"You Ain't A'Goin' Nowhere"

That's the impression by Ken Silverstein, Harper's mag's Washington editor and proprietor of "Washington Babylon" blog, and one of the most "catholic" (small "c") readers I know of. He fastened on a particular bit of international military/industrial propaganda and extrapolates from it that Prez.O may have some difficulty abstracting "all" USer from Iraq--as pledged--before 2011. (At best, I expect Prez.O to 'rebrand' troops on the ground.)

American Arms Sales to Iraq: Signs of a long stay?

By Ken Silverstein

From Eli Lake:

As President Obama weighs options for withdrawing U.S. combat troops from Iraq, the country’s military is purchasing American helicopters, cargo planes and tanks equipment that typically requires a prolonged U.S. presence for maintenance and training.

Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick, who is in charge of training Iraq’s security services and military, told The Washington Times that some of the ordered equipment would not be delivered until 2012, even though a new status of forces agreement (SOFA) requires all U.S. troops to exit the country by 2011.

Interestingly, the source for this tidbit is the Washington Times, which connections inside the Govt, and especially DoD, are still superlative--thanks to the embedded, entrenched cells of Bushevik loyalists inside the Pentagon and the "defense" industry.