for another purpose.

Jhon McCAin and Lindsey Graham will have to tell that to the people that are paying them under the table to keep the troops there. They were not "protecting" us. They were protecting -as usual- the interests of BIG OIL the darling of the Republican Party.

they are not in America; These troops are in Kuwait.

Well...300 of them are in Ft. Hood already, so yeah...technically some of them should be welcomed!

Irespond: I gather by your posts that the only people in office that have intrest in BIG OIL, are Republicans. That the Democrats are so Honest, that would not have intrests in oil? Opps! "BIG OIL." Having the hate that you seem to have is IRE-RESPONSIBLE.

@Mark. We were at close to 100,000 troops 12 months ago but near half of them were moved into Yemen and Bahrain due to the uprisings (Arab spring there too) during the year with the remaining sent to Afghan. That had drawn down our presence in Iraq to 30k. If we look at the contractors most are a spin off of black-rock under Prince (cant remember his first name but just google black-rock and Mr. Prince because you should know on your own.) They are not considered soldiers, instead we call them security forces or paid MERCS. And like the warrant officer said in the story, most likely she will be heading to Afghanistan..Pay attention, after all it really is YOUR checkbook that Obama is using.

I gather by your posts that the only people in office that have intrest in BIG OIL, are Republicans

The Republicans were the ones who wanted this war. They lied to the people to get there, including everybody in Congress. The party of NO continually prefers to keep polluting the environment and resists the idea of looking for alternative solutions to Energy. As long as we continue with the idea that oil is the only way, wars will continue. Eventually the earth will run out of oil. Then what?

IRESPOND-2315268,

ENOUGH ALREADY, you are making all US Citizens, the Democratic Party seem really Uneducated, Uninformed. Even the Afghans here with only internet access once a week know:

THE WAR AT IRAQ started with:

President Clinton's 1998 State of the Union Address, demanding US Congress pass into US Law, H.R. 4655, Justification Weapons of Mass Destruction:

Together we must also confront the new hazards of chemical and biological weapons, and the outlaw states, terrorists and organized criminals seeking to acquire them. Saddam Hussein has spent the better part of this decade, and much of his nation's wealth, not on providing for the Iraqi people, but on developing nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the missiles to deliver them. The United Nations weapons inspectors have done a truly remarkable job, finding and destroying more of Iraq's arsenal than was destroyed during the entire gulf war. Now, Saddam Hussein wants to stop them from completing their mission. I know I speak for everyone in this chamber, Republicans and Democrats, when I say to Saddam Hussein, "You cannot defy the will of the world", and when I say to him, "You have used weapons of mass destruction before; we are determined to deny you the capacity to use them again.

President Clinton demanding the Overthrow of President Hussein with passage of US Law, H.R.4655 "Iraqis Liberation Act of 1998", justification Weapons of Mass Destruction. After passage of this US Law, my men, women, myself are sent into Iraq to buy hundreds of thousands of insurgents and assassins to Overthrow President Hussein. When this failed we were on the ground just outside of Baghdad doing Target Damage Assessments during Operation Desert Fox.

Scoll down to Section 2 "Finding":

http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1057063/posts

After the lesser means of H.R.4655 Failed to Overthrow President Hussein, US Congress used the Final Option, the US Military, by Declaring War With Iraq with US Law, 2002 Iraqi War Resolution. My men, women, myself are redeployed from Afghanistan to Northern Iraq to conduct Operation Hotel California 2002 to 2003; prior to the 2003 US Military Liberation of Iraq.

Declaration of War with Iraq: 2002 Iraqi War Resoluiton.

http://uspolitics.about.com/od/wariniraq/a/jt_resolution.htm

And before you start with the uneducated "This is not a Declaration of War" Read the whole thing as Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both the House and Senate. AND IT IS US CONGRESS NOT THE US PRESIDENT THAT DECLARES WAR.

Because President Obama did not have a US Law like these for Libya what he did was Illegal (Violation of US Law), Unfunded (No US Congressional Appropriations), War Criminal (Violation of International Law, International Court of Justice at the Hague.). H.R.4655 "Iraqis Liberation Act of 1998" with US Congressional Appropriations covered both President Clinton's, President Bush's, President Obama's arses. 2002 Iraqi War Resolution with US Congressional Appropriations covered President Bush's and President Obama's arses.

care4mycountry,

We didn't send tens of thousands of troops to Yemen or Bahrain due to the Arab Spring. Please don't lie.

For anyone who doesn't know, we had the last combat troop left Iraq in August 2010 as per the promise to remove "all combat troops from Iraq in 16 months." The remaining 50,000 troops supervised a training mission that ends with the last troop leaving today. We had 50k in Iraq from August 2010 until this recent summer. The troop draw down from Afghanistan began during the summer of 2011 with the first 10k leaving by year end and 33k by next summer.

Once again: don't lie.

Saudi and Kuwaiti bigoted beasts and oil companies are responsible for Iraqi wars which achieved nothing but losses and injuries of soldiers, huge our tax monies sunk, high oil prices, bad US economy and loss of face.

