Iraq, the Forgotten War: Despite Obama’s Vow, Combat Brigades Will Stay in Iraq

[Deicide]

POLITICS: Despite Obama’s Vow, Combat Brigades Will Stay in Iraq
By Gareth Porter*

WASHINGTON, Mar 25 (IPS) - Despite President Barack Obama’s statement at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina Feb. 27 that he had "chosen a timeline that will remove our combat brigades over the next 18 months," a number of Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs), which have been the basic U.S. Army combat unit in Iraq for six years, will remain in Iraq after that date under a new non-combat label.

A spokesman for Defence Secretary Robert M. Gates, Lt. Col. Patrick S. Ryder, told IPS Tuesday that "several advisory and assistance brigades" would be part of a U.S. command in Iraq that will be "re-designated" as a "transition force headquarters" after August 2010.


IPS Correspondent Gareth Porter talks to Democracy Now!

Despite Obama’s pledge, new evidence has emerged that combat brigades will remain in Iraq under a different name. 
But the "advisory and assistance brigades" to remain in Iraq after that date will in fact be the same as BCTs, except for the addition of a few dozen officers who would carry out the advice and assistance missions, according to military officials involved in the planning process.

Gates has hinted that the withdrawal of combat brigades will be accomplished through an administrative sleight of hand rather than by actually withdrawing all the combat brigade teams. Appearing on Meet the Press Mar. 1, Gates said the "transition force" would have "a very different kind of mission", and that the units remaining in Iraq "will be characterised differently".

"They will be called advisory and assistance brigades," said Gates. "They won't be called combat brigades."

Obama’s decision to go along with the military proposal for a "transition force" of 35,000 to 50,000 troops thus represents a complete abandonment of his own original policy of combat troop withdrawal and an acceptance of what the military wanted all along - the continued presence of several combat brigades in Iraq well beyond mid-2010.

National Security Council officials declined to comment on the question of whether combat brigades were actually going to be left in Iraq beyond August 2010 under the policy announced by Obama Feb. 27.

The term that has been used internally within the Army to designate the units that will form a large part of the "transition force" is not "Advisory and Assistance Brigades" but "Brigades Enhanced for Stability Operations" (BESO).

Lt. Col. Gary Tallman, a spokesman for the Joint Staff, confirmed Monday that BESO will be the Army unit deployed to Iraq for the purpose of the transition force. Tallman said the decision-making process now underway involving CENTCOM and the Army is to determine "the exact composition of the BESO".

But the U.S. Army has already been developing the outlines of the BESO for the past few months. The only change to the existing BCT structure that is being planned is the addition of advisory and assistance skills rather than any reduction in its combat power. The BCT is organised around two or three battalions of motorized infantry but also includes all the support elements, including its own artillery support, needed to sustain the full spectrum of military operations.

Those are permanent features of all variants of the BCT, which will not be altered in the new version to be deployed under a "transition force", according to specialists on the BCT.

They say the only issue on which the Army is still engaged in discussions with field commanders is what standard augmentation a BCT will need for its new mission.

Maj. Larry Burns of the Army Combined Arms Centre at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, told IPS that Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey directed the Combined Arms Centre, which specialises in Army mission and doctrine, to work on giving the BCTs the capability to carry out a training and advisory assistance mission.

The essence of the BESO variant of the BCTs, according to Burns, is that the Military Transition Teams working directly with Iraqi military units will no longer operate independently but will be integrated into the BCTs.

That development would continue a trend already begun in Iraq in which the BCTs have gradually acquired operational control over the previously independent Military Transition Teams, according to Maj. Robert Thornton of the Joint Centre for International and Security Force Assistance at Fort Leavenworth.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, the commander of Army Training and Doctrine Command, has issued Planning Guidance calling for further refinement of the BESO. After further work on the additional personnel requirements, Casey was briefed on the proposed enhancement of the BCT for the second time in a month at a conference of four-star generals on Feb. 18, according to Burns.

Other names for the new variant that were used in recent months but eventually dropped made it explicitly clear that it is simply a slightly augmented BCT. Those names, according to Burns, included "Brigade Combat Team-Security Force Assistance" and "Brigade Combat Team for Stability Operations".

The plan to deploy several augmented BCTs represents the culmination of the strategy of "relabeling" or "remissioning" of BCTs in Iraq that was developed by U.S. military leaders in the wake of the surge of candidate Barack Obama to near-certain victory in the presidential election last year.

Late last year, Gen. David Petraeus, the CENTCOM chief, and Gen. Ray Odierno, the top commander in Iraq, were unhappy with Obama’s pledge to withdraw all U.S. combat brigades within 16 months. But military planners quickly hit on the relabeling scheme as a way of avoiding the complete withdrawal of BCTs in an Obama administration.

