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BY THE end of this month the United States is pledged to withdraw its combat troops from Iraq and by the end of next year its status of forces agreement with that state expires. President Obama says these commitments mark the end of the combat mission in Iraq as promised by him and on his timetable. There is a lot of politics in this statement ahead of the US midterm elections in November. In fact six brigades – 50,000 troops – will remain in 94 bases in September even when 14,000 others pull out. And Iraq’s most senior military commander once again last week insisted that the country’s armed forces will not be ready to take charge until 2020.