These wars should be lesson not to intervene in Iran or any ME nation.

david-475776 Still blaming Clinton? You Fux News trolls are pathetic.

That is false. The only soldiers who will stay there are between 100 - 175 troops at the American embassy.

Embassy personnel, trainers, and private contractors.

A few thousand troops are staying in reserve in Kuwait. If there's a real military emergency in Iraq, like Iran deciding to invade or something, we'll be there.

No, 175 troops will remain, but the problem is their are still 5000 private security contractors there. I think the number you are referring to is the 16,000 people working for the State Department at the embassy in Baghdad and consulates elsewhere in Iraq.

Oh. OK, thank you all for dispelling that misimpression.

The White House wanted to keep some troops there, but Iraq literally kicked us out and refused to negotiate the terms we wanted.

A deal for several thousand U.S. troops to stay on as trainers fell apart over the sensitive issue of legal immunity and the US government would not sacrifice any of our troops to this. Can't blame Obama for not wanting our troops in harm's way for not knowing what kind of craziness would be thrown at them by Iraqi citizens. Best to get all the troops out of there like we're doing. The Marines left behind to guard the American Embassy will have enough to worry about.

@thinking now. Correct, spot on.

I told all of you how they got around the Immunity situation at post #1.57.

Mark-2446186,

Your previous post of numbers of Embassy Staff is easily debunked by going to the US Department of State Internet Site, and the US Embassy Iraq Internet Site.

add to post #3.9.

Since most of you have never been there (US Embassy at Iraq). And even as a US Citizen you would only be allowed into the first layer of security, just inside the US Embassy Compound.

Think about this when we are attached to the SAD, we become SAD, not US Military. When we are attached to the US Department of State we become US Department of State "Employees" with Diplomatic Immunity (at the discretion of the US Ambassador). examples: US Military Foreign Area Officers assigned to a US Embassy. US Military assigned to the Secure Communications and Operations Center at the US Embassy. US Military attached to SAD, SAD assigned to US Embassy. USMC assigned to US Embassy remain as US Military (visable Security as well as not visable Security).

I only got to see most of everything because of my "Official Duties", while there sorting thru paperwork and physically going thru equipment that could be used here at Afghanistan instead of being shipped Stateside.

The numbers do not include the US Civilians employed at BurgerKing (maybe replaced by McDonalds), Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Subway, TGI Fridays, Baskin Robbins, (they said KFC was coming), etc. nor the Red Cross Offices, USAID Offices, CIA, NSA, etc..

Hey David - Where or from whom do you think Clinton and Congress got the idea that Saddam had WMD? Do you think it might have been from the right wing Zionist "think tanks", such as PNAC. They didn't get it from the CIA. He didn't get it in a vacumn, thats for sure. Someone was feeding him a line of bs, because Iraq did not have WMD. Who forged the Niger documents? Why do you think they were forged?

Comment on this fact. The war was fought to remove Saddam Hussein from power, so we could install a Hashemite leader, who would be friendly to Israel. That leader would permit the building of a 42" oil pipeline from Kirkuk through Jordan to the Port of Haifa in Israel, along the route of an old 8" British oil pipeline. It was arranged so the royalties would be paid to Jordan. The idea was originally proposed by Henry Kissinger, in the 1990s.

With the pipeline in place, Israel would control the flow of oil to Europe and essentially have them by the balls, making Israel rich. Want links? I can give them to you from the Israeli media.

Easy, stop electing Bushes.

You have to admit it's a pretty strong pattern.

Yeah, someone realized what happens when extremists are elected. We need more moderates. And more time

Obama has been every bit as bad as Bush. They're two sides of the same coin. Ron Paul 2012!

Now lets make sure this never happens again.....

It's only wishful thinking if a Republican gets elected for President. Just listen to the rhetoric of the "hopefuls" about Iran...

Just listen to the hopefuls about the removal of US troops. All except Paul want our troops there. Romney just said he's keep 30000 there and if elected we'll see. Not one of the hopefuls even acknowledged the end of the troops being deployed in Iraq. No one said thank you during the debate that was held on the day we left Iraq. They are so concerned about leaving the door open for Iran. In fact they even said we'd be chased out in the earlier debates.

If we look at the donations for President elections from our military, the soldiers are sending you a message. If we add up all the donations to Ron Paul it is bigger than all the other candidates dem & repub (including Obama) combined. They know Ron Paul is the only choice Americans can make if your sick of war. I hope you listen to them, after all they do not own a media outlet. Worse yet, half the country is caucus and you have to show up in order to have your vote counted, which they can not.. So they are counting on YOU to do some homework and they are counting on YOU to do your duty and vote since they are kept out of our election. You will have to represent them. Do you care enough for them to do your part?

There are NO troops still there, apart from about 100 to 175 troops at the American embassy. Sorry to disappoint.

Yea only 175 troops at the embassy. Apparently the number going around is 16,000 but that is the number of State Department employees working at the HUGE embassy in Iraq

Basically the State Department is is outsourcing military duties. American Embassy's normally have Marines as Protectors. In Iraq it is 5000 contrators, most who were former military.