The New York Times revealed Dec. 4 that Pentagon planners were talking about "relabeling" of U.S. combat units as "training and support" units in a Dec. 4 story, but provided no details. Pentagon planners were projecting that as many as 70,000 U.S. troops would be maintained in Iraq "for a substantial time even beyond 2011".

That report suggested that the strategy envisioned keeping the bulk of the existing BCTs in Iraq as under a new label indicating an advisory and support mission.

Secretary Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen discussed a plan to re-designate U.S. combat troops as support troops at a meeting with Obama in Chicago on Dec. 15, according a report in the Times three days later.

Gates and Mullen reportedly speculated at the meeting on whether Iraqis would permit such "re-labeled" combat forces to remain in Iraqi cities and towns after next June, despite the fact that the U.S.-Iraq withdrawal agreement signed in November 2008 called for all U.S. combat forces to be withdrawn from populated areas by the end of June 2010.

That report suggests that Obama was well aware that giving the Petraeus and Odierno a free hand to determine the composition of a "transition force" of 35,000 to 50,000 troops meant that most combat brigades would remain in Iraq rather than being withdrawn, as he ostensibly promised the U.S. public on Feb. 27.

*Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist specialising in U.S. national security policy. The paperback edition of his latest book, "Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam", was published in 2006.

(END/2009)

[tonymctones]

anybody who bought into his iraq plan after it changed what 3 times in a month and a half is retarded

[Deicide]

anybody who bought into his iraq plan after it changed what 3 times in a month and a half is retarded

I think most people just don't care, hence the title of the thread. Iraq's importance has dwindled to almost nothing in light of the current economic woes.

[tonymctones]

I think most people just don't care, hence the title of the thread. Iraq's importance has dwindled to almost nothing in light of the current economic woes.

ya i was going to say the same thing most ppl have much more on their plate right now then a far away war, which is sad in a sense b/c those are our soldiers over there in harms way.

[Deicide]

ya i was going to say the same thing most ppl have much more on their plate right now then a far away war, which is sad in a sense b/c those are our soldiers over there in harms way.

Nevermind the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have been killed and displaced since our occupation.

[tonymctones]

Nevermind the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have been killed and displaced since our occupation.

LOL we could play that game all night bro, nevermind the hundred of thousands of iraqis killed and displaced by saddam those didnt matter?, only the ones that we killed or displaced matter? We have had this arguement before bro i understand you dont believe in patriotism etc...but others do and im one of them i simply care more about the soldiers of this country then i do iraqis.

[Deicide]

LOL we could play that game all night bro, nevermind the hundred of thousands of iraqis killed and displaced by saddam those didnt matter?, only the ones that we killed or displaced matter? We have had this arguement before bro i understand you dont believe in patriotism etc...but others do and im one of them i simply care more about the soldiers of this country then i do iraqis.

Being a soldier is a career choice, not an obligation. As far as numbers are concerned, we have by now beaten all records set by Saddam and also nevermind the fact that Saddam never killed hundreds of thousands. Our government indirectly murdered 500,000 Iraqi children through sanctions in the 1990's...and the list goes on and on. I care about everyone there but at this point in time we should really leave, which we will not do. In 20 years if you and I are still alive our troops and bases will still be there.

[tonymctones]

Being a soldier is a career choice, not an obligation. As far as numbers are concerned, we have by now beaten all records set by Saddam and also nevermind the fact that Saddam never killed hundreds of thousands. Our government indirectly murdered 500,000 Iraqi children through sanctions in the 1990's...and the list goes on and on. I care about everyone there but at this point in time we should really leave, which we will not do. In 20 years if you and I are still alive our troops and bases will still be there.

that is irrelevant to anything that i or you have addressed thus far

I agree that we will be there for a long time in one form or another which is why i thought obama's promise and those who bought it were retarded. Ive said it many times i think iraq was a mistake but pls dont use the look at the victims arguement when nobody was saying hey we need to do something when saddam was murdering the same ppl regardless of numbers which ic your point in the premise is still the same and youre acting on one now but werent acting on the same one back then.

[Deicide]

that is irrelevant to anything that i or you have addressed thus far

I agree that we will be there for a long time in one form or another which is why i thought obama's promise and those who bought it were retarded. Ive said it many times i think iraq was a mistake but pls dont use the look at the victims arguement when nobody was saying hey we need to do something when saddam was murdering the same ppl regardless of numbers which ic your point in the premise is still the same and youre acting on one now but werent acting on the same one back then.

Saddam did lots of bad stuff and we turned a blind eye for a long time but anyway...yeah, we will be there forever. The Military Industrial Complex determines foreign policy...

