And wouldn’t you know it? The Iraqis are gonna take all the big guns away from the “foreign security” contractors.

Oh dear, another “inconvenient” truth bumps up against official deceit.

How awkward.

Do the folks who came back realize they missed the “combat phase”?

But then (or even now), what are seven years in an endless “campaign”, anyhow?

Thanks, Spencer.

Let the word go forth …

DW

I think you’re unnecessarily reading into the table. Under its joint doctrine, there are six phases of combat operations. Phase 0 is shape (diplomacy), Phase 1 is deter (crisis mgmt), Phase 2 is seize the initiative (deploy into theater), Phase 3 is dominate (combat operations), Phase 4 is stabilize (post-combat ops), and Phase 5 is enable civil authority (turn over to host nation). You know the military. We like nice, simple flow-charts. Technically we were not at war with Iraq as of 1 May 03 because Bush said so. US forces were engaged in military operations to stabilize the region, which is distinct from combat operations against a hostile government. There’s no disrespect and the military people involved after 1 May 03 understand this.