December 18, 2011

As the final U.S. troops leave Iraq, they leave behind the largest U.S. Embassy in the world.

There will be about 16,000 people working for the State Department at the embassy in Baghdad and consulates elsewhere in Iraq.

At least 5,000 of those in Iraq will be private security contractors, and there are lots of questions about whether the State Department is ready to run such a big operation in such a volatile country.

At the State Department in Washington, Undersecretary for Management Pat Kennedy has been getting contracts and other logistics in order for the embassy.

"This is something, clearly, that the State Department has never done before," Kennedy says.

The U.S. Embassy will have 157 American military personnel in charge of facilitating weapons sales to Iraq, and then about 700 civilian contractors around the country helping train Iraqis on the weapons they’ve purchased. U.S. Marines will also guard the embassy, the largest American embassy in the world.

PLUS the US DAO which will have dozens of military at the Embassy.

SO MARK, ALL COMBAT TROOPS OUT OF ALL IRAQ. TRUE

ALL MILITARY OUT OF IRAQ. FALSE.

@ Mark, which are you? A Bankster puppet,, A Blackrock / Haliburton puppet,, A Zionist puppet,, A Obama puppet propaganda puppet,, A oil company puppet,, or just a fool? It really does not matter because you have caused all this. Its your fault. Please GTF out of our country.

We still have over 16000 troops there- you call that pulling out Mark? Sorry to disappoint.

The troops will be in Kuwait, moron...

Go read posts#1.57, 3.9 and #3.10.

Big Rog in Michigan,

Just a simple question. Do you honestly believe that the US Civilians (US Embassy Employees) would put up with living four to a room at the new "apartment" complex at the US Embassy Compound (over 104 acres).

Try to imagine how a soldier must feel...He is sent by his commander-in-cheif to fight a war maybe to die or to be severely disfigured or something even worse. Then your hands are tied behind your back by the rules of engagement and you can't trust all of your comrades to watch your back (Ft. Hood). Then the commander says that you should pay for your own medical costs if you get wounded because "...you knew the risks when you enlisted...". Then you discover that you will be placed on a potential terrorist list when you return home and oh, by the way, commander-in-cheif now wants you to shoot and kill the very American citizens that you were just overseas fighting for......

One word to describe zbut. asswipe

mudsharktoo,

You are the very reason that I strongly believe in what Candidate Obama promised during the Presidential Debates (a documented verbal contract). To solve the continous deployments of the 1/2 of 1% of US Citizens serving in the US Military; Candidate Obama promised to start the Selective Service (aka Draft) and Mandatory Compulsory US Military Service, so that the 92% of US Citizens that Never Served in the US Military would share the Burden; as "US Military Service is a Civic Duty" and "US Citizenship is not an Entitlement".

And there were also the April 2009 US Military Defense Budgets of President Obama, that caused significant problems here at Afghanistan. Who in their Right mind chops the US Military Defense Budget during 5 Wars (Iraq, Afghanistan, President Obama's Secret Wars, etc.). This also resulted in the permanent loss of 95,000 US Civilian Jobs.

Then in August 2009 President Obama's Political Appointees negotiated the New US Military Rules of Engagement. As to why President Obama's Nominated and Confirmed by US Congress as the Commander of Afghanistan, General McChrystal (Democrat), started to believe that "This Administration Does Not Know What It Is Doing".

August 2009 President Obama sends thousands of overpaid expensive privilaged US Civilians here (Afghanistan) creating a enormous Logistics problem for General McChrystal to provide BurgerKing, Starbucks, Surf and Turf, Pizza Hut, etc. (Flown In) with these overpaid expensive privilaged US Civilians believing that it is the Right to have all of this while living a airconditioned Hotels with swimming pools guarded by US Military. Ask yourself how smart is it to send "Non Combatant" US Civilians requiring US Military Security to a Combat Zone, US Military pulled away from Missions to perform Guard Duty for US Civilians.

2011, President Obama proposed Cuts to the US Military Defense Budget (again), this involved the decreases of US Military Retirements, decreases of US Military Benefits, US Military paying more for TriCare (Health Care), the Reduction In Forces (RIF) of 27,000 US Military Personnel. This RIF is already starting (US Military Commanders already have the criteria lists since September 2011). This RIF will also unemploy xxx,xxx US Civilians that provided support to the 27,000 US Military. We were told all this during Secretary of Defense Gates's last visit here (Afghanistan) and recently again messages from Secretary of Defense Leon Penetta.

I want President Obama's Automatic Budget Cuts of 10% of the US Military Budget to occur. As not only part of his job as Secretary of Defense; but, also wanting to keep his job if President Obama is reelected, President Obama's Appointee Leon Penetta as Secretary of Defense stated December 2011 the 10% Automatic Budget Cuts of the US Military Defense Industrial Complex would result in One Million US Civilians becoming Unemployed. When these One Million US Civilians become Unemployed they will no longer have money to spend on Retail, Fast Food, Car Dealerships, Entertainment, Rent, Utilities, Real Estate, etc. this then results in less or no Local, City, State Revenues (Taxes) and Property Taxes, meaning less money for Law Enforcement, Teachers, Fire Fighters, etc.. I want the above to happen just so that people like you learn the hard way and WAKE THE F**K UP.

