U.S. Military Rebuffed in Iraq

The USA has sacrificed our blood and treasure in Iraq over the last 8 years.  Of course historians will debate the decision and the outcomes over the next decades.  Should we have done it?  Should we have done things differently?  Is it possible to make a democracy in a Muslim country where a majority favor shariah law?  The questions can go on and on.

A few days ago, President Obama announced that all U.S. troops will be out of Iraq by the end of the year...and this linked article offers a reason for why there will be no troops left behind in Iraq.

The US suffered a major diplomatic and military rebuff on Friday when Iraq finally rejected its pleas to maintain bases in the country beyond this year.

Barack Obama announced at a White House press conference that all American troops will leave Iraq by the end of December, a decision forced by the final collapse of lengthy talks between the US and the Iraqi government on the issue.

The Iraqi decision is a boost to Iran, which has close ties with many members of the Iraqi government and which had been battling against the establishment of permanent American bases.

Obama attempted to make the most of it by presenting the withdrawal as the fulfilment of one of his election promises.
"Today I can report that, as promised, the rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year. After nearly nine years, America's war in Iraq will be over," he told reporters.

But he had already announced this earlier this year, and the real significance today was in the failure of Obama, in spite of the cost to the US in dollars and deaths, to persuade the Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki to allow one or more American bases to be kept in the country.

Obama was formally told of Maliki's final decision on Friday morning in a video conference.
Speaking later to reporters, Obama glossed over the rejection, describing it as Iraq shaping its own future.

See it here;  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/21/iraq-rejects-us-plea-bases

Yes, folks...while it is good that we are done in Iraq, make no mistake about it, we didn't get the military base there that we wanted.  This is simply one more sign that points to more evidence that the USA is becoming more and more irrelevant in the region.  As the world becomes aware of our waning balance sheet, our political fighting in Congress, and our inability to secure our interests in Iraq and Afghanistan, it becomes increasingly obvious to many leaders that America is not the great power that she once was.

And of course the article points out that this was a great victory for Iran....because you can pretty much bet the farm on it that Iran has it's arms all the way into Iraq and will be exerting more and more influence as we pull out.

This shouldn't surprise us...because Assyria is one of the named players in Psalm 83 and that ancient kingdom included much of the lands that today are part of Iraq.