Follow BeltwayBlips on Twitter
Mudville Gazette: Diversions (III)
Victory Caucus -- All Content —
Remember the Iraq drawdown you heard about last month? The one where a Brigade originally scheduled for Iraq was going to Afghanistan instead? Well, a funny thing about that... Last weekend we noted this obscure bit of news from ABC:Gen. Odierno will receive a Stryker Brigade to replace the incoming replacement brigade diverted to Afghanistan just a week ago. That means that he will continue to maintain the current level of two Stryker brigades in Iraq.While that story might be... read ...
THE MUDVILLE GAZETTE: An Iraq drawdown scam?…
Instapundit —
THE MUDVILLE GAZETTE: An Iraq drawdown scam?
Did Obama Play Politics With Troop Deployments?
Ace of Spades HQ —
Did Obama Play Politics With Troop Deployments? Based on this post from Greyhawk, it sure looks like it. One brigade diverted from Iraq to Afghanistan to great public fanfare, meanwhile another brigade is quietly sent to Iraq in it's place. All while months of training and vital skills are wasted. Now imagine if Bush had done this. Of course you can't because it's simply unimaginable that he would have done this.
When Not All Is As It Seems
Blue Crab Boulevard —
... Greyhawk points to what would have been a huge story under the Bush administration. 1. In September, 2008, the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) - after months of preparation - is ordered to Iraq. (One of two SBCTs that were then scheduled to replace the two currently in Iraq) 2. In February, 2009, President Obama announces his Iraq drawdown/Afghanistan surge - the 5th SBCT will be diverted to Afghanistan instead of Iraq. 3. March, 2009, the DoD announces the 4th SBCT will deploy to Iraq this fall, several months ahead of the original schedule replacing the 5th SBCT in ...
Hustled: How Obama Deceived America About a Drawdown in Iraq and a "Surge" In Afghanistan By Playing With The Lives Of American Soldiers
Confederate Yankee —
Hustled: How Obama Deceived America About a Drawdown in Iraq and a "Surge" In Afghanistan By Playing With The Lives Of American Soldiers This post from milblogger Greyhawk is a must-read . It is relatively rare when we see a situation where people from both ends of the political spectrum and all points in between can unite for any reason, but using the lives of soldiers as political props is certainly one of them. Here's the summary: President Obama, apparently seeking to keep the anti-war left firmly under his spell, announced that he was drawing down American forces in Iraq, ...
Shell Game?
Jules Crittenden —
... Mudville thinks the Obama admin is playing one, diverting a Stryker brigade that had been preparing for Iraq to Afghanistan amid much fanfare, and shortly afterward, sending a Stryker brigade to Iraq. Topics: ...
Obama Playing Politics With Our Troops?
The Jawa Report —
March 08, 2009 Obama Playing Politics With Our Troops? Obama announced troop draw down in Iraq while increasing troops in Afghanistan. Unbeknown to the public he is replacing them with another Striker Brigade . MSM as usual is mum. Besides MSM helping the WH hiding this "under the radar,"news, those who are being redeployed to Afghanistan have had training in Arabic for 10 months. What is the language spoken in Afghanistan? Pashtun. an Indo-European language. It belongs to the Iranian sub-group of the Indo-Iranian branch.[ ...
Pawns
Neptunus Lex —
... that another Stryker brigade has received orders to deploy to Iraq four months early in their training cycle to backfill the first.
In summary, a trained brigade has been diverted to an area of operations they did not train for, while an untrained brigade has been ordered to fill the hole left behind by the first. It’s another game of political chess, only this time the target audience is not the PRC nor even Taiwan, but the US public. And nobody seems to notice.
Except for Greyhawk.
Misleading Info on the Drawdown
The Jawa Report —
March 09, 2009 Misleading Info on the Drawdown I'll call it misleading, but I'll allow you to draw your own inferences. Mudville Gazette on a Stryker Brigade moved from Iraq to Afghanistan held up as an example of the drawdown : 1. In September, 2008, the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) - after months of preparation - is ordered to Iraq. (One of two SBCTs that were then scheduled to replace the two currently in Iraq) 2. In February, 2009, President Obama announces his Iraq drawdown/Afghanistan surge - the 5th SBCT will be diverted to Afghanistan instead of Iraq. 3. ...
Diversions...
Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys.. —
... to go to Iraq and schedule it to go to Afghanistan instead, then make headlines for drawing down Iraq and building up Afghanistan, could you pull off substituting another Brigade into the Iraq rotation for the one you diverted without anyone in the media pointing out that your drawdown is a scam, a hoax on the American public? Of course you can. (Well, you and I can't. And George Bush probably couldn't. But Barack Obama can. After all, "yes we can" is his motto, right?) And yes he did . You should click that link and read his whole post, but I'm going to stick he recap in ...
Bush’s Real Mission Accomplished
Flopping Aces —
... his Camp Lejuene speech, he gave the obligatory “thanks to the troops” line; but couldn’t take a moment to give George W. Bush his due; Barack Obama has mesmerized the masses into the belief that he is gracious and capable of rising above partisan politics. But his actions time and time again are proving him to be anything but a man of class and a president of unity who will govern from the center.
And he continues to deceive and continues to play shell-games and set up strawmen arguments with the American public. Yet somehow ...
