Lied To Again? General Odierno Requests More Combat Forces In Iraq (beyond the Obama deadline)

Odierno requests more combat forces in Iraq -- beyond the Obama deadline
by Thomas E. Ricks
February 25 2010

In a move that could force President Obama to break his vow to get all combat troops out of Iraq by August of this year, his top commander in Iraq recently officially requested keeping a combat brigade in the northern part of the country beyond that deadline, three people close to the situation said Wednesday.

Gen. Raymond Odierno asked for a brigade to try to keep the peace in the disputed city of Kirkuk, but only got a polite nod from the president when the issue was raised during his recent meetings in Washington, according to two of the people familiar with the discussions. If the brigade in northern Iraq is indeed kept in Iraq past the deadline, there will be a fan dance under which it no longer will be called a combat unit, but like the six other combat brigades being kept past the deadline, will be called an advisory unit.

I can imagine the press releases that will follow-

"Three U.S. Army soldiers were killed last night in an advisory operation . . . ."

In full at The Best Defense, Foreign Policy Magazine