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Today, U.S. combat troops are exiting from the last of Iraq’s cities and towns, which means that keeping the peace will depend on stepped-up intelligence, special-forces units and stronger political reconciliation. The rationale behind this move is that Iraqi forces seem to have gained enough strength and sophistication to handle the potential spike in attacks that may follow the withdrawal. In addition, President Obama wants to maintain regional stability, allowing the U.S. military leeway to devote more attention to Afghanistan.

According to a recent Bloomberg article, U.S. intelligence agencies and elite special-forces units will continue to work in so-called “fusion cells” that consolidated and analyzed real-time information gathered from informants’ tips, satellites and eavesdropping on the location of top al-Qaeda operatives. The strategy will hopefully allow for quick strikes against suspected militants.

With the end goal of being ushering all U.S. troops out or Iraq by 2011, this certainly seems like a step in the right direction — especially with more military resources needed in Afghanistan. To date, the U.S. has far more military personnel in Iraq, 131,000, than in Afghanistan, where 57,000 troops and 33,000 allied forces are fighting a Taliban insurgency. Finally, if anyone is interested in a quick look back at key milestones from our occupation in Iraq, check out this article.

Tags: GEOINT, Intelligence Community, Intelligence Work in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iraq Insurgency, War in Iraq