What "Drawdown," Obama?

Games sometimes cost lives.

...just as soon as the Obama White House sold the drawdown story to the media and the anti-war left, he immediately and quietly ordered that another Stryker brigade—one that is no doubt capable, but one that didn't have the specific, intensive training of the unit diverted to Afghanistan— rushed to Iraq months ahead of schedule in order to keep the same number of Stryker brigades (two) as there has been the entire time.

There is no drawdown of Stryker brigades in Iraq.

President Obama lied to the American people.

He tried to con those who are against the Iraq war into thinking we were actually drawing down our capabilities there, when all he actually did was use a street-hustler's sleight-of-hand, having us watch one hand moving a unit out of Iraq, while using his other hand to deftly slide in another.

As to the "cost lives" part--there is a VERY big difference in training exercises between the Iraq and Afghanistan fronts. The Strykers going to Iraq were trained for Afghanistan--and the Strykers going to Afghanistan will be "air-dropped" into a situation for which they were NOT trained.

It's likely that the American ability to adapt and make do will overcome the training deficiency--but why risk it in the first place?

Because it's a good show. Bread and circuses, folks.

HT: Confederate Yankee