WEBVTT

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coming up to a 20 part of the 6 22 this

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morning . This Veterans Day has special

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meaning for the men and women who are

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currently serving in Iraq . This will

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be their last day there last I should

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stay time in Baghdad at Veterans Day

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anyway with troops scheduled to be back

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stateside by this time next year ,

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we're joined this morning by Major

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General Jeffrey Buchanan . He is a

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spokesperson for the U . S . Forces

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there in Iraq . And we thank you so

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much for joining us . What's the

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reaction to that news there in Iraq ?

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From the Boots on the ground , sir ?

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Well , first of all , thanks for having

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me on your show today , kim and Gene

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for veterans stay . Uh you know , I

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think that all our troops continue to

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do much every day for for americans

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here in Iraq and uh and elsewhere that

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uh that they're deployed . We are very

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busy uh packing up equipment ,

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transitioning bases and moving our

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troops and equipment out , but but all

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is going very well and on track . Yeah .

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Yeah . Mhm .

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And if all goes well , what would be ,

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is an exact date that folks would be

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out of there or might carry over a

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little bit into next year . Seeing you

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do have a lot of equipment and things

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to pack up and ship out now june and in

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fact were completely on track to have

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all of our equipment and troops out of

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the country by the end of december .

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That's what That's what our two

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countries , Iraq and United States

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agreed to in the bilateral security

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agreement that they signed in 2008

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we've transitioned uh 495

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basis uh of the 505 that we had

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back in uh in 2008 . So we have 10 left

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to go . We still have about 27,000

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troops in uh in Iraq . And we're on

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track to get everybody out by the end

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of the year . Mhm

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Of course , for all of you at home ,

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what we're dealing with here is a

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satellite delay . So if you can bear

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with us here , Major General tell us

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what you hope that everyone back here

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at home is thinking about and feeling

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on this veterans Day as you and all of

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your troops continue to serve overseas .

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Yeah , well , first of all I want to

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thank everybody for their support here ,

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Of all of us that are deployed around

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the world , working really on their

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behalf . But my dad had a couple of

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tours in Vietnam and it's just very ,

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very different than what myself and my

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son who's a soldier has experienced ,

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regardless of people's politics ,

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they've supported us 100% of the way

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And this is my 5th veterans day in Iraq

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and that support has never waned and so

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are all of our troops here are working

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hard every day . They're making a

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difference . Uh they have a high morale

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but a lot of that morale goes back to

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the american people for their support .

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So thanks to all of you for your

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support of us . Yeah ,

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Major General Jeffrey Buchanan , thank

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you very much for joining us this

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morning . Thank you and your family for

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your continued service to our country .

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We do appreciate it and we hope you

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enjoy this Veterans Day , the last four

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U . S . Troops in Iraq . Thanks .