Thursday, August 19, 2010

American soldiers unceremoniously end combat operations in Iraq

Well it seems that the American army's "combat operations" phase is now finally over. No victory parades, no fancy speeches or handing over ceremonies, instead the thief slips away quietly during the night. Or seems to slip away. There is still a strong American presence in Iraq and the US Embassy complex in Baghdad is apparently bigger than the Vatican. But if you read these stories and believe that this is about the United States leaving Iraq for good, or that this is even about Iraq, then you are gravely mistaken.

I think the timing of this withdrawal is interesting because in a few days Iran's Bushehr reactor will become operational; and a week after that? Well, we can talk about that when it happens. When a bull is expected to come crashing through your living room the first thing you do is pack up all your belongings so nothing is damaged. It would be very bad indeed for the Americans if they had all those American soldiers running around Iraq and Israel decides to bomb Iran before this reactor is activated. We all know the tit-for-tat kidnapping saga that the Americans had went through previously so I guess somebody in the American administration decided they didn't need that, or worse, happening to American soldiers on a mass scale. The clock is ticking, but for what?

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