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June 24th,
2009 - No Change to Iraq Pullout: White House News article from Agence France
Presse News article from the Associated
Press |
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No Change to Iraq Pullout:
White House From Agence France Presse June 24, 2009 Washington - The White House
said Wednesday President Barack Obama was having no second thoughts about
pulling US troops out of Iraqi cities, despite bloody attacks which have
killed 150 people in the last week. The latest incident, just
six days before a deadline for American soldiers to withdraw from the cities,
towns and villages under an agreement with Iraq, killed at least 62 people
when a bomb went off in a Baghdad market. White House spokesman Robert
Gibbs said the top US commander in Iraq General Ray Odierno had told Obama
the deadline would be kept. "I know the president
has had meetings and continues to have meetings about ensuring that we're
making sufficient political progress on the ground," Gibbs said. "General Odierno has
mentioned that we have seen violence greatly decrease even in the past many
months from what it was, and he feels confident in moving forward." Asked whether Obama had any
second thoughts about the pull back, or whether he had approached the Iraqi
government about a change in arrangements, Gibbs said "No, No." Violence has dropped
markedly in Iraq in recent months, with May seeing the lowest Iraqi death
toll since the 2003 invasion. But attacks remain common, particularly in
Baghdad and Mosul. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki warned earlier this month that insurgents and militiamen were
likely to step up their attacks in the coming weeks in a bid to undermine
confidence in the Iraqi security forces. Copyright © 2009 AFP. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j4LOpf7YzvovQnJw-PQXKO5bAVWg Bomb strikes Shiite market
in Baghdad, killing 69 By Kim Gamel Associated Press June 24, 2009 Baghdad - A bomb ripped
through a crowded market in Baghdad's main Shiite district on Wednesday,
killing at least 69 people and wounding more than 100 less than a week before
a deadline for U.S. combat troops to leave Iraq's urban areas. A series of blasts this week
have killed more than 160 people, as U.S. and Iraqi officials warned they
expected more violence before the U.S. withdrawal from cities. American troops already have
begun pulling back from the joint bases that they occupied with Iraqi security
forces as part of a counterinsurgency strategy aimed at clearing volatile
areas and holding them. The recent spike in violence
has raised new concern about the ability of Iraqi forces to protect the
people, but a U.S. military spokesman insisted that American combat troops
would be out of the cities by Tuesday as required by a security pact. Brig. Gen. Steve Lanza said
the recent high-profile attacks, which are usually blamed on Sunni
insurgents, were part of an effort to rekindle sectarian violence that pushed
the country to the brink of civil war. "What's important to
understand is that the people have not responded to this," he told
reporters at a briefing at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad's protected Green
Zone. In the past, bombings in
Shiite areas would be followed by mortar attacks against Sunni strongholds or
execution-style killings that were the signature of Shiite militias. The explosion in Sadr City -
the deadliest to strike the sprawling slum in more than two years - came just
days after the U.S. military handed over to Iraqis its main base on the edge
of the former Shiite militia stronghold. The strategic district was used by
Shiite militants to launch rockets onto the Green Zone during the last major
fighting in the city in 2008. The bomb, which was hidden
under vegetables on a motorized pushcart, exploded about 7 p.m., apparently
timed to maximize casualties by striking shoppers buying food for their
evening meal at the Mradi market. Shrapnel was blown more than
600 yards away and some shops were set on fire, a police officer said. As is usual after bombings
in Iraq, there were conflicting death tolls, as victims were taken to several
hospitals. An Interior Ministry
official said 69 people were killed and 135 wounded, while police and
hospital officials in Sadr City put the death toll at 72. The officials spoke on
condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the
information. U.S. helicopters buzzed over
the blast site, which was cordoned off by Iraqi police. Qassim Ismail, 24, who was
walking through the market with friends, was wounded by shrapnel. "It sounded like
unbelievable thunder and there was shattered glass and a hurricane of wind
that knocked me down," he said. "I found myself lying next to a
concrete block, which may have saved me." Another bomb exploded later
Wednesday in the mainly Shiite neighborhood of Jihad, killing at least one
civilian and wounding 10 others, most of them young men who had been enjoying
themselves at a nearby billiards hall. U.S. and Iraqi officials
anticipated the rise in violence before the June 30 deadline for most
American troops to pull back from urban areas - the first stage of a full
withdrawal by the end of 2011. U.S. combat operations will continue in rural
areas and if requested by the Iraqi government. Four days earlier, a truck
bombing killed 82 people in a mainly Shiite town near the northern city of
Kirkuk, which was the deadliest bombing so far this year. Back-to-back suicide
bombings by female attackers also killed 71 people outside a Shiite shrine in
Baghdad on April 24. Lanza said the U.S. military
had recorded a declining trend in the number of high-profile attacks, with 28
in April, 16 in May and 10 this month, excluding the Sadr City blast, which
occurred hours after he spoke to reporters at a briefing. U.S. and Iraqi officials are
still working out details on the number of American military personnel who
will remain in the cities in an advisory and training role, Lanza said, but
he stressed the main goal of ending the U.S. urban combat role was
"nonnegotiable." "We are transitioning
our mission in the cities from combat operations to stability
operations," he said, declining to give any information about numbers of
the Americans remaining in cities except to say it would be "extremely
small." Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki has called the withdrawal a "great victory" and called
for celebrations on Monday and Tuesday. "I think this is the
Iraqi way of asserting their sovereignty," Lanza said. Associated Press Writers
Patrick Quinn and Mazin Yahya contributed to this report. Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hwK_CSpBxsNuVUEaDuOwmSSCiqGwD9918PKO0 |