I agree, but what other Bush messes has Obama cleaned up?

If you have to ask, it means you haven't done your homework. President Obama has reversed or repealed 142 major Bush directives in the last 3 years - and will be bringing 30,000 troops home from Afghanistan next year as the start of withdrawal. But seriously - please do your homework, and stop asking other people to educate you. It's a bit embarrassing for you that you don't know, considering you're on the Internet, don't you think?

Oh yes, Obama and his Wall Street cabinet are just the best. He is only bringing home troops because his ratings are so slow right now and he is currently campaigning for a second term.

He just signed a bill into law today making it legal to detain Americans indefinitely and the only way they can freed is by his signature. Mark, are you ready to come home from Iraq and start rounding us up?

And as far as these 142 major Bush directives go, which ones exactly?? Gee, we still have the Patriot Act, Wall Street is still running buck wild, he's itching to go to war with Iran, already went to Libya and aided Al Quada (the so-called rebels) to take out Gahddafi on the "humanitarian aid" mission, Guantanamo is still open and can now detain you and I. What exactly has this man done besides bring you home that you actually think is good?

@Todd or Jose

I would like to ask you what I ask every President Obama detractor. To show objectivity and give relevance to ones argument, can you name one thing that you feel President Obama has done well.

I personally couldn't stand President Bush (Jr.... or Sr for that matter) but I can say that I applaud President Bush for the work he did fighting AIDS globally, especially in hard-hit Africa.

Mark, no, it's not really embarrassing. The other "messes" are not self-evident. First, just asserting that Obama repealed Bush directives in no way shows that those directives were "messes." Second, Afghanistan is not a Bush mess, unless you are suggesting that the action in response to 9/11 was ill-taken. Third, I don't think Obama has cleaned up any other Bush "messes," and that is why I asked the question. So, just what Bush directives that Obama "repealed" were messes. Just name 5, since you are so well versed, and explain why they constitute messes. Fourth, it is not I who suggests that Obama cleaned up other Bush messes, so I have no duty to research the truth of the claim. You, or Solbro, should do your own homework if you're going to make the claims.

Political bickering. Both of you grow up and do your own homework. Figure out the truth. Right now the system is decaying. Pure fact. Republican or Democrat, really makes no difference anymore. Middle class will become virtually extinct very soon.

Another with their closed-minded head in the sand.

Like bush setting a withdraw date in Iraq, Obama has done that in Afghanistan. We will be out in 2014 per Terms sheet. Has anyone here read it? Quite an accomplishment I must say. Unlike Bush there is a written plan on our actions in Afghanistan and Pakistan. And if our military had it's way in 2009 we would be there until 2020 with 70000 more troops than Obama sent. Google Obamas' Afghanistan fact sheet. It's not media hype or right or left views. It's what happened. For this THANK YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA

solbro - The ending of the Halliburton War -another Bush mess cleaned up by Obama -

ENOUGH ALREADY, you are making all US Citizens, the Democratic Party seem really Uneducated, Uninformed. Even the Afghans here with only internet access once a week know:

THE WAR AT IRAQ started with:

President Clinton's 1998 State of the Union Address, demanding US Congress pass into US Law, H.R. 4655, Justification Weapons of Mass Destruction:

Together we must also confront the new hazards of chemical and biological weapons, and the outlaw states, terrorists and organized criminals seeking to acquire them. Saddam Hussein has spent the better part of this decade, and much of his nation's wealth, not on providing for the Iraqi people, but on developing nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the missiles to deliver them. The United Nations weapons inspectors have done a truly remarkable job, finding and destroying more of Iraq's arsenal than was destroyed during the entire gulf war. Now, Saddam Hussein wants to stop them from completing their mission. I know I speak for everyone in this chamber, Republicans and Democrats, when I say to Saddam Hussein, "You cannot defy the will of the world", and when I say to him, "You have used weapons of mass destruction before; we are determined to deny you the capacity to use them again.

President Clinton demanding the Overthrow of President Hussein with passage of US Law, H.R.4655 "Iraqis Liberation Act of 1998", justification Weapons of Mass Destruction. After passage of this US Law, my men, women, myself are sent into Iraq to buy hundreds of thousands of insurgents and assassins to Overthrow President Hussein. When this failed we were on the ground just outside of Baghdad doing Target Damage Assessments during Operation Desert Fox.

Scoll down to Section 2 "Finding":

http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1057063/posts

After the lesser means of H.R.4655 Failed to Overthrow President Hussein, US Congress used the Final Option, the US Military, by Declaring War With Iraq with US Law, 2002 Iraqi War Resolution. My men, women, myself are redeployed from Afghanistan to Northern Iraq to conduct Operation Hotel California 2002 to 2003; prior to the 2003 US Military Liberation of Iraq.

