Despite Obama's Vow, Combat Brigades Will Stay in Iraq

"Despite President Barack Obama's statement at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina Feb. 27 that he had 'chosen a timeline that will remove our combat brigades over the next 18 months,' a number of Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs), which have been the basic U.S. Army combat unit in Iraq for six years, will remain in Iraq after that date under a new non-combat label.

"A spokesman for Defence Secretary Robert M. Gates, Lt. Col. Patrick S. Ryder, told IPS Tuesday that 'several advisory and assistance brigades' would be part of a U.S. command in Iraq that will be 're-designated' as a 'transition force headquarters' after August 2010."