are they coming "home" or deployed to other places

They will almost certainly go to Afghanistan as the redeployment rate there is taking its toll.

No strategy, in my humble opinion, all political!

Obama is a big dud...... I am so sorry I wasted my time and money to help elect him........ never again........

It is about time! We never learn. After so many years and spending so much money and so many casualties defending South Vietnam, it made not a bit of difference in its future. We didn't learn a thing. We also didn't learn that other nations never help with their fair share of troops and the enormous costs. Any wonder we head toward bankruptcy.

Stewart,if you believe in that statement you made about Obama then I have a bridge you can buy very cheap

Obama's foreign and military policy has been stellar, from the Somali pirates to killing the top terrorists and deposing tyrants with no American casualties. What is different between that and his handling of the economy? He didn't have to capitulate to the Republicans in his foreign policy. They couldn't filibuster that. Just imagine what he could do with jobs without the Republicans standing in his way. I know I won't be rewarding any Republican with my vote for their stopping the recovery of America.

" Just imagine what he could do with jobs" I don't want to imagine as his record is grim!

From one side of his mouth he ends a war and from the other side of his mouth he escalates. Last week the US sent 100 armed military "Advisors" to Uganda. Call them what you will it is obvious what is going to happen next.

This story is buried very deep and is not being covered by the media

zizi couldnt agree with you more...we were all fooled by change you can believe in...and Stewart with all due respect you can continue to be a zombia and believe the rhetoric...the President who I respect has not kept his promise to change Washington,,,he has expanded it with more lobbyist and more special interest...when bush took this country into two un-necessary conflicts and borrowed money from china for a failed foreign policy...The President had every opportunity to change course, instead he has escalated by entering into Libya and now Ugnada...we can no,longer police tthe world and change regimes,,,we are broke and it does not serve this country to do so...

@stewart. Sounds great. You appearing on MSHBC or CNN. NATO is broke. It is our military budget that is supporting the same Bush doctrine of Obama. There is no need with our deficits to continue to borrow from china to continue natiob building when will you realize we are broke.

What makes me laugh is when we speak of foreign policy in this country??? Who are we kidding, we borrow from china, take billions from a rich country only to transfer it to rich people in poor countries...the military budget should be cut in half. m

georg, do you have a relationship with real live Libyan nationals, I do, a 30 year one, I think I have a better handle on the matter than you give me credit for...

Stewart. I respectfully disagree with your interpretation of military intervention. Drones belong to us and just because there are no boots doesnt mean the military budget isnt running a tab. If your democratic thumping includes the obama doctrine great. I am and always will be against any type of miitary action especially in the middle east. Yopu can either agree or disagree please do not debate me on justifying it.

Stewart...rampage?? there have been cases of murderous rampages in North Korea, Syria, Iran, Somalia...why is it you justify the actions when the President and his administartion decide where military actions need to be taken...as the Obama Administration stated in the past we can not be the only country in the world who lead the battle for freedom...NATO is 60% funded by our tax dollars and with the financial meltdown occuring in Europe it will be soon more than that, if we dont stop spending money on nation building...and do me a favor, if you know anything about me, I was as critical Bush as I am with the current administration...it is all a game and you are led to believe one party has your back over the other...I have news for you politicians dems and reps alike are intrested in one thing...getting elected and staying in office...when you realize it, your statements will be your own and not refrabricated form the evening news...

For the folks that are influenced by the evening news of the demo-craps and republi-cants, look at where this nation is going between the last few administrations. The government's interest is no longer for the citizens but their own egos and need to stay in office. Time to bring all our troops home, close the borders and heal ourselves. Afghanistan's president's statement just confirms that world leaders do not care for us, just our money.

