.....as promised.



3,500 U.S. troops to head home

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A "surge" brigade deployed to Iraq last year is heading back to the United States, the U.S. military said Monday.


U.S. and Iraqi soldiers walk away from a helicopter in a wheat field near Baghdad last week.

1 of 2 About 3,500 soldiers from the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team will go back to Fort Benning, Georgia, over the next few weeks. It is the third surge brigade to leave Iraq, as planned, and two more are scheduled to leave by the end of July.

The U.S. troop increase in 2007, referred to as the surge, was designed to take on the insurgency in and around Baghdad and provide stability for Iraqi politicians to develop legislation and reach accommodation on key national issues.

"The continued drawdown of surge brigades demonstrates continued progress in Iraq," said Gen. Dan Allyn, chief of staff of Multi-National Corps - Iraq.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/...eref=rss_world

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"This is a time for a national imperative not to fail in Iraq." Condoleeza Rice, January 11, 2007

I really hope this will at least make some people back here happy. Most people have nothing good to say about our forces in Iraq and they've been screaming to bring them home since we toppled Saddam, regardless of the consequences. I only hope that this decision was made by the top officials in the military and was not influenced by popular opinion, and that it was the right decision and has not been premature.

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.

"It is extremely difficult for our contemporaries to conceive of the conditions of free banking because they take government interference with banking for granted and as necessary"

-- Ludwig von Mises

God Bless them all

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Aint but three things in this world thats worth a solitary dime,
But old dogs and children and watermelon wine.
Tom T. Hall
http://www.obamatruth.org/

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The woman in my avatar is Cristina Scabbia and the woman in my profile picture is Tarja Turunen
Sun flames and moons glow, timeless the tides will flow, what will I face, what will be mine, fortune and fate the other side...

Post of the week:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inferno You just don't relate to my sense of humor. How about this. Gosh darn funny man living in a whale. doncha know that gawd could do that I betcha he could. wink wink.

I'm all for us getting troops out of there....I just hope that its not happening too soon.

The surge was working really well. I hope this isnt a hasty decision. The insurgents over there have been really smart about waiting for us to draw down our troop numbers and then increasing their attacks from there.

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"The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments"

--George Washington

"Never spend your money before you have earned it."

--Thomas Jefferson

"One man with courage is a majority."

--Thomas Jefferson

__________________
The woman in my avatar is Cristina Scabbia and the woman in my profile picture is Tarja Turunen
Sun flames and moons glow, timeless the tides will flow, what will I face, what will be mine, fortune and fate the other side...

Post of the week:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inferno You just don't relate to my sense of humor. How about this. Gosh darn funny man living in a whale. doncha know that gawd could do that I betcha he could. wink wink.

US troop deployments set to keep Iraq level steady

http://www.reuters.com/article/middl.../idUSN19284036


......as predicted.

They succeeded in their mission.

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McCain/Palin 2008
"We make war that we may live in peace"
"Peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever."
"Keep that faith,keep your courage,stick together, stay strong,do not yield,do not flinch,stand up,we're Americans,we'll never surrender they will"
http://members.cox.net/neddy/bobhope_kerfuffles.wmv
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RnfflRNpwKA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=j-QYIP7o2-A

Yep. War is over.

Here ,Rueters must have recognized the problem with their first effort.This one came 4 hours after your offering.Im sure youre disappointed but folks are still coming home.

http://www.reuters.com/article/gc05/...38547720080519

New Iraq deployments could maintain U.S. force level
Mon May 19, 2008 3:50pm EDT
By Kristin Roberts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Monday it plans to send 39,000 soldiers to Iraq to replace troops scheduled to leave the war zone -- a move that could keep U.S. troop levels steady over the next year.

The United States has 155,000 troops in Iraq and is in the process of reducing that number to around 140,000 by mid-July, ending a "surge" of forces ordered by President George W. Bush last year to curb rampant violence.

While no decision has been made about future U.S. force levels, the deployment orders announced on Monday will ensure that commanders could keep 15 brigade combat teams plus support personnel there through fiscal 2009 if needed.

"All of these forces that we're talking about today are replacement forces," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.

The troops will likely be sent to Iraq starting in October, the first month of the 2009 fiscal year.

Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, plans to assess security conditions after the current round of withdrawals is complete and could recommend further reductions.

Any decision to adjust troop levels after his assessment will yield new deployment orders, Whitman said.

Among the troops scheduled to go to Iraq is a division headquarters unit, seven active-duty brigade combat teams and four Army National Guard brigades.

Since the March 2003 invasion, 4,025 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq and hundreds of soldiers from other nations, along with more than 90,000 civilians.

(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Citing combat teams and brigades isnt neraly as effective as hard numbers.

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