Is the US now in the 'end game' in Iraq?

[Merlin]

This depends on a national referendum to be held in Jan 2010.

Biden: US will follow Iraq wishes on troop pullout

2 days ago [AP] BAGHDAD — Vice President Joe Biden pledged Thursday to follow Iraq's wishes should Baghdad decide to speed up the timetable for the withdrawal of American troops from the country.

Speaking to reporters in Baghdad before heading to northern Iraq to meet with Kurdish leaders, Biden said, however, that there were still a number of steps that would have to be taken before Iraq could call a referendum to alter the so-called "status of forces" agreement.

The agreement currently calls for the withdrawal of American combat forces by the end of August 2010 and all U.S. troops by the end of the following year.

Parliament approved the agreement in November on condition that it is put to a vote in a national referendum. The Iraqi government has agreed to hold the referendum in conjunction with parliamentary elections in January. If voters reject the agreement in the referendum, U.S. forces would have a year to withdraw instead of by the end of 2011.

Biden, the White House's point man in Iraq, said upon his arrival in Baghdad on Tuesday that Iraqi leaders had indicated to him that the referendum was "likely to happen," but added the caveat, "I'm not sure it's settled yet."

"Whatever the Iraqi people decide, we will abide by it," Biden told reporters Thursday.

Biden is on a three-day trip to Iraq, his third this year, and has been meeting with local leaders to discuss issues including bridging lingering political and sectarian differences and plans for January's national elections. ....

[Julie]

Army Cancels Order for 3,500 Troops to Be Sent to Iraq

The 10th Mountain Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team at Fort Drum was scheduled to head to Iraq in January, but due to an improving security situation the commander decided not to send them.

The Army has canceled orders for 3,500 soldiers out of upstate New York to be deployed to Iraq, just weeks after the top U.S. commander in Iraq signaled he would try to draw down forces faster than planned.

The 10th Mountain Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team at Fort Drum was scheduled to head to Iraq in January, but due to an improving security situation the commander decided not to send them.

Fort Drum spokeswoman Julie Cupernall told FOX News the move does not represent a change in mission. She said this brigade now falls into a "pool of deployable brigades," meaning they could be sent to Afghanistan.

President Obama is expected to make a decision in the coming weeks on whether to send thousands more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

But for the moment, there is a sense of relief among the soldiers at Fort Drum. The January deployment would have meant the soldiers would leave their homes in late December and miss the holidays. They presumably will have that time at home.

Gen. Ray Odierno, the top commander in Iraq, told a congressional committee in late September that despite looming security concerns the United States is speeding up its withdrawal from Iraq.

He said he expects to meet Obama's deadline of sending home all but 50,000 by September 2010 as the military ends its combat mission there.

Army Cancels Order for 3,500 Troops to Be Sent to Iraq - Political News - FOXNews.com

[Parihaka]

Army Cancels Order for 3,500 Troops to Be Sent to Iraq


Damn fine.

[Mobbme]

Why was my post (video link) deleted? I'd really appreciate answers, since it is a privilege being on this forum and not my right. One of ya'll upper powers can send me a private msg, I don't mind that.

If you can't teach your soldier to do simple jumping jacks, how you going to teach him/her to aim and shoot a gun? lol

[Kermanshahi]

The war is far from over, but the American involvement is.

[Ironduke]

Why was my post (video link) deleted? I'd really appreciate answers, since it is a privilege being on this forum and not my right. One of ya'll upper powers can send me a private msg, I don't mind that.

If you can't teach your soldier to do simple jumping jacks, how you going to teach him/her to aim and shoot a gun? lol

I deleted it because it seemed to be off-track. I prefer that discussions in non-Pub forums be kept on-track and serious as well as we're able to keep them.

[Mobbme]

I deleted it because it seemed to be off-track. I prefer that discussions in non-Pub forums be kept on-track and serious as well as we're able to keep them.

ay ay, understood, roger that!

[Dreadnought]

He is a Chief Master Sergeant in the USAF
As high as you can go in enlisted ranks (E-9)

John Gebhardt's wife, Mindy, said that this little girl's entire family was executed. The insurgents intended to execute the little girl also, and shot her in the head...but they failed to kill her. She was cared for in John's hospital and is healing up, but continues to cry and moan. The nurses said John is the only one who seems to calm her down, so John has spent the last four nights holding her while they both slept in that chair. The girl is coming along with her healing.

He is a real Star of the war, and represents what America is trying to do.

This, my friends, is worth sharing. Go for it!! You'll never see things like this in the news. Please keep this going. Nothing will happen if you don't, but the American public needs to see pictures like this and needs to realize that what we're doing over there is making a difference. Even if it is just one little girl at a time.

