BAGHDAD (AP) – Days after the U.S. officially ended combat operations and touted Iraq’s ability to defend itself, American troops found themselves battling heavily armed militants assaulting an Iraqi military headquarters in the center of Baghdad on Sunday. The fighting killed 12 people and wounded dozens.
It was the first exchange of fire involving U.S. troops in Baghdad since the Aug. 31 deadline for formally ending the combat mission, and it showed that American troops remaining in the country are still being drawn into the fighting. The attack also made plain the kind of lapses in security that have left Iraqis wary of the U.S. drawdown and distrustful of the ability of Iraqi forces now taking up ultimate responsibility for protecting the country.
Sunday’s hour-long assault was the second in as many weeks on the facility, the headquarters for the Iraqi Army’s 11th Division, pointing to the failure of Iraqi forces to plug even the most obvious holes in their security. Two of the four attackers even managed to fight their way inside the compound and were only killed after running out of ammunition and detonating explosives belts they were wearing.
The American troops who joined the fight and provided cover fire for Iraqi soldiers pursuing the attackers were based at the compound to train Iraqi forces, said U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Eric Bloom. Iraqi forces also requested help from U.S. helicopters, drones and explosives experts, he said. No American troops were hurt, Bloom said.
Under an agreement between the two countries, Iraq can still call on American forces to assist in combat and U.S. troops can defend themselves if attacked. Baghdad has been on high alert since President Barack Obama declared the official end to U.S. combat operations on Wednesday, setting up more checkpoints, intensifying searches of people and vehicles and handing out more guns and bullets to troops guarding the capital.
Well, that didn’t take long.
“Well, that didn’t take long.”
About on schedule the way I’d have called it.
The people in this part of the world have been killing each other over petty squabbles involving religion, territory, food, money, power, etc for hundreds of years. Why should today be any different than yesterday. Some things just have to run their course to their own natural conclusion.
There will be fighting there for a long time.
Before Dick and Bush decided to fuck things up over there for a mere trillion dollars, stability before that stupid idea provided for some semblance of peace.
Like a stirred up Arab beehive those religious nutt cases are killing each other, Iran has no counter-balance and the Christian Taliban over here is waging war in New York. What a fucking mess.
But it sure made for a lovely media event from the Oval Office. Reassuring voters that reality isn’t really the reality.
Weapons are expensive in war zones, the free market law of demand and supply works in war too. So the question nobody is asking is, who is giving the insurgents intelligence, money, food, weapons and training? Who has a vested economic interest in extending the war in Iraq and Afghanistan? Who of these has the resources and infrastructure in place to orchestrate the insurgency? My immediate answer is, they have a very good cricket team.
#5 I wasn’t aware that they played cricket there. Table Tennis and Mah Jong but not cricket.
The Americans have given up looking for Bin Laden in Iraq? Apparently he is working the night shift at the 7-11 in the Green Zone.
This is progress. I’m serious, this last week has been a good week overall.
Yes, we still have troops in Iraq, but we have LESS troops in Iraq. A LOT less than a year ago.
Yes, we do get into firefights, but we are now supporting and not frontline.
The Iraqis are slowly starting to take charge. Very slowly, but movement nonetheless.
Not to state the obvious, but on this blog the obvious is often overlooked.
Everyone knew that as soon as we left, there would be firefights between the warring tribes.
We knew this before the invasion began, and yet we went in anyways.
Leaving is the best thing we can do in the long run even though we knew leaving would cause this kind of crap in the short run.
@#3 Yes, yes… all those hundreds of thousands of Kurds who were gassed up by Saddam in their own streets and houses were just a sign of stability and peace.
Problem with this story and “commander in chief” same as with most of them for a long time is that they do not fight wars to win. It is time for Commander in Chief ready to stick dozens of nukes in the mouths of any daring opponent.
Heckuva job, Barry. Or should I say, “Milhouse.”
Quagmire.
Pandora’s box containing a political black hole that will suck every nation into the abyss given time. The problem is only going to get worse from this point.
Should have seen this coming. What conflict have we not had to maintain troop strength because the locals are just incapable of doing themselves.
You can bet we will either be back to Iraq in a big way again. Or it will fall.
Well that’s 20 some years of American troops in Iraq now. At this point, I just hope Democrats don’t lose Iraq the way they lost Vietnam, refusing to protect the South after a ceasefire agreement.
Actually, the troop withdrawal is going exactly as described by the President. He never said that US troops would not be involved in fighting until their final withdrawal as scheduled at the end of next year. What he clearly described is that ‘regular’ US combat forces would not actively plan and seek engagements, instead passing the fight into Iraqi forces, with US support during emergencies.
There is a big difference between being the main fighters and rendering assistance when needed.
The President also indicated that US Special Forces (such as the Navy SEALS and Marine Elite forces) will continue to actively engage terrorist cores in Iraq as much as possible.
I guess that the critics of President Obama would rather just keep US troops being the leaders of the fight basically forever. President Obama’s policy to have a phased disentanglement at this time is a good plan to get US forces out of a fight that should never have been started.