MSNBC: "Troops out of Iraq? Don't bet on it" (I WAS WRONG ABOUT OBAMA)

The withdrawal now is defintely significant. I frankly did not expect such a large withdrawal by this point and I don't think it was guaranteed and I don't think it would have happened under a republican president and it might not have happened under a different democratic president. No credible news organization would deny the significance of this withdrawal. But also no credible news organization would declare the war over.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38769105/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

WASHINGTON — The United States is on track to draw down its forces in Iraq to 50,000 by Aug. 31, but there are doubts President Barack Obama can fulfill his pledge to withdraw all U.S. troops by the end of 2011.

As a presidential candidate, Obama campaigned to end the now seven-year-old war responsibly, and as president he has been explicit in his assurances to Americans that no troops will remain in Iraq come Jan. 1, 2012.

Easier said than done.

While violence has dipped sharply since the height of sectarian warfare from 2006-2007, Iraq remains fragile and its leaders have not resolved a number of politically explosive issues that could easily trigger renewed fighting.

The United States wants a stable, friendly Iraq, and analysts are skeptical Obama will do anything to jeopardize that.
Iraq's military chief, the former U.S. general who oversaw the training of Iraq's security forces and U.S. officials who negotiated the current U.S.-Iraqi military pact are among those who say a U.S. military presence will be needed beyond 2011.

Obama's defense secretary, Robert Gates, left the door open to that possibility in comments last week while emphasizing that Iraq's new government, still to be formed after an inconclusive election in March, would first have to ask.

(...)

Our troops are still on Iraqi soil. They are our parents, our children, our brothers and sisters, our wives and husbands.

Bring them all home. End the occupation. End this illegal war.

I'll say it again, Obama proved my expectations wrong about this withdrawal. I didn't think it would happen like this.

otherwise, it just appears to be the normal snark.

see the new OP title.

where is my fucking pony?

x(

That's basically all he's doing. I think what most folks can agree upon is that without Obama, a McCain administration would have been trying this whole time to get Iraq to agree to various forms of extensions. Everyone's nervous that, because of the current government, he won't leave. Truth is, the plans are already in place for our continued presence. The "troops" will just be in the state department and they'll be private contractors. In a way that's good, because it makes it more likely that the military will leave. It's bad in that it means we'll never really leave. The money gets spent either way.

50,000 troops is 3x the number originally committed to the invasion of Afghanistan.

Does anyone not recall that we began building a base in Iraq several years ago. It was initially reported to be the size of the Vatican, but I believe it's been scaled back quite a bit. Still, as far as I know, we have and will continue to have a base in Iraq just as we do in many other countries around the world.

and btw: the war's still raging (Americans just don't hear about it anymore):

e.g

In one of the worst attacks this year, at least 57 recruits and soldiers were killed and more than 120 were injured by a suicide bomber at an army recruitment centre in Baghdad yesterday. More than five months after a parliamentary election, the country still has no government. Are the Iraqi security forces able to take over US role, whatever happens in the Iraqi parliament?

http://www.france24.com/en/20100818-iraq-bagdad-bomb-attack-us-victims-suicide-bombing

6 Killed in Iraq Violence

Gunmen shot three people dead and a roadside bomb killed two more in Iraq Wednesday in a streak of violence that has hit the nation as U.S. troops prepare to end their combat operations. On Wednesday, officials say gunmen killed three people outside their homes in Diyala province.

Also, a bomb blast near a courthouse in the northern city of Tikrit killed two people and wounded at least two others. Officials say at least one of the victims killed was a security officer. The attacks come one day after a suicide bomber killed nearly 60 people and left 125 injured at an army recruitment station in Baghdad.

More: http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/6-Killed-in-Iraq-Violence-100978509.html

???

~sigh~ You're post is full of conjecture and no facts. "possible" based on comments is not fact, it's interpretation.