BREAKING — President Obama Will Announce Today Complete Drawdown of US Troops

[apples]

BREAKING — President Obama Will Announce Today Complete Drawdown of US Troops in Iraq to Zero By End of Year

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/10/breaking-president-obama-will-announce-today-complete-drawdown-of-us-troops-in-iraq-to-zero-by-end-of-year/

Sources tell ABC News that the president will announce today that US troops in Iraq will draw down to zero by the end of the year.

A White House official says that at approximately 11:30am today, President Obama convened a secure video conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to talk with him about this news.

-Jake Tapper and Luis Martinez

[GeronL]

Hopefully this will be the deathknell of the "nation building" concept

[JohnBrowdie]

this is going to be a gargantuan election year sh*tburger for him if/when it blows up on him.

[JohnBrowdie]

yep.  the fastest way to end a war is to lose it.

Hopefully this will be the deathknell of the "nation building" concept

[jafo2010]

JB....not Vietnams II & III, eh?  Well, hold your hat as we engage in Vietnam IV......where Super Obamaman saves the day for many in Africa.  The troops in Iraq should not get too comfortable with the notion of returning home, for you will have plenty of mountains and desert to wile away your days in the paradise known as Africa.  Why with all the actions we will engage in there, you will be able to have ribbons extending from your chest and wrapping around your butt.

Like I said, it will take a war for him or Hillary to have ANY chance of getting elected come November, 2012.  So, we need to manufacture one real quick.

[JohnBrowdie]

you are worrying about the wrong problem.  the viet nam syndrome is 40 years dead.  the problem is the power vacuum that the big dolt is creating, and that iran will exploit, and that someone will have to deal with.  probably us again.

it's not really so much that I disagree with your viet nam paradigm as much as I think it's an argument that is stone cold dead.  the whole notion has cobwebs on it.  I'm actually a bit surprised that it keeps coming back from the grave.

JB....not Vietnams II & III, eh?  Well, hold your hat as we engage in Vietnam IV......where Super Obamaman saves the day for many in Africa.  The troops in Iraq should not get too comfortable with the notion of returning home, for you will have plenty of mountains and desert to wile away your days in the paradise known as Africa.  Why with all the actions we will engage in there, you will be able to have ribbons extending from your chest and wrapping around your butt.

Like I said, it will take a war for him or Hillary to have ANY chance of getting elected come November, 2012.  So, we need to manufacture one real quick.

[jafo2010]

Military actions treated like policing events with no objective and hundreds of billions spent.....that was Vietnam, and so was Iraq and Afghanistan.  You may not like hearing it, but there are many making that analogy.  And I am talking about conservative people who are tired of these pseudo wars which have no apparent end along with the no apparent objective. 

What happened to the poor Iraqis defense forces not being able to defend themselves?  I guess that rhetoric was EXACTLY what it was................. B*LLSH*T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JohnBrowdie]

that's just alien to reality.  we declared all out war on terrorism.  this is NOT the johnsonite "police-action".  that's just a bizarre comparison.  either you weren't paying attention then, or you aren't paying attention now.

and I still don't get your position on the war on terror, and the more you explain it, the murkier it gets.

Military actions treated like policing events with no objective and hundreds of billions spent.....that was Vietnam, and so was Iraq and Afghanistan.  You may not like hearing it, but there are many making that analogy.  And I am talking about conservative people who are tired of these pseudo wars which have no apparent end along with the no apparent objective. 

What happened to the poor Iraqis defense forces not being able to defend themselves?  I guess that rhetoric was EXACTLY what it was................. B*LLSH*T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jafo2010]

Yes, and you call the pseudo war a war when there is no declaration of war by Congress, and these actions are indeed IDENTICAL to Vietnam...

     1.  No apparent objective

     2.  No apparent plan   (ah yes, stay until we train their defense forces to protect their people......sure, sure) .  I guess we were
          successful with that, were we since we are pulling out according to the original Bush Plan.....RFLMAO....hmmmm

     3.  No limit to the treasury we can squander

Note:  JB thinks it is a war just because a few score of men with guns get blown away.  Hmmmmm.....we must have wars taking
         place right here in the USA!  I think the war in Philadelphia produces about 500+ KIA each year, and the war in Miami,
         Atlanta, & LA  produce about 400 KIAs each, each year too.  Lots of wars going on.  And I guess the war on the border,
         particularly in Phoenix, well there are less KIAs each year, but a very high number of kidnappings.

