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I know that to my brothers in arms who fought and died, this day would probably mean a lot, to finally see us getting out of here," he said.
Iraq
After Seven Years, Final U.S. Combat Brigade Leaves Iraq
Published August 18, 2010
| Associated Press
KHABARI CROSSING, Kuwait -- As their convoy reached the barbed wire at the border crossing out of Iraq on Wednesday, the soldiers whooped and cheered. Then they scrambled out of their stifling hot armored vehicles, unfurled an American flag and posed for group photos.
For these troops of the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, it was a moment of relief fraught with symbolism. Seven years and five months after the U.S.-led invasion, the last American combat brigade was leaving Iraq, well ahead of President Barack Obama's Aug. 31 deadline for ending U.S. combat operations there.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: The 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division was officially designated the last combat brigade to leave Iraq under Obama's plan to end combat operations in Iraq by Aug. 31. Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana joined the troops on their final journey out of the country.
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When 18-year-old Spc. Luke Dill first rolled into Iraq as part of the U.S. invasion, his Humvee was so vulnerable to bombs that the troops lined its floor with flak jackets.
Now 25 and a staff sergeant after two tours of duty, he rode out of Iraq this week in a Stryker, an eight-wheeled behemoth encrusted with armor and add-ons to ward off grenades and other projectiles.
"It's something I'm going to be proud of for the rest of my life -- the fact that I came in on the initial push and now I'm leaving with the last of the combat units," he said.
He remembered three straight days of mortar attacks outside the city of Najaf in 2003, so noisy that after the firing ended, the silence kept him awake at nights. He recalled the night skies over the northern city of Mosul being lit up by tracer bullets from almost every direction.
Now, waiting for him back in Olympia, Wash., is the "Big Boy" Harley-Davidson he purchased from one of the motorcycle company's dealerships at U.S. bases in Iraq -- a vivid illustration of how embedded the American presence has become since the invasion of March 20, 2003.
That presence is far from over. Scatterings of combat troops still await departure, and some 50,000 will stay another year in what is designated as a noncombat role. They will carry weapons to defend themselves and accompany Iraqi troops on missions (but only if asked).
Special forces will continue to help Iraqis hunt for terrorists.
So the U.S. death toll -- at least 4,415 by Pentagon count as of Wednesday -- may not yet be final.
The Stryker brigade, named for the vehicle that delivers troops into and out of battle, has lost 34 troops in Iraq. It was at the forefront of many of the fiercest battles, including operations in eastern Baghdad and Diyala province, an epicenter of the insurgency, during "the surge" of 2007. It evacuated troops at the battle of Tarmiyah, an outpost where 28 out of 34 soldiers were wounded holding off insurgents.
Before the Aug. 31 deadline, about half the brigade's 4,000 soldiers flew out like most of the others leaving Iraq, but its leadership volunteered to have the remainder depart overland. That decision allowed the unit to keep 360 Strykers in the country for an extra three weeks.
U.S. commanders say it was the brigade's idea, not an order from on high. The intent was to keep additional firepower handy through the "period of angst" that followed Iraq's inconclusive March 7 election, said brigade chief, Col. John Norris.
It took months of preparation to move the troops and armor across more than 500 kilometers (300 miles) of desert highway through potentially hostile territory.
The Strykers left the Baghdad area in separate convoys over a four-day period, traveling at night because the U.S.-Iraq security pact -- and security worries -- limit troop movements by day.
Along the way, phalanxes of American military Humvees sat at overpasses, soldiers patrolled the highways for roadside bombs, and Apache attack helicopters circled overhead as the Strykers refueled alongside the highway.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Gus McKinney, a brigade intelligence officer, acknowledged that moving the convoys overland put soldiers at risk, but said the danger was less than in past.
The biggest threat was roadside bombs planted by Shiite extremist groups who have a strong foothold in the south, McKinney said.
But except for camels straying into the road, and breakdowns that required some vehicles to be towed, there were no incidents.
The worst of the ride was conditions inside the Strykers -- sitting for hours in a cramped space -- and the temperatures outside that reached 120 Fahrenheit.
The driver's compartment is called the " hole" because it sits over the engine and becomes almost unbearably hot. The vehicle commander and gunner can sit up in hatches to see the outside world. At the tail end are hatches for two gunners. Eight passengers -- an infantry squad in combat conditions -- can squeeze in the back.
Riding as a passenger felt a bit like being in a World War II-era submarine -- a tight fit and no windows. The air conditioning was switched off to save fuel on the long ride south to Kuwait. Men dozed or listened to music on earphones.
When the convoy finally reached the sandy border, two soldiers, armed and helmeted, jumped off their vehicle and raced each other into Kuwait.
Once out of Iraq, there was still work to be done. Vehicles had to be stripped of ammunition and spare tires, and eventually washed and packed for shipment home.
Meanwhile, to the north, insurgents kept up a relentless campaign against the country's ins utions and security forces, killing five Iraqi government employees in roadside bombings and other attacks Wednesday. Coming a day after a suicide bomber killed 61 army recruits in central Baghdad, the latest violence highlighted the shaky reality left by the departing U.S. combat force and five months of stalemate over forming Iraq's next government.
