Administration officials are continuing to maintain that the combat mission in Iraq is over and that the 50,000 US troops in the nation, who were officially redefined so they are no longer “combat troops,” are there for training and facilitating operations.
So there are no combat operations in Iraq, despite all the combat that is still going on. But at least the US troops aren’t directly involved, except for those occasions where they are. The redefining of the Iraq War has been something of a PR success, but it hasn’t actually changed anything on the ground.
But the Pentagon is reassuring those troops that their combat pay will not be taken away from them, and that Iraq will continue to be “in the list of designated hostile fire or imminent danger pay areas” going forward.
Which is probably a relief to all of those troops still stuck in Iraq, but again underscores just how superficial this “end” of the Iraqi War has been. With officials already raising the prospect of staying in Iraq past 2011, that end is looking less certain all the time.
Another question that should be asked is whether US troops will qualify for the Combat Infantryman's and Combat Action Badges.
When did the end look certain?
This was always the Democrats plan. You can go back to the end of the Bush years and find the Democrats pushing exactly this plan. I remember watching CSpan showing hearings of some general tetifying and Sen. Obama asking questions about leaving 30,000 to 50,000 troops after we 'withdraw'.
That was always the Democrats con. They gave the impression they were anti-war and would withdraw, but if anyone ever looked even slightly at what they were actually proposing, it was always almost the same as what Bush was saying. There never was any difference.
To anyone who was ever paying any attention, the end was never in sight.
End of the War but combat pay to continue.
Does anyone in the Pentagon have any idea of what they are doing and saying?
Fast and free with American taxpayers dollars.