As we wind down the overt military phase of the Iraq war, I think this article carries some important knowledge. In Iraq as well as Afghanistan, the way out of the country has been to train native security forces to take over. We trained hundreds of thousands of security personnel in Iraq, and just as [...]

In a ceremony known as “Casing the Colors,” the US military formally ended their mission in Iraq, with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on hand to make things official. The location of the ceremony gives away exactly how this war is ending, and it doesn’t read “triumphantly.” In a fortified concrete courtyard at the airport in [...]

You may or may not know it, but for the White House it’s Iraq drawdown week. On Monday the President met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and held a press conference about the transition away from a military relationship. Tomorrow the colors will come down in Baghdad and, as far as I can tell, all [...]

Joe Biden wrapped up his two-day trip to Iraq today, promoting a new phase in US-Iraqi relations. But that phase, contrary to popular myth, will include US military troops on the ground throughout the country: Iraq’s prime minister indicated on Wednesday that he was open to the eventual return of American troops as trainers, underscoring [...]

We knew that Joe Biden was scheduled to visit Turkey and Greece this week, but while he was in the region, he swung over to Iraq. Vice President Biden made an unannounced trip to Baghdad on Tuesday to meet with Iraqi leaders and American troops as the deadline for a draw down of U.S. forces [...]

I noticed yesterday that military leaders appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee let slip that the withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq would include some not-withdrawals. In fact, a handful would be left behind as trainers. The New York Times writes that up: Some United States forces will remain as military trainers on [...]

When Harry Reid delivered a debt limit deal back in July that included $1 trillion in savings for drawing down wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Republicans were dismissive. They called it a budget gimmick, a phantom “savings” that would have been achieved anyway. Then they got to the Super Committee and realized they didn’t really [...]

The US is looking to wind down the war in Afghanistan quicker than previously stated, perhaps as soon as next May at a NATO meeting, according to multiple reports. The Obama administration is exploring a shift in the military’s mission in Afghanistan to an advisory role as soon as next year, senior officials said, a [...]

One safety valve for the Super Committee was derived savings from a reduction in war costs. Those costs are in an OCO (overseas contingency operations) budget, and the way that the Congressional Budget Office calculates them basically takes the last year’s expenditures and assumes a stasis on them for the next 10 years. By capping [...]

The forever war caucus in Congress – Joe Lieberman and a host of his fellow conservative reactionaries – are calling for hearings on the Iraq withdrawal announced last Friday. A group of mostly Republican senators is asking Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) to schedule a full hearing on President Obama’s decision to [...]

It was a signature of Bush-era incompetence in Iraq. $6.6 billion in reconstruction funds, loaded up on pallets and sent into Baghdad, never to be seen again. Where did it go? Who received the money? How could $6.6 billion go missing? Years later, the government has come up with an answer. It went to the [...]