When Obama was elected as a president of the United States he promised the nation that the American existence in Iraq will end, and that's what's apparently happening now. Yes, after 7 years of occupation, 4,415 American soldiers killed according to the pentagon, at least 100,000 Iraqi victims mentioned by Reuters according to various counts, and a thousand billion dollars spent. But the question is; is the American withdrawal from Iraq true?
The news stated that by the beginning of September 2010, the number of the American soldiers in Iraq should be 50,000 soldiers. The remaining 50,000 soldiers, although still combat soldiers, will switch their mission to "advise and assist" as a part of their new mission; New Dawn. And finally by the end of 2011 a total withdrawal from Iraq will be achieved.
What draws the attention is that Gen. Raymond Odierno stated that if the status in Iraq collapsed upon the American withdrawal, the troops will resume their combat mission again, but at the end he claimed that this case is "unlikely". Also, when the chief of staff of the Iraqi armed forces, General Babakir Zibari, said that the US should remain in Iraq till 2020, Gen. Odierno replied that it depends on "the nature of the American existence on the Iraqi lands". In addition to all of this, the US army declared that a soldier was killed in mission in Basra, this being the first since the announcement of the American withdrawal from Iraq. And finally, 59 Iraqi civilians were killed in a suicidal attack on a recruitment office in Baghdad just 2 days before the American withdrawal.
From the previous we can draw some conclusions:
- The first is that the remaining 50,000 American soldiers are combatants, and so they can engage in combat missions anytime or "when needed". But who will determine this "need"? And what are the criteria of such a "need"?
- Secondly, the Iraqi troops aren't even close to ready for partial responsibility of the safety of the Iraqi territory. Then will the American withdrawal be just a "runaway" and thus leaving the Iraqis in a total mess and terrorist attacks killing hundreds of Iraqi civilians, all of which happened due to the American invasion at the first place.
- The third fact is that; if an American soldier was killed even after the announcement of the withdrawal, and if 59 Iraqis are killed in the capital Baghdad, then this shows that Iraq is still in a deep state of chaos.
The question is; if civilians are still killed in bombings, American soldiers are still attacked, chaos is still severe in Iraq, and nothing has changed to the better, then what's new that made America withdraw from Iraq now? And is this a real withdrawal or is it a new game?
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