Operation New Dawn

“Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country.” - President Obama

Yesterday, President Obama spoke from the Oval Office to the American people, informing us that the combat mission, which has lasted for the last seven years in Iraq, is now over. After 20 months in office, the President has begun to follow through on his campaign promise. With Operation Iraqi Freedom now complete and the remainder of troops due to return by December 2011, his attention will now focus on the domestic economy and the ongoing war in Afghanistan. As of today, the majority of troops have been pulled out of Iraq, leaving nearly 50,000 in-country to help rebuild and reorganize as part of Operation New Dawn.

Source: Centcom via http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11147300

"We have sent our young men and women to make enormous sacrifices in Iraq, and spent vast resources abroad at a time of tight budgets at home... Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the US and Iraq, we have met our responsibility. Now, it is time to turn the page." - President Obama

Joining rank with those still stationed, my brother will be deployed next week, exactly one year to the day after my own departure to Morocco. Despite any apprehension or anxiety about my brother's deployment, this seems as good a time as any to be there. Combat having, in theory, come to a close, his role will now be to train, advise and support those of a war-torn country. It seems we may not be so far apart in job description as we once thought.

My mom always says she doesn't know what her or my dad did wrong to drive both of their kids so far away from home. I, for one, think it speaks more to what they did right.