Euphamistic legerdemain in Iraq

[Guest guest]

We were told the last combat troops have been withdrawn from Iraq. However, some 50,000 are still there including Stryker brigades and aviation brigades. They aren't there for combat, however, just "security response." I've also read other articles that have said the State Department is putting together its own forces in Iraq. Perhaps this is what those articles were referring to.

Quote:

As the final convoy of the Army’s 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort , Wash., entered Kuwait early Thursday, a different Stryker brigade remained in Iraq.

Soldiers from the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division are deployed in Iraq as members of an Advise and Assist Brigade, the Army’s designation for brigades selected to conduct security force assistance.

So while the “last full U.S. combat brigade†have left Iraq, just under 50,000 soldiers from specially trained heavy, infantry and Stryker brigades will stay, as well as two combat aviation brigades.

Compared with the 49,000 soldiers in Iraq, there are close to 67,000 in Afghanistan and another 9,700 in Kuwait, according to the latest Army chart on global commitments dated Aug. 17. Under an agreement with the Iraqi government, all U.S. troops must be out of Iraq by Dec. 31, 2011.

There are seven Advise and Assist Brigades in Iraq, as well as two additional National Guard infantry brigades “for security,†said Army spokesman Lt. Col. Craig Ratcliff.

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/08/dn-brigades-stay-under-different-name-081910/