Thursday, August 19, 2010
After Seven Years, Final U.S. Combat Brigade Leaving Iraq
The last American combat brigade is leaving Iraq, marking the start of a new phase in America's engagement in the country. About 50,000 noncombat troops are expected to remain to advise and assist Iraqi forces. The combat forces' exit comes ahead of the Aug. 31 deadline set by President Obama. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said combat operations still officially will end Aug. 31, and on that date, the mission will change names from Operation Iraqi Freedom, to Operation New Dawn.
The troops of the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, after passing into Kuwait, will then return to the United States over the next few days. As the 4th Stryker Brigade's 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. 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.
