Fewer US Troops Are Deployed This Year

The guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam displays holiday lights at its homeport of San Diego, Dec. 18, 2012. Ships on Naval Base San Diego are showing their holiday spirit by stringing lights and decorations during the holiday season. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Stephen M. Votaw

Home For The Holidays: Fewer US Troops Are Absent This Year -- Christian Science Monitor

Christmas 2012 marks the smallest deployment of combat troops abroad in at least five years, as the war in Iraq ends and US forces deployed to Afghanistan have been drawing down.

When President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama issued a special holiday greeting over the weekend to US troops fighting overseas, they were addressing the smallest deployment of combat troops in at least five years.

“This week let’s give thanks for our veterans and their families,” the president said. “And let’s say a prayer for all our troops – especially those in Afghanistan – who are spending this holiday overseas, risking their lives to defend the freedoms we hold dear.” Mr. Obama added that the number of troops in harm’s way is coming down, because “the war in Iraq is over [and] the transition in Afghanistan is under way.”

The number of troops in Afghanistan is at its lowest level since the Obama-ordered “surge” of about 35,000 troops in 2007 took the total over 100,000.

Read more ....

My Comment: Let us hope that this trend continues.