‘Mission over’ as final US troop convoy leaves Iraq

THE last convoy of US soldiers pulled out of Iraq yesterday, ending nearly nine years of war that cost almost 4,500 American and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives and left a country grappling with political uncertainty.

The war, launched in March 2003 with missiles striking Baghdad to oust president Saddam Hussein, closes with a fragile democracy still facing insurgents, sectarian tensions and the challenge of defining its place in an Arab region in turmoil.

The final column of around 100 military MRAP armoured vehicles carrying 500 US troops trundled across the southern Iraq desert from their last base through the night and daybreak along an empty highway to the Kuwaiti border.

The last batch of about 25 American military trucks and tractor trailers carrying Bradley fighting vehicles crossed the border early yesterday morning.

“I just can’t wait to call my wife and kids and let them know I am safe,” Sergeant Rodolfo Ruiz said as the border came into sight. Soon afterwards, he told his men the mission was over: “Hey guys, you made it.”

For US President Barack Obama, the military pullout is the fulfilment of an election promise to bring troops home from a conflict inherited from his predecessor, the most unpopular war since Vietnam and one that tainted America’s standing worldwide.

For Iraqis, though, the US departure brings a sense of sovereignty tempered by nagging fears their country may again slide into the kind of sectarian violence that killed many thousands of people at its peak in 2006-2007.

Prime minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Shi’ite-led government still struggles with a delicate power-sharing arrangement between Shi’ite, Kurdish and Sunni parties.

The intensity of violence and suicide bombings has subsided. But a stubborn Sunni Islamist insurgency and rival Shi’ite militias remain a threat, carrying out almost daily attacks, often on Iraqi government and security officials.

Only around 150 US troops will remain in the country attached to a training and cooperation mission at the huge US embassy on the banks of the Tigris.

At the height of the war, more than 170,000 US troops were in Iraq at more than 500 bases. By Saturday, there were fewer than 3,000 troops, and one base — Contingency Operating Base Adder, 300km south of Baghdad.