Troops leaving Iraqi cities

The U.S. military in Iraq is abandoning – deliberately and with little public notice – a centerpiece of the widely acclaimed strategy it adopted nearly two years ago to turn the tide against the insurgency.

Now the Americans are reversing direction, consolidating in larger bases outside the cities and leaving security in the hands of the Iraqis while remaining within reach to respond as the Iraqi forces require.

They’re moving to places like LSA Anaconda (now called Joint Base Balad), a place I wrote about here.  Permanent duty station, here we come!

Fantasy conversation in my head between a new Army recruit and their recruiter:

Recruiter:  “You have a few choices of permanent duty station, please pick two:  Landstuhl in Germany, Osan Air Base in South Korea, or Joint Base Balad in Iraq.  You choose.”

Recruit:  “hmmm…  they all have Burger King’s.  Tough choice.”

Regardless, it’s nice to FINALLY receive news that troops are pulling out of outlaying Iraqi towns and cities and moving back to garrisons in a relatively peaceful fashion.

Oh, and P.S.:  Afghanistan here we come.

The shift is not explicitly linked to U.S. plans for increasing its military presence in Afghanistan, but there is an important connection: The logistical resources needed to house and supply a larger and more distributed U.S. force in Afghanistan have been tied up in Iraq. To some extent that will be relieved with the consolidation of U.S. forces in Iraq onto larger, outlying bases that are easier to maintain.

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