Obama wants to keep 3,000-5,000 U.S. troops in Iraq into 2012

[alp227]

Source: The Washington Post

The Obama administration would like to keep about 3,000 to 5,000 U.S. troops in Iraq beyond the end of this year but has not begun formal discussions with the Iraqis about the size or makeup of the force, U.S. officials said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has expressed a desire to keep some U.S. trainers in the country in 2012, past the deadline negotiated by the George W. Bush administration to remove all U.S. troops from the country.

But the Iraqi leader faces staunch opposition from key members of his coalition government who are deeply opposed to any U.S. presence. Some members of the coalition have threatened to boycott the government if it allows any U.S. forces to stay.

Senior U.S. officials have said they are hopeful that they will be able to reach an agreement with the Iraqis on maintaining the small training force. The Iraqis will have to agree to any U.S. presence.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-wants-to-keep-3000-5000-us-troops-in-iraq-into-2012/2011/09/07/gIQAcnkhAK_story.html

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Meanwhile, John McCain once said that the military might spend nearly 100 years in Iraq, and Ron Paul would take a heavy anti-interventionist position. And would Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, etc. bring back the GWB cowboy diplomacy?

[TwilightGardener]

1. I'm OK with that. We have a similar troop presence in many places.

[No Elephants]

10. Begging the question, why do we still have troops in placesl like Japan and

Germany?

We need to be decreasing our permanent presence in these places, not adding more places.

[frazzled]

2. Considering we still have 28,500 troops in South Korea ...

3,000-5,000 sounds fairly minimal: about 2% of the number of troops that were there during the war.

We still have troops in Europe and Japan as well. We always leave stuff behind. I'm not defending it. I'm just wondering why this sounds like a big deal when it seems to be SOP.

[No Elephants]

11. Should we still have 28,500 troops in South Korea, though? Bootstrap logic doesn't really work.

Besides, countries are not interchangeable.

Having troops in Japan is not the same as having them in South Korea and having them in South Korea is not the same as having them in Iraq.

[OnyxCollie]

3. The $640 billion dollar question:

How many contractors will remain in Iraq?

[blank space]

7. Considering that for the vast majority of the war

there have been more mercenaries than combat troops that is a very, very good question.

A staggering statistic considering there were upto 130,000 troops there at one stage.

jeremy schahil could answer that maybe.

[Robb]

21. Your "statistic" is only accurate if you do not distinguish between truck drivers and armed guards.

All civilian military support services are not "mercenaries," at least in the historically pejorative sense you wish to convey.

[LetTimmySmoke]

4. I'm in agreement with the others here.

3000 trainers is not the same thing as 200,000 combat troops.

[No Elephants]

14. Maybe, but we started in Vietname with "advisors." And we've supposedly been training Iraqis since

soon after we invaded.

Calling things what they really are is always useful, IMO.

[area51]

20. +1 n/t

[Arctic Dave]

5. Fuck that. If they want to train them do it here.

3-5 thousand is ridiculous.

[neverforget]

6. To those who are okay with this: those people in other countries aren't shooting at us.

We weren't invited there. We invaded illegally based on lies. I am not okay with this. Bring them home. ALL OF THEM.

[boppers]

19. Are you talking about Germany/Japan?

They aren't shooting at us *now*, but we still have troops there 60 years and counting, and it took years for everything to settle down. (And FWIW, a whole lot of lies got us into WWII, the biggest being that we were attacked without provocation).

That being said, I think having foreign soil bases is a bad idea, as is having a standing army. Bring them ALL home and shut the whole damn system down.

[obxhead]

8. The shift begins.

For months it has been we'll stay if they want us to.

Now it's we would like to stay if they'll have us.

[Recursion]

9. Fewer than we have in England. Go for it. (nt)

[scheming daemons]

12. From 100,000 to 5,000 in four years? I'll take it. Promise kept.

[xiamiam]

16. you dont really truly believe its a promise kept..do you?

[Recursion]

17. Yeah. Why wouldn't it be? (nt)

[scheming daemons]

18. Yes.... it most certainly is.

[Demeter]

13. and another Nobel Peace Prize, to go with it?

Ponies for the girls, too!

Bring our people home. Now. All of them. While they are still alive.

[No Elephants]

15. Obama seems to focus a lot on years like 2012, 2013 and 2016. I'm sure that's coincidence, though.