U.S. Troop Withdrawal From Iraq: Share Your Stories

On June 30, 2009, thousands of American troops will withdraw from Iraqi cities. The U.S. and Iraqi governments agreed last year to a security plan which stipulated a withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraqi cities by the end of June. The U.S. military has declined to give the exact number of American soldiers leaving the country. General Ray Orierno, the top American general in Iraq, said last month one-fifth of American troops would remain in Iraqi cities after the June 30 deadline. There are 134,000 soldiers currently serving in Iraq.

The number of suicide attacks in Iraq have increased in the last few months after a period of relative stability. April was the deadliest month in 2009 for both U.S. soldiers and Iraqi citizens.

Will you be affected by the US troop withdrawal? Are you an American soldier leaving Iraq, a family member back home, or an Iraqi living in a city occupied by U.S. troops? The Huffington Post wants to hear from people who will be affected by the drawdown.

If you are a soldier, are you looking forward to leaving? Where will you go? What will you remember most from your tour in Iraq? What are you looking forward to now?

Are you awaiting the arrival of a loved one? How are you preparing? How has your life been affected by your family member's or friend's tour of Iraq?

Do you live in Iraq? Will you feel more or less safe with a diminished U.S. military presence? How has the presence of U.S. troops in your city affected you and your family?

Please submit your story below by Friday, June 26 and limit your thoughts to 150 words.

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Comments

[TheBlackCat]

I'm an army wife, whose husband has already done a tour in Iraq. He is now finishing up his B.A. and is expected to deploy again after he gets out of school. As he is a 1LT in a platoon which is short on officers, the only difference this is likely to make for us is that now he will likely get deployed to Afghanistan instead of Iraq.

[BadgerinNJ]

Where he, unfortunately, will be in danger and more innocent civilians will die. when will this insanity stop? Hey Barack, just say NO to war.

[confidance government]

It doesn't affect me....nor my brother, nor my family. My brother is not part of the proposed troop reduction, and thus is not slated to return home in this time frame.

[JonRaymond]

Oops. http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/03/26/4000-more-troops-set-for-afghanistan-officials-say/

[marignymitch]

But, HuffPo, we're not withdrawing. Haven't you noticed? And permanent war (and permanent profits) is now spreading to Afghanistan/Pakistan.

[JonRaymond]

Shhh. People might write their Congressmen. Then what? End the war? You'll kill the Lockheed and General Dynamics stocks. http://stopwarproject.ning.com

[loki]

Having some good friends coming back now, I am glad. But also having some good friends going over to dismantle and remove certain things, like bridges and such, I am not glad as they will surly be shot at and not have the forces there to protect them like they should .

[whitehawk]

Good blog; Do you realize, every single war America has committed to, started has had a gratuitous component to it? This is the insulting part of America and War....which I must admit, Republicans hold dear to their hearts with praise, glory, 'gone with the wind' analogy. It's crazy, crazy thinking.

[lmvd3]

Finally, our son will be home from Iraq. A lifetime of thanks, President Obama.

[zaz33]

Our granddaughter's husband just got shipped over to Iraq.

Something's not right. ( I just don't trust Obama )

BTW - They hit him up everyday to re-enlist

He wants to discharge the Army and join the Coast Guard.

[vet-of4renwarz]

On the issue of re-enlistment.. that has more to do with retention ncos who are in it for themselves.. meeting the quotas...

On the issue of troop movement, that has to do with incompetent boneheads that works in human resource command... i have four buddies that got orders to ship to iraq when they have 1 year and 2 weeks left on their contract... when they questioned the command all they get were: o legally they can do that since all you need is a one year for deployment.. ask anyone who's been over there, it takes longer than a year...

So write to your congress and let them know your situation... my friends did... get these incompetent boneheads outta management positions if they don't know how to do it...

It has nothing to do with President Obama..

[JonRaymond]

He's pulling out troops for Afghanistan, but 50,00 will remain, if you can call that a pull out. http://stopwarproject.ning.com

[Coinyer101]

When they start puling them out of the country 1-2 brigades a month, then I 'll get giddy.

[marignymitch]

I think you're going to have to find another way to get giddy.

