US to pull back from Saddam146;s palaces

Seeking to lower the American profile in Iraq, a top US military commander has said that US forces will be removed from the palaces of toppl...

Seeking to lower the American profile in Iraq, a top US military commander has said that US forces will be removed from the palaces of toppled leader Saddam Hussein and has ordered the military to hand over Baghdad8217;s international airport within a year.

The move to leave the palaces is designed to counter the view that Saddam8217;s government has simply been replaced as Iraq8217;s overlords by American soldiers occupying the same opulent seats of power. The US-led occupation is scheduled to hand over sovereignty to Iraqis at the end of June.

Army General John Abizaid, head of US Central Command, which is in charge of Iraq, outlined his plan in a Congressional hearing after Rep Gene Taylor, D-Miss, asked whether American troops would vacate the 8216;8216;symbols of evil8217;8217; that leave US troops carrying 8216;8216;the baggage of the Hussein regime.8217;8217; 8216;8216;They did bad things in those palaces,8217;8217; Taylor said of Saddam-era Iraqi officials.

Abizaid said 8216;8216;turning over these important symbols of sovereignty will demonstrate to the Iraqi people that this is a partnership and not domination.8217;8217; The changes, he said, are underway and should be complete in a year. 8216;8216;The palaces don8217;t belong to us. The airports don8217;t belong to us. Nothing there belongs to us,8217;8217; Abizaid said. 8216;8216;It8217;s the right thing to do in the next year to move out of these areas. 8230; And certainly, we will be doing that.8217;8217;

The palaces were chosen for use by US military and civilian officials largely because they provided shelter in secure, walled compounds with large amounts of space, in some cases with running water and electricity despite a coalition bombing campaign that targetted the sites, leaving gaping holes in ornate, marbled walls and intricately tiled ceilings.

The US-led Coalition Provisional Authority is headquartered in what was Saddam8217;s main palace in Baghdad, and Abizaid did not say whether it or other civilian elements of the occupation would move out.

In the long-term, the US is planning a large embassy in Baghdad. As for the airport, Abizaid said he had informed US troops that 8216;8216;I expect them to move out of the Baghdad airport area.8217;8217;

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He told the Congressional panel that troops are now shifting operations to the airfield at Balad, about 50 miles from Baghdad.

For troops already pulling year-long tours, the change is likely to make a difficult tour harsher still.

For thousands of soldiers, it likely means a transition from palace living to pup tents in an already inhospitable climate.

The grousing, Abizaid said, has already begun. 8216;8216;There is some resistance from units that get comfortable,8217;8217; he said. 8212;LAT-WP