Let's keep this thread kicked until all U.S.and Coalition troops are out of Afghanistan and Iraq

[Ken Burch]

They're supposed to be out of Iraq tomorrow. We all know they won't be.

And we have no way of knowing for sure when(if ever) they'll be home from the 'Stan.

Let's remember them. Let's remember all who have been wounded or killed and all who are still being hurt or lost in these places(all of whom are suffering for no good reason).

Let's make SURE they get home.

Keep this going until the nightmare is over. It's not much, but it's something.

[corkhead]

1. I like it. kick

[Dinger]

19. Same Here. K & R

[corkhead]

26. Echo... Echo... Echo...

[bigwillq]

2. Kick

:bounce:

[Ken Burch]

3. Thanks

People are dying. The least we can do is keep this going.

[babylonsister]

4. Tomorrow? Link? And btw...

http://washingtonindependent.com/85216/lt-gen-austin-americas-last-iraq-war-commander


Lt. Gen. Austin: America’s Last Iraq War Commander
By Spencer Ackerman 5/19/10 12:45 PM


It’s official. Army Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the director of the Joint Staff and a former corps commander in Iraq under Gens. David Petraeus and Raymond Odierno, has been nominated to command the final phase of the Iraq war. The respected Austin’s confirmation is pretty much certain.

If and when Austin returns to Iraq, he’ll be tasked with executing the total withdrawal of 50,000 U.S. forces by December 2011, in line with the U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement. By September, the war will be officially renamed Operation New Dawn to reflect the massive change in focus. There’s a chance there still won’t be a new Iraqi government for Austin to partner with, but his primary mission aside from the withdrawal will be advising and assisting the Iraqi army and police, even as insurgent violence against U.S. forces and Iraqi civilians persists. His confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee — not yet scheduled — will probably be the most fulsome discussion so far of how national leadership views the end of the U.S.’s long and unhappy presence in Iraq.

[Ken Burch]

5. We were told "16 months"

Even if it's a month from tomorrow, it's not going to happen. And given the power of the war machine, we have no reason to trust the date you mention.

BTW, this isn't an anti-Obama thread. I'd be starting this if any other president were doing the same thing on these issues. I'd be starting it if KUCINICH had been elected and was letting the Pentagon having its way. It's not personal against this particular president.

[babylonsister]

6. Who told you 16 months? LINK? nt

[Ken Burch]

8. Here's your link

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE4B05IW20081201

And no, the "listen to the military advisors" language doesn't get the admin off the hook. Military advisors never want a war to end. They just want the killing to go on forever.

[ProSense]

11. Now,

deal with reality:

President Obama declared the beginning of the end of one of the longest and most divisive wars in American history on Friday as he announced that he would withdraw combat forces from Iraq by August 2010 and all remaining troops by December 2011.

<...>

“Let me say this as plainly as I can,” Mr. Obama said. “By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end.”

He added: “I intend to remove all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011. We will complete this transition to Iraqi responsibility, and we will bring our troops home with the honor that they have earned.”

link

But feel free to kick the thread until then.

[jeanpalmer]

18. Here's what he said in Oct 2007

"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." By 2008, it had become 16 months (May 31, 2010). Now, it's August 31 and it's not all combat troops out of Iraq but rather "our combat mission will end." It's been reported that at least 5,000 special ops troops, which are combat troops, will remain after August 31. At any rate, he has 3 months to get them out.

[Dr.Phool]

20. "You can take that to the bank".

I think the FDIC seized his bank a long time ago.

[Radical Activist]

24. And troop levels have been going down steadily ever since he took office.

I guess we could argue about whether he was a few months off if you want to focus on time lines. I'm glad we have a President who is keeping his word to end the Iraq War.

[mkultra]

31. yeah! and when he does withdraw, you can claim this thread pressured him to do it

good thinking.

[babylonsister]

14. Stop the bullshit, k?

Per my link, we're on the way out, and no, not in two days ...

I want out as much as the next person, but so far this is going according to plan. Your drama probably won't help.

[Radical Activist]

23. Awesome!

Why do some people hate good news?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

7. We don't need to be in Iraq at all

[MissDeeds]

9. K&R for the troops

Let's make sure they get home sooner rather than later. Enough. This needs to end now.

Thanks for posting this, Ken. :kick:

[frylock]

10. knr

see yall tomorrow.

[earth mom]

12. The way it's going, this thread will live forever.

But K & R anyway. :kick:

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

13. ok

[readmoreoften]

15. K&R.

[Rowdyboy]

16. I'm so depressed by the whole insane situation that I basically forget it....

My vote didn't change anything, even with my partners and yours and everybody the fuck elses. Who cares about as never-ending thread on an anti-war website when 1000 of our young soldiers have now died in Affuckingghanistan. I know that you have excellent intentions and are posting from your heart but I'm just so dejected. The more things change, the more they stay the same....

I still support Barack Obama and I'll vote for him in 2012 but he's not the man I thought I was voting for. He really did have a chance to be a "transformational" president but his innately cautious nature has doomed him to averageness. All that work building a monolithic Democratic congress flushed down the toilet by incompetent congressional "leadership" and a diffident White House that refused to get engaged in policy details.

A once in a lifetime chance at enormous political realignment has been pissed away, a huge Democratic congress lost, and a presidency that once offered real hope reduced to Clintonesque insignificance. Its really hard to care.

I guess the only really positive thing I can say at this point is that I hope this thread dies very soon because that will mean that our kids are back home and the insane Bush shitstorm is over.

[Autumn]

17. A thread that will never die

:(

[Hell Hath No Fury]

21. I will (un)happily help keep this kicked --

I just hope I live long enough to see this thread die.

[PufPuf23]

22. K&R

Bring home troops from Latin America and Africa too.

[Aramchek]

25. hey ken, i bet if you don't selfkick this post multiple times daily, it will disappear

[rug]

27. Kick.

[jillan]

28. My nephew is on his way home from Afghanistan!!! And he is DONE!

He's been to Iraq several times, now finishing up 1 year in Afghanistan and he said NO MORE!!

He had such a shitty life growing up, in a way it made sense he joined the military.
Now it's all in the past, he's getting married to an amazing girl this fall.

Now I just hope that he won't suffer from ptsd....he's overdue for some happiness.

[greencharlie]

29. is it possible to keep a thread kicked for 25 years? nt

[Eyerish]

30. kick

[GreenPartyVoter]

32. kick