Home
After U.S. Troops Leave, What Happens To Iraq?
November 29, 2011
In October, President Obama announced that most U.S. troops would be out of Iraq by the end of 2011, after negotiations with Iraqi leaders failed to extend the troops' presence. Only Marine embassy guards and liaison troops will stay behind in the country, where more than a million troops, in total, have served over the past eight years.
On Tuesday's Fresh Air, Tim Arango, the Baghdad bureau chief for The New York Times, shares some personal stories from his time covering the war. He also talks about what the troop withdrawal means for the future of Iraq, where sectarian violence and insurgency attacks continue to wreak havoc on civilians.
"It's at such a critical point," he tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "Even after almost nine years of involvement, it remains so unclear what happens to Iraq. We're at this point where the troops are getting ready to leave ... they'll be home by Christmas, and then I think the story will be even more interesting after they leave ... to see what will happen to the country because it will largely be in the hands of Iraqis then. And it's so unclear and so uncertain. And so for Iraqis it is a time of great anxiety."
In October, Arango and reporter Michael S. Schmidt reported that U.S. officials had expected that a few thousand U.S. troops would stay behind in Iraq to mediate disputes and train members of the Iraqi military. But that plan changed after the Iraqi Parliament refused to give American troops legal immunity.
"On the American side, [immunity] is a very fundamental and standard issue," he says. "We don't put troops anywhere in the world — whether it be Korea or Germany — where they would be subject to local laws. ... And I think for Iraq, I think it was this tortured legacy of American involvement — from Abu Ghraib to the shooting by Blackwater ... to the incident in Haditha and Anbar Province, where American troops acted badly and acted tragically and resulted in the deaths of Iraqis — and this legacy came back to haunt this process, and Iraqis said, 'No way.' "
Related NPR Stories
iraq
The Greedy Battle For Iraq's 'Hearts And Minds'
iraq
A Foreign Correspondent Reflects On Iraq War
Remembering The 'Hardest Hit Unit In Iraq'
May 31, 2010
'Joker One': A Marine's Memoir Of The War In Iraq
March 5, 2009
Despite Obama's announcement that troops will leave at the end of the year, both Iraqi and American officials are still negotiating on possibly continuing their military relationship, says Arango.
He writes that "possibilities being discussed are for some troops to return in 2012, an option preferred by some Iraqi politicians who want to claim credit for ending what many here still call an occupation, even though legally it ended years ago. Other scenarios being discussed include offering training in the United States, in a nearby country such as Kuwait, or having some troops here under NATO auspices."
And the United States will continue to have a large diplomatic presence in the region.
"There's going to be 16,000 diplomatic personnel — whether they be diplomats from the Foreign Service or contractors," he says. "So there's a very ambitious plan to maintain influence there. But the problem will be that they will rarely be able to get around and travel around the country and interact with ordinary Iraqis. And I think as time goes on, we're going to see how hard it is for the State Department to maintain that influence in that environment when they can't move around and interact with the population."
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
November 29, 2011
In October, President Obama announced that most U.S. troops would be out of Iraq by the end of 2011, after negotiations with Iraqi leaders failed to extend the troops' presence. Only Marine embassy guards and liaison troops will stay behind in the country, where more than a million troops, in total, have served over the past eight years.
On Tuesday's Fresh Air, Tim Arango, the Baghdad bureau chief for The New York Times, shares some personal stories from his time covering the war. He also talks about what the troop withdrawal means for the future of Iraq, where sectarian violence and insurgency attacks continue to wreak havoc on civilians.
"It's at such a critical point," he tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "Even after almost nine years of involvement, it remains so unclear what happens to Iraq. We're at this point where the troops are getting ready to leave ... they'll be home by Christmas, and then I think the story will be even more interesting after they leave ... to see what will happen to the country because it will largely be in the hands of Iraqis then. And it's so unclear and so uncertain. And so for Iraqis it is a time of great anxiety."
In October, Arango and reporter Michael S. Schmidt reported that U.S. officials had expected that a few thousand U.S. troops would stay behind in Iraq to mediate disputes and train members of the Iraqi military. But that plan changed after the Iraqi Parliament refused to give American troops legal immunity.
"On the American side, [immunity] is a very fundamental and standard issue," he says. "We don't put troops anywhere in the world — whether it be Korea or Germany — where they would be subject to local laws. ... And I think for Iraq, I think it was this tortured legacy of American involvement — from Abu Ghraib to the shooting by Blackwater ... to the incident in Haditha and Anbar Province, where American troops acted badly and acted tragically and resulted in the deaths of Iraqis — and this legacy came back to haunt this process, and Iraqis said, 'No way.' "
Related NPR Stories
iraq
The Greedy Battle For Iraq's 'Hearts And Minds'
iraq
A Foreign Correspondent Reflects On Iraq War
Remembering The 'Hardest Hit Unit In Iraq'
May 31, 2010
'Joker One': A Marine's Memoir Of The War In Iraq
March 5, 2009
Despite Obama's announcement that troops will leave at the end of the year, both Iraqi and American officials are still negotiating on possibly continuing their military relationship, says Arango.
He writes that "possibilities being discussed are for some troops to return in 2012, an option preferred by some Iraqi politicians who want to claim credit for ending what many here still call an occupation, even though legally it ended years ago. Other scenarios being discussed include offering training in the United States, in a nearby country such as Kuwait, or having some troops here under NATO auspices."
And the United States will continue to have a large diplomatic presence in the region.
"There's going to be 16,000 diplomatic personnel — whether they be diplomats from the Foreign Service or contractors," he says. "So there's a very ambitious plan to maintain influence there. But the problem will be that they will rarely be able to get around and travel around the country and interact with ordinary Iraqis. And I think as time goes on, we're going to see how hard it is for the State Department to maintain that influence in that environment when they can't move around and interact with the population."
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
