And we're outta there!

[Placid Dingo]

Didn't we just start some shennanigans in Uganda?  And there's some saber rattling pointed in Pakistan's direction. 

Democracy will not spread its fucking self!

Uganda's issues with the LRA began in the 1980s IIRC. So really nothing's being started, but there's some kind of American involvement entering into this existing conflict.

[Cain]

Obama doesn't have a choice, and is doing this under pressure.

Iraq signed a Status of Force Agreement in 2008 (IIRC).  That agreement gives Iraq the legal power to tell US troops to shove it.  The Iraqi government told American troops to shove it.  A bunch of people including, most recently, Leon Panetta, warned the Iraqi government of dire and dark and entirely mysterious consequences should they do it, because America wanted to keep troops there.  The Iraqis did not listen.

Besides, America still has an embassy there which is a virtual fortress, filled to the brim with Marines, CIA paramilitaries and Blackwater employees.

Sometimes instead of arguing with people on Facebook, I just quote Cain.
"Fuck yeah, Obama is the man, look at this."
*Cain's post*
"TL;DR"

Don't worry, people ignore me pointing out the ugly truth on my own Facebook as well.

It turns out that the State Department is going to keep a literal division's worth of mercenaries in Iraq, as well.  That's 12,000 private soldiers.

[BabylonHoruv]

From CNN:

President Obama announced Friday that the United States will withdraw nearly all troops from Iraq by the end of the year, effectively bringing the long and polarizing war in Iraq to an end.

Not good enough.

You know we're like the Hotel California of occupying forces, right?

Have we left Germany?
Have we left Japan?

There you go.

We left Vietnam.....

[Cain]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/09/us-vietnam-military-relat_n_675202.html

Cold War enemies the United States and Vietnam demonstrated their blossoming military relations Sunday as a U.S. nuclear supercarrier cruised in waters off the Southeast Asian nation's coast – sending a message that China is not the region's only big player.

The visit comes 35 years after the Vietnam War as Washington and Hanoi are cozying up in a number of areas, from negotiating a controversial deal to share civilian nuclear fuel and technology to agreeing that China needs to work with its neighbors to resolve territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The USS George Washington's stop is officially billed as a commemoration of last month's 15th anniversary of normalized diplomatic relations between the former foes. But the timing also reflects Washington's heightened interest in maintaining security and stability in the Asia-Pacific amid tensions following the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, which killed 46 sailors. North Korea has been blamed for the attack, but has vehemently denied any involvement.

[East Coast Hustle]

From CNN:

President Obama announced Friday that the United States will withdraw nearly all troops from Iraq by the end of the year, effectively bringing the long and polarizing war in Iraq to an end.

Not good enough.

You know we're like the Hotel California of occupying forces, right?

Have we left Germany?
Have we left Japan?

There you go.

We left Vietnam.....

Totally. And we were never even in Cambodia or Laos.

[Elder Iptuous]

It turns out that the State Department is going to keep a literal division's worth of mercenaries in Iraq, as well.  That's 12,000 private soldiers.

So, we'll have 12k mercs plus the forces in our "embassy"....
do we have an estimation of how many that is, all told?

[Nephew Twiddleton]

From CNN:

President Obama announced Friday that the United States will withdraw nearly all troops from Iraq by the end of the year, effectively bringing the long and polarizing war in Iraq to an end.

Not good enough.

You know we're like the Hotel California of occupying forces, right?

Have we left Germany?
Have we left Japan?

There you go.

We left Vietnam.....

The US generally doesn't make a policy of setting up permanent military bases in countries where we lost the war. Something about losing the war or something.

[East Coast Hustle]

Explain Iraq, then?

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Explain Iraq, then?

The US toppled the Hussein regime. That's a technical win.

The US lost the peace. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

From CNN:

President Obama announced Friday that the United States will withdraw nearly all troops from Iraq by the end of the year, effectively bringing the long and polarizing war in Iraq to an end.

Not good enough.

You know we're like the Hotel California of occupying forces, right?

Have we left Germany?
Have we left Japan?

There you go.

We left Vietnam.....

LOL other than the THIRTY FIVE military bases we left there.

[Cain]

I also love how the original CNN report glosses over how US incompetence in appointing people like, Paul Bremner, with no background in nation reconstruction, advised by people with no expertise in the history of Iraq (which they wrongly characterized as a "Sunni dictatorship", thereby creating a disturbing sectarian polarisation which previously only existed in their minds) was what created the insurgency in the first place.

And even better, that these people were picked because they had no prior experience, because everyone who did had prior experience had told the Administration they were nuts, and the Bush White House took such things personally.

There probably still would've been violence, and Iraq would probably still be an Iranian client state in all but name, but there probably would have been a few thousand (or tens of thousands) of less bodies in the streets.