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The “end” of the Iraq War and story telling in the news at IDEO

At the Disabled American Veterans convention in Atlanta earlier this month, President Obama announced:

“As a candidate for president, I pledged to bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end. Shortly after taking office, I announced our new strategy for Iraq and for a transition to full Iraqi responsibility. I made it clear that by August 31, America’s combat mission in Iraq would end. And that is exactly what we are doing – as promised and on schedule”

However, the definition of troop withdrawal gets a little murky when you consider how many US personnel will remain in Iraq after the last “military” units leave. Here are 5 Iraq troop withdrawal myths from the Washington Post that get to the nub of the issue. For more information about the nature of the troops who will remain in Iraq, watch this video interview [from 2:34mins in]  with Jeremy Scahill, who has been investigating the US’s increasing reliance on Private Armies (such as Xe Services, the rechristened company once known as Blackwater) in Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond. I’m currently reading his excellent book, Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army , so will post my review once I’ve finished it.

For the scoop on last night’s talk at IDEO Palo Alto, go to my Knight Project page.