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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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April 11th,
2009 - As Marines’ Exit Gathers Pace, Some Iraqis Fret |
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As Marines’ Exit
Gathers Pace, Some Iraqis Fret By Chelsea J. Carter Associated Press April 11, 2009 Ramadi, Iraq - As the Marine
Corps shrinks its footprint in Iraq's western desert, Iraqi community leaders
here are publicly voicing worries about what will happen once the Americans
are gone. They fear a wave of
corruption and the return of the insurgency that once held sway over the
area. Marines have begun divorcing
themselves from the task of advising local leaders, the clearest signal that
their role in Anbar province is quickly nearing its end. An Associated Press reporter
embedded with the troops witnessed two cases in a single day of Iraqis - a
headmistress and a party of businessmen - asking for help and being told the
Marines could do very little for them. "We've always said it's
not going to be easy," said Marine Lt. Col. Thad R. Trapp. "They
are sure looking over with some anxiety at the separation. There is some
anxiety about what the road ahead will look like." Raheem Kalaaf Mohammed, vice
president of the North Ramadi City Council, was more blunt, saying: "We
feel there will be a disaster here." President Barack Obama says
he will withdraw combat troops from Iraq by Aug. 31, 2010. American
commanders are already working on plans to pull out of Iraqi cities by June
30 under a U.S.-Iraqi security pact that also calls for all American forces
to be gone by 2012. Anbar is the largest Iraqi
province, stretching from the western gates of Baghdad to the borders of
Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. It was a main battleground in the insurgency
that broke out soon after the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 toppled Saddam
Hussein. The 22,000 Marines in Anbar
have already pulled back to the outskirts of Ramadi, Fallujah and other
cities in Anbar. They are wrapping up their involvement in U.S.-funded
reconstruction, and are tearing down bases or handing them over to Iraqi
control. Maj. Gen. Richard T. Tryon,
commander of Marine operations in Anbar, has ordered the closure or handover
of 16 small bases in Ramadi, Fallujah and Karmah since late January. More closures
are expected, including in Hit, a town once used as a way station for
extremists infiltrating from Syria. Tryon told The AP in an
e-mail that improvements in Iraq's security forces made a "responsible
drawdown" possible. However, Iraqi security chiefs
have spoken in recent interviews of their worries that some of the thousands
of Iraqis being freed from U.S. custody under the security pact will
revitalize the insurgency. Privately, some Marines
share the doubts about the future of Anbar, where tribal and sectarian
differences are often dealt with through violence. None would speak publicly
because their views go against Marine Corps policy. Trapp, commander of the Camp
Lejeune, N.C.-based 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, dismissed the
concerns, saying: "The end always comes, and it always seems quick when
we get there." A U.S.-directed effort in
2006 recruited and funded tribal leaders who fought against al-Qaida in Iraq
and other insurgent groups. Violence throughout Iraq has
dropped sharply since 2007 and is almost nonexistent in Anbar. In recent
weeks, however, there have been a handful of high-profile attacks in
Fallujah, targeting primarily Iraqi security forces. Trapp, 41, of St. John,
Bermuda, said it has been hard for the troops to divorce themselves from
helping leaders and security officials to correct mistakes. "Some of their growth
is going to be made with mistakes," he said. The frustration was evident
after the March handover of the Jumiyah base in downtown Ramadi, which the
local government quickly reopened as a girls' school to ease classroom
overcrowding. Principal Zanib Ahmed told a
Marine lieutenant the school has no electricity, running water or working
sewage system. To screen the girls in this conservative Muslim community from
the stares of men, she had to build a makeshift wall from rubble and
concertina wire. Marine Lt. Robert Symulski,
25, of Houston, took her name, nodding in understanding. Later he said it
would have been easy to get a handful of Marines to fix the school - but it's
not their job. Ahmed lamented the Marines'
withdrawal, saying that without them, "the work may never get
done." Hours earlier, Symulski and
Capt. Dallas Shaw, 39, of Fairfax, Va., listened to business leaders vent
their worries at a North Ramadi council meeting. The officers were peppered
with questions about security measures and allegations that Iraqi security
forces were stealing from their stores. They debated hiring their own
security force, but Shaw shook his head. He told them they needed to deal
with their police precinct commander. "Very soon, there won't
be any Marines coming here," he said. The remark drew murmurs of
dismay. Kareem Arak, the council
president, shook his head, telling Shaw: "We feel many bad things are
coming." Col. Matthew Lopez,
commander of Camp Lejuene, N.C.-based Regimental Combat Team 6, said he
believed many of the concerns expressed in Ramadi would ebb with the seating
of the newly elected provincial government, which took office Saturday. Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5imxWIi3h1sywEtp5f6A2WEWKJW7gD97GEEOO0 |