Ulisis I could not agree with you more or said it any better, except to add that candidate Obama pledged he would end the war in Iraq and he has certainly lived up to that pledge, and that the Biden-Gelb plan ratified by a bi partisan vote during the period of grid lock (that the GOP stubbornly reasserts to this day) provided for a blue print for a better Iraq, where resources and revenues were to be re distributed equally among the provinces there, and local autonomy would be installed with a loose federation of a weaker central gvt, was offered up as an alternative to what had been the reality of Iraq under the tyrant.
Today Iraq has an opportunity to make form a more perfect union and iof they do not, it will not be because of the Obama administration bringing an end to a US presence.

Ok its obvious you want your guy re elected simply because he is your guy. I for one thought three years ago we were getting hope and change. We were on a path to change washington a new transparent govt. It seems everyone here is arguing that bush was herendous. Conceded. We know he was. Bush was horrible. If that is a reason to re elect President obama, I have one question. Is our economy better today than 3 years ago. I do not think the independents who overwhelming supported him in 2008 will support in 2012 for reasons I have stated. He will not carry fl or pa.

Ulises:

Please. Your political naivity is hopeless. Do the Republicans want to make Obama a one-term president? Of course they do. Hello, the sky is also blue. Did the Democrats also try their best to make Bush a no-term, 1-term President? Of course they did.

This is politics, and this is how it works. To suggest that "your" party is the party of all that's good in the world and the "other" party as all that's wrong, is simply being naive. By all means support the party that more closely resembles your beliefs, but let's be honest about politics, whether it be on the national level, or the Village of Ridgewood.

Libya has confirmed every skeptic's worst fears that in practice, the "responsibility to protect" is little more than a pretext for toppling vulnerable governments.
If it were anything else than a pretext, then we'd also see our governments act on their "responsibility to protect" thousands of human beings who die every day from hunger and simple diseases.
Strangely, there is always enough money for war, and never enough for anything else. But what is money?

Ricky....I see that your knowledge does not go further than having been weaned by the evening news.......

First, I am happy for our troops and their families that they are coming home but let’s get something straight here:

1) It was Bush who originally set the combat troop withdraw date by 12/31/11 in a 2008 agreement with the Iraqi’s.

2) The Obama administration has been pushing for them to stay longer but

3) Obama is now withdrawing ALL of our troops from Iraq not because he promised to but because he FAILED at negotiations in getting immunity for our US soldiers (a standard agreement).

Without immunity he had no other choice BUT to remove all troops. Now he is trying to spin it as a campaign promise fulfillment.

This is ultimately a win for Iraq and Iran - not for Obama and not for the US in the long run. So now the military training troops that were supposed to remain will be replaced by private contractors.

Lastly, I am glad that our SEAL’s killed Osama but has it really made any difference? Not really. It was purely a symbolic killing.

Ulises...The President had a democratic congress and democratic senate for two years...he ran center right as a candidate after he was elected he drifted center left, and that is what caused the emergence of the tea party...had he followed what he campaigned on, had he focused on creating jobs, had he put a staff together focused on accomplishing th ework of a better washington to serv eits people and not special interest...his approval rating amoung independents, not tea party followers woul dbe soaring...three economic advisors, Summers, Roemer and Goldsbee, resigned...what does that tell you, no one leaves an administration unless you feel you are not being heard, or you feel it doesnt matter what you throw against the wall, the rest of the administration is not on board...The President is viewing his approval numbers andd beleives he can steal the election by pushing hard left and creating class warfare...Independent voters elect Presidents...I believe President Obama will have a difficult time winning key battle ground states...regardless how passionate we feel about him...those are emotional comments from irrational democrats, vying for their guy...I am neither republican or democrat...I vote for integrity...I have yet to see it

Stewart....What in God's name are you smoking or drinking???.....

