Ten More Years in Iraq and Afghanistan for U.S. Army?

Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey

On Memorial Day, I reminded readers that Obama had abandoned his campaign promise to withdraw a brigade a month from Iraq this year and ordered a surge in troop levels in Afghanistan.

Two days post-Memorial Day, the AP’s Tom Curley reports:

Gen. George Casey, the Army chief of staff, said the world remains dangerous and unpredictable, and the Pentagon must plan for extended U.S. combat and stability operations in two wars.

"Global trends are pushing in the wrong direction," Casey said. "They fundamentally will change how the Army works."

He spoke at an invitation-only briefing to a dozen journalists and policy analysts from Washington-based think-tanks. He said his planning envisions combat troops in Iraq and Afghanistan for a decade as part of a sustained U.S. commitment to fighting extremism and terrorism in the Middle East.

Let’s all salute Obama, the war president, as he strides forth wearing Dubya’s mantle for the remainder of his first and hopefully his last four-year term.