Declaration of War with Iraq: 2002 Iraqi War Resoluiton.

http://uspolitics.about.com/od/wariniraq/a/jt_resolution.htm

And before you start with the uneducated "This is not a Declaration of War" Read the whole thing as Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both the House and Senate. AND IT IS US CONGRESS NOT THE US PRESIDENT THAT DECLARES WAR.

Because President Obama did not have a US Law like these for Libya what he did was Illegal (Violation of US Law), Unfunded (No US Congressional Appropriations), War Criminal (Violation of International Law, International Court of Justice at the Hague.). H.R.4655 "Iraqis Liberation Act of 1998" with US Congressional Appropriations covered both President Clinton's, President Bush's, President Obama's arses. 2002 Iraqi War Resolution with US Congressional Appropriations covered President Bush's and President Obama's arses.

mudsharktoo - Obama has done that in Afghanistan. We will be out in 2014 per Terms sheet.

Nice try. In less than 7 months my men, women, myself will be "Too Old" for anymore Involuntary Recalls to Active Duty (again, again and again). It will be our successors that will be stuck here for at least a decade after 2014.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/08/national/main20117702.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;4

We originally started at Iraq as the US Military Training Teams to US Ally Iraq during the Iran Iraq Wars, rotated here (Afghanistan) as part of Operation Cyclone, training the 1980s Pro US Afghan Muhajeen, NOT Osama Bin Laden, NOT Al Quada, NOR the Taliban. As Osama Bin Laden was still living with his rich relatives at Saudi Arabia forming the new Islamic Jihadist Organization, Al Quada. The 1990s Fundamentalist Islamic Taliban were those Pro USSR Afghans that fled into Fundamentalist Islamic Iran. Other Missions at Somalia, etc.. After the 9/11 2001 Attacks we were sent into Afghanistan to Overthrow the Fundamentalist Islamic Taliban Government that was providing Osama Bin Laden and Al Quada Islamic Sanctuary, and supporting the Islamic Jihadist Training Camps (documented here, http://dougstanton.net/). Those of us that survived are deployed to Northern Iraq to conduct Operation Hotel California, 2002-2003. Afterwards, other missions at other nations (including Iraq again with General Petraeus and General McChrystal). Eventually, we return to Afghanistan after R&R, reorganization (replacements of our dead), retraining (get used to the replacements and assess them), etc., so we have been here (Afghanistan) since Brit Major General John McColl, Many other Nations Commanders, General McNeill, General McKiernan, General McChrystal, General Petraeus conducting US Military Asymmetric Mountain Warfare (if you think the US Military is screwed up try serving with the Commanders of the other Nations).

Mark, you are the one who is misinformed. There are still military personnel (soldiers, troops..whatever you want to call them) in Iraq. To say there are none is false.

HAHA Your delusional Mark if you think this is over.Take your head out of your (*)

Mark, you keep posting contradictory statements all over this thread, yet trumpeting statements about the "uninformed masses". Seriously guy, go to bed.

I did some "internet research" because you seemed so adamant - like a dictator squashing other people for their ignorant posts.

When did you last do YOUR research?

It must be a bit embarassing for you after you read the multiple articles about 16,000 State Department workers going to Iraq, don't you think?

@rust

Would you be so kind as to share the source of your "internet research". Please, no home-made You_Tube videos though.

Mark, I hope you're right. We'd all be screwed otherise.

The estimated total cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan war is 4 trillion--this includes the cost health care and disability costs to veterans. What does 4 trillion dollars buy? It could increase federal spending on primary and secondary education 57 times! Imagine the impact? It could pay for complete four year scholarships (with room and board) to state universities for 100 million Americans (20 million if you send them to the best private liberal arts colleges in the country). You could rebuild the entire interstate highway system 9.5 times or every man, woman, and child could get free oil in the US for over five years. It could reduce the unfunded obligations of Social Security by one third. What did we get for 4 trillion dollars? We "won" a cowboy fight between Sadam and Bush at tremendous costs to human life and brought the United States to the brink of financial ruin--I'd say the terrorists won and won on the cheap. For 4 trillion dollars, we could have won a domestic war on poverty, drugs, or cancer, but we aren't smart enough for that.

That is false. The only soldiers who will stay there are between 100 - 175 troops at the American embassy.

Mark, if you are going to insist you are the only one who is right on this thread, you should make your statements consistant.

Every last troop has left. It's over. Period. That's it.

The ONLY people who will be staying are only about 100 or 150 officials at the American embassy. That's IT

Which is IT?

100-175?

Every last troop has left....PERIOD? (that statement means there are absolutely NO troops...)

OR 100-150?

You can't flip flop between "facts" then whine cuz nobody's listening to you.....

logical positivist - What does 4 trillion dollars buy?

Do you really want to know. Or are you just b!tching.

The majority of that money goes to the payroll of expensive overpaid privilaged US Civilians (DOD, US Department of State, Political Appointees, etc.); then there are also the expensive overpaid privilaged US Civilians of the US Contractors.

example: US Civilian Truck Driver, first year probationary $200, 000, after probation $300,000 each year. Benefits of US Department of State Employees plus US Military Benefits. Lives at a Secure Hotel with airconditioning and swimming pool guarded by US Military or Security Contractors (US or Foreign). Vehicle Maintenance provided by US Civilians of US Contractors.