Stewart: The decision to invade Iraq was supported by the majority of Americans, and the majority of our politicians. Was the intel we relied upon flawed? Of course it was. Was it "lies"? There has not been a single shred of actual evidence to support that. As for the belief that Saddam possessed WMD's, this belief was held by our CIA, former President Clinton, and just about every other intelligence service throughout the world, including the Russians, the French, the British, and even the Saudis. Even Saddam himself wanted everyone to believe he had them, and only started denying it when we were on the verge of attack. Even without WMD's, in a post 9/11 world, I believe our interests warranted an invasion based upon Saddam's support of suicide bombers, his prior invasion of Kuwait, and his constant defiance of the no-fly zone (including his attempts at shooting down U.S. patrol aircraft). What was badly interpreted was the exit strategy. I think we all felt that regime change would be easy (and it was), but the complex aftermath was a major blunder.

So. Those lies. Care to back those allegations up?

NealR....every one of your assumptions like swiss cheese is full of holes....all are myths promoted by our friendly neocons. Intelligence is not supposed to be flawed...there is not a single quote attributed to Russian intelligence to support any intelligence argument. As for the Brits, they were and still in our pockets. Read the followup MI-6 reports proclaiming the lies you support. Shooting down a U.S. patrol aircraft....what would you do if a foreign military aircraft was buzzing overhead in our North Jersey skies.. Get real!!!

@Ulises...I am not interested in someones view points of tying what happened on 9/11 to IRAQ...we could draw many conclusions...one specifically... that Saudi Arabia by bank rolling Osama Bin Laden... should we have also attacked and over thrown them???...what about IRAN???..do you remember GW Bush Doctrine and axisis of evil...it was plan devised by Rumsfeld..and it was not the correct course, we successfully did nothing but further distatbalized an already de stabalized region.the bottom line is it is impossible to export our culture into that part of the world...it is divided by religious beliefs and has been hostile to our western cultures for decades...the only way we could defeat them is one way...ADOPT A NATIONAL ENERGY POLICY and do not send billions of dollars to them for oil...we currently import 25% of the worlds national resources, in as much we do not import much of that oil from the middle east, we contiue to use our military to protect the flow of oil from the middle east to other parts of the world...we have impowered these rouge nations and they use the profits of their oil exploration to export terrorism against western civilizations

Ulyses, in as musch as we are in agreement, iraq was an opportunity for a war mongering GW. If terrorist were present in iraq they were also present in yemen as well as saudia arabia. My cynicism of US foreign policy has led me to believe our government officials, undermine its citizens and covienently reports,leaks falsified information to justify its global actions. Should we have hunt down and destroyed the group for 9/11??? Without a doubt. Our technological advances were no match for them in afghanistan. What prevented the focus of apprehension was the ideoligical belief mr bush was put on this earth as the worlds savior, it was impossible for our military to succeed fighting a two front assault in a theater which our military experts under estimated the landscape and adversaries

Ulises...interesting that you should mention Mearsheimer and Walt.....My question during the past 40 years is who dictates U.S. FOREIGN POLICY.....The answer is quite clear. Say all you want about Bush and company, but their gray matter was not responsible for the events in the Middle East. The AIPAC directed policy continues to this day....BTW, Stephen Walt is worth following on his blog in Foreign Policy magazine. I'm afraid that the mainstream media shies away from discussing the whys and wherefores. Note, that the same players are always passing their "expert" comments on all facets of our foreign policy. The truth is very well hidden....and this is not conspiratorial talk....Mario, you are almost there.....

NealR, Genocide is an abused term. Where was the outcry when father Bush deserted the Shiites. Please familiarize yourself with tribal cultures. The "no fly zone" then and the "no fly zone" now in Libya suited a military objective that created more civilian destruction. Good guys today and bad guys tomorrow suits objectives which are not clearly discussed in the mainstream media. Spare me the time of providing you links to the reality taking place. Educate and inform yourself by learning how to research instead of being handed material on a silver platter. If you have not made those discoveries by now, you never will.....

