"Last US combat brigade leaves Iraq" SMH

 "About 52,000 US soldiers remain in Iraq, with that figure set to drop to 50,000 by September 1, less than a third of the peak level during the 2007 "surge."

From next month the US mission in Iraq will be called Operation New Dawn instead of Operation Iraqi Freedom - the name given to American operations since the invasion.

To fill the gap left by departing troops, the US State Department will more than double the number of security contractors it employs in Iraq to around 7000, the New York Times reported.

Citing unnamed administration officials, it said private contractors would operate radar to warn of enemyfire, hunt for roadside bombs and fly surveillance drones.

"This is an irresponsible withdrawal," said Hamid Fadhel, political science professor at Baghdad University.

"There are dangers to do with security of the country, concerns and fears for Iraq's external security, because of the lack of a military that is able to protect the country.""  SMH

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Just so we all understand, the 1200 men of this Stryker mechanized brigade who entered Kuwait this morning were convoying the brigade's vehicles to Kuwait for shipment by sea to Ft. Lewis  Washington.  Lewis is the brigade's home station.  The other 2800 men of the brigade left Baghdad by air for Ft. Lewis/Mchord AFB days ago.  The departure of this brigade means that we really are through in Iraq.  The remaining 50,000 troops will be drawn down between now and the 2012 election.  By that point there will only be a handful, a few thousand left.  Will there be contract guards for the State department?  Certainly, but they will be bodyguards operating within the confines of the Vienna Convention and Iraqi law.

Let us remember that US combat forces completed their withdrawal from Vietnam in 1972.  I know because I was on one of the very last chartered aircraft (a Boeing 747) to leave Tan Son Nhut AFB at Saigon. The withdrawal was unopposed once the Paris Accords were signed after Linebacker II.  I packed up my kit, put on a good uniform and someone drove me out to the Air Base where I processed on my flight and left.

Two years passed with five thousand or so advisers, diplomats, logistics people left behind in Vietnam.  The North Vietnamese Army stayed in its sanctuaries near the borders.  There was little fighting, if any.  Then, in 1975 Congress passed a law forbidding any further assistance of any kind for South Vietnam.  The North Vietnamese Army then attacked en masse, defeated the ARVN and captured Saigon.  In defense of the ARVN, I would point out that it is a much more difficult task to defend population centers spread over a country as big as California than it is to attack in specific sectors in locally overwhelming numbers.  

Two Years! Two Years!  Talk to me about this in two years.  pl

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/last-us-combat-brigade-leaves-iraq-20100820-12sb0.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Peace_Accords

Comments

[BillWade]

ah, but the combat did continue for a few more weeks, we got hit by between 60-80 rockets a night at Da Nang up until the cease fire which I believe was at 0800 on Jan 17th '73. On the night of the 16th we all got seriously drunk as we expected the VC to use up their stock of rockets on us. They didn't use a single one. But, the last laugh was on us, about 0730 in the morning the rockets started coming in and lasted till about 2 seconds before 0800. Nobody can say the VC weren't masters of psy war. The cease fire was nice but the hangover wasn't, lol. I finally left on Mar 29th for Nakhon Phanom Thailand. We had two "Freedom Birds" take off for the USA that day and several smaller birds that headed off to various bases in Thailand. The last Vietnamese I saw were NVA officers, they were counting us as we boarded with these little clicker things.

Years later I met a USAF Captain up in Canada and we got to talking. At one point he told me, "you hated my guts". Perplexed, I said, "what the hell are you talking about?" He told me he was Giant Voice on the night shift, he was at Da Nang at the same time as myself.

About 25 of us flew to Ubon and then 7-8 flew further onward to Nakhon Phanom. After coming out of the terminal at 'NKP' all of us hit the deck fast, the noon siren had gone off. It was pretty funny to some bystanders but not to us.

Giant Voice: The guy that used to scream into loudspeakers, "rockets, rockets, rockets".

[Patrick Lang]

BillWade

I left well after the cease fire, March maybe. I was left with a few men to destroy everything in former SOG headquarters. We burned things for a week in giant bonfires of classified documents. i went out to TSN to the USAF officers club at night. There were few Americans left, just the helicoper pilots of "F Troop, 10 cavalry regiment." They had been left behind to haul the people on the 4 power military commission around. the Canadians were appalled at these men. The cavalry pilots flew on the deck all the time They were combat hardened indeed and the Canadians complained to me one night that they did not want to ride with these madmen. There were NVA and VC officer drinking in the bar, all very chummy. conversations were pleasant but distant. pl

[Cato the Censor]

A lot of left wing blogs wail about the 50,000 troops left behind, like such a small force is a secret combat army in miniature, but I agree with you, Colonel. We're washed up in Iraq.

[Patrick Lang]

MJ

JPV was looking to die before his life lost meaning and so were many of them. Were they suicidal, no, just indifferent. pl

[RM]

I was based in Camp Holloway with F troop 10th Cav as an OH-6 aeroscout platoon leader. My last combat flight was 24 Jan 73. I spent the next two months flying the ICCS teams around after the cease fire. On 27 March 73 we dropped off our UH-1Hs with the RVN in Pleiku and got on a C-130 for Saigon. A few days in Saigon and then back to the states.

[Jackie]

And this whole endeavor (Iraq War) demonstrated what exactly? Certainly not our overwhelming force. This was worth the blood and money? For what? To have Saddam Hussein tried and hung?

My apologies to the military folks for this rather bitter post. You were just doing what you were ordered to do. BUT what a waste of blood and treasure!

Col.,
Please, don't post if I am beyond the house rules.

[confusedponderer]

Question: "flew on the deck " means ... what? At very low level?

[William R. Cumming]

So how many of the troops left in Iraq are combat trained members of 3ID?

What's to stop Iraq or its factions from hiring American military contractors?

[Patrick Lang]

WRC

There are several remaining combined arms brigades in Iraq. They have been given a different mission for their remaining time there. They are no longer responsible for offensive combat operations.
They won't hire American mercenaries. National pride will prevent that. pl

[Patrick Lang]

CP

Yes. Tree top. pl

[Patrick Lang]

RM

Thanks. I wondered what happened to the birds. pl

[Medicine Man]

A sincere "welcome home" to the American troops rotating back to the States. However things turn out in Iraq from here forward, those blokes earned their homecoming.

[walrus]

Question: "flew on the deck " means ... what? At very low level?

..And a very fine and exciting way of flying it is - like the proverbial magic carpet.....as long as you are not shot at and an expert is doing the piloting.

[scott s.]

The mission changes, sure, but I don't see how restyling the 2d (Warrior) Stryker Combat Brigade, 25th Inf Div as an "advise and assist" brigade somehow changes its nature? Meanwhile a combat medic of the 1-21 Inf is KIA from a grenade attack on his vehicle, So they aren't just sitting on FOBs.

[Patrick Lang]

scotts

you imply an attempt at deception. i think that is incorrect. What they should have done is simply state that the remaining brigades have no offensive mission except as back up to the Iraqis. they will be leaving sooner htan you think. pl

[flite]

Ironically, I picked up Frank Snepp's 1977 book, "Decent Interval" at a used book sale (for $1) last week.

Some of the parallels of then to now are striking.

[Lord Omlette]

It's been 2 years. Are we doing better or worse than you expected?

[turcopolier]

Lord Omlette

It has gone as badly as I expected. The sectarian and ethnic fighting and bombing in the country will only get worse. pl