The U.S. military handed over control of the Victory Base Complex to the Iraqi government today. That was the huge base near the Baghdad airport, containing numerous palaces (the Iraqis will now have to decide what to do with them). There are now no more than 500 U.S. soliders in the capital, and only 12,000 in the whole country. I don’t know how many mercenaries are there.
We are on schedule to remove the remainder of our troops by New Year’s Eve.
For weeks now, according to news reports, the main highway leading south to Kuwait has been clogged with American convoys, and the skies over Baghdad have echoed with the roar of aircraft flying troops home. This troop movement is part of an accelerated effort to meet the December 31 withdrawal deadline of all American forces from that ancient land between the Tigris and the Euphrates…
…December 31, 2011, will represent for Americans the end of a harrowing eight and a half years of war…
This has been done quietly, and largely without incident. Despite criticisms by hawks like John McCain, the administration has stuck to its promises to end the war in Iraq and to use as much care in leaving as we lacked in invading. There will be no Fall of Saigon moment. We will not be forced out with our tails between our legs.
Nothing can absolve us of our national guilt for building a false casus belli for war, nor for outrages like Abu Ghraib. The war with Iraq is a stain on our nation’s character. But the president did not cause that stain, and he’s done an excellent and largely unheralded job of righting the ship and steering us out of the conflict.
While significant problems remain to be resolved regarding our military relationship with Iraq going forward, the fact that Iraq has remained largely out of the news is both a credit to the administration and a big reason why they aren’t getting more credit for their performance.
This was the biggest promise Obama made to me, and he kept that promise. For that, I will be forever grateful.
Next up, Afghanistan.
