when i spoke with vice president biden yesterday, he had just met with the president and with the former commander of the u.s. forces in iraq, general ray odierno. i know you're just out of a meeting with general odierno, the departing commander of the u.s. you've been in iraq a number of times, including quite recently. you told "the new york times" last week, the bottom line is there are a lot of bad ass 50,000 troops that are left. these guys can shoot straight. 50,000 troops in country is still a big, big contention. with 50,000 as you put it bad ass troops -- >> and women can shoot too, by the way. >> they are in peril. since the handover, we have had u.s. killed in action and wounded in action. does it undercut their service and their sacrifice to say this is no longer a combat mission? why do we need to use that