US Military Truck Driver (with 3 years service), $35,000 per year (including "Hazardous Duty Pay" aka Combat Pay). US Military Benefits. Must provide own Security as a Combatant, "Convoy Security". May be called to become a Combatant "Infantry". Performs Own Operator Level Vehicle Maintenance. Usually, performs additional duty of guarding the secure Hotel of the US Civilians. Lives with three others in a modified shipping container.

Mark-2446186 - The ONLY people who will be staying are only about 100 or 150 officials at the American embassy. That's IT.

You are so funny. 100 or 150 is just the US Civilians that work at the BurgerKing (maybe replaced by McDonalds), Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Subway, TGI Fridays, Baskin Robbins, (they said KFC was coming), etc. at the US Embassy Compound Iraq.

WHY DON'T YOU GET OFF YOUR LAZY ARSE AND LOOK AT THIS SITE (start adding up all the US Civilian jobs):

http://iraq.usembassy.gov/

http://iraq.usembassy.gov/u.s.-citizens.html

I already mentioned this part (of http://iraq.usembassy.gov/u.s.-citizens.html at post #1.57):

I even posted pictures of the Apartment Complex at the US Embassy Compound that can easily house over 15,000 (A US Military Infantry Division).

http://images.alarabiya.net/e2/29/640x392_1146_117243.gif

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=us+embassy+iraq&view=detail&id=423EEA895D15841CF5A129B28D36954E0BE42518&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

http://media.photobucket.com/image/us%20embassy%20iraq/johnlknight/USEMBASSYIraq.jpg

One of many sections of the apartment complexes on the US Embassy Compound.

http://media.mcclatchydc.com/smedia/2007/10/18/16/943-18web-USIRAQ-EMBASSY-RUSH.standalone.prod_affiliate.91.jpg

More of the sections of the apartment complexes on the US Embassy Compound

http://www.corrupt-gov.com/images/the-faces-of-war/us-iraq-embassy2.jpg

Actual US Embassy:

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01862/embassy_1862795c.jpg

There is something seriously wrong with you Mark-2446186

First you said 5,000. Now you're saying 20,000. Fascinating - considering the actual number of private contractors - who will be doing nothing but BUILDING THINGS - is actually 2,800, according the state department, CNN, and every other news outlet. Instead of taking stabs in the dark, please just look things up.

Mark, the Iraqis have hired several " security " contractors. The estimated number of personnel is around 6,000. if you don't know what security personnel are, read up on mercenaries. There will be militery troops at all embassy sites in Iraq. Estimated total, at 4,000. The contractors who do the building and re-building, all have their own "security ", estimated at 2,000 to 3,000. it is also estimated that about 30,000 troops will stay in Quait, just in case. How long? Well, the war with Germany and Japan ended in 1945, and we still have troops stationed there. South Korea in I think 1953, and we still have troops there. So, in reality, we still have 42,000 fighting forces in iraq.

A co-worker of mine (in private securtiy) who just got out of the Marines after 8 years and is Iraqis War Vet. told me yesterday that his old unit was just re-deployed back to Iraqis. Maybe what the American public is told may not be always truthful.

You can try to point out reality to someone like 'Mark' but in the end he just gets upset unless everyone else agrees with him. Instead of abusing people by making them educate you why don't you do your own homework.

As soon as possible?

We have a neo-facist in office right now.

The Bush administration and Maliki Government have agreed on a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces. The timetable would lead to the withdrawal of all American combat forces from Iraq by the end of 2011 and leave behind a residual force for training and support. All U.S. forces would be out of Iraqi cities by the middle of 2009. [Washington Post, 8/22/08]

And yet the candidates want to continue with the Iraq war, except Paul. Just yesterday Mitt said adding 30000 troops to Iraq would be a good idea. Does anyone listen to the would be Presidents that the republican party has on the stage?

Hey sax...Have you alays been an idiot or is it new for you ?

Is there any way we can vote for Ron Paul's foreign policy ideas and NOT all the other crazy stuff he spouts? I must admit I tend to have a "love/hate" relationship with his positions.

Other than Ron Paul, the rest of the Republicans wanted us to stay engaged in Iraq. Obama continued following the Bush timeline for ending the war. It's over, no going back unless you listen to Mitt. And if Paul is elected you think he'll have backing from his party. Not. I think you'll be satisfied with the no word.

As a reminder, a little history...

The Bush administration and Maliki Government have agreed on a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces. The timetable would lead to the withdrawal of all American combat forces from Iraq by the end of 2011 and leave behind a residual force for training and support. All U.S. forces would be out of Iraqi cities by the middle of 2009. [Washington Post, 8/22/08]

There were multiple "withdrawal dates" before that. What happened to those?

