Slouching toward Iraq
On December 11, 2011, the last American combat troops present in Iraq withdrewacross the border with Kuwait, ending the nine-year war that cost the United States 4,500 soldiers and billions of dollars. The exit marked a momentous, celebratory occasion, fulfilling at least in part President Barack Obama's campaign promise to bring to a close the twin wars he inherited […]Jared Keller reports for the Pacific Standard:
On December 11, 2011, the last American combat troops present in Iraq withdrewacross the border with Kuwait, ending the nine-year war that cost the United States 4,500 soldiers and billions of dollars. The exit marked a momentous, celebratory occasion, fulfilling at least in part President Barack Obama's campaign promise to bring to a close the twin wars he inherited from the Bush administration.
But nearly four years later, Obama's withdrawal seems, at times, as premature as the infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner that flew on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in 2003 when George W. Bush announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq. After months of Islamic State militants washing over the weakened Iraqi government and flourishing in war-ravaged Syria, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced Tuesday that the U.S. is pivoting toward "direct action on the ground" to stem the rising tide of Islamic terror, the Associated Press reports. While the Pentagon refused to characterize the operation as "U.S. boots on the ground," per MSNBC, Carter said that the military expects more "raids" like the dramatic hostage rescue mission by U.S. Delta Force earlier this month, with contingents of specialists focused on "opportunistic attacks" against Islamic State forces.
