History repeats itself.....the withdrawal from Iraq was expected as the strain on the military is untenable,and now with active combat troops in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Uganda (really ?) and Yemen, we need the resources elsewhere....all this from Mr. Hopey-Changey in the White House...how's that working out for you??Due to the need to send limited resources elsewhere,we are once again encountering the phenomena known as "The Non-Denial Denial "
To wit: " Non-denial denial" is a phrase that became popular in the wake of the Watergate scandal, referring to an equivocal denial, particularly one made by an official to the press."
READ between the lines here as US reacts to stories released stating we are bugging out of Iraq ASAP...This has become the primary MO of the present administration -
Deny, deny, deny....Oh well, you caught us doing it so we might as well fess up....
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U.S.: Still weighing troop withdrawal from Iraq
By Christopher Hinton, MarketWatch
U.S.: Still weighing troop withdrawal from Iraq
By Christopher Hinton, MarketWatch
10/17/11
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Pentagon is denying a weekend report that the U.S. has decided to remove nearly all of its forces from Iraq by the end of the year.
Obama administration officials have considered leaving up to 5,000 troops in the country to train security forces, a strategy that may now have more support in the wake of U.S. allegations that Iran plotted to assassinate a Saudi ambassador.
Iranian power has expanded since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, and American officials worry the Shiite nation could undermine regional U.S. allies Israel and Saudi Arabia.
“Suggestions that a final decision has been reached about our training relationship with the Iraqi government are wrong,” Pentagon press secretary George Little said. “Those discussions are ongoing.”
On Saturday, the Associated Press, citing an anonymous White House official, said all American forces would leave Iraq leave except for about 160 troops attached to the U.S. Embassy.
On Thursday, President Barack Obama said the U.S. would apply the “toughest sanctions” yet against Iran for the alleged plot to kill the Saudi ambassador.
Democratic leaders in the Senate want Obama to specifically target Iran’s central bank, which would potentially block Iran from the global financial system and make it difficult for the country to clear billions of dollars of oil sales every month, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Close to 40,000 Americans are expected to leave Iraq before the end of the year as the U.S. wraps up combat operations, the AP said. Keeping American troops in the country for a longer period has been a divisive subject for Iraqi leaders.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Pentagon is denying a weekend report that the U.S. has decided to remove nearly all of its forces from Iraq by the end of the year.
Obama administration officials have considered leaving up to 5,000 troops in the country to train security forces, a strategy that may now have more support in the wake of U.S. allegations that Iran plotted to assassinate a Saudi ambassador.
Iranian power has expanded since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, and American officials worry the Shiite nation could undermine regional U.S. allies Israel and Saudi Arabia.
“Suggestions that a final decision has been reached about our training relationship with the Iraqi government are wrong,” Pentagon press secretary George Little said. “Those discussions are ongoing.”
On Saturday, the Associated Press, citing an anonymous White House official, said all American forces would leave Iraq leave except for about 160 troops attached to the U.S. Embassy.
On Thursday, President Barack Obama said the U.S. would apply the “toughest sanctions” yet against Iran for the alleged plot to kill the Saudi ambassador.
Democratic leaders in the Senate want Obama to specifically target Iran’s central bank, which would potentially block Iran from the global financial system and make it difficult for the country to clear billions of dollars of oil sales every month, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Close to 40,000 Americans are expected to leave Iraq before the end of the year as the U.S. wraps up combat operations, the AP said. Keeping American troops in the country for a longer period has been a divisive subject for Iraqi leaders.
Christopher Hinton is a reporter for MarketWatch based in New York
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