Thread: Obama and Iraq

Now that the election is over, campaign "promises" can bow to reality. Obama's already hedged on the removal of "combat" brigades from Iraq prior to the election, and it won't happen in the 16 month timeline that he proposed as a plank earlier in the election. Also, notice how the rhetoric all along has been about "combat" brigades. What is a "combat" brigade? If the brigade is embedded as advisors across several Iraqi brigades, is it still a "combat" brigade, or assigned temporarily as an "advisory" brigade?

There's plenty of wiggle room, and it is very unlikely in my opinion that the Demcratic Party will place itself into a position where it's seen as weak on defense and responsible for "losing" Iraq given how good conditions are on the ground there today.

I expect that there will be some drawdown of forces, but what we won't see are zero Brigade Combat Teams in Iraq come the summer of 2010.