         Well, Mr. Obama needs a good war to get re-elected....how many of these wars do you think he will instigate under the
         Bush banner of spreading democracy?   RFLMAO  How many do you think? 

[JohnBrowdie]

there was a congressional authorization for the use of force in iraq.  so, you are already wrong before you ended the first sentence.

Yes, and you call the pseudo war a war when there is no declaration of war by Congress, and these actions are indeed IDENTICAL to Vietnam...

     1.  No apparent objective

     2.  No apparent plan   (ah yes, stay until we train their defense forces to protect their people......sure, sure) .  I guess we were
          successful with that, were we since we are pulling out according to the original Bush Plan.....RFLMAO....hmmmm

     3.  No limit to the treasury we can squander

Note:  JB thinks it is a war just because a few score of men with guns get blown away.  Hmmmmm.....we must have wars taking
         place right here in the USA!  I think the war in Philadelphia produces about 500+ KIA each year, and the war in Miami,
         Atlanta, & LA  produce about 400 KIAs each, each year too.  Lots of wars going on.  And I guess the war on the border,
         particularly in Phoenix, well there are less KIAs each year, but a very high number of kidnappings.

         Well, Mr. Obama needs a good war to get re-elected....how many of these wars do you think he will instigate under the
         Bush banner of spreading democracy?   RFLMAO  How many do you think? 

[jafo2010]

Well, I'm sorry, I consider a DECLARATION OF WAR to be different than Congress giving an authorization....hmmmm.  That is just ONE MORE AMENDMENT WE NEED TO ADD TO THE CONSTITUTION.  Authorizations must have a finite period of time.  Hey, WWII, our last DECLARED WAR, lasted 3.5 years.....this authorization is TEN YEARS AND COUNTING.

If I were a Republican Senator or Representative, an endless authorization as you call it...lol....would NEVER be endless!

I am so glad you cleared that up for me.  Hmmmm!   lol

[JohnBrowdie]

you are splitting hairs again.  just because the congresscritters these days are pussies compared to those of 1941 does not change the meaning or the ultimate value of the declaration made by congress.

you are hiding behind words. 

the ultimate effect was the same.

Well, I'm sorry, I consider a DECLARATION OF WAR to be different than Congress giving an authorization....hmmmm.  That is just ONE MORE AMENDMENT WE NEED TO ADD TO THE CONSTITUTION.  Authorizations must have a finite period of time.  Hey, WWII, our last DECLARED WAR, lasted 3.5 years.....this authorization is TEN YEARS AND COUNTING.

If I were a Republican Senator or Representative, an endless authorization as you call it...lol....would NEVER be endless!

I am so glad you cleared that up for me.  Hmmmm!   lol

[jafo2010]

I not hiding anything.  And this is NOT semantics.  WAR is WAR, and this nonsense in Iraq and Afghanistan does NOT MEET MY DEFINITION OF WAR!  GOT IT!

I go to war, everything that is in my path is vulnerable.  There are no limitations to the weaponry.  I do not give a sh*t about placing a rocket through a window....and there is no such thing as collateral damage....it is enemy KIA....

To use Halsey's words....when you have a civilian population that supports the military, or jihadists as in the Muslim world, the only good civilian is one that has been dead for six months or more.  That is an exact quote minus the word JAP here and there, and reference to Bush's good Muslims.

[JohnBrowdie]

your personal definition of war is not necessarily relevant in the republican form of government. 

congress, operating within their constitutionally authorized capacity, and as the duly elected representatives of the american people, authorized the war in iraq.

deal with it.

I not hiding anything.  And this is NOT semantics.  WAR is WAR, and this nonsense in Iraq and Afghanistan does NOT MEET MY DEFINITION OF WAR!  GOT IT!

I go to war, everything that is in my path is vulnerable.  There are no limitations to the weaponry.  I do not give a sh*t about placing a rocket through a window....and there is no such thing as collateral damage....it is enemy KIA....

To use Halsey's words....when you have a civilian population that supports the military, or jihadists as in the Muslim world, the only good civilian is one that has been dead for six months or more.  That is an exact quote minus the word JAP here and there, and reference to Bush's good Muslims.

[jafo2010]

I keep forgetting that you and Obama are constitutional scholars.  Where in the constitution does it address authorizing a war versus declaring a war.  Is that point B or something?  I'm just asking....lol