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All US troops out of Iraq
Sunday December 18, 2011 07:36:05 PM,
IANS
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Kuwait City:
The last batch of US combat forces in Iraq crossed into
neighbouring Kuwait Sunday, ending its nearly nine-year presence
in the country.
A convoy of around 100 armoured vehicles carrying some 500 US
troops will make a stopover in Kuwait, a close ally of the US,
before flying home, reported Xinhua.
The exit marked the completion of the US military withdrawal from
the country following the war that toppled then Iraqi president
Saddam Hussein.
The US launched the war March 18, 2003 against the Saddam regime
accusing it of amassing weapons of mass destruction. It left 4,500
US soldiers and over 100,000 Iraqis dead.
The withdrawl came before the Dec 31 deadline set by US President
Barack Obama to fulfill his election promise to pull all the
American troops out of Iraq, as agreed in a security pact between
the two countries in 2008.
Over 500 US camps dotted across Iraq were whittled down in the
past months as soldiers packed up and headed for Kuwait after
Obama announced in October that troops would come home as
scheduled.
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta Thursday attended a
flag-lowering ceremony at a US military base west of Baghdad to
mark the end of the war.
Though violence has subsided in the recent past, sporadic bombings
remain a common occurrence across the country.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the Iraqi security forces were
ready to protect the country after the US military left the
country.
Obama told Maliki last week that Washington was willing to build a
long-term and comprehensive partnership with Iraq in the post-war
era.
The US still keeps 15,000 staff in its biggest overseas embassy in
Baghdad after the withdrawal, in addition to the private firms
providing a variety of security services.
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