As the final convoy of the Army’s 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Lewis, Wash., entered Kuwait early Thursday, a different Stryker brigade remained in Iraq.
Soldiers from the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division are deployed in Iraq as members of an Advise and Assist Brigade, the Army’s designation for brigades selected to conduct security force assistance.
So while the “last full U.S. combat brigade” have left Iraq, just under 50,000 soldiers from specially trained heavy, infantry and Stryker brigades will stay, as well as two combat aviation brigades.
50,000 troops to stay as a security force? Renaming a combat brigade does not change what it is. These units were chosen because “they would be able to retain their inherent capability to conduct offensive and defensive operations”. Doesn’t sound at all like combat will end anytime soon.
Why can’t the US government just level with the American public and tell us that we are never going to leave Iraq?
(3 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5, rated)
