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 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! December 31, 2009 Diversions (revisited)By GreyhawkA look back at one of the big milblog stories of 2009, with a followup that (unfortunately) isn't much of a surprise... February, 2009: the newly-sworn in President of the United States - who had run on a pledge to "immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq" by removing "one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months" - got a much needed headline: "Barack Obama diverts 17,000 soldiers from Iraq to Afghanistan". It was big news at the time, and - perhaps in part because it made good on campaign rhetoric regarding Afghanistan, too - was wildly popular with Americans. (Sixty-three percent approved.) But it was also a fraud, one of the first of many successful frauds the new administration was able to perpetrate on the American public. Within days of the announcement of the "diversion", Obama would appear at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to deliver his "Responsibly Ending the War in Iraq" speech. The New York Times would explain that the president's bold plan to withdraw from Iraq, "...outlined before thousands of camouflage-clad Marines here, underscored the transformation in national priorities a month after Mr. Obama took office as he prepared to shift resources and troops from increasingly stable Iraq to increasingly volatile Afghanistan." The president's venue underscored the shift in emphasis. About 8,000 Marines stationed here will ship out soon to Afghanistan, part of the 17,000-troop buildup he ordered. In announcing his "shift" a few days before, the president had reminded Americans that the troop increase for Afghanistan "has been requested by General McKiernan and supported by Secretary Gates, the Joint Chiefs and the Commander of Central Command." Furthermore, "General McKiernan's request for these troops is months old, and the fact that we are going to responsibly drawdown our forces in Iraq allows us the flexibility to increase our presence in Afghanistan." The only thing needed to really sell the story was a brigade to actually be "shifted" from a planned Iraq rotation. There were plenty available, but the lucky one chosen to earn Obama his headline (and an all too brief bump in American popularity polls) was the 2nd Infantry Division's 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team. "This is the only way our brigade logistics can really be tested," 5th Brigade commander, Col. Harry Tunnell told the News Tribune. "These are things we have to do in Iraq, but that are really hard to do in the United States." Those months of training and preparation were scrapped (one example: they don't speak Arabic in Afghanistan) so the phrase "Barack Obama diverts 17,000 soldiers from Iraq to Afghanistan" could appear in newspapers. But while a reduction in force in Iraq as a result of greatly improved conditions there would be both welcome and overdue (and military units go where they're needed), that part of the story was the real "big lie". A mere few days later, the Obama administration would rather quietly announce that "Gen. Odierno will receive a Stryker Brigade to replace the incoming replacement brigade diverted to Afghanistan just a week ago." The 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division was scheduled to deploy to Iraq "several months ahead of the original schedule, Army officials said Monday." Some comments from those most affected here. But while it was certainly a big story here last year, unlike the news coverage of Obama's "Iraq drawdown" and "diversion of troops from Iraq to Afghanistan", the revelation that it was all actually a complete fraud (and in fact an overall increase in troops in the combat zones) would pass without notice in the American media. End of year update: Where are they now? The 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division is operating in Iraq. The 5th is in Afghanistan:
Barack Obama is still President of the United States, and recently received the Nobel Peace Prize. Posted by Greyhawk / December 31, 2009 8:44 AM | Permalink 3 TrackBacksTrackBack URL: http://www.mudvillegazette.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/17146 A footnote to the previous story: While they didn't have months to learn the language or prepare properly for Afghanistan, when confronted with "an absence of good intelligence on what they would be facing in the Arghandab" valley, NCOs in the unit fou... Read More ...some incredible photos from the current "home" of the 1-17th Infantry Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. (The unit at the center of this storm.) Click it, don't miss it.... Read More Senior White House advisers are frustrated by what they say is the Pentagon's slow pace in deploying 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan and its inability to live up to an initial promise to have all of the forces in the country by next summer, sen... Read More 4 CommentsLeave a comment |
July 19, 2010Dawn Patrol 07/19/2010 [Greyhawk]
Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our ongoing roundup of information on war and other topics - from the MilBlogs and other sources around the world.
Always updating - refresh for updates.
AFGHANISTANProspects for stability in Musa Qala: challenges and possible solutions -- [Bill Ardolino /Long War Journal - in Afghanistan] Exploding Culverts -- [Kandahar Diary - in Afghanistan] Arbaki -- [Free Range International - in Afghanistan] Weather -- [A Major's Perspective - in Afghanistan] Fête Nationale -- [Field Notes: One Soldier's Perspective - in Afghanistan] Goodbye "FaST" Food (and good riddance) -- [FaST Surgeon - in Afghanistan] IRAQOn The Iran, Iraq Border -- [J.D. Johannes - in Iraq] WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISMSenators Look For Smoking Gun In BP-Lockerbie Link -- [AP] No Link Between BP And Lockerbie Release: UK Envoy -- [NPR news blog] UK's Cameron: Releasing Lockerbie Bomber Was Wrong -- [AP] U.S. AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLDAs Cameron and Obama Meet, BP Will Be Top Issue -- [NY Times] Afghanistan tops agenda for British PM's visit -- [Washington Times] WELCOME HOMEHomecoming -- [Rajiv Srinivasan - home from Afghanistan] STRATEGY & TACTICSISAF, SCR Address Military ROE and Tactical Directives -- [ISAF] SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYRaytheon's pain gun finally gets deployed in Afghanistan (update: recalled) -- [Engadget] Pain Ray Recalled From Afghanistan -- [Noah Shachtman/Danger Room] The Active Denial System: the weapon that's a hot topic -- [The Telegraph (UK)] World's Fastest Helicopter Boosts Battle Against Insurgents -- [ISAF]
POLITICSIs it time for a real GI Jane? -- [CNN] HUMOR/SATIRE(Need more? Dawn Patrols Archives are here.) Iraq, Afghanistan, War, Terrorism, Military, Politics, Media, MilBlogs, dawn patrol Mudville |
The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
 
 
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So Obama deployed a brigade trained for Iraq to Afghan and then replaced it in Iraq with a brigade not trained for either country.
Sweet ... that Obama is such a thinker ...
One more example of our Milli Vanilli President ...
Oh God, I never put two and two together on this... This is the unit that has had such high casualties in Afghanistan, yes?
This completes the information circle. Some of the highest casualties sustained in Afghanistan because the units one year training cycle was thrown out the window for political benefit.
I wonder if Obama has called the families of the fallen like Bush did? He could explain that it was his decision to muck up the rotation that got their loved ones killed.
Good reporting, Hawk.