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03 Dec 2011 18:14

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World: Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki: We’re ready for U.S. troop pullout

  • Nothing has changed with the withdrawal of the American forces from Iraq on the security level because basically it has been in our hands.
  • Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki • Emphasizing that the country can handle the forthcoming departure of U.S. troops, as an eight-year war dies down. Al-Maliki says he has “no concerns whatsoever” about the ability of his troops to maintain security in the region, and says the sectarian violence that broke out immediately in the wake of the downfall of the Saddam Hussein government is a thing of the past. “I assure the world that the Iraqi forces and the general situation in the country hasn’t changed and will not change,” he emphasizes. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Oct 2011 21:55

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World: Iraq War: Conflicting reports on forthcoming troop departures

  • claim Both the Associated Press and the New York Times report that, despite prior reports to the contrary, the U.S. will not keep troops in Iraq past 2011 due to significant security concerns.
  • rebuttal However, a Reuters article says that both the White House and Pentagon deny this fact, claiming that no decision has been made. Which major news outlet do you believe on this issue? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Sep 2011 21:19

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U.S.: U.S. Army cutting nearly 9 percent of its forces by 2016

  • 50k number of troops the U.S. Army plans to trim from its roster
  • 8.6% the share of the Army being cut over the next five years
  • 22k number of soldiers getting cut in the first round source
  • » Going on a diet: With over half a million soldiers, the U.S. Army isn’t lacking in warm bodies, but those numbers went way up in recent years, in part due to the troop surge in Afghanistan. With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan winding down, the Army is ready to move on. “We feel that with the demand going down in Iraq and Afghanistan, and given the time to conduct a reasonable drawdown, we can manage (the force reduction) just as we have managed drawdowns in the past,” noted Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick. Is this nearly enough?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Jun 2011 19:07

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U.S.: Obama plans to speed up Afghan troop withdrawals

  • 10,000 U.S. troops that will be withdrawn from Afghanistan this year
  • 20,000 more troops that will be withdrawn by the end of next summer source
  • » Quickening the pace: The above numbers represent a much quicker withdrawal than some of President Obama’s military advisers would like, General David Petraeus among them. This decision is being seen as a victory over Petraeus’ vision by Vice President Biden, who’s been a proponent of a more rapid end to American involvement in Afghanistan. The withdrawal would equal the total of Obama’s Afghanistan surge, to which he committed 30,000 troops back in 2009.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 May 2011 16:54

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Politics: Sen. Max Baucus calls for quicker Afghanistan withdrawal

  • The President has announced that this July will mark the beginning of a transition of security responsibility to Afghan forces. However, in my view the transition plan is too slow. We need to begin handing responsibility of security to Afghan forces immediately and aim to have most US combat troops out of Afghanistan by the end of next year. We should leave behind only a small force to hunt down and kill terrorists in Afghanistan, and to help the Afghan military perform their duties.
  • Senator Max Baucus • Calling for both a quicker withdrawal of troops, and a quicker transfer of responsibility from the U.S. military to Afghan security forces. That these conversations are starting to crop up is unsurprising; the death of Osama bin Laden, the ostensible reason the U.S. entered Afghanistan to begin with, makes this the most politically opportune time to voice such sentiments. And while the concerns in leaving quicker are by no means negligible, with a government as steeped in corruption as the Afghanistan’s is, and under a leader like Hamid Karzai (famously volatile, takes bags of money from Iran, once threatened that he might join the Taliban), what is the ultimate definition of success for the U.S. involvement there? source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Aug 2010 20:05

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World: Even with combat troops gone, it’s not like the U.S. is done in Iraq

  • 50,000 troops are staying behind source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Aug 2010 21:42

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World: The U.S. may be ready to put a little more trust in Afghan troops

  • With more Afghan forces, we can be on a path to transition in more places around the country. The success with the [Afghan] army in particular, I think, bodes well for in fact beginning to have some transitions maybe as early as this spring, but certainly beginning in the summer.
  • Defense Secretary Robert Gates • On whether the U.S. and NATO might be willing to let Afghan security forces take on securing more stable parts of the country. Gates says they could be ready as soon as early next year – a promising sign, considering how long this war has dragged on. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink
 

18 May 2010 21:30

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World: The Red Shirts are screwed: Thailand pulls out the tanks

Is it us, or does this have the makings of a major human rights violation? Hopefully this ends well for everyone involved, especially the Red Shirts. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Apr 2010 20:56

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U.S., World: Japan complains loudly, again, about the U.S. military presence

  • 100,000 people protested the
    U.S. military presence on the
    island of Okinawa today
  • 47,000 U.S. troops are stationed
    in Japan, more than half at the Okinawa base source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Mar 2010 20:33

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U.S., World: Obama to U.S. troops in Afghanistan: This visit’s for you

  • There is no visit that I consider more important than this visit I am making now. My main job here today is to say thank you on behalf of the entire American people.
  • President Barack Obama • Speaking to troops about his unexpected but busy visit to Afghanistan today. The Oval Office Overseer stopped in and said “heeeyyyyyy” unexpectedly, but not without reminding the troops why they were there – specifically that the U.S. hadn’t chosen the war. “I’m confident all of you here are going to get the job done in Afghanistan,” he said. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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