US Occupation of Iraq Continues Unabated

[Orwellian_Ghost]

US Occupation of Iraq Continues Unabated
Monday 06 July 2009
by: Dahr Jamail, t r u t h o u t | Perspective


"Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."
- George Orwell

On July 4 in Baghdad, Vice President Joe Biden, who campaigned with Barack Obama on a platform of ending the occupation of Iraq, found himself in one of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's lavish buildings, the Al-Faw Palace. While one of Saddam Hussein's thrones sat on the side of the room, Biden presided over a swearing-in ceremony for 237 soldiers, who were becoming US citizens. Speaking of the ceremony, Biden said, "We did it in Saddam's palace, and I can think of nothing better. That S.O.B. is rolling over in his grave right now." Perhaps the irony of both the scene and his statement were lost to Biden. For if Saddam Hussein was rolling in his grave, the reason would have less to do with one of his palaces being used as a naturalization center for US soldiers, and more to do with the fact that the US government has no intention of withdrawing from Iraq anytime soon.

We have passed the June 30 deadline that, according to a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed between US Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on November 17, 2008, was the date all US forces were to have been withdrawn from all of Iraq's cities. Today, however, there are at least 134,000 US soldiers in Iraq - a number barely lower than the number that were there in 2003. In addition, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates testified on June 9 that the United States would maintain an average of at least 100,000 troops in Iraq through fiscal year 2010.

The SOFA is a sieve, and the number of US military personnel in Iraq is remaining largely intact for now. Add to the 134,000 US soldiers almost the exact number of military contractors (132,610 and increasing), 36,061 of which, according to a recent Department of Defense report, are US citizens.

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http://www.truthout.org/070609J

[mmonk]

1. But its all ok now. The Democrats have the presidency. The occupation

is now for good reasons.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

2. The "Good" Occupation?

[mmonk]

3. Did I need a sarcasm tag?

I thought it would be obvious.

[Statistical]

4. Well more likely "goodest occupation".

What was bad is now good. All we need is a RecDec to "rectify" previous innacurate statement indicating the occupation wasn't goodest in order to be in alignment with what the government feels now and avoid confusion of the subjects. The govt is never wrong. If it is goodest now it was goodest always.