Page 17 - Combat Forces News Today

In terms of command and control it is important that women be assigned rather than attached so combat units to do the jobs they are currently doing. women already are on the front lines and they have died in combat and two earned the silver star. whether they are on the front lines has already been answered. the question has to do with assignments, command and control, and whether the women who would prefer to be in the infantry and are physically capable, should be allowed to make that decision...

With all of the civilian casualties, and he wanted it stopped, a situation in kabul where there was a demonstration, anti-american, karzai under a lot of pressure from afghan civilians about this whole question of afghan deaths, and of course, as weve talked about, it is the taliban and the insurgents who are responsible for the majority of those deaths. >> barbara, big picture here looking at afghanistan. is there any movement in terms of the time frame for keeping u.s. troops in country? >> re...

Woman. the united states withdrew its combat forces in iraq just under a month ago and plans are still in place to have all u.s. military out of the country by the end of 2011. last night on the "rachel maddow show," vice president joe biden talked about the u.s. civilian commitment to iraq and what the future holds for the end of "operation new dawn." >> when we leave iraq next year, we are not -- we are leaving militarily, but we are significantly ramping up our civilian presence. i mean sig...

Because of the ses of the surge, but, also, partly because of the success of the iraqi military and police force, to step in and fill the breach and, as u.s. combat forces have been pulling back, for a long time now. one thing that the administration will say today is, look, its not as if 90,000 combat forces or pulling out of iraq in august, they were pulling back from the fray, consistently, for the last 9 to 12 months and, the iraqis have been stepping up. and, so, yes, the violences is of co...

>> well, theres 50,000 residual forces in iraq, julie. after the august 31st deadline to remove all combat forces, they will be armed, able to defend themselves and if pressed into service, may see action and of course, part of those residual 50,000 forces will be involved in targeted military operations against remaining al-qaeda operatives within iraq. its not as if come august 31st there will be no hostilities that the united states will be involved in. some involving the al-qaeda forces, wha...

So the u.s. military continues its draw down of combat forces. this week the final combat brigade drove from iraq across the border. they are to leave, get down to the 50,000 boots on the ground number by the end of the month to meet a deadline set by president obama ending combat operations. then it changes to operation new dawn and the 50,000 american soldiers will be there in an advise and assist type role. securing airspace and borders and doing counter terrorism operations. the general is l...

Headed by the diplomats to help iraqis take the next steps. as general odierno winds down operations, there is a question precisely how long the u.s. will keep a troop presence in iraq. the current agreement between the countries says all u.s. troops will be out by the end of next year. today, odierno was asked about the possibility of an extension. >> they have not asked us. we will wait to see what happens. they are capable of providing the internal security and they are capable of foundationa...

Marthas vineyard. senior white house correspondent major garrett is reporting live from there. major, what do we know about the speech? >> good morning. welcome to a blustery marthas vineyard on sunday morning. president obama getting in a round of golf this morning, trying to beat the weather. we expect much of the heavy winds and rain, you are experiencing in new york as the president tried to work on the golf game before the deluge arrived. on the speech, we dont have precise date but we know...

The brigades that left this week will be gone from iraq and there will be a residual force of 50,000 support forces in iraq. the president will want to put it in context as a matter of policy and for those of us who cover the democratic primary campaign, it was candidate obama insistence on troop withdrawal strategy, viewed by liberals more progressive than hillary clinton to help give him toe-hold in the primary campaign. he wants to tell the country he built a strategy then as candidate and ca...

>> well, only in a couple of ways and some are ironic and some are important. one of course is as u.s. forces begin to withdraw from iraq, some, only some, not all of those combat forces will then be repositioned to afghanistan. of course, the larger connection is david petraeus, the central figure in the third strategy in iraq. the successful surge strategy as a candidate barack obama opposed and now theres a third strategy president obamas in afghanistan being led by whom? general david petrae...