Nearing a milestone in the long and divisive Iraq war, US President Barack Obama on Monday hailed this month’s planned withdrawal of all US combat troops — “as promised and on schedule” — as a major success despite deep doubts about the Iraqis’ ability to police and govern their own country.
Portraying the end of the US combat role in the seven-year war as a personal promise kept, Obama said there will be 90,000 fewer US troops in Iraq by September than when he took office — a steady homeward flow he called “a season of homecomings.”
However, that does not mean there will be no more fighting involving US forces.
“The hard truth is we have not seen the end of American sacrifice in Iraq,” Obama said in a speech to the national convention of the Disabled American Veterans. “But make no mistake, our commitment in Iraq is changing — from a military effort led by our troops to a civilian effort led by our diplomats.”
All US troops are to leave Iraq by the end of next year, as mandated under an agreement negotiated between the Iraqis and former US president George W. Bush.
However, Obama’s celebratory rhetoric glossed over some of the more grim realities in today’s Iraq.
Leaders there remain at a political impasse that has prevented the formation of a new government for the nearly five months since elections did not produce a clear winner. Serious questions persist about the readiness of Iraqi forces to take over from the US.
Obama said, “Violence in Iraq continues to be near the lowest it’s been in years,” but figures released by Iraqi authorities over the weekend — dismissed by the US military as too high — showed last month to be the deadliest month for Iraqis in more than two years.
At the same time Obama has drawn down forces in Iraq, he has also increased the US commitment in Afghanistan, ordering a surge of 30,000 additional troops for the nine-year mission there.
Amid growing US discontent over the war in Afghanistan, Obama defended the conflict, saying progress was being made towards important security goals.
“We face huge challenges in Afghanistan,” he told the veterans. “But it’s important that the American people know that we are making progress and we’re focused on goals that are clear and achievable.”
The Afghan war has become increasingly unpopular amid the rising US death toll and a lack of confidence in Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
In December, Obama ordered 30,000 more soldiers to Afghanistan to battle a resurgent Taliban, but pledged that US troops would begin withdrawing beginning in July next year.
“Along with our Afghan and international partners, we’re going on the offensive against the Taliban — targeting their leaders, challenging them in regions where they’d had free reign and training Afghan National Security Forces. On the civilian front, we’re insisting on greater accountability and the Afghan government has taken concrete steps to foster development; to combat corruption and to put forward a reintegration plan that allows Afghans to lay down their arms,” Obama said.
“Let us never forget it was Afghanistan where al-Qaeda plotted and trained to murder 3,000 innocent people on 9/11. It is Afghanistan and the tribal regions of Pakistan where terrorists have launched other attacks against us and our allies,” Obama said.
If Afghanistan “were to be engulfed by an even wide insurgency, al-Qaeda and its terrorist affiliates would have even more space to plan their next attack and as president of the United States, I refuse to let that happen,” he said.
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