The Truth About Obama’s Retreats From Iraq

President Obama won the presidential election largely thanks to the strong opposition to the Iraq war. But well in the White House his peace zeal has slowed sharply.

He has escalated in Afghanistan and the more details that leak out of the USA’s upcoming retreat from Iraq, the more Bush-like it looks.

Let’s start with how many troops the U.S. has actually been in Iraq. 140 000 men in 14 brigades says the Pentagon, but it’s just a part of the troops. In addition, anything between 5 000 and 10 000 special forces to combat terrorism is not included in the official figures. Then between 20 000 and 40 000 private security units that were originally recruited by Donald Rumsfeld.

And we also have to add troops in Kuweit. USA has, in reality, somewhere around 200 000 soldiers in Iraq and then only if we do not count in the Fifth Fleet, which supports troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Although Obama says that the U.S. is to withdraw from Iraq, it is a truth of very great modifications.

If Obama as it now stands will retain a permanent garrison of up to 55 000 in permanent bases in Iraq , it is just like the “Korean model” as George Bush and the neoconservative coveted. U.S., which it now looks is set to stay in Iraq for generations to come. And an official strength of say 40 000 people are thus in fact about 50 larger.

The U.S. has so far not wanted Iraq acquire its own modern weapons or their own intelligence and we can expect that Obama will ensure that the Iraqi officers, and especially its intelligence, as in Korea, will go through training and indoctrination in American military colleges .

The question is what Obama will do if the Iraqi government takes courage to itself and requires a genuine and total American retreat next year. Sooner or later, Obama must publish the plans for Iraq. The longer he refuses to leave the country the more difficult it will be for Iraq to become independent.