[George Whorewell]

Being a soldier is a career choice, not an obligation. As far as numbers are concerned, we have by now beaten all records set by Saddam and also nevermind the fact that Saddam never killed hundreds of thousands. Our government indirectly murdered 500,000 Iraqi children through sanctions in the 1990's...and the list goes on and on. I care about everyone there but at this point in time we should really leave, which we will not do. In 20 years if you and I are still alive our troops and bases will still be there.

Im not sure which comment was more inaccurate and moronic, this one^ or the one where you posted that no terrorism exists in the Sudan.

Are you fucking retarded, or do you just like making things up without doing any reasearch?

[Bindare_Dundat]

Being a soldier is a career choice, not an obligation. As far as numbers are concerned, we have by now beaten all records set by Saddam and also nevermind the fact that Saddam never killed hundreds of thousands. Our government indirectly murdered 500,000 Iraqi children through sanctions in the 1990's...and the list goes on and on. I care about everyone there but at this point in time we should really leave, which we will not do. In 20 years if you and I are still alive our troops and bases will still be there.

So you deny US sanctions caused any grief to the Iraqi population? Don't start bringing up what Saddam did, just answer yes or no.

[SAMSON123]

Saddam did lots of bad stuff and we turned a blind eye for a long time but anyway...yeah, we will be there forever. The Military Industrial Complex determines foreign policy...

america did not turna  blind eye...america set Saddam up in power in Iraq for the sole purpose of controlling the oil in Iraq. america also instigated, funded adn provided WMD to Iraq to attack Iran so it could gain control over Irans oil...but the plan failed. Then america funded, provocted and provided WMD to Iran to attack Iraq in order to take control of Iraqs oil...the plan failed. So excuses were made about being concerned about the Kuwaiti people when, thanks again to america and its horizontal oil drilling, Saddam warned the Kuwaitis (america) to stop doing this lest he attack. THe Kuwatis continued, Saddam attacked, america created LIE AFTER LIE about a brutal Iraqi regime that destroyed Kuwait and therefore needed to go to Kuwait to attack Iraq and get them out of Kuwait. So Persian Gulf started and began america s campaign to steal Iraqi oil...which up till now has ben very costly in both lives and money.

As far as benig in Iraq a long time...I DON'T THINK AMERICA CAN AFFORD IT NOW. Yeah america built bases adn the worlds largest embassy, but the world has changed both in america and in the Middle East. With the increasing suicide rates in soldiers, death from vaccines, depression, sickness...I can't see how america can stay in that region. So far as Obama goes...HA..that idiot was lying from the time of his campaign about sending soldiers back to america...  First it was he is sending them back IMMEDIATELY AND ENDING THE WAR, then it was he would send them back in 6 months, then 12 months, then 18 months then 23 months...now it is unspecified. Obamanot follows the orders of those who put him in to power and THEY SAY leave the soldiers there....EVEN IF THEY DIE!!!!!

[headhuntersix]

Being a soldier is a career choice, not an obligation. As far as numbers are concerned, we have by now beaten all records set by Saddam and also nevermind the fact that Saddam never killed hundreds of thousands. Our government indirectly murdered 500,000 Iraqi children through sanctions in the 1990's...and the list goes on and on. I care about everyone there but at this point in time we should really leave, which we will not do. In 20 years if you and I are still alive our troops and bases will still be there.

I guess beinga douchebag apologist for everybody but America must be a calling huh? We didn't murder 500,000 kids..where do u get this shit. SAddam invaded a neighbor u moron and was building wmds, not to mention gasing his own people. U can't prove any of this and all ur "proof" has been well debunked anyway.

[headhuntersix]

america did not turna  blind eye...america set Saddam up in power in Iraq for the sole purpose of controlling the oil in Iraq. america also instigated, funded adn provided WMD to Iraq to attack Iran so it could gain control over Irans oil...but the plan failed. Then america funded, provocted and provided WMD to Iran to attack Iraq in order to take control of Iraqs oil...the plan failed. So excuses were made about being concerned about the Kuwaiti people when, thanks again to america and its horizontal oil drilling, Saddam warned the Kuwaitis (america) to stop doing this lest he attack. THe Kuwatis continued, Saddam attacked, america created LIE AFTER LIE about a brutal Iraqi regime that destroyed Kuwait and therefore needed to go to Kuwait to attack Iraq and get them out of Kuwait. So Persian Gulf started and began america s campaign to steal Iraqi oil...which up till now has ben very costly in both lives and money.

