This section is for discussion of all things military, past or present, that are related to active duty. Armor, Infantry, Navy stuff all welcome here. In service images and stories welcome here.
Tue Aug 31, 2010 12:58 pm
Today, after more than seven years of war, It is announced that U S troops to be ending combat in Iraq.
So some of them are coming home, not all. There will still be 50,000 U S troops there for another year, about 1/3 of the total 150,000 that were there. Some may be sent to afghan and not home and there are over 4400 killed that won't get to enjoy finally being home. This does not include perhaps 10 times as many wounded, some for life. There are still various private contract forces in Iraq, I think over 100,000 also. Those contracts are lucrative and the companies are not going to want to end them.
Two other questions: What happens if and when the Iraq forces cannot maintain the combat on their own? Will the U S keep their word and stay out of it? Back in 2003 the U S govt, with a different President, announced that combat in Iraq was over, and they didn't stick to it then. I wonder how many of the 4400 killed came after that announcement?
The other big question is if a soldier is lucky enough to survive this war, not get sent to Afgan, and actually makes it back home alive and intact, can they find any sort of worthwhile job in civilian life with the economy as stagnant as it is?