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American Vice President in Iraq as US
winds up combat mission
31.8.2010 |
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August
31, 2010
BAGHDAD, — Vice President Joe Biden landed in
Baghdad on Monday to mark the official end of the US
combat mission in Iraq after seven years of fighting
that has seen more than 4,400 American soldiers
killed.
A US embassy official told reporters that Biden
arrived in the Iraqi capital at around 6:00 pm (1500
GMT), one day before a speech by President Barack
Obama will signal the end of the American military's
combat operations here.
A major reduction in US troops in recent months has
coincided with a surge in car bombings and shootings
that has targeted the Iraqi forces who have steadily
taken on security responsibilities since 2009.
The latest violence has seen hundreds of people
killed, including a high number of police, but
Washington has steadfastly continued to pull troops
out of the country, with fewer than 50,000 now based
here.
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U.S. Vice President Joe Biden |
Although the unrest is
not on the same scale as in 2006 and 2007 when
sectarian conflict raged alongside the anti-US
insurgency, some 300 people have been killed each
month this year, and July was the deadliest since
May 2008.
The rise in the number of attacks also comes as Iraq
wrestles with political animosities that have seen
no new government formed since an inconclusive
general election almost six months ago.
Obama declared shortly after taking office last year
that the US combat mission in Iraq would end on
August 31, 2010, after which American troops would
take on a training and advisory role prior to a
complete withdrawal in 2011.
He used his weekly radio address on Saturday to say
that Iraq is now a "sovereign" nation free to
determine its own destiny.
"On Tuesday, after more than seven years, the United
States of America will end its combat mission in
Iraq and take an important step forward in
responsibly ending the Iraq war," Obama said.
Biden, Obama's point man on Iraq, will meet Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
and the former premier and recent election winner
Iyad Allawi during his trip, the White House said in
a statement.
"The vice president's visit at this juncture will
reinforce the long-term US commitment to Iraq," the
statement added, noting that Biden would take part
in a ceremony to mark the US military's change of
mission.
There are now 49,700 American soldiers here, less
than a third of the peak figure of almost 170,000
during the US "surge" of 2007, when Iraq was in the
throes of brutal Shiite-Sunni violence that cost
tens of thousands of lives.
The top US commander in Iraq, General Ray Odierno,
has said the new force strength will be maintained
"through next summer" before troop numbers fall
towards zero by the end of December 2011 withdrawal
deadline.
However, the recent rise in bloodshed -- 535 people
were killed in July -- has raised doubts about
Iraq's ability to defend itself against insurgents.
The country's top army officer, Lieutenant General
Babaker Zebari, warned on August 11 that a complete
withdrawal of US troops at the end of next year
would be premature,www.ekurd.netand
urged a change of tack from the country's
politicians.
"At this point, the withdrawal (of US forces) is
going well, because they are still here," Zebari
told AFP.
"But the problem will start after 2011 -- the
politicians must find other ways to fill the void
after 2011.
"If I were asked about the withdrawal, I would say
to politicians: the US army must stay until the
Iraqi army is fully ready in 2020."
Biden last visited Iraq at the start of July when he
urged the country's squabbling politicians to
resolve their differences and form a government, but
there has been no breakthrough.
Incumbent premier Maliki was narrowly defeated by
Allawi in the March 7 election, but the vote was
shared between an array of rival blocs forcing both
men to look for coalition partners.
Neither Maliki, a Shiite who leads the State of Law
Alliance, nor Allawi, also Shiite but leader of a
broadly secular coalition with strong Sunni Arab
backing, has managed to secure a majority in the
325-seat parliament.
Copyright, respective
author or news agency, AFP
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