THE LAST PATROL

[Duchess]

I fell asleep watching the last patrol leave Iraq last night.

Thousands of people dead. Thousands of people maimed. An untold number of kids left orphaned.

What exactly was accomplished over there ? Anyone know the answer to that ?

It was all for naught...It was all in vain, wasn't it ? Those people died for nothing.

[OnBendedKnee]

We all end up dying for nothing. Just some sooner than others.

But, even with that said, your point is not lost on me.

[Lady Cop]

one soldier who says it was not in vain.

Mosul, Iraq (CNN) -- The last U.S. brigade combat team in Iraq has left the country, a move that helps U.S. President Barack Obama reach his goal of 50,000 troops in the country by September 1.

Their departure leaves about 56,000 U.S. troops in the country, according to the U.S. military.

Capt. Christopher Ophardt, spokesman for the 4^th Stryker Brigade, 2^nd Infantry Division, said the last of the 4,000 members of the unit crossed the border into Kuwait early Thursday.

A few hundred members stayed behind to finish administrative and logistical duties but will fly out of Baghdad later Thursday, Ophardt said.

Much of the brigade departed more than a day ago, but the announcement was delayed for security reasons.

Their departure comes more than seven years after U.S. combat forces entered, though their departure does not signify the end of all U.S. combat forces in the country.

As they prepared to depart, some soldiers laughed and some expressed relief at having survived multiple deployments. A few reminisced about having endured firefights and helping carry the bodies of buddies off the field of battle. Many said they would never forget the war.

"The first time you get shot at, it's just, I mean, it wakes you up," said Sgt. Terry Wetzel, the company's senior sniper. "You think, before you come here, that you're an adult, that you're a grown man. But this place will change you."

Wetzel said he was ready to go home. "I feel like we have done as much as we can do here now. It's pretty much up to the Iraqi army and Iraqi police and their government," he said. "We have helped them out as much as we can."

"We put our blood, sweat and tears since we've been here for 12 months and we know we did our job and we know it's not going to be in vain, but there's a lot of excitement right now," said Spc. Don Lanpher as he prepared to depart.

"We're keeping the promise that we've made when I began my campaign for the presidency," Obama said Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio, where he was attending a Democratic fundraiser. "By the end of this month ... our combat mission will be over in Iraq."

Obama said that more than 90,000 U.S. troops have left Iraq in the past 18 months.

"And, consistent with our agreement with the Iraqi government, all of our troops will be out of Iraq by the end of next year," he said.

Former U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker told CNN that the United States has plenty of work left to do in Iraq.

"Iraq is still at the beginning of the story of its evolution since 2003," he said, referring to the date of the U.S.-led invasion of the country. "As tired as many Americans may be, this process is still just at its beginning."

In fact, Iraq remains without a functioning government, electricity and other utilities are available only sporadically in the capital, and violence appears to be increasing. At least 48 people were killed Tuesday outside a military recruiting center in Baghdad.

"We're going to have to leave a large footprint behind, and this is not going away for us as an issue," he said.

The State Department is preparing to leave much of that footprint. It will handle many of the responsibilities currently shouldered by the military, increasing its security contractors from 2,700 to nearly 7,000, sources said.

They are expected to work with diplomats and police trainers in some facilities.

The State Department has asked for an additional $400 million to cover the costs, though it was not clear they would get it.

The State Department has asked the U.S. military to leave behind surveillance systems, about 50 bomb-resistant vehicles and a few dozen UH-60 helicopters, a military official said. Though they got a lot of what they wanted, the Pentagon said it could not give them all the helicopters because they are needed in Afghanistan, the official said.

According to the Pentagon, 4,419 U.S. troops have died in Iraq.

[Duchess]

Anyone who voted for George Bush a second time bears some responsibility for this mess and it is a mess. It accomplished exactly nothing, nada, zilch, zero. If you think differently then you have your head up your ass.

That should get some of you motherfuckers fired up sufficiently enough to answer my questions, all of you that thought, or even still think, Dumbya walks on water.

[God]

Zero, nada, zilch would have been an improvement - his presence was a negative equity,
just like Bliar's - and, yes, I spelled that quite correctly, thank you.

[Carsman]

The last "combat" unit left! But I can't help but to worry, "WHAT ABOUT THE REMAINING" 50,000 + troops still left there. (For embassy security)
Those troops who are now understaffed, that hopefully will not be victimized by the finatical insurgents left there not yet defeated!

[God]

Yes, as a testament to their conviction that they were right, Bush et al inc Bliar
should all now be sitting somewhere in Afghanistan "helping" to do whatever they say
was right in the first place. After all, why shouldn't each put his own life where his mouth is?

[cladking]

Anyone who voted for George Bush a second time bears some responsibility for this mess and it is a mess. It accomplished exactly nothing, nada, zilch, zero. If you think differently then you have your head up your ass.

That should get some of you motherfuckers fired up sufficiently enough to answer my questions, all of you that thought, or even still think, Dumbya walks on water.

W was a mediocre president at a time we needed a good leader. Sure, he did reasonably well in defending the country and in foreign affairs but he failed miserably in what needed to be done at home in education and the economy. The economy would have collapsed in 2001 from Clinton's and the republican Congress' mismanagement if it weren't for the patriotic fervor inspired by 9 11. As bad as Bush was he was the best president since Ford by a wide margin.

If it weren't for Bush Paris would be gone by now and Tel Aviv would be severely threatened. A few cities like Baghdad in the mideast might be smouldering radioactive ruins as well. I don't know what people thought when saddam announced he was going to nuke Israel thought he meant but best guess is he planned to do it.

Don't believe the nonsense about Weapons of Mass Destruction. It is simply impossible to know if he was collecting fissionable materialas or not since Clinton cut the spy budget. The one part of the military that should have been beefed up after the cold war while the rest suffered draconian cuts and instead he cut the wrong place leaving a bloated, blind, and obsolete behemouth sucking up tax payer money. I don't know how congress always gets it wrong. You'd think they stumble into right once in a while.

Obama will look like a fool and will be throwing away 5000 Americans and a half million Iraqis if he's calling this wrong. Let's hope he's right that Iraq can stand on its own feet.

[Duchess]

Over 63 "experts" told GB that there was no evidence of WMD. He refused to take their word for it. If he was so certain, why were the military not supplied with protection against that? They pushed into Iraq with nothing that would have kept them safe against a weapon of that caliber. Why wasn't that a concern for anyone?

[Maggot]

They went in prepared for chemical attacks. I also believe nearly all the Senate agreed to go in. That included Hillary Clinton and many Dems. It cannot ALL be blamed on him.
Iran was more than happy to back the U.S. then and we basically fought a war that did nothing but benefit Iran. They are the winners today.

[Duchess]

It was agreed upon because of bogus information supplied by the Bush administration.

[Maggot]

Ah-Ha! It was not the election.