U.S. Troops Finally Withdraw From Iraqi Cities, Turn Security Over to Iraqis
By Susie Madrak Tuesday Jun 30, 2009 9:22amSo we'll see. It's quite a mess we've created over there, and this is only the first step on the long road back to anything approaching normal:
BAGHDAD, June 30 -- This is no longer America's war.
Iraqis danced in the streets and set off fireworks Monday in impromptu celebrations of a pivotal moment in their nation's troubled history: Six years and three months after the March 2003 invasion, the United States on Tuesday is withdrawing its remaining combat troops from Iraq's cities and turning over security to Iraqi police and soldiers.
While more than 130,000 U.S. troops remain in the country, patrols by heavily armed soldiers in hulking vehicles as of Wednesday will largely disappear from Baghdad, Mosul and Iraq's other urban centers.
"The Army of the U.S. is out of my country," said Ibrahim Algurabi, 34, a dual U.S.-Iraqi citizen now living in Arizona who attended a concert of celebration in Baghdad's Zawra Park. "People are ready for this change. There are a lot of opportunities to rebuild our country, to forget the past and think about the future."
On Monday, as the withdrawal deadline loomed, four U.S. troops were killed in the Iraqi capital, the military announced Tuesday. No details about the deaths were provided. Another soldier was killed Sunday in a separate attack.
Some American troops have expressed concern about becoming more exposed after the withdrawal, because Iraqis will have unprecedented authority over U.S. military operations. U.S. commanders have said they were bracing for an uptick of attacks from extremist groups during the transition period, which occur almost daily, and will rely heavily on Iraq's security forces for protection in the months ahead.
The withdrawal has also created enormous fear and uncertainty among many Iraqis, who believe that the U.S. military pullback will open the door for insurgents to increase their attacks. On Monday, some normally congested streets were virtually deserted after dark, as Iraqis appeared to heed warnings of impending attacks by insurgents. But city streets were also largely empty of Humvees and U.S. troops.
Those Iraqis who ventured out were in the mood to party, celebrating a moment that the Iraqi government has said represents its return to full sovereignty.
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... hear that with every attack/bombing, that it's All Obama's Fault.
As opposed to 'we're backing them into a corner, and the attacks are because they're getting desperate.'
umm, no, sorry, Ibrahim, they are just out of the major cities... they are still in your country. and will be forever.
And that's the point: if they're out of the cities, then why the hell aren't they on planes heading for the U.S.?
Bring them all home - NOW!!!
We're not out of your cities either - we've just reclassified cities as "not-cities." Camp Victory, which still has tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers, will remain open. So will Forward Operating Base Falcon which has 5,000 U.S. troops. Oh, and Camp Prosperity, home to the Seventh Field Artillery Regiment, will also remain open.
Camp Victory, Forward Operating Base Falcon, and Camp prosperity are all in Baghdad. Last I heard, Baghdad was an Iraqi city - kind of a major one.
I get why Obama and the Iraqi puppets spew the Orwellian phrasing that "U.S. Troops Finally Withdraw from Iraqi Cities."
But, c'mon Susie, I know you know better.
Orwell/Pangloss sightings galore.
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How do you know she knows better?
... hasn't been shy about criticizing this administration unlike many who eagerly adopt Bush policies almost as fast as Obama does.
If anybody thinks the Iraqis are going to just forget everything we've done to them over there, they're nuts.
Someday, somewhere, there will be blowback.
Not everyone is as vengeful as America. No, they will never forget, but it doesn't mean they will attack you.
No one in the world will ever forget, so they're not alone.
So we've been there for forever, and are leaving the country to them. How come they have to make their own hillbilly armor? I thought that we had "solved" that problem? Why are we making them make the same mistakes we made? Didn't we learn anything? Can't we pass that (little) knowledge on to them?
They have to deal with the MWrap issue by driving fast? We did that too. We suck.
This is the Republican's war. The American people want out and our tax dollars to be used to a home strengthening America. We should continue the withdrawal and lay any problems that result in the withdrawal at the feet of those responsible who got us into it. BushCo and the GOP.
this is the republican's AND democrat's war. a bipartisan effort, if you will.
that bubbles out of the ground at first drill. We aare never leaving.
