Oct. 21 marked a announcement: U.S. troops fighting in Iraq would be home by the holidays.

But President Barack Obama’s announcement of the full reduction of combat forces in Iraq is merely another example of the doublespeak dominating discussion of the Persian Gulf region.

Pentagon officials, as well as allied nations, are now grappling with the fear of instability wreaking havoc in the soon-to-be-abandoned country. And these fears are certainly not being ignored. In the small nation of Kuwait, a country where American troops have been stationed since the first Gulf War in 1991, 23,000 troops are currently on the ground, and more are expected to come as the administration negotiates with Kuwait and five other Persian Gulf nations to preserve a continued U.S. presence.

Ending a war that will be almost 9 years old by the time the last troops leave Iraq has been a popular political move in this nation, but the decision is grossly inconsistent with the grudging admission of the fact that U.S. troops are still required in the region in order to further the administration’s goals.

Pulling out of the Persian Gulf region will have repercussions — as the Obama administration may not have fully considered under the pressure to pull out immediately.

Knowing that, it’s a complete 180-degree turn on the part of the U.S. to laud and celebrate hopes that Iraq can be stable without American troops and then quietly work to maintain those same troops in its friendliest southern neighbor.

Simply relocating troops to a country that shares a 120-mile border with Iraq does not make a withdrawal. The United States and its leaders cannot function in a way that does not let its people know what it is signing with their left hand while applauding bringing troops home with their right.