James Gates U. S. Navy

[lwarmonger]

The big concern here now among most of the Iraqi's in the ISF that I speak with isn't how to tackle the Sunni insurgency but the possibility of a foriegn invasion after we leave. Iran is big on their list of worries. As it should be.

[Kermanshahi]

The big concern here now among most of the Iraqi's in the ISF that I speak with isn't how to tackle the Sunni insurgency but the possibility of a foriegn invasion after we leave. Iran is big on their list of worries. As it should be.

A US-sytle invasion from Iran is impossible, well they have the military power, but it will never happen. What could happen however, is an Iranian backed coup. It depends who wins the elections, the Shi'a UIA has now split up, the UIA (SIIC and Sadrists) are still strong allies of Iran, if they win, they are likely to completely side with Iran after America leaves. The Dawa party has been an ally of the Iranian regime even before they (the Iranian regime) came to power, however under Maliki they have been taking a more and more nationalist path (instead of Shi'a Islamist) and Iran has never got along well with Arab nationalists (like Saddam). Dawa has recently been p*ssing off Iran, the other Shi'a parties and the Kurds, today they are still on friendly enough terms with Iran, but if they continue on this path a coup cannot be left out. The Shi'a parties in the UIA (in particular SIIC/Badr) control the security forces so...
And if such coup does take place, it's possible they would call in Iranian help and Iranian forces enter Iraq to help them fight political opponents (such as Sunni insurgents). But than again, the Iranian regime has never been keen on these kind of things, I think it's unlikely, but the possibility cannot be left out.

As for the threat of the Sunni Insurgency, it cannot just be put off as nothing. Anyone can see they are regrouping and their strength is going and with Maliki disbanding the awakening militia it can become very dangerous. I don't think they'll ever have the power to seize power of all of Iraq, but they can take control of the Sunni areas, it can lead to Iraq breaking up. Which itself isn't a negative thing at all, however having the Ba'athists or al-Qaeda in charge of a seperate state in the middle of the Middle East, that's not something you want...

[Officer of Engineers]

Doesn't change that fact that Iraqi eyes, if not guns, are looking east.

[Kermanshahi]

Doesn't change that fact that Iraqi eyes, if not guns, are looking east.

Depends, Iraq isn't that simple and "the Iraqi" doesn't exist, for those people that were made "Iraqis" by the British their sub-identities are much more important and there are many different factions involved, some anti-Iranian, some pro-Iranian.

[Officer of Engineers]

I will rephrase. It doesn't change the fact that Iraqi Generals are looking east if not pointing their guns east.

[pChan]

What could happen however, is an Iranian backed coup. It depends who wins the elections, the Shi'a UIA has now split up, the UIA (SIIC and Sadrists) are still strong allies of Iran, if they win, they are likely to completely side with Iran after America leaves. The Dawa party has been an ally of the Iranian regime even before they (the Iranian regime) came to power, however under Maliki they have been taking a more and more nationalist path (instead of Shi'a Islamist) and Iran has never got along well with Arab nationalists (like Saddam). Dawa has recently been p*ssing off Iran, the other Shi'a parties and the Kurds, today they are still on friendly enough terms with Iran, but if they continue on this path a coup cannot be left out. The Shi'a parties in the UIA (in particular SIIC/Badr) control the security forces so...
And if such coup does take place, it's possible they would call in Iranian help and Iranian forces enter Iraq to help them fight political opponents (such as Sunni insurgents). But than again, the Iranian regime has never been keen on these kind of things, I think it's unlikely, but the possibility cannot be left out.

You sound as if any Iraqi political entity that is not bent on shia islamist thing would be overthrown by coup. In short you want an Iranian proxy in Baghdad. Anyways I don't much about the iraqi internal politics how did these sadrists/UIC people perform in the recent elections? I remember someone in this board mentioned that they were not successful.

[Shek]

Depends, Iraq isn't that simple and "the Iraqi" doesn't exist, for those people that were made "Iraqis" by the British their sub-identities are much more important and there are many different factions involved, some anti-Iranian, some pro-Iranian.

A heck of a lot of Shias were willing to die fighting Shias from 1980-1988. After a couple of generations, there was an Iraqi-identity. The low/mid-grade civil war stripped some of that identity away, with identity loyalties reverted back to sub-national structures, but the fact remains that a large minority of Iraqis are in inter-sectarian marriages and inter-sectarian tribes, and so however artificial the construct may have been a century ago, time has erased most of that artificiality.