"Combat troops" is used in newspeak because it helps obfuscate understanding about war (which is an important contribution the mainstream media and many independent outlets perform) . It has a technical military meaning, but it's often used to imply (falsely) that the troops or operatives there are not engaging in combat. This term became more prevalent after Obama pretended that following the Status of Forces Agreement 2008 that Bush signed with Iraq had something to do with his "change" of foreign policy. This was because in that agreement was this:
Article 24 - 2: All United States combat forces shall withdraw from Iraqi cities,
villages, and localities no later than the time at which Iraqi Security
Forces assume full responsibility for security in an Iraqi province,
provided that such withdrawal is completed no later than June 30, 2009.
Obama actually pushed this date back a year before speeding it up a couple months as another opportunity to pretend he had changed something about Bush's foreign policy (besides tone of diplomacy of course, which was more flattering [as opposed to Bush's undisguised arrogance]).
Likewise, for clarity, the scheduled withdrawal at the end of this year is from that same agreement:
Article 24 - 1: All the United States Forces shall withdraw from all Iraqi territory no later than December 31, 2011.
Furthermore!
On Feb. 27, 2009, one month after taking office as president, in a speech at Camp Lejeune, N.C.,
Obama said, "Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end."
He repeated the Aug. 31 date on Aug. 2 when he spoke to a group of disabled veterans in Atlanta.
“As a candidate for president, I pledged to bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end,” Obama
said. “Shortly after taking office, I announced our new strategy for Iraq and for a transition to full Iraqi responsibility. And I made it clear that by August 31st, 2010, America’s combat mission in Iraq would end,” Obama said. “And that is exactly what we are doing, as promised and on schedule.”
http://cnsnews.com/node/72052
kinda sad really.
Eight years of listening to the liberal left spread their poison toward GWB, his wife and daughters and it was OK by everyone on the left and in the lamestream media. Accepted. Business as usual. Now the right has the audacity to speak out against Mr. Fair Share and we're now unpatriotic because of our dislike toward the Fresh Prince. Wow. Sipping on some strong stuff there Mak.
