President Obama, and Michelle, may be going through the "script" of welcoming the troops home from Iraq and making all sort of pronouncements, short of "mission accomplished" in the war-ravaged country, but what do the Iraqis think about it all?
The New York Times has gone out to "test" local reaction.
"As American forces start to pull out of Iraq, we asked Iraqis around the country three questions: Will Iraq be better or worse off after American troops leave? What did the Americans achieve in Iraq? And what have they personally lost or gained since the 2003 invasion? Some answered only one or two questions. Although the respondents varied from area to area and across social and religions divides, some clear patterns emerge.
In Sunni areas of the north and west — from Baghdad to Mosul and out across Anbar – there is abiding fear among Saddam Hussein’s once-ruling minority of the ancient regional foe, Iran, and how vulnerable a post-American Iraq may be to Tehran’s military, political and economic ambitions.
By contrast, in the areas controlled by Iraq’s majority Shiite population, more interviewees talked of the Iraqi security forces — now, of course, controlled by a Shiite-led government – being ready to take over.
Members of minorities like the Kurds, Christians and Turkmen are often the most pessimistic, since they are the most vulnerable. One can in many cases treat with skepticism the often disingenuous and self-serving canard –
from people who most likely never visited the gassed Kurdish town of Halabja or the drained Shiite marshes of the south — about Saddam’s Iraq being a blind meritocracy free of sectarian or religious divisions.
But it is significant that in both Sunni and Shiite areas, there are some who say that life was better under Mr. Hussein because of the security his omnipresent police and intelligence forces imposed on Iraq, even from those who shudder in the next breath when recalling the dictatorial nature of his regime."
In Sunni areas of the north and west — from Baghdad to Mosul and out across Anbar – there is abiding fear among Saddam Hussein’s once-ruling minority of the ancient regional foe, Iran, and how vulnerable a post-American Iraq may be to Tehran’s military, political and economic ambitions.
By contrast, in the areas controlled by Iraq’s majority Shiite population, more interviewees talked of the Iraqi security forces — now, of course, controlled by a Shiite-led government – being ready to take over.
Members of minorities like the Kurds, Christians and Turkmen are often the most pessimistic, since they are the most vulnerable. One can in many cases treat with skepticism the often disingenuous and self-serving canard –
from people who most likely never visited the gassed Kurdish town of Halabja or the drained Shiite marshes of the south — about Saddam’s Iraq being a blind meritocracy free of sectarian or religious divisions.
But it is significant that in both Sunni and Shiite areas, there are some who say that life was better under Mr. Hussein because of the security his omnipresent police and intelligence forces imposed on Iraq, even from those who shudder in the next breath when recalling the dictatorial nature of his regime."
AlJazeera also reports on the withdrawal of the US military:
"The US military presence in Iraq, once a force of more than 170,000, has already dwindled to 5,500 troops stationed on just three bases. A small contingent of a few hundred soldiers will remain at the embassy in Baghdad.
The war cost America $800bn, according to the Pentagon, and scholars say the total costs may eventually top $3 trillion. Nearly 4,500 American troops were killed, with tens of thousands more injured; the human toll for Iraqis has been far higher, with more than 100,000 civilians and members of the security forces killed since 2003. Millions more have been wounded or forced from their homes.
After all of that, the US leaves behind an Iraq visibly scarred and struggling to regain a sense of normalcy, let alone its once-prominent stature in the Arab world.
Traffic jams clog Baghdad’s streets as cars wait to pass through the city’s innumerable checkpoints. Neighbourhoods remain sealed off by concrete walls and mountains of barbed wire. Assassinations, roadside bombings and other outbreaks of violence still continue with chilling regularity.
The country has calmed since 2005 and 2006, but the atmosphere remains tense; Iraq is still riven by sectarian divisions and ruled by what some see as an increasingly authoritarian government.
As the US prepares to withdraw, the dominant emotion in the streets is not happiness, but apprehension. There is real fear from Iraqis of all stripes that violence will resume, the economy will continue to stagnate, and that their country will crack apart."
The war cost America $800bn, according to the Pentagon, and scholars say the total costs may eventually top $3 trillion. Nearly 4,500 American troops were killed, with tens of thousands more injured; the human toll for Iraqis has been far higher, with more than 100,000 civilians and members of the security forces killed since 2003. Millions more have been wounded or forced from their homes.
After all of that, the US leaves behind an Iraq visibly scarred and struggling to regain a sense of normalcy, let alone its once-prominent stature in the Arab world.
Traffic jams clog Baghdad’s streets as cars wait to pass through the city’s innumerable checkpoints. Neighbourhoods remain sealed off by concrete walls and mountains of barbed wire. Assassinations, roadside bombings and other outbreaks of violence still continue with chilling regularity.
The country has calmed since 2005 and 2006, but the atmosphere remains tense; Iraq is still riven by sectarian divisions and ruled by what some see as an increasingly authoritarian government.
As the US prepares to withdraw, the dominant emotion in the streets is not happiness, but apprehension. There is real fear from Iraqis of all stripes that violence will resume, the economy will continue to stagnate, and that their country will crack apart."
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