Amazing events are occurring in Iraq. For the first time since the start of the war, American forces are withdrawing from Iraq’s cities, reducing their numbers and turning responsibility for security over to Iraqi forces. It is not the first time the United States has tried to hand off security to the Iraqis. At the end of 2006, as violence was exploding throughout Iraq, American forces were actually handing over bases in Baghdad and preparing to withdraw. As we drew down, violence went up. The situation deteriorated so badly that the United States had to fight its way back into Baghdad in 2007 during the “surge,” retaking areas from which we had pulled back a few months before. Today, despite occasional flare-ups of violence, the situation is completely different. American combat forces will have withdrawn from Iraq’s cities almost entirely by the end of this month. In 2006, it seemed as though increasing violence was driving America out of Iraq. Now it appears our success is allowing us to leave.
“Transition” was the strategy of the U.S. military command in Iraq all through 2006, as Army Gen. Ray Odierno, now commanding American forces in Iraq, explained during an oral history interview for a documentary produced by the Institute for the Study of War.
When he took command of the Multinational Corps — Iraq in December 2006, he said, “The objective was that slowly we were turning everything over to the Iraqi security forces, we would reduce our presence here in Iraq, we would reduce the number of headquarters we have here in Iraq and then eventually leading to our complete withdrawal from Iraq.” U.S. forces “would use the Iraqi security force to try to solve the sectarian violence,” he added.
Col. Jeff Bannister, then commanding the single brigade in East Baghdad, described what transition looked like on the ground at that time: “We were even counting containers on our FOBs [forward operating bases] because we were about to start closing FOBs. …”
During that time, Odierno met with Bannister: “[Odierno] came in and said, ‘Hey, you know, what does this transition feel like?’ And I said, ‘Well it doesn’t really feel much like transition, it feels like an egress under fire. … It just doesn’t feel like a transition … because we were taking mortar rounds and rockets in our FOBs pretty much daily. …” When the meeting was over, Bannister escorted Odierno to the helipad: “On his way to the helicopter — I’ll never forget — we got, we took mortar rounds, and we had to run him into the bunker.” The withdrawal was halted. About a month later, the surge began.
Today the transfer of bases that the United States once occupied occurs with pomp and circumstance. U.S. forces, the Iraqi government and local sheiks held a ceremony Saturday to hand over Joint Security Station Sadr City to the 44th Iraqi Army Brigade, 11th Iraqi Army Division. Baghdad Operational Commander Gen. Aboud Qanbar spoke at the peaceful ceremony, at the conclusion of which U.S. forces, represented by Multi-National Division Baghdad Commander Maj. Gen. Dan Bolger, signed formal papers handing control to the Iraqi government. This is but one of more than 100 such ceremonies closing or handing over U.S. bases in Iraq.
At this ceremony, Bolger remarked, “This part of the Iraqi Army is strong,” but he noted that U.S. troops stood ready to support the Iraqi troops if their government so requested. “Our enemy can surprise us,” he said. “Our goal is to be ready.”
The key difference between 2009 and 2006 is that Americans are leaving now because conditions permit, as Odierno often remarks. The mistake in 2006 lay in adhering to