Agreed moderate. Thank you Bush for that timetable. And thank you Obama for following that timetable. And thank you Obama for having a 2014 time table in Afghanistan. And a little history to those who choose to not remember, no WMD in Iraq.

mudsharktoo - And a little history to those who choose to not remember, no WMD in Iraq.

President Clinton's 1998 State of the Union Address, demanding US Congress pass into US Law, H.R. 4655 "Iraqis Liberation Act of 1998", Justification Weapons of Mass Destruction:

Together we must also confront the new hazards of chemical and biological weapons, and the outlaw states, terrorists and organized criminals seeking to acquire them. Saddam Hussein has spent the better part of this decade, and much of his nation's wealth, not on providing for the Iraqi people, but on developing nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the missiles to deliver them. The United Nations weapons inspectors have done a truly remarkable job, finding and destroying more of Iraq's arsenal than was destroyed during the entire gulf war. Now, Saddam Hussein wants to stop them from completing their mission. I know I speak for everyone in this chamber, Republicans and Democrats, when I say to Saddam Hussein, "You cannot defy the will of the world", and when I say to him, "You have used weapons of mass destruction before; we are determined to deny you the capacity to use them again.

Yes, I realize there were withdrawl dates set by the Bush administration. I also realize that if Obama had ignored the withdrawl dates he would have been given a hard time. I give credit where credit is due. I'm not even remotely an Obama fan but he got us out of Iraq. I give him credit.

What are you going to say when another American soldier is killed in Iraq?

Why were you there?

Maybe you were born after 911......

Yeah, but Obummer wants the credit for it! Of course the truth will be twisted until it was all Obummer's idea to get the troops out, hell he'll even say he flown the plane over to pick them up by the time he's done! Damn Marxists!

Darrell...His name is President Obama to you. Regardless of how you feel about his policies, show some respect for the office. There seem to be a lot of people here that want to rain on their (the soldier's) parade. Get the piss out of your Cheerios and try to be happy for them. This is a great occasion and should be a celebration. There always has to be someone that poops on a party--or is that a party pooper. Oh, well. Why can't you be thankful that these brave men and women are out of harms way--at least for now. Get over yourselves and be happy for the families of these fine soldiers.

No celebration. If it wasn't for the media there would be nothing said by those that sent us there. Where's Bush and Cheney?

mudsharktoo - Where's Bush and Cheney?

You can play with my Bush and my Dick (no bitting).

mudsharktoo - If it wasn't for the media there would be nothing said by those that sent us there.

President Clinton demanding the Overthrow of President Hussein with passage of US Law, H.R.4655 "Iraqis Liberation Act of 1998", justification Weapons of Mass Destruction. After passage of this US Law, my men, women, myself are sent into Iraq to buy hundreds of thousands of insurgents and assassins to Overthrow President Hussein. When this failed we were on the ground just outside of Baghdad doing Target Damage Assessments during Operation Desert Fox.

Scoll down to Section 2 "Finding":

http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1057063/posts

After the lesser means of H.R.4655 Failed to Overthrow President Hussein, US Congress used the Final Option, the US Military, by Declaring War With Iraq with US Law, 2002 Iraqi War Resolution. My men, women, myself are redeployed from Afghanistan to Northern Iraq to conduct Operation Hotel California 2002 to 2003; prior to the 2003 US Military Liberation of Iraq.

Declaration of War with Iraq: 2002 Iraqi War Resoluiton.

http://uspolitics.about.com/od/wariniraq/a/jt_resolution.htm

Ask yourself how smart was it for President Obama to follow President Bush's Withdrawal from Iraq Time Table after the Strategic Situation at Iraq changed.

US Ally King of Saudi Arabia, "President Obama gave Iraq as a gift to Iran on a Golden Platter".

2010, Iran gains control of the Iraqis Northern and Southern Oil Fields, and then gives the contracts to their Iranian Allies the Chinese and Russian Federation.

Did they ever have lights..??

joe jones - Did they remember to turn off the lights?

That is the job of the 25th Infantry Division that are still there before they turn over the US Military Bases to the Iraqis.

They can't stand each other in the middle east Darrell....you're right , won't be long and they'll be at it again........look at Egypt today....what a mess...

Darrell

Your comment is an outright disgrace. By far the most un-American comment on the thread tonight. We have Muslim-American men and women who serve in our Armed Forces to protect the rights of bigots to spew their islamaphobic hate behind the safety of their keyboards. You should be ashamed.

And it was a muzleem American who shot up Fort Hood and killed a lot of people. Probably not such a good idea having them in our military.

Darrell-1928840 - Don't worry, we'll be back.

Even if you are correct you do that. We 3% (US Military Asymmetric Warfare Forces) of the 1/2 of 1% of US Citizens of the US Military, are just a little tired of pulling the weight of the 92% of US Citizens that have NEVER Served in the US Military.

During our US Military Careers (over 30 years) after a while even we get fed up with fixing the mistakes of the Self Serving Professional Politicians (All Parties) that do not give a f**k about their f**k ups after their terms (4 to 8 years) of Office are over.

meanest one, and those that voted for your post.

The 1.8% minority of Islamic Believers living at the US DO NOT determine what Islam is or is not for the Majority 1.5 Billion Islamic Believers Worldwide.

