US changes Iraq command

BAGHDAD – The United States changed commanders in Iraq yesterday, beginning the final phase of American military involvement in the country despite political uncertainty and persistent violence.

The transfer of authority came a day after President Barack Obama announced the shift from combat operations to preparing Iraqi forces to assume responsibility for their own security. Obama made clear in Tuesday’s speech that this was no victory celebration.
A six-month stalemate over forming a new Iraqi government has raised concerns about the country’s stability and questions over whether the leadership can cope with a diminished but still dangerous insurgency.
Newly promoted Army General Lloyd Austin also maintained a somber tone as he took the reins of the some 50 000 American troops who remain in Iraq, with a deadline for a full withdrawal by the end of next year.
He noted “hostile enemies” continue to threaten Iraq and pledged that “our national commitment to Iraq will not change.”
“Although challenges remain, we will face these challenges together,” Austin said during the ceremony at the opulent al-Faw palace that was a former hunting lodge for ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.
Austin, who most recently served in Iraq as commander of troop operations from 2008-09, replaces General Ray Odierno, who is heading to Virginia to take over the Joint Forces Command after a total of about five years in Iraq.
Vice President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen presided over the ceremony, which was held at the main US military headquarters on the southwestern outskirts of Baghdad.
Gates, visiting American troops in the Iraqi city of Ramadi yesterday, said history will judge whether the fight was worth it for the United States.
“The problem with this war, I think, for many Americans, is that the premise on which we justified going to war turned out not to be valid,” he said. “Even if the outcome is a good one from the standpoint of the United States, it’ll always be clouded by how it began.”
Claiming that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, then-President George W. Bush ordered the invasion with approval of a Congress that was still reeling from the 9/11 attacks. But Bush’s claims were based on faulty intelligence, and the weapons were never found.
Obama declared an end to combat in an Oval Office speech Tuesday night and praised American forces for their work. He acknowledged the ambiguous nature of the war in which American forces quickly ousted Saddam but were never able to fully control the Sunni Muslim insurgency against the Shiite-dominated establishment that even now threatens to re-ignite.
Still, he said the time had come to close this divisive chapter in U.S. history.
“We have met our responsibility,” Obama said. “Now it is time to turn the page.” – Nampa-AP

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