Last Convoy of American Troops Leaves Iraq

About time !
I personally was never against the war in Iraq, I believe it was a great service to the Iraqi people, we took Saddam out of power and decimated Al Qaida every chance we could.
Will the people of Iraq understand what we have given them? Hell no.

Will the people of Iraq every pull their heads out of their Islamic Haze in order to live a normal life NOT under control by a Dictator or a terrorist group? Hell no!.

For the most part I think the Iraqi people want normalcy and freedom, but unfortunately for them their religion leads to murder and terrorism and an environment of fear that is inescapable due to ISLAM.

For our Troops I hope they can be home for Christmas, Safe and sound.

Good job and thank you to all of them.


The New York Times
The last convoy of American troops to leave Iraq drove into Kuwait on Sunday morning, marking the end of the nearly nine-year war.

The convoy’s departure, which included about 110 vehicles and 500 soldiers, came three days after the American military folded its flag in a muted ceremony here to celebrate the end of its mission.

In darkness, the convoy snaked out of Contingency Operating Base Adder, near the southern city of Nasiriyah, around 2:30 a.m., and headed toward the border. The departure appeared to be the final moment of a drawn-out withdrawal that included weeks of ceremonies in Baghdad and around Iraq, and included visits by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, as well as a trip to Washington by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq.

Pakistan has right to self-defence, so does US

So, I guess we will be fighting the Pakistani Military soon enough, Some of these jackass's are so entrenched with the Taliban they will take that as aggression against the Military.
This could get ugly quick.

The Times Of India
With Pakistan vowing to respond with "full force" to any future aggression in the wake of the deadly NATO strike, the Pentagon has said that Islamabad has the right to self-defence and so does the US

U.S. Military Hands Camp Victory Over to Iraqis

Good, get this bullshit over with so Iraq can fall back into turmoil.

Foxnews
The U.S. military says it has handed over Camp Victory, a sprawling base at the edge of Baghdad that used to be the headquarters for the U.S. military, to the Iraqi government.
The handover of the sprawling complex of grandiose former palaces of Saddam Hussein, encircled by 27 miles of blast walls, comes as American troops prepare to pull out by the end of the month after nearly nine years.

Experimental Aircraft to Go From Zero to 13,000 in Hypersonic Test Launch

Awesome stuff, but I don't know if the Human body can take such speeds within Earths atmosphere...

The goal of the project is to eventually enable the U.S. military to strike anywhere in the world in less than an hour

Oh! That explains it.


Foxnews
An unmanned aircraft that can travel at the breakneck speed of 20 times the speed of sound will take off Wednesday from an Air Force base in California for a test flight.

The Falcon HTV-2 is an arrow-shaped aircraft that launches on a rocket, separates and then glides at hypersonic speeds of 13,000 mph through the Earth’s atmosphere. (To put it in perspective, it would take less than 12 minutes to fly from New York to Los Angeles.)

Wednesday’s launch marks the aircraft's second flight. In April 2010, the Falcon flew for nine minutes, including 130 seconds of Mach 22 to Mach 17 flight, according to DARPA, the military's research arm.

The goal of the second flight is to "validate our assumptions and gain further insight into extremely high Mach regimes that we cannot fully replicate on the ground," Air Force Maj. Chris Schulz said in a DARPA news release.

Iraq Deadlier Now Than a Year Ago

To expect a bunch of savages to be civil to each other let alone to a foreign military is beyond comprehension, and a mistake.

You can not change these peoples minds, we give them peace and stability and all they want is death and destruction of their fellow neighbors because they are a different religious sect or from a different town.

The Shiites do not like the Sunnis, the Sunnis do not like the Shiites, they both hate the Kurds the Kurds hate both of them.

This is a good reason to pull out of these Muslim countries immediately after our missions are complete, and let them continue to kill each other off.

It is the Islamic way.

Foxnews
BAGHDAD – Frequent bombings, assassinations and a resurgence in violence by Shiite militias have made Iraq more dangerous now than it was just a year ago, a U.S. government watchdog concludes in a report released Saturday.

The findings come during what U.S. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart W. Bowen Jr. called "a summer of uncertainty" in Baghdad over whether American forces will stay past a year-end withdrawal deadline and continue military aid for the unstable nation.

"Iraq remains an extraordinarily dangerous place to work," Bowen concluded in his 172-page quarterly report to Congress and the Obama administration on progress -- and setbacks -- in Iraq. "It is less safe, in my judgment, than 12 months ago."

The report cited the deaths of 15 U.S. soldiers in June, the bloodiest month for the U.S. military in Iraq in two years. Nearly all of them were killed in attacks by Shiite militias bent on forcing out American troops on schedule.

It also noted an increase in rockets launched against the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, where government offices and foreign embassies are located, as well as constant assassination attempts against Iraqi political leaders, security forces and judges.

Additionally, the report called the northeastern province of Diyala, which borders Iran and has an often volatile mix of Sunni and Shiite Muslims and Kurds among its residents, "very unstable" with frequent bombings that bring double-digit death tolls.

