So, to clarify, combat operations have concluded in Iraq, but you will still be eligble for combat pay and campaign awards. This doesn't bother me.

This bothers me: if you are a female in Iraq, you can earn a combat action badge or combat action ribbon (service specfic), be decorated for gallantry with a bronze or silver star, become a prisoner of war, win a purple heart, or be killed but still not be considered a "combat veteran" by the VA.

"We're not advising and assisting anybody."

That's a direct quote.

But the media falls all over itself repeating the White House's line that all combat troops have departed Iraq. No wonder the news media rates worse in public estimation than used car salesmen and just above Congress.

I don't think Obama's statement declaring the end of the war was any less transparent to the initiated than Bush's was. Though the similarity in their specific verbiage of "combat actions" is eerie, I didn't see any articles in the major news sources making remarks to that effect. The greater public should have picked up on the sound of those words coming from Obama's lips like a fire bell in the night, though.

We paid a heavy strategic and operational toll for assuring ourselves things were all wrapped up in 2003. We risk paying a societal toll today.

Others discuss the way media coverage has fallen off regarding Iraq since Obama's proclamation and the footage of units rolling out of the country. That's just the symptom on the surface. The real malady lies beneath, and it's deeply disturbing to me.

By its own admissions, today's network news media chases the audience. Their news content and presentation format is specifically designed to ensure ratings. We can draw an unsettling conclusion from that nature-- the truth about combat activities in Iraq isn't getting covered in the media because the American public doesn't want to hear about it anymore. Perhaps, as Tom notes, the emperor doesn't have any clothes in this case, but the people are more than ready to see the resplendent attire he's put on, and so they do. It seems we only have the capacity to fight one "real" war at a time. If we're going to focus on Afghanistan, then Iraq must become the "forgotten one."

Of course, the majority of public opinion supports getting out of Afghanistan, too. That brings me to the most troubling conclusion. Ten years into this thing, Americans can't wait for Obama to announce the end of the Afghan war as well. Why have one forgotten war when you can have two?

Obama's own inability to find a real way out of Afghanistan (let alone get his Generals to find one) has been well-documented by Woodward and thoroughly discussed by all. It's evident that when a real way out can't be discerned, a marginally believable one will do. If Americans can't get what they want, they're willing to believe they got it. With the administration taking some heavy electoral lumps at mid-term, they may be more than eager to sell that message in 2012.

And ultimately, where does that leave the military? Where does it leave the veterans?

People are tired of fighting a war after ten years. Are they really prepared to be reminded there was a war for another ten years? That's very conceivably how long our injured veterans will require intensive efforts to help them heal from their wounds. Some will take twenty. Others will take the rest of their lives. If the American public is tired of seeing images of the conflict on television and in the papers, how will they react when they see amputees and burn victims walking down the street? More importantly, how will they react to government spending on medical facilities or charity groups asking for contributions? The yellow ribbons and little car antenna flags got tattered years ago. Today they're an endangered species.

These kind of cultural upheavals seem to happen in every war. Sure, Vietnam is the worst example of them, but let's not forget the political turnover in Britain after the end of WWII. People weren't satisfied to "keep calm and carry on" with Churchill for long afterward. "I like Ike" was more palatable than "Korea, Communism, Corruption." People like putting a happy face on things. Politicians are more than willing to put on that face to get elected. Look how we overlooked the resistance movements in Japan and Germany beyond V-E and V-J day in our assumptions about a post-war Iraq. Our desire to have a world that is nice and neat where wars end as soon as the ink is put to peace treaty is a hubris as dangerous as any other we've developed in the current conflicts. My concern is that the rose-colored glasses also come with blinders, and our veterans requiring extended care will fall outside the periphery. The war can't be over if people are still being wounded, so the best way to maintain that convenient fiction is to ignore the inconvenient truth.

The population once again demonstrates its propensity to wish things away. Hopefully this time they will realize that all the wishing in the world doesn't make a thing true. The wounded aren't going away.

Mr. President: please award Sgt. Voleger (29 yr old army ranger recently killed in in Afghanistan) our nation's highest military medal: for unselfish bravery, service and spirit--beyond the call of duty--while enduring 12 tours in Afghanistan (8) & Iraq (4)--rendering true, by example: "Home of the brave."

Two articles, by Anthony Loyd, The London Times web site.

Service members in Qatar and Kuwait have been getting combat pay and combat patchs for a while now. Sort of a joke. Continued combat status for Iraq doesn't bother me a bit.