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It’s a moment some didn’t expect to come for a long time, but it’s finally here. After seven and a half years, the last U.S. combat troops are ending operations in Iraq. But now some are asking... does this mean it is mission accomplished?
We’re analyzing coverage from CNN, The Stars and Stripes, MSNBC and NPR.
The withdrawal of troops signals the end of U.S. combat missions in Iraq, not a complete withdrawal though. Approximately 50,000 non-combat troops will remain to help guide a country that many think still has a long way to go. On CNN one analyst voices some of his concerns for the future.
“We have not accomplished and nobody knows well that we will accomplish what we set out to do. We're certainly not leaving behind a democratic country. In fact, we're leaving behind a country that doesn't have a government. We're leaving behind a country where there's a lack of electricity, still very troublesome, burdensome, lack of other public services. And the big question now John is the amount of violence is increasing.”
In the Stars and Stripes, one Iraqi shares similar concerns saying, he worries what will happen once U.S. forces are completely gone.
“No country likes to be occupied by another country and be controlled by them. We don’t hate Americans or the American people, but we hate the American military... We think things will be worse [if U.S. troops leave] and Iraq will break up. There are many sleeping militias waiting for America to leave."
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, one analyst says she worries for members of the State Department who are now left to help transition the country on their own.
“...they are going to have now to oversee this transition. Still a dangerous place. I feel that could be like a Custer's last stand for these guys. It’ gonna be pretty frightening and then they have all of these contractors who are taking over for the military. And as we know from a lot of what happened with Blackwater, that sometimes that can become very much kind of a cowboy situation.”
And a writer for NPR notes that though the combat troops may be gone, the actual combat could be far from over.
“The administration may not call them combat forces, but the remaining 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq will still need to keep their fingers on the trigger... It's likely that insurgent forces in Iraq will still see U.S. installations and operations as targets as long as there's an American presence in the country."
So what do you think? Is Iraq ready to stand on its own, or will we have to go back someday?
