As the Associated Press reports, there was lots of happy talk about the end of combat in Iraq this week throughout the national media, as various media outlets stumbled all over themselves in a desperate (and rather blatant) attempt to pitch the news as a reprise of the famous Vietnam withdrawal imagery. The problem, of course, is that there are still tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq -- and, according to the New York Times, the Obama administration is "planning to more than double its private security guards" there (Blackwater anyone?).
That's the story cable news doesn't want you knowing, because it gets in the way of reporters efforts to pretend to be documenting some sort of iconic military history -- when, at least at this moment, it looks like they may be promoting a new version of George W. Bush's infamously misleading Mission Accomplished/"end of major combat operations" declaration back in 2003 -- a typical form of spin that simultaneously reassures a war-weary public and obscures a permanent-war reality.
Now, sure, there is a story in the U.S. government changing it's own official story about Iraq. That's definitely newsworthy and even, perhaps, encouraging because it may ultimately mean the fulfillment of President Obama's campaign pledge to actually, really end the war (and I hope and pray this is, in fact, the case). That is, it may preview a true phased withdrawal and a future of genuine change, rather than just a never-ending game of semantics about the difference between "combat" troops and "military advisers" (a game of semantics, by the way, that notoriously marked the Vietnam occupation and its use of military "advisers").
But for any media outlet to pretend that a change in official policy and rhetoric is akin to the end of the war is arguably as misleading as the "March to War" coverage that led us into this conflict in the first place. And I say that because of what the military itself is telling us not in the glamorous high-spotlight national media, but right here at home where troops and their families live.
Notice today's dispatch from the Colorado Springs Gazette, which has been all but ignored by the national media:
In a matter of days, the seven-year-old Iraq war will officially have a new name: Operation New Dawn. At Fort Carson, however, the new day brings few changes.
In a news conference on post Thursday, representatives of the 4th Infantry Division discussed the future of Fort Carson's infantry soldiers, saying that current and scheduled deployments will resume as planned."Our mission has not changed," Maj. Joe Bethel of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team said.
So while it may be comforting to see all the "Breaking News" graphics implying that the Iraq War is effectively over, and while it may be reassuring to watch punditry portraying war analysis as the post-mortem of a conflict that is now history, the reality is that this war continues, and that those Americans who are serving on the frontlines are still in grave danger. As Ken Pollack notes in a Washington Post piece to be published this weekend:
Roughly 50,000 American military personnel remain in Iraq, and the majority are still combat troops... American troops in Iraq will still go into harm's way, they will still accompany Iraqi units on combat missions... American pilots will still fly combat missions in support of Iraqi ground forces, and American special forces will still face off against Iraqi terrorist groups in high-intensity operations. For that reason, when American troops leave their bases in Iraq, they will still, almost invariably, be in full 'battle rattle" and ready for a fight... (The United States) will probably face casualties therein the years to come, regardless of how we label our mission there.
As a proponent of the war, Pollack isn't criticizing this reality, he's celebrating it. And in cheering it on, he tells us the truth. Though that truth may be inconvenient to our national press corps and to hard-core head-in-the-sand partisans, it is, alas, the truth.
Follow David Sirota on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidsirota
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Colonial wars just drag on and on... eventually the colonialists get tired of the bloodshed and crawl home, wondering what happened to the "thousand year Reich" the rightist warmongers promised them.
Empires perish because nobody wants them but the imperialists with their pipe-dreams of glory.
No matter how much money an empire spends, no matter how many lives are sacrificed, no matter if the empire uses force or persuasion to keep the natives down - they keep on coming back generation after generation, until the colonialists realize that they will keep on coming and will never fully submit.
"Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair."
"- another one bites the dust."
Try and find that anywhere else in history..?
I think it's unique...unprecedented...singular...
Yeah, that's the unpleasant truth, Bush Cheney didn't 'invade the wrong country' they knew exactly what they were doing. They don't even have the Nuremburg defense, they followed no orders, they were giving the orders.
One day we may still bring them to trial....
This "pullout" is another fabrication, another attempt to pull the wool over our eyes, billions of dollars more down the rat hole.
And this man is going to cut Social Security benefits.
He will be crushed in 2012.
Palin or Rush Limbaugh?
What have you people have to offer but insults?
Also Obama has said that everything is on the table including SS. His Deficit Commission is also referred to as the Cat Food Commission because of the likelihood it will recommend cuts to SS.
Unfortunately, I can’t give you a link but you might try searching the archives of the Christian Science Monitor for an excellent summary of the backgrounds of the commission members. You will find that the vast majority have been advocates of cutting.
I believe the Congress will pass the Cat Food Commission’s recommendations and Obama will sign them into law.
But hey, what happened? Wouldn't Bush II lend Bush III [aka Obama] his "Mission Accomplished" banner?
Wait til you see the bill for the State Department when they take over from the Defense Department later this year, or early next year. The State Department will have about 5,000 people in Iraq (nation building), and need more than 7,000 contractors to provide security and logistics services. Costs are estimated to be around a Billion a year .....
"Abra-Cadabra, Presto-Chango, You're ALL Civilized now."
as we head out the door.
Accuse me of being petulant or a shill, and you reinforce my unhappiness.
Word salad aside, changing the role on paper of 50,000 troops is not a withdrawal or draw-down. Neither is bringing in more contractors, regardless of the number.
I could respect the administration if they said something along the lines of "We haven't met the goals promised, we're sorry and here's what we're doing to rectify it". Instead, they apply tactics honed by previous administrations and seem surprised that it makes people more unhappy.
Tell me the truth and I will respect you. Sell yourself as change and transparency and then act like the worst of business as usual and you lose my support and respect. Double down with false arguments, ad hominen and whatever else, and I will actively work against you.
Take what I've said and apply it over the last two years to everything from not holding wall Street accountable, perpetuating/condoning Bush era abuses, backroom deals with pharma and insurance, all the way up to the pathetic HAMP spin and the debt commission and it doesn't take a lot of brain cells to figure out why people are upset.
Keep banging your head against the wall, but if you act like business as usual and you'll get treated like business as usual.
The current mission is to stabilize a country that will never be stable as long as we are there.
And also to feed Xe and the rest of the MIC.
Again: this is not a "war", and it hasn't been a war since Saddam's forces surrendered. It was and is an "occupation." The reality is that this "occupation" continues, yes, but the war is long since over.
After France surrendered to Germany in 1940, France and Germany were no longer at war. After that time, Germany occupied France. Many French resisted this occupation. But the two countries were no longer at war.
After Iraq surrendered to America in 2003, Iraq and American were no longer at war. After that time, America occupied Iraq. Many Iraqis resisted this occupation. But the two countries were no longer at war.
It's hard for me to imagine how very intelligent people can just blithely go forward whilst swallowing and regurgitating total lies regarding this situation--like Mr. Sirota does in this article. I just don't get it.
Boom! Bang! Clang! The Wizard will not be crossed!
Dorothy isn't buying it.
50,000 plus TROOPS remain in Iraq and the "war" that isn't a "war" isn't over.
The Wizard is a fraud.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11023144
Itchy.
This Iraqi woman expresses everything I've been reading and seeing on the news: water and electricity don't work, there isn't a government, there are still attacks. My heart goes out to this country, and I hope they will be able to find their way, but I'm glad our combat troops are coming home ☮