Iraq will ask US troops to stay post-2011, says Panetta

Drag it out some more eh?
It is obvious that the Iraqi security forces are better than they were, they still are way to immature to protect Iraq on their own.
but the bigger problem is the people they are protecting against.
How are you supposed to defend against the members of Al Qaida when they blend in with your neighbors?
Regardless of whether we are there or not Iraq will always be violent.

BBC
Iraq will ask the US to keep troops in the country beyond an end-of-2011 pullout deadline, says the nominee to be the next US defence secretary.

Outgoing CIA director Leon Panetta said he had "every confidence that a request like that will be forthcoming".

Mr Panetta was speaking at a US Senate committee considering his nomination.

The US currently has about 47,000 troops in Iraq, none in a combat role. Under a 2008 deal, they are expected to leave by 31 December 2011.

"It's clear to me that Iraq is considering the possibility of making a request for some kind of [troop] presence to remain there [in Iraq]," Mr Panetta told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.

He said that whether that happened depended on what Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki might ask for.

But if Baghdad did make such a request, he added, Washington should say yes.

U.S. Commandos Capture 4 Suspected Pirates

Good job, It would be much nicer just to see them Killed instead of captured; but at least they won't be out pirating anymore.


Foxnews
Anti-piracy officials say U.S. commandos have captured four suspected pirates who boarded a Japanese-owned oil tanker off the coast of Oman.

A statement by the international anti-piracy task force says the 24 crew members on the MV Guanabara took refuge in a protected part of the vessel after reporting they were under attack Saturday.

A special unit from the destroyer USS Bulkeley boarded the tanker Sunday and detained the suspected pirates about 328 nautical miles southeast of Duqm in southern Oman.

WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning facing 22 fresh charges

34 charges for the little bitch who committed treason against the U.S..
Will they seek the death penalty, Hell no, they will probably drop most charges and tell him how we are sorry for what we have done.

Hopefully not, I would for once like to see someone treated the way they should be treated in a situation like this, like a POS, with no rights, he should be transported back and forth from his trial shackled and handcuffed(Maybe even a nice Ball gag for his piehole)then when his trial is over a nice Military firing squad.


Dailyindia.com
Washington, Mar 3(ANI): Bradley Manning, the prime suspect in the leaking of classified US documents to the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website, has been hit with an additional 22 charges, including aiding the enemy.


The US Army intelligence analyst initially faced 12 charges, including transferring classified military information to his computer and "delivering national defense information to an unauthorized source".

As part of 22 additional counts, Army prosecutors said he "wrongfully and wantonly" caused intelligence to be published on the Internet, with the knowledge that it would be "accessible to the enemy".

Aiding the enemy is a capital offense, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but the military is not seeking the death penalty.

"The new charges more accurately reflect the broad scope of the crimes that Pvt. 1st Class Manning is accused of committing," Fox News quoted Captain John Haberland, a legal spokesman for the Military District of Washington, as saying.

The Army made the announcement of additional charges after seven months of investigation.

Iraqis fear renewed violence as U.S. disengages

"The U.S. withdrawal from Iraq will pave the way for the violence and sectarian fighting to return.

On one hand they want us to leave , on the other hand they are scared to see us go !

And the way the Iraqi's are so un-willing to wipe their own ass's when it comes to taking control of their own Country , the Violence and Sectarian Fighting will indeed return .



(Reuters) - President Barack Obama says Washington will fulfill its pledge to halt combat operations in Iraq by the end of this month, but many Iraqis fear that U.S. disengagement could portend surge in violence.

Violence has plunged since the peak of the conflict in 2006-07, but bombings and other attacks occur still daily and Iraqi officials say the civilian death toll rose last month.

Squabbling politicians have been unable to agree on a coalition government since an inconclusive March 7 parliamentary election, raising tensions and opening the way for insurgents.

"The U.S. withdrawal will pave the way for the militias and armed groups to work freely, and they will activate their operations again," said Samer Ahmed, 32, a Baghdad laborer whose brother was killed by militants at the height of Iraq's sectarian warfare in 2007.

"I believe Iraq's security situation will deteriorate severely. A civil war is coming to devour everything in Iraq."

then I would say it is time for the Iraqi's to pull their collective heads out of the sand , and fight for their country .

If they can't do this then they don't deserve what they have !

2 in Custody at Florida Air Force Base

What idiots .
It takes a lot of nerve to try and do something as stupid as this .
Obviously these two just wanted to go shoot some guns with the US Military , maybe hang out a little while ,you know , have a good time !


NYTimes
A man and a woman were taken into custody Monday evening after they tried to gain unauthorized access to MacDill Air Force Base outside Tampa, Fla., and weapons were found in their vehicle, military officials said.

The base is home to the United States Central Command, which oversees the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The pair tried to enter the base around 5 p.m. through the base’s Bayshore Boulevard gate, said Senior Airman Katherine B. Holt, a spokeswoman for the base. When they were unable to show proper identification, their vehicle was inspected and security personnel found military-style weapons and gear inside, officials said.

Members of the base’s fire department and an explosives unit were summoned, but no explosives were found, the base said in a statement. Later, officials said the Bayshore gate was closed, as it normally is at night, and the rest of the base was operating normally.