Ulises....It is worth noting that our State Department and U.S. Foreign Policy advisors have all been followers of Leo Strauss (Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Robert Kagan, Paul Wolfowitz, et al). The Straussian philosophy was very key in our dealings with Central America in the '50's.. Let us all not forget that the Trotskyites of the 30's and '40s morphed into the neocons of the 50's to now. We do know who was behind PNAC (Project for a New American Century).. Too many names, too many facts..
And let us not forget good old Henry Kissinger

It’s official: capturing someone alive and quickly executing them, then parading the corpse around on TV 24 hours is “a good thing”. It’s hard to know who the winner was, but the BBC, ITV, Sky and a number of other British channels have gone all out the last few days to prove who’s the best at gloating over the murder of Gaddafi (after he was dragged through the streets and sodomized with a knife). Following the alleged “death” of bin Laden and the drone strike which killed Anwar al-Awlaki, and the many other victims of the West’s extrajudicial killings (a tactic increasingly in favour as the “War of Terror” rolls into its eleventh year) it should come as little surprise to people when, once again, the nations which claim to be the strictest adherents to the rule of law bend the rules to the point of breaking when it comes to justifying their own killings.

NealR....here is a harmless You Tube link which may add a bit of knowledge: General Wesley Clark ( a semi-slouch)....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MMAONc7GeIc

NealR....you obviously do not go beyond repeating spins and snippets from local newspapers......tell me about killing innocent civilians....have you ever seen a B52 straffing mission.....F16 missile attacks.....educate yourself by reading history, by analyzing and understanding the reality of what is taking place.....BTW, does your education go beyond the elementary grades????....tell me about public executions.....how about our "Saudi" friends, our friends in Yemen, Bahrain, et al....
What do you know about those places or are you waiting for the idiot tube to provide you with a 30 second graphic????

Here neal- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPy7fU5jr70 PACK OF LIES!

Stewart....George Galloway still kicks ass however our media does not recognize him.....
NealR...you must be some 12 year old kid who just doesn't get it. My comments follow a very linear approach.....You also did not catch General Clark's message...

NealR2000....FYI - Lukoil, a privately owned Russian oil company, has started drilling for oil near the Iraqi port city of Basra. Did Cheney get a finder's fee?.....I'm sure this is being covered by you local rag.....and BTW, is the 2000 your year of birth???...

NealR2000....What insults??? You seem to be quite expert with OWS. I take objection to that?? I have nothing to prove you. You obviously need to be directed when it comes to knowledge. May I suggest checking the library. Galloway is more than a debater. His association with Saddam?? No different than Cheney's and Rumsfeld's. Also no different than McCain's and others relationship with Gaddafi...
Connect the "dots"......

NealR2000....In all seriousness, if you care to have a debate on foreign policy issues I will be more than happy to oblige. My sarcastic remarks were not meant to be insulting.
As far as OWS, I am a small businessman in the software technology field with a domestic as well as international client base....and if I had the time and energy would definitely participate with OWS.....Enjoy the weather....

and now an opinion from those who did the fighting, votevets.org:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ashwin-madia/gop-candidates-responses-iraq_b_1035110.html

Stewart.....The Huffingtonpost (I'm sure) was meant as a joke......Let me tell you something about those who did the fighting.....They are so far removed from the political situation that their opinions pull no weight with me or anyone else. I am speaking from personal experience. It is very easy to glorify war and find purpose for lost causes, but the reality is that the ground troops are living drones just doing what they are told. Wrap yourself all you want with our Flag.....glorify those who served by making a better America for them by providing the social services and jobs they need on their return. Don't paint a Hollywood picture of their service (including mine).....

georgeg - VIETNAM

Stewart......How dare you....what has getting shot in the face have anything to do with the political situation.....you want to hear about getting shot....where where you between 1966 and 1969????? There is no badge of honor in getting shot at and being unlucky in getting hit.....are you asking me to join in the platitudes of serving in the military.....I've done my share...thus my anti-war views.......tell me about your experiences!!!!!....

PAUL WOLFOWITZ-MR WRONG ABOUT IRAQ:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/29/maddow-wolfowitz-mr-wong/