{"id":2267,"date":"2010-08-19T10:18:23","date_gmt":"2010-08-19T16:18:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/royceeddington.com\/?p=2267"},"modified":"2010-08-19T10:21:04","modified_gmt":"2010-08-19T16:21:04","slug":"a-real-honest-iraq-pullout-not-really","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/royceeddington.com\/?p=2267","title":{"rendered":"A real, honest Iraq pullout? No, not really."},"content":{"rendered":"

Everybody and their Aunt Petunia<\/a> seems to be going bonkers on the news that the “Last US combat brigade exits Iraq.”<\/a><\/p>\n

My first reaction? I noticed they are all saying combat<\/em> troops are being pulled out. Not all<\/em> troops. Not a full<\/em> withdrawal.<\/p>\n

If you look at the details on either the BBC<\/a> or COUNTDOWN<\/a> sites, both have the fact that “some 50,000 US troops will remain until the end of 2011 to advise Iraqi forces and protect US interests.”<\/p>\n

“Some” 50,000 troops would be the population of North Richland Hills, Texas. Temple, Texas. McKinney, Texas. Or Flower Mound, Texas.<\/a><\/p>\n

“Some” 50,000 troops would be the population of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Or Danville, Virginia. Or Ames, Iowa. Or Lady Lake, Florida. Or Sandusky, Ohio. Or Hinesville, Georgia. Or Columbus, Indiana. Or Middletown, New York. Or Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.<\/a><\/p>\n

And, as an extra bonus, it looks like “the Obama administration is planning a remarkable civilian effort, buttressed by a small army of contractors, to fill the void.”<\/a><\/p>\n

Why are all these media outlets getting so excited? Over nothing<\/em>?<\/p>\n

This is not a withdrawal. This is a shell game with human lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everybody and their Aunt Petunia seems to be going bonkers on the news that the “Last US combat brigade exits Iraq.” My first reaction? I noticed they are all saying combat troops are being pulled out. Not all troops. Not … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-rant"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t