Obama is pulling American troops out of Afghanistan. Or at least he says he is. He also said that American forces in Iraq are no longer there. Officially, the Iraq war is over, at least if you ignore the fighting. So where are the 45,000 soldiers based in Iraq if not in, well, Iraq?

According to a Brookings Institution report from late May, they're in ... Iraq.

Will the administration pull a similar act of verbal prestidigitation to keep troops in Afghanistan, given that they are the only barrier between Hamid Karzai's unpopular government and the Taliban? If you read the press, Obama is heading for the exit:

USA Today, June 22:
"President Obama heralded the beginning of the end of the nation's 10-year war in Afghanistan on Wednesday ..."

New York Times headline, June 23:
"Obama Will Speed Military Pullout From Afghan War"

The Obama plan for Afghanistan, which may succumb to delays similar to the Iraqi pullout, calls for 33,000 soldiers to depart by September next year with the rest withdrawn at the end of 2014. If you believe that will happen on schedule, send me a check for $100 and I'll sell you a new Rolls-Royce.

Read the rest at Taki's Magazine.