[JonRaymond]

Invest in General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin. Translate dead bodies into cold cash. This is America. http://stopwarproject.ning.com

[Nazz]

we should have taken the fight to those Ass**** Taliban in Afghnistan who attacked us ..But Dubya & the VP got us into a phony war in Iraq & look at the cost our nation paid.... 2Trillion $ spent. 4200 soilders dead, 40-50000 soilders seriously injured ... & Cost to Iraq ... its infrastructure devastated totally, 4 million people left Iraq, 2 million displaced inside the country 1/2million killed ...what a tragedy & look at the lies both W & Cheney told us ...& the media did nothing ..No hard Questions asked ...

[dzent1]

They were ARABS from Saudi Arabia, not Taliban from Afghanistan.

The whole thing is a crock to provide cover for a trans-Afghan oil pipeline that the Taliban wouldn't grant, so the US used 911 as a convenient excuse. Doesn't anybody see the big picture here?

It's ALWAYS OIL.

[confidance government]

Nah, sometimes its
Colbalt, Nickel, Timber, Iron, Gold, Diamonds, Silver, etc. ad infinitum.

[LiberalBuzz]

It means my neighbor down and across the street will finally, hopefully be coming home for good and not worried that after FOUR tours he doesn't make it back. We've already lost two and we are a small town. One is too many two is too many and on and on.

[vet-of4renwarz]

Just remember them whenever you see our flag raised...

[JonRaymond]

The flag that put them there. The flag that stands for war profiteering. The flag of the country that makes education a last priority and war a first. The flag of the country with highest per capital prison population in the world, of he country that commits preemptive war, that doesn't count Iraqi deaths because they're just Iraqis. The country that dehumanizes Muslin people by calling the "hodgie" as a matter of standard military procedure. The country that doesn't take care of it's injured veterans, now in the 30,000s, and 20% of whom have chronic illness and wait indefinitely to get any assistance from this country that flies this flag.

Is that the the flag of the country you salute?

http://stopwarproject.ning.com

[marignymitch]

I sincerely hope your neighbor survives upcoming deployment to Afghanistan/Pakistan.

[devanate]

Well, it should certainly be a relief on the economy and the stature of the U.S.
That should be a positive effect for all Americans.

[Palemoon]

Can someone help me call out Wikipedia on glaring errors and misinformation they are spreading about Iraq and Al Qaeda?

This has to do with revisionist history that is already going on. Especially in regards to the "Al Qaeda In Iraq" group. A quote from Wikipedia's page on al-Zarqawi...

"He formed al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, in the 1990s, and led it until his death in June 2006." Hmmm, one problem with that, he led no such terror group at all, until late 2003, early 2004 when it was translated as "Al Qaeda In Iraq".

They also state "Following the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, it is believed that Zarqawi moved westward into Iraq, where he may have received medical treatment in Baghdad for an injured leg." Now, last time I checked, neither Jordan, nor Germany, are east of Iraq. Why do I point that out? His obituary timeline courtesy of the BBC...

"Western intelligence indicated Zarqawi had sought refuge in Europe."

"German security forces later uncovered a militant cell which claimed Zarqawi was its leader."

"Cell members told their German interrogators their group was 'especially for Jordanians who did not want to join al-Qaeda'."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5058262.stm

Compare that information with the information found on Wikipedia. Seems Wikipedia has distorted facts, embellished tall tales, and behaves in a propaganda-like manner. I think Huffington Post should call out Jimmy Wales and his Wikipedia.

[trixtah]

Um, Wikipedia is a publicly-edited site. If there are errors that you can correct, WITH REFERENCES, go knock yourself out.

It's not the mysterious "Wikipedia" that writes the page, it's people like you and me. And sure, some people like you and me are using Wikipedia for propaganda purposes. So, go fix it.

[humuhumunukunukuapuaa]

"After six years our troops will completely withdraw from Iraq, leaving nothing behind but memories and 50,000 troops"
-Stephen Colbert

[marignymitch]

Amen, humuhumunukunukuapuaa and colbert.

[federalist papers fan]

...and democracy

[harold1965]

Hundred of thousands including more that 4,000 US finest lost their lives due to this unfortunate war. A war of choice and personal war of one heartless man. All US forces have to return home without delay.

[diak0n0s]

I'm afraid that' not going to happen.

Especially after the President escalates the war in Afganistan.

[vet-of4renwarz]

If we would've focused our efforts (money and human resource) there in the first place to finish the job instead of fighting on two fronts.. the war in Afghanistan would've been over a long time ago..

[EHarold]

and 250k contractors will still be there.. Not really getting out now are we?

[vet-of4renwarz]

That's right, someone should look into the Blackwater mercs still running around there like cowboys..