As far as benig in Iraq a long time...I DON'T THINK AMERICA CAN AFFORD IT NOW. Yeah america built bases adn the worlds largest embassy, but the world has changed both in america and in the Middle East. With the increasing suicide rates in soldiers, death from vaccines, depression, sickness...I can't see how america can stay in that region. So far as Obama goes...HA..that idiot was lying from the time of his campaign about sending soldiers back to america...  First it was he is sending them back IMMEDIATELY AND ENDING THE WAR, then it was he would send them back in 6 months, then 12 months, then 18 months then 23 months...now it is unspecified. Obamanot follows the orders of those who put him in to power and THEY SAY leave the soldiers there....EVEN IF THEY DIE!!!!!

Don't worry SAMSON I enjoy the deployments....ur such a moron. Death from vaccines? My dog gets better military medical care then u do....u have no idea what the hell ur talking about. We're in the Middle East because they want us there. As for paragraph one....prove it dumbass....ur such an idiot. Provide facts...I'm waiting.

[Deicide]

I guess beinga douchebag apologist for everybody but America must be a calling huh? We didn't murder 500,000 kids..where do u get this shit. SAddam invaded a neighbor u moron and was building wmds, not to mention gasing his own people. U can't prove any of this and all ur "proof" has been well debunked anyway.

Here is the Neo-Liberal Madeleine Albright admitting that US sanctions killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. This was over 10 years ago btw.

HH6, most people realise that the invasion had nothing to do with WMD by now, you can drop the act.

Casualty Estimates
Estimates of direct casualties of the sanctions remain a highly contested subject. A short overview of claims:[27]

"probably ... 170,000 children" (Project on Defense Alternatives, "The Wages of War", 20. October 2003)
350,000 excess deaths among children "even using conservative estimates" (Slate Explainer, "Are 1 Million Children Dying in Iraq?", 9. October 2001)
United Nations: 1,000,000 Iraqis (CNN, "Iraq condemns embargo on 9th anniversary of sanctions", 6. August 1999)
Iraqi Baathist Al-Thawra newspaper: 1.5 million (CNN, 6. August 1999)
Ramsey Clark: 1.5 million (includes sanctions, bombs and other weapons, depleted uranium poisoning) (The Wisdom Fund, "Former US Attorney General Charges US, British and UN Leaders," 20. November 1996)
Iraqi Cultural Minister Hammadi: 1.7 million (includes sanctions, bombs and other weapons, depleted uranium poisoning) ("Iraq criticizes US, UK at Baghdad Conference..." 10. May 2001)
Journalist Matt Welch, Reason Magazine, 2002: "It seems awfully hard not to conclude that the embargo on Iraq has ... contributed to more than 100,000 deaths since 1990."

In any event thousands upon thousands died because of US imposed sanctions, which was one of the reasons Osama gave for committing 9/11.

[Deicide]

And more Neo-liberalism...

'Our policy was right...'

[Hugo Chavez]

I think most people just don't care, hence the title of the thread. Iraq's importance has dwindled to almost nothing in light of the current economic woes.

you ever heard of futility?  Nobody forgot about the brick wall and the opinions are still there.  It's just that you can only stand there beating bricks with your fist for so long before you figure out the only thing changing is you...

[Deicide]

you ever heard of futility?  Nobody forgot about the brick wall and the opinions are still there.  It's just that you can only stand there beating bricks with your fist for so long before you figure out the only thing changing is you...

Fair enough Hugo, just a little shocked that HH6 mentioned WMD...

[Bindare_Dundat]

And more Neo-liberalism...

'Our policy was right...'

They are all the same team.

[Deicide]

They are all the same team.

America's One Party System...

[headhuntersix]

Fair enough Hugo, just a little shocked that HH6 mentioned WMD...

The guy was developing and actually used WMD's against his own people. Its awfully smug from an English teacher to think he has any idea about whats going on in Iraq.

[Deicide]

The guy was developing and actually used WMD's against his own people. Its awfully smug from an English teacher to think he has any idea about whats going on in Iraq.

You can read books, inform yourself by internet and radio. How else does anyone learn anything? Are you proposing that one can only learn by being in the military and shooting people? Did you look at what I posted with the sanctions? Yes and we gave him the WMD.

[headhuntersix]

Did we, based on what? The Euro's funded his chemical weapons exploits. Saddam was a hedge against Iran, he decided to go nuts, we stomped him. Had Saddam done what most of our friends had done in Latin America, and played ball, he'd still be in power. But u can't invade ur neighbors, gas ur own people and expect us to sit still. Especially with all that "go juice" around.

[Al Doggity]

Okay, there is a bit of sleight of hand going on with the combat renaming, but the troop draw down will still go from about 140,000 to under 50,000 by the end of the first timeline. The administration has also said that the new combat troops will probably be there no later than 2011. Is that date likely to change? Probably- but bringing more than half of the troops home is a major step.

[headhuntersix]

Gotta start somewhere.