That even though we are withdrawing from the cities, we will still continue to occupy camp Victory and the area around BIAP (Baghdad Int Airport), that is our main way in and out of the country and it is still a part of Baghdad. Far west part but still a part of the city.
How many contractors are left?
there were around 150k mercenaries, outnumbering total US forces.
obama, at this point, is a bigger advocate of mercenaries than bush. yay, change!!
Jeremy Scahill at Rebel Reports here
There were 190,000 in Iraq in early 2008, CSM here
Plus 131,000 troops in Iraq.
How many US troops are still in their country? Timesonline says essentially: all of them.
here
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Now we have the opening of Iraqi oil to foreign companies (US) and that is the OTHER agreement, here
We have Peak Oil and those people will be there until the oil is gone.
Oh! sweet crude, let me count the ways I love thee…
says that it will cost about one dollar a barrel to produce the oil. It's so easy to get out of the ground they don't have to pump it. Just drill and there it is.
Oh! sweet crude, let me count the ways I love thee…
One hundred thousand dead Iraqis
Two hundred thousand dead Iraqis
Three hundred thousand…
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We must remove all troops and contractors from Iraq and Afghanistan!
if it is repeated enough, people actually get hypnotized by its simplicity
congrats Ibrahim Algurabi, you are now a pod person.
Sometimes that's what you have to do. Fighting America to exact revenge would only bring more and endless hardships for Iraqis. They know that well.
As the US left the cities, not when they showed up:
That itself says more about how the US is viewed than anything else.
The Iraqi's are partying that they are gone.
The US musta left some kind of impression on em huh?
Hearts (broken) and minds (driven mad) and all that.
their duffles filled with candies and flowers?
Somehow I doubt that.
I think they should be glad they weren't sent on their way with rocket attacks.
So...after 2 years...they're instituting the Murtha Plan.
But that was in the cards ever since we invaded.
First up: Sunnis versus Shiites.
Then whoever wins takes on the Kurds.
Unless they ally temporarily to try to "integrate" what is now de-facto Kurdistan back into the "country". But I think the Sunni/Shiite split will take precedence.
I wouldn't be surprised if it turns into a general free-for-all. The three Kurdish provinces beg the question of direct Turkish and, eventually, Iranian, involvement.
When you completely dismantle a country's institutions and discard it's rulers and bureaucrats, it leaves a huge vacuum. There are bound to be rough times ahead. It's inevitable; a power struggle.
That's what Cheney was talking about in 1994. "Bits start flying off... "
Let the mercs continue the dirty work. Let's all settle in for a nice long war of attrition. Bring on the drones. Meanwhile the oily pie is being sliced up.
Mission Accomplished.
"Some American troops have expressed concern about becoming more exposed after the withdrawal, because Iraqis will have unprecedented authority over U.S. military operations."
Translation:
"The US Empire is going to pretend to reduce its military presence in Iraq so step up and play out your role in assuring the teeming unwashed in America that none of the foreign invaders/war criminals are wounded or killed as they withdraw -- well, the CIA and other covert agencies will stick around for however long -- under another sovereign nation's directive. " Yeah, right.
were blown to bits in the latest car bombing (at least 27 victims today, dozens injured). According to MSNBC, more than 250 Iraqis have been killed by shootings and bombings in the last ten days alone. My sincere condolences to the families of the four American troops who died yesterday.
Bring the rest of the soldiers home while they are still alive. The violence in Iraq will never end.
I call bullshit.
U.S. forces will continue their patrols in Basra even after the U.S. forces withdrawal from Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009, said the head of the U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Team (P.R.T.) in the province, explaining that the patrols are essential for his team’s protection.
Why Basra? OIL rich city necessary to control the contracts that the Iraqi government is opening up to foreign investors for increasing oil production.
Gotta love the profits of war! "Iraq to open up oil fields for first time in four decades"
http://business.theage.com.au/business/iraq-t...
four british and american oil companies.
