How I Fooled My Anti-War Base

by Barack Obama

It is my intent to get all American combat troops out of Iraq in 16 months. The plan is posted prominently on my new White House Web site (which in my opinion is hands down much more inviting and user-friendly than the site was under the Bush administration) and it says plainly: If I immediately start pulling a brigade or two out every month, by mid-2010, they’ll all be gone.

The math works. We have about 140,000 members of the military in Iraq now. Remove two brigades, or 7,000 troops, each month and that deadline will be pretty much met.

It gets even easier if you factor in the wiggle room. Note that I say “combat” troops. As the commander in chief, I can, in a pinch, simply redefine the role of any troops still in-country as advisors, trainers or support and instantly the “combat” troops are no more. My administration has even suggested this redefinition of roles may be a critical component in keeping the Iraqi military on track toward self-sufficiency.

I and Vice President Joe Biden have also made it clear that they have no intention of abandoning our ability to gather intelligence and contain terrorist groups in the region, and that means boots on the ground.

So, it should come as no surprise that every expert I’ve talked to who knows the region and military matters predicts that there will be thousands of American troops still in Iraq past that 16-month deadline. And let’s not even talk about Afghanistan, where I want to increase, not decrease, our military presence.

I know this is depressing to my anti-war folks, especially any who supported me in the belief that I was going to bring all the troops home. But in fairness, that was not my campaign message, particularly toward the end. I said that the war was ill-considered, poorly-executed, and we need to move into a new phase.

Now we are doing that. Just don’t expect anything radically different in 16 months.

Sincerely,

President Barack Obama