Iraq - Global Media Post

9:39 pm Sep 1, 2010

“US enters final phase of Iraq war”
Iraq • United States

“The US marks on Wednesday the transition to the final phase of the Iraq war, shifting the focus of the remaining 50,000 American troops from combat operations to preparing Iraqi security forces to protect the country on their own. President Barack Obama set the tone for changing the role without fanfare, making clear in a major speech on Iraq that this was no victory celebration. A six-month stalemate over forming a new Iraqi government has raised concerns about the country’s stability and questions over whether the leadership can cope with a diminished but still dangerous insurgency. Vice President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen will preside over a military change-of-command ceremony in Baghdad later Wednesday that will signal the formal end of American combat operations in Iraq, 7 1/2 years after the March 2003 invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. Gates, visiting American troops in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, said history will judge whether the fight was worth it for the United States. ‘The problem with this war, I think, for many Americans, is that the premise on which we justified going to war turned out not to be valid’, he said. ‘Even if the outcome is a good one from the standpoint of the United States, it’ll always be clouded by how it began’. Claiming that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, then-President George W. Bush ordered the invasion with approval of a Congress that was still reeling from the 9/11 attacks. But Bush’s claims were based on faulty intelligence, and the weapons were never found. Obama declared an end to combat in an Oval Office speech and praised American forces for their work. He acknowledged the ambiguous nature of the war in which American forces quickly ousted Saddam but were never able to fully control the Sunni Muslim insurgency against the Shiite-dominated establishment that even now threatens to re-ignite. Still, he said the time had come to close this divisive chapter in US history. ’We have met our responsibility’, Obama said. ‘Now it is time to turn the page’ “

2:41 pm Aug 20, 2010

“The 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, which left Iraq this week, was the final US combat brigade to be pulled out of the country, fulfilling the Obama administration’s pledge to end the US combat mission by the end of August. About 50,000 U.S. troops will remain in Iraq, mainly as a training force. ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom ends on your watch’ exclaimed Col John Norris the the head of the brigade. ’Hooah’! the soldiers roared, using an Army battle cry. Shortly before midnight, a group of infantrymen boarded Stryker fighting vehicles, left an increasingly sparse base behind and began scanning the sides of a desolate highway for bombs. For many veterans, including some who made the same trip in the opposite direction years ago under fire, it was a fitting way to exit. ‘They’re leaving as heroes’,” Norris said of his soldiers. ‘I want them to walk home with pride in their hearts’. Besides pride, the soldiers will carry with them the hidden costs of war: hardened glares; tales of comrades’ deaths relayed in monotone sentences devoid of emotion; young faces rendered incongruously old. There might never be an acknowledged end to the Iraq war — a moment where it ceases being America’s conflict. US commanders acknowledge that the months-long political impasse over the disputed March 7 elections and a flurry of other unresolved disputes in Iraq have the potential to erode hard-won security gains. But US commanders also seem to be stressing that this is no longer America’s war to lose. ‘I will let history judge whether we reached irreversible momentum’, Norris said. ‘That’s not my call’. By the end of this month, the United States will have six brigades in Iraq, by far its smallest footprint since the 2003 invasion. Those that remain are conventional combat brigades reconfigured slightly and rebranded ‘advise and assist brigades’. The primary mission of those units and the roughly 4,500 US special operations forces that will stay behind will be to train Iraqi troops. Under a bilateral agreement, all US troops must be out of Iraq by Dec. 31, 2011. Leaving Iraq one last time is particularly emotional for veterans who have served multiple tours, several soldiers said in the two-day journey through the southern desert to Kuwait in cramped, windowless vehicles”

12:01 am Jul 28, 2010

“US ‘fails to account’ for Iraq reconstruction billions”
Iraq • United States

“Billions have gone to rebuild Iraq but much of the money is impossible to trace, says a US audit… A US federal watchdog has criticised the US military for failing to account properly for billions of dollars it received to help rebuild Iraq. The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction says the US Department of Defence is unable to account properly for 96% of the money. Out of just over $9bn (£5.8bn), $8.7bn is unaccounted for, the inspector says. The US military said the funds were not necessarily missing, but that spending records might have been archived. In a response attached to the report, it said attempting to account for the money might require ‘significant archival retrieval efforts’. Much of the money came from the sale of Iraqi oil and gas. Some frozen Saddam Hussein-era assets were also sold off. The funds in question were administered by the US Department of Defence between 2004 and 2007, and were earmarked for reconstruction projects. But, the report says, a lack of proper accounting makes it impossible to say exactly what happened to most of the money. This is not the first time that allegations of missing billions have surfaced in relation to the US-led invasion of Iraq and its aftermath. No-one from the Iraqi government was immediately available for comment”

10:08 pm May 19, 2010

“Construction begins on ‘great wall of Baghdad’ “
Iraq

“Baghdad is to resort to one of the oldest forms of defence by building a massive wall around the capital to keep out insurgents. A series of recent suicide bombings has driven the governor of the Iraqi capital
to propose the concrete barrier, which will be 4.5m high and 112km long. Every
man, beast and vehicle entering will be searched at one of only eight gates
along the main highways. Baghdad, roughly the same size as London and with approximately five million inhabitants, will face severe disruption as a result. Freedom of movement will be limited and workers and visitors alike will probably have to wait for at least an hour to enter. Once inside, though, it is hoped they will be much safer”

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11:03 pm Apr 4, 2010

“Gunmen in military garb kill at least 24 in Sunni area south of Baghdad”
Iraq • United States

“Gunmen pretending to be Iraqi security forces and US soldiers killed at least 24 people here, shooting some and slitting others’ throats as they moved from house to house, officials and residents said. The victims of the hour-long incident included women and children, but most were members of the Awakening, Sunni paramilitary forces also known as the Sons of Iraq that battled insurgents at the behest of the US military. The targeted killings were perhaps the most brutal since the horrific spiral of sectarian assassinations in 2006 and 2007 pulled Iraq into a state of civil war. With American forces no longer patrolling Iraqi cities, the killings also reinforced a sense of abandonment among Arab Sunnis, whose tribes defied insurgents to join forces with the United States despite their distrust of the Shiite-led government”

9:45 pm Mar 22, 2010

Iraq: “Premier endorses recount of the vote”
Iraq

“Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki endorsed the mounting calls for a recount of Iraq’s parliamentary election, as the latest results showed his main competitor with a slight lead. President Jalal Talabani, using more direct language, also called for a recount. The appeals by Iraq’s two highest government officials added to a rash of complaints related to how the March 7 election was conducted and how the votes were tallied”

9:18 pm Mar 13, 2010

Iraq: “PM seeks to form govt with rivals”
Iraq
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11:20 pm Mar 9, 2010

Iraq to announce initial election results
Iraq • United Nations
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9:16 pm Feb 10, 2010