Went down the road to Damascus, the road to Mandalay
Met the ghost of Caesar on the Appian Way
He said, "It's hard to stop this binging once you get a taste
But the road to empire is a bloody, stupid waste"
Behold the bitten apple, the power of the tools
But all the knowledge in the world is of no use to fools
And it's a long road out of Eden
-Eagles, "Long Road Out of Eden" 2008.
Great. I will save a copy. Thanks for sharing.
When they're building a Vatican sized embassy, no one is going anywhere.
Because it's either leave voluntarily, walking, or involuntarily, carried by pallbearers in pine boxes.
People who keep insisting that the size of the US Embassy means anything beyond bragging rights ignore the fact that 20 million Shiites can swamp the US military any damned time they're willing to pay the cost.
The cost'll be heaps of dead Shiites, of course. But those people are raised on martyrdom along with their mother's milk. If they think what's on the other side is worth it, they'll pay. When that happens, kiss goodbye to about every American presently in Iraq, because they're gone.
We have a lot less choice in the matter than most Americans believe. Even the progressives think far too highly of our pipe-dreams of empire. Progress in man-portable infantry weapons, together with Maoist notions of guerrilla organization, changed the game five decades ago. Empire-building has become a gigantic Black Hole down which First World countries can pour men, time, resources, and treasure for as long as they please to no good effect. Review the colonial wars of the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s if you don't believe me.
We've lost two wars for this reason already, we're losing a third one even as I write this, and most of us have not yet figured this out for ourselves??
Your comment is extremely thought-provoking, disturbing, and resonates strongly with what my gut intuition has been telling me ever since bush invaded.
I'd like to hear more of your thoughts on the subject when you're so inclined. I have a feeling this is going to go down much sooner than later. What do you think?
Your post is interesting, however, this part "The cost'll be heaps of dead Shiites, of course. But those people are raised on martyrdom along with their mother's milk." I found a little disturbing.
"Those people" are human beings with families and loved ones. They are not a frenzied mob of automatons that are programmed to kill killl kill. They too have their own hopes and dreams for their families and loved ones. Hard to pursue if you're dead.
Damned right they are.
I never said or even implied otherwise. If you read this into what I wrote, the problem is yours, not mine.
But consider this next proposition, and consider it carefully:
Under the right circumstances and conditions, anybody can become a suicide troop. Englishmen, Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Russians, any-fricking-body. The only difference with Shiites is that their particular flavor of Islam acquaints them with the notion of martyrdom early and often.
Put somebody in a situation where their cause is clearly lost from the git-go unless somebody is willing to die, and you create a potential suicide troop. Bring them up in the sort of poverty where their prospects are small-to-nil from cradle to grave, and you've lowered the bar to suicide attack still further: they have less to lose.
You think this concept is alien to Americans? Does the name "Rodger Young" mean anything to you?
Put Americans on the losing side of a war they have every reason to believe is existential, where to be called up is to be given a death sentence anyway, and they'll queue up to commit suicide if they figure it'll take some of the enemy with them. Count on it.
That's exactly where Admiral Onishi's volunteers came from. Yeah, most of them were Simon-pure volunteers.
My point about Shiites is simply this: right now, they are the very last ethnic group on Planet Earth I would think it wise to seriously piss off. Especially on their own home turf. For the reasons given above.
The leaders of the major Iraqi Shiite factions seem to have come to the conclusion that the American presence in Iraq has outlived its usefulness. To them.
Now what does that suggest to you that our wisest course of action might be?
Yeah. Looks that way to me, too.
"Now what does that suggest to you that our wisest course of action might be?"
Considering the USA has not acted with wisdom at all, rather greed, it's now a very difficult situation. As you should never have gone there in the first place, now might be a time to leave. Better late than never.
You also agree with me that Americans would do the same to defend their country. It seemed to me that you are suggesting that Muslims are schooled in killing from birth, and that just isn't true. Nor are Americans, but we in the West, have songs like "Onward Chritian Soldier," which would indicate that in "the good fight," we'll be going to heaven.
No.
I was gentle the first time you made this mistake, but you used up my patience when you repeated it. So now I'll just be blunt. You are full of shit.
Do not mistake me for some Republican strawman. I'm neither.
