So the U.S. is going to pull out of Iraq. Except that the U.S. isn’t.
I would say that I’m shocked by the confusion in the upper ranks of the military, but I was in the military.
Somebody is gonna go from wearing a star on their shoulder to wearing a star on their cap and saying, “Welcome to Hardee’s, would you like to our 2 for $5 mix and match?”
I’m assuming the one that drafted the earlier letter was … well, I’m gonna hold off for now. BGen Seely was born in Saigon, and has an impressive (at least on paper) record. (Oh, and the Marines use “BGen” for a brigadier general, right?) So, maybe he was just getting things ready in case those were the orders that came down. If that’s the case, some officer somewhere is gonna be slinging fries for releasing that letter.
I’ve seen some stupid stuff in my time in the Army. Good to know the Marines can be as much of a cluster-f*** as the Army can be.
I guess we’ll see how all this plays out.
This fiasco makes me wonder what’s going on? I thought there was a clear chain of command in the military, yet a blunder like this looks like someone followed orders that shouldn’t have been followed. Maybe it’s just a misunderstanding and someone just screwed up royally. People are involved, so that’s a strong possibility. But is it also possible that at the top of the chain, there’s a power struggle going on and people aren’t sure who to obey and who to ignore?
Pull out? Doesn’t sound manly to me. I say “leave it in there, get the job done!” — George Carlin
Worst I’d heard of (not participated in) was hearing of a colonel who notified a family of their loss without waiting for the Army notification team.
I am not so sure this was a screw up.
The Iraqi Parliament just voted a resolution asking the US to leave, but in a very toothless manner.
By letting this letter slip out, it puts all parties on alert to be careful what they wish for. “Oops, it’s just a draft, it is one of the things we will have to do if you ask us to leave like you just voted to do.” You just might get it, and all the consequences that would involve. Many Iraqis understand what Iran will do if the US does leave now.
That’s an interesting take on it. I hadn’t considered that possibility.
One should also add that the Sunnis and Kurds boycotted the vote and the Parliament barely managed a quorum to pass the non-binding resolution and it can take affect until it is signed by the PM who currently cannot sign legislation because he is leaving office and only there in a caretaker role. Basically the rump faction of Iranian backed officials grandstanded like a Democrat on Impeachment.