As combat troops leave Iraq State Department fields private army

There's a lot of delusional nonsense all over the internet today about the imaginary withdrawal from Iraq.


Here's State Department nabob Pat Kennedy;


"The U.S.-Iraq relationship is incredibly important. This is a democracy in the Middle East," he says. "Is it perfect? No. A lot of people think our system isn't perfect either. But this is a major oil producer, a friend of the United States, a potential market for American goods and now, I think, a very important symbol in the Middle East of what democracy in the Middle East could be."


Sure thing, Pat. Not that it was ever about the oil, of course.


And while the "combat" troops are leaving, there are plenty of Americans with guns staying, certainly enough to protect the largest American "diplomatic mission" in the world. The State Department alone will 
keep over 16,000 employees in Iraq to keep an eye on the symbolic democracy we've created.


And the projected cost of this friendly gesture?


$3.5 billion a year in perpetuity.