For your information. Not that I think it'll do much good.
No, I don't think Muslim kids are "schooled in killing from birth", any more than anybody else's kids are.
They are schooled in what "martyrs" are. Having been raised as a Catholic myself, I find we have something in common here. You have any real idea how often a Catholic kid is going to read about Catholic martyrs, in church and in catechism???
Protestants don't have church histories extending prior to the time when Christianity became the "established" religion of the Roman Empire, so they have a smaller pool of stories to draw from. But I'm sure they find ways to make do with what they've got. And outfits like the Holy Inquisition were both more recent and so much more dramatic than the persecutions under Diocletian. :)
Shiite kids get more of this, but believe me, we've all got a healthy dose in our systems. That was one of the points I was trying to make earlier. You seem to have been so frantic to trot out your stereotyped one-size-fits-all talking points that it went right over your head.
Actually, we agree. I was thinking about things like Crusades and Manifest Destiny, and "Judeo-Christian Heritage." It's on both sides.
"If they think what's on the other side is worth it, they'll pay."
My only point was about the presentation and "those people" to refer to the citizens of a nation, as if they are all identical, to a tee, and will act the same. This has been part of the problem in the Middle East for a long time. Bush assumed "those people" were all the same, until someone told him there were Sunnis and Shia.
I am not accusing you of anything, and said I liked your original post.
I'm sure plenty in this war (on both sides) feel some sort of calling from God, like they'll be blessed for doing the "right thing".
"You are full of shit." ...Um, OK. If you say so.
PS I am not accusing you of being a Republican, however, your presentation of "the other side" sounded right out of their playbook. Perhaps if you had phrased it differently. And, nothing went over my head. I'm saying we should be more careful when referring to a group of 20 million, as you said. Some may choose martyrdom, some may not.
When you come right down to it.
We've been in Iraq for more than 6 years now. We've pretty much smashed up every bit of infrastructure they put together over the previous two decades. We've killed anywhere from several hundred thousands to a million and a half of them, depending on whose figures you accept. The lower figure is damning enough. The results have put four or five million into more or less permanent refugee status.
So, yeah, I can understand pretty easily why Iraqis might decide that another million or so would be a reasonable price to get us the hell out of there.
Recall, the Russians had a somewhat similar situation almost 70 years ago. They killed the cobra by clubbing it to death with the baby, metaphorically speaking. 30 million of them died. In 1941, they'd do things like mass-attacking German platoons with a regiment or more, most of whom were dead men from the git-go.
The Chinese, who were not directly fighting for their own soil or homes, made a habit of doing the same sort of thing to us in Korea, in '51-'52.
Read about the battle of Ia Drang in 1967.
I've already mentioned the kamikazes by reference to Onishi.
The Brits lost 1500 men at Isandlwana. While the Wikipedia page gives the Zulu KIA as about 1000, other sources put it at four times that. They were charging trained disciplined men armed with breech-loading rifles, with assegais. So I think the larger figure is probably closer to correct.
I think that if the faction leaders of the Iraqi Shiites figure it's the only way to get us the hell out of there, they may not find it all that hard to motivate their people to do similar things.
We'd do exactly the same if the shoe were on the other foot.
You put people between a rock and a hard place, and all it takes is the right sort of leadership. Then they'll charge like army ants and they'll die like flies so that the last half dozen on their feet can close with you.
Yes. We do agree.
All I was saying is...
The Russians, the Chinese, etc., were not doing it because of religion and martyrdom, they wanted people the hell out of their country. It's that simple.
I get very wary about how people refer to Muslims and Islam. My sister converted to Islam, and there seems to be a (Western) sub-text wherein they are painted as a homogeneous mob that will all go to their deaths for Allah, Paradise, and Martyrdom, but it just isn't true.
If the Iraqis swarm the US Embassy, so be it. I won't blame them in the least. I'm not wishing for American death: I think America should leave. Fat chance though.
continue...
Hip, Hip Horray!! Get out now! How many more deaths is it going to take? The Iraqui's want us out and I don't blame them. We've caused enough damage, death and heartbreak to these innocent people.
peace
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