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Journalism of Courage
Iraq’s Prime Minister said the country had won sovereignty and stood as an equal to the US after the US military formally ended combat operations on Tuesday,despite political deadlock and violence.
US troop numbers were cut to 50,000 in advance of the August 31 milestone as President Barack Obama seeks to fulfil a promise to end the war launched by his predecessor George W Bush.
The six remaining US military brigades will turn their focus to training and advising Iraqi police and troops as Iraq takes responsibility for its own destiny ahead of a full withdrawal of US forces by the end of next year.
Iraq today is sovereign and independent, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told Iraqis in a televised address to mark the US forces shift to assisting rather than leading the fight against a Sunni Islamist insurgency and Shia militia. With the execution of the troop pullout,our relations with the US have entered a new stage between two equal,sovereign countries.
Well be just fine,theyll be just fine, US Vice President Joe Biden said after flying to Baghdad on Monday to mark the end of combat operations. Notwithstanding what the national press says about increased violence,the truth is things are very much different. Things are much safer, Biden told Maliki on Tuesday.
Obama promised war-weary US voters he would extricate the US from the war,launched by Bush with the stated aim of destroying Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. No such weapons were found. Almost a trillion dollars have been spent and more than 4,400 US soldiers and over 1,00,000 Iraqi civilians killed since the 2003 invasion.
Obamas Democratic party is battling to retain control of Congress in polls in November and his administration faces other challenges such as a worsening war in Afghanistan.
Tuesdays deadline was to some extent a symbolic one. The 50,000 US soldiers staying on in Iraq for another 16 months are a formidable and heavily-armed force.
Defence Secretary Robert M Gates warned on Tuesday against premature victory parades or self-congratulations,and at the same time said that the success of US forces in Afghanistan was only possible, not inevitable.
In remarks to the American Legion that foreshadowed an address by President Obama on Tuesday night to mark the date for the withdrawal of all US combat troops from Iraq,Gates sounded a restrained,sober note about the state of Americas two wars. Obama was expected to personally thank some of the soldiers who fought in Iraq.
In Iraq,Gates said,the most recent elections have yet to result in a coalition government,al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia is beaten but not gone,and sectarian tensions remain. I am not saying that all is,or necessarily will be,well in Iraq, Gates said. In Afghanistan,he said,the Taliban are a cruel and ruthless adversary,and are not going quietly.
