John Lennon, The American invasion of Iraq began when President George W. Bush ordered missiles fired at a bunker in Baghdad where he believed that Saddam Hussein was hiding. On June 30, 2009, America pulled its forces out of Iraqi cities as part of a phased withdrawal from the country. After six years of war, there seems to be an end in sight for the American occupation.
In June, American forces met the deadline set for their withdrawal from Iraqi cities under an agreement that took effect Jan. 1. Declaring a national holiday to mark the occasion, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki positioned himself as a proud leader of a country independent at last, looking ahead to the next milestone of parliamentary elections this winter.
He made no mention of American troops in a nationally televised speech, even though nearly 130,000 remain in the country. The excitement, however, rang hollow for many Iraqis, who fear that their country’s security forces are not ready to stand alone and who see the government’s claims of independence as overblown.
While scattered bombings continue, the Brookings Institution has described Iraq as existing in “a kind of violent semi-peace.” That the phrase was promptly denounced as Orwellian underscored how deeply controversial the conflict remains, with almost every event, and even facts, subject to dispute or distrust. Violence may have dropped precipitously, but only from the worst levels of the past years.
President Obama, who campaigned on a promise to end the war, entered office indicating that he did not intend to waver from his goal. On his first full day in office he told Pentagon officials and military commanders “to engage in additional planning necessary to execute a responsible military drawdown from Iraq.” A month later, he announced a plan to withdraw all combat troops by August 2010 and all remaining troops by December 2011. While the timetable was slightly longer than he had pledged during the campaign, Mr. Obama’s promised withdrawal will put American policy on a path toward a clear end of the war, although the path is strewn with obstacles and potential flashpoints, like planned elections and referendums that could make Iraq stronger and more democratic – or reignite ethnic and sectarian divisions, sending it plunging back into civil war.
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