Iraq withdrawal?

The international media (and the White House) are in love with themselves over the fact that American troops have today "met the deadline" for withdrawal from Iraqi cities. Everyone touts this as some sort of achievement of the Obama administration. I tend to disagree and relish the chance to educate the less-informed.

Let it be known that simple Google searches will verify everything which follows.

The key point here is the use of the word "cities." Iraqis do not think of resuming control of their country based on whether American forces are located within city limits. They think of "provincial" control, much as we would think of "state" control. If, in the event of civil unrest, Kentuckians were not in control of Kentucky, then we would not be in control. If the forces providing control were located within the city limits of Lexington or in the rolling farmland of Jessamine County, it wouldn't make any difference. If, after having achieved a state of calm, that force turned over control to Kentuckians and then relocated their bases to Jessamine County, what difference would it make? Would that be considered a retreat?

The fact is that 13 0f 18 Iraqi provinces (the only bases of power in Iraq short of national government) had already been turned over to the Iraqis before Barack Obama was even elected. This was accomplished under directives from the Bush administration. For the last two years, American military commanders have realized and admitted publicly that they should relocate their bases to rural areas outside of city limits.

They, not the Obama administration (which hadn't even come into existence), decided this was proper in order that ordinary Iraqi civilians didn't have to deal with the presence of American troops on a daily basis. Their thinking (not Obama's) was that they could provide the same level of support from 10 miles away while reducing their daily "footprint" among the civilian population. Being located just outside of a given city, our technology being what it is, they knew that they could confront any threat just as quickly as if their base was in the heart of downtown. They also considered that by relocating to rural bases they could reduce the chance that civilians might be injured or killed by attacks on American troops and compounds.

For years, as is easily verifiable, the American forces have known that they should relocate their bases outside of urban areas. Aside from looking to transfer provincial control as soon as practicable, they have simultaneously been working to relocate outside of urban areas since before Barack Obama was even nominated by his party. If the American forces have today completed their withdrawal from "cities," it wasn't as the result of anything that President Obama did. In fact, no Americans have left Iraq presently. They simply relocated their bases to a position just outside of each city in which they were previously located. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less. Their just a Blackhawk, Chinook or Little Bird away from any situation in which they're needed. The same guys are still there, doing the same mission, releasing control to the Iraqis as they're able, just like they were long before Barack Obama was even a glint in the eye of the American voters.

Let's give credit where credit is due, and reject those who would usurp it.