U.S. BEGINS IRAQ PULLOUT

This in Stars and Stripes via the (sit down) Associated Press

The current total of 20 combat brigades is shrinking to 19 as the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, operating in volatile Diyala province, leaves. The U.S. command in Baghdad announced on Saturday that the brigade had begun heading home to Fort Hood, Texas, and that its battle space will be taken by another brigade already operating in Iraq.

That is just the first of many brigades to be brought back. Now we will see if what appears to be a dysfunctional Iraq legislative branch can actually do something. We are leaving, believe it or not, and what happens next happens next.