For Dill, who reached Kuwait with an earlier convoy, the withdrawal engendered feelings of relief. His mission -- to get his squad safely out of Iraq -- was accomplished.
Standing alongside a hulking Stryker, his shirt stained with sweat, he acknowledged the men who weren't there to experience the day with him.
"I know that to my brothers in arms who fought and died, this day would probably mean a lot, to finally see us getting out of here," he said.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/08...e-leaves-iraq/
I know that to my brothers in arms who fought and died, this day would probably mean a lot, to finally see us getting out of here," he said.
Engage...Supervisor mode...
What a waste, wasted 100s of 1000s of lives, $Ts, while US becomes a dystopia.
75 years x $100B/year = $7.5T to go.
Never should have gone in the first place.
What a total cluster . They just handed over security to the State Department and independent contractors.
God help them all.
They handed it over to independent contractors in 2003.
Yeah, but now the state department is running it by themselves.
Excuse me if I trust the military more than the state department and neuvo-blackwater.
State should have been in charge of the occupation from the start.
OK
Lets watch and see how this plays out then.
I hope you are right.
I think you are wrong and this is going to be a cluster .
I thought it already was a cluster ?
Oh, it's already a cluster .
I think it will go back to as soon as we really leave.
You guys need to read a little more about the transition. It's ing crazy just to meet a political timeline.I thought it already was a cluster ?
I'm talking about a major over-run/wipe-out of a forward base with huge casualties.
I sure hope I'm wrong.
Eh, I'd rather just get out altogether and stop postponing the inevitable.
To which forward base are you referring?
So........ Are they moving to Afghanistan?
In depth:
Civilians to Take U.S. Lead After Military Leaves Iraq
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/wo...gewanted=print
Those contractors will of course make $1000s/month more than the remaining 50K US troops.
Iraq is the Repugs' bogus war, and all the blood, American and Iraqi civilians, is on their hands. Amnesiac, dumbed-down America will vote for Repugs again.
another thing to cross out in Obama's to do list. In good time too.
Heres the state department "plan". The state department is essentially hiring mercenaries to replace the troops.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...lln4GestfTRuSA
Troops gone, US to rely on 7,000 contractors in Iraq: report
(AFP) – 3 hours ago
WASHINGTON — The US State Department is to more than double the number of security contractors it employs in Iraq to around 7,000, filling a gap left by departing troops, the New York Times reported Thursday.
The newspaper said the contractors would be deployed to defend five fortified compounds that will be left behind as US combat forces exit Iraq and the US mission switches from a military-led to a civilian-headed operation.
Citing unnamed administration officials, the Times said private security contractors would operate radar to warn of enemy fire, search for roadside bombs, and fly surveillance drones.
They could also staff "quick reaction forces" dispatched to rescue civilians in trouble.
The massive increase in security contractors is an indication of the unusually large role that will be assumed by US diplomatic staff after combat troops leave Iraq.
The last US combat brigade left Iraq at dawn on Thursday, leaving behind some 56,000 US soldiers who will gradually draw down over the coming year.
The Times said more than 1,200 specific tasks currently handled by US troops have been identified for handover to US civilians or Iraqis or to be phased out.
The State Department meanwhile, seeking to outfit its employees for the next phase of their mission, plans to purchase 60 mine-resistant vehicles from the Pentagon and to expand its inventory of armored cars to 1,320.
It also plans to add three planes to the sole aircraft it has now, and expand its helicopter fleet -- to be piloted by contractors -- to 29 from 17.
The increased reliance on security contractors could cause conflict with Iraq's government, which is sensitive to the use of foreign security personnel because of their alleged involvement in incidents involving civilian deaths.
But the forces employed by the State Department will not have immunity from Iraqi prosecution, will be required to register with the country, and will be trailed by State Department regional security officers for extra oversight.
why does the state department have a military? Does anyone else see a problem with this in general?
This is just political posturing to say that the troops are out of Iraq. They just hired Blackwater or whatever they are called now to perform the same function.
Understood, but they are now purchasing military vehicles to be owned by the state department.
The secretary of agriculture better put his order for 50 SR-71s on a rush!
Sure. State could be perceived by other countries as a military branch of the US government, undermining its diplomatic bona fides.
Also, since security contractors operate without much public oversight or acountability, it could enable the US to fight de facto wars (security and peace-keeping, right?) more or less in the dark.
It'll be interesting to see how things play out in Afghanistan now that Karzai has asked US contractors to leave. It may not be possible to punt to a newly militarized State Department if the contractors remain unwelcome.
50,000 civilians there. Civilians that can shred some more Iraqi ass when they get out of line.
Karzai kicking out the contractors is dead from the start. Ain't gonna happen, can't happen. Murderous mercenaries over half of the US contingent, and they guard Iraqi govt stuff and people, too. Karzai is playing to his domestic base.
I'm thinking that won't happen, but unless you trust the Iraqis/contracted mercenaries, I don't see any way we could reduce the amount of soldiers we have while maintaining the same security.
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