Cautious optimism as U.S. troops withdraw
Posted: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 11:24 AM
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Baghdad, Iraq
By Tom Aspell, NBC News Correspondent
BAGHDAD – No American military vehicles patrolled Baghdad’s streets for the first time in six years on Tuesday morning, as U.S. forces in Iraq finished withdrawing from towns and cities to bases in the countryside.
Iraqi army troops and police manned checkpoints in the Shiite area of Sadr City, searching cars for explosives and weapons. They can still call for American support if necessary, but Iraqis are hoping they can cope with the ongoing insurgency alone from now on.
As the midnight deadline for the handover of security in towns and cities drew nearer, Iraqis gathered in a park near the Baghdad Zoo for an outdoor concert to celebrate.
Pop singers entertained the crowds and there was a modest firework display. For many present it was the first outdoor celebration of its kind in recent memory.
In the Shiite slums of Sadr City, many greeted the departure of American forces with optimism. But Fouad Mohsen, who is 40 years old and unemployed, was cautious.
"I'm not too happy because the security situation is not ideal," said Mohsen. "I think the Iraqi forces are 70 percent capable of protecting us."
Taleb, 27, and also unemployed, said he already sees a decline in the security situation compared with just two months ago.
"I don't think it is the right time for U.S. forces to leave the cities," said Taleb, who declined to give his last name. "We still don't think the government is doing enough to help us. There is no work and no money."
Remaining U.S. troops
Some U.S. troops will remain in the cities embedded with Iraqi forces as advisers or liaison officers able to summon U.S. air and ground support as a rapid reaction force if needed, but the vast majority of the more than 130,000 forces remaining in Iraq will be in large bases scattered outside cities.
President Barack Obama has said that all U.S. combat troops will be out of the country by the end of August 2010. And according to a U.S.-Iraqi security pact, the remaining American forces will withdraw from the country by Dec. 31, 2011.
For Iraqis, Tuesday’s withdrawal was a crucial step towards regaining control of their country, but a recent upsurge in violence indicates that insurgents intend to test the all-Iraqi forces arrayed against them.
At least 250 people have been killed in a series of bombings, mainly in Shiite areas, over the past two weeks. And four American soldiers were killed in Baghdad Monday. The U.S. military has not yet released details about the circumstances of their deaths.
A car bomb in a busy market in the northern city of Kirkuk killed at least 24 people on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported, as U.S. forces pulled out of the city and left security in the hands of local forces.
Military parade
On Tuesday morning, Iraqis observed the national holiday Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declared would be known as "National Sovereignty Day." A military parade, the first since the days of Saddam Hussein, was on display for foreign diplomats, American military officers and Iraqi government officials inside the International Zone in the center of Baghdad.
A band played the Iraqi national anthem while small contingents of Iraqi forces marched in front of a viewing stand and two Iraqi helicopters flew overhead.
It was a modest display, but an important signal to Iraqis that they are now, for better or worse, in charge of their own security inside the country's cities and towns. It was also a signal that American forces are finally on their way home.
One last patrol
For American forces, it was time to go.
On Monday, hours before the midnight deadline, a patrol of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne left its base on the outskirts of Baghdad to enter Sadr City for one last time to deliver monthly payments to Iraqi municipal workers.
Four heavily armed Humvees carrying 14 American troops and our NBC News crew maneuvered carefully through thick traffic and headed towards a mosque which also serves as an Iraqi police station.
When our convoy arrived, the municipal workers, dressed in green jumpsuits, were already sitting outside the door of the police commander's office awaiting our arrival.
As the soldiers established a security perimeter, the patrol's captain and two other troopers exchanged pleasantries with the Iraqi commander. Then they called in the workers so they could receive their monthly salary of $300 for picking up trash and keeping an eye out for roadside bombs and any unusual activity that could indicate the presence of insurgents in the area.
The payments took less than an hour. We were back in the vehicles and on the road again before sunset.
Spc. Jesse Williams from New York said he was happy to be handing the duties over to the Iraqis from now on.
"It means a lot that the work we've done over the years in finally proving to be somewhat successful," he said. "We're going to be around to help out, but we'll be pretty much in the background from now on."
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