If you do not know what I am talking about, you go spend years of consecutive tours getting a College Degree in Arabic while living with an Egyptian Family, then later on getting a College Degree in Islam (taught in Arabic) also while living with an Egyptian Family. Then spending years of consecutive tours living with the locals at Islamic Nations. Note: Even before that (Egypt) the first Middle East Language that I learned to become "Middle East" Qualified was Farsi (why I could talk with the Shiites at Iraq previously from Iran, and the Kurdistanis (Kurdish form of Farsi); you talk with them in Arabic and they believe you are one of the Iraqis oppressors.

If you can get the 1.5 Billion Islamic Believers to denounce the 109 Suras of the 114 Suras of the Holy Koran (Quran) that Calls All Islamic Believers to War Against the Christians, Jews, Unbelievers for those Death Penalty Crimes Against Allah and His Prophet AND the current Islamic Laws based on those Suras of the Holy Koran (Quran). AND denounce the Penalties for the Islamic Believers that do not participate, the penalties for Islamic Believers that attempt to leave Islam, the penalties for Islamic Believers that speak out against Islam (especially against the Islamic Jihadists); etc. then maybe you can stop all the violence of the Middle East, Islamic Africa, Islamic Asia, etc..

You must also stop the mandatory school curriculum of Hitler's Mein Kampf taught as a success story, and the blame the Jews for everything, "Protocols of the Wise Elders of Zion". And negate the signed Alliance Agreement of the "Islamic World" and Hilter, 1933, "as long as a descendant breaths" aka a Blood Oath, as signed on behalf of the Islamic World by co founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Amin Al Husseini and later founder of the Arab League of Nations, demanding the elimination of Israel. Stuff I had to learn at Egypt as mandatory school curriculum or get kicked out of College.

So, you have the 1.5 Billion Islamic Believers denounce:

1. The 109 Suras of the 114 Suras of the Holy Koran (Quran) Calls to War.

2. The Current Islamic Laws based on the Holy Koran (Quran) Calls to War.

3. The current Islamic Laws, that prevent Freedom of Speech. Enforce Islamic Laws Internationally superseding the Laws of all other Nations. Disobeying 1., and 2. above. And the penalties for leaving Islam.

4. Prevent future automatic (brainwashing) hatred of "Non Islamic Believers" by eliminating the mandatory school curriculum's at Islamic Nations.

5. End of the Islamic Laws, demanding Mandatory Islamic Tithes as used to fund, support the Islamic Jihadists War Against the Christians, Jews, Unbelievers; NOT used to build Mosques, Islamic Cultural Centers, or support the poor of Islam. example: The Imam of NYC having to go to Bahrain to beg for money to build the NYC Islamic Cultural Center.

meanest one,

Do you get it yet. Goes up to number 10, from experience. I have to end here, my hands are freezing, it is in the teens(Fahrenheit) right now (Pamir mountains of Afghanistan). I have to lead my Command Team plus one Support Team to the next location (back online after we get there). My mild frostbite from last year is acting up.

@Mark - did what you suggested and searched online:

US President Barak Obama said Washington will pull out all of
its troops from Iraq, but there are reports that 15,000 employees will remain at
the huge US embassy in Baghdad in addition to several thousands of private
security contractors or mercenaries as they're also known.

This isn't even the post I was replying to. I didn't find it attached to that post and took me a bit to find it. What's up with your site MSNBC?

You must have been in a cave when Bush, Cheney nd Rumsfeld led the American people down the yellow brick road to war in TWO countries and Obama is the villian!! You're in need of a few more bricks!

Steve-1913786 - You must have been in a cave when Bush, Cheney nd Rumsfeld led the American people down the yellow brick road to war in TWO countries and Obama is the villian!!

YOU TOO?

President Clinton demanding the Overthrow of President Hussein with passage of US Law, H.R.4655 "Iraqis Liberation Act of 1998", justification Weapons of Mass Destruction. After passage of this US Law, my men, women, myself are sent into Iraq to buy hundreds of thousands of insurgents and assassins to Overthrow President Hussein. When this failed we were on the ground just outside of Baghdad doing Target Damage Assessments during Operation Desert Fox.

Scoll down to Section 2 "Finding":

http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1057063/posts

After the lesser means of H.R.4655 Failed to Overthrow President Hussein, US Congress used the Final Option, the US Military, by Declaring War With Iraq with US Law, 2002 Iraqi War Resolution. My men, women, myself are redeployed from Afghanistan to Northern Iraq to conduct Operation Hotel California 2002 to 2003; prior to the 2003 US Military Liberation of Iraq.

Declaration of War with Iraq: 2002 Iraqi War Resoluiton.

http://uspolitics.about.com/od/wariniraq/a/jt_resolution.htm

Steve-1913786 - and Obama is the villian!!

Look at the date of the link below. Explain why we were not out of Iraq as promised (verbal Contract).

Explain to the Families of the US Military Killed at Iraq after December 2009.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=BjtUYQNzTFM&feature=endscreen