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Ending US combat operations in Iraq

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Sgt. Sean Bundy and Sgt. Dennis First in Iraq, March, 2007 (US Army flickr photo by Master Sgt. Andy Dunaway)

Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri Maliki says his country is ‘independent’ as the US formally ends combat operations there. Vice-President Joe Biden is in Iraq on an unannounced visit ahead of the official end of the mission at midnight local time. President Barack Obama is due to deliver a televised address to the American people tonight. Marco Werman speaks with Jane Arraf, Baghdad correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, about how Iraqis feel about this transition. Download MP3

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MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman. This is The World. The US formally ends its combat mission in Iraq today. President Obama will mark the occasion with a televised address from the Oval Office tonight. But Mr. Obama offered a preview during a visit with the troops at Fort Bliss, Texas.

BARACK OBAMA:  Because of the extraordinary service that all of you have done, and so many people here at Fort Bliss have done, Iraq has an opportunity to create a better future for itself and America is more secure.

WERMAN:  In his own speech earlier today, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said his country is regaining its sovereignty. Jane Arraf is in Baghdad for the Christian Science Monitor. She says Iraqis have mixed feelings about this transition.

JANE ARRAF: Now everybody here wants to see occupation forces gone. That’s indisputable. They don’t like seeing American soldiers in the street. They don’t like seeing any foreign soldiers in the streets. That’s fairly natural. But having said that there is a real sense here that this is still a broken country. And it was the Americans pretty much who broke it. That’s the feeling in the streets. And until they fix it, they shouldn’t just leave. Now, the US will say, US officials who are here will say, they’re not just flipping a switch. They’re not just leaving. They are going to remain engaged. But that doesn’t actually mean a lot to people in the street because really what matters to this is are those car bombs going off? Are those rockets being fired? Is there a sense that someone will protect them? And by someone protecting them, increasingly that’s looking towards the borders.

WERMAN: I mean these are some pretty complex issues. We have to recognize them. And looking ahead to President Obama’s speech tonight it’s hard to imagine what Washington and President Obama can actually say to Iraqis that will bring them solace.

ARRAF: Well, I think [SOUNDS LIKE] I’ll remind them what people will – remind themselves really at the end of the day, which is guess what, Saddam is gone. The other part of that though is it’s been a really heavy price to pay for so many people. So many Americans obviously, so many American families. So many Iraqis. And that’s the thing. They don’t want to hear that this is a new dawn. They don’t want to hear that this is what they’ve been promised because this isn’t what they’ve been promised. They will tell you, look you promised to get rid of Saddam, but you also promised that we would have a life that was better than the life we had before. And for Iraqis, a lot of them still have the hope that it will be better than the life they had before. A lot of them have the realization that it will never be better than the life they had before because they’ve lost so many of their family members. But really for many people here the overwhelming feeling is one of uncertainty and uncertainty over what happens next.

WERMAN: Jane Arraf of the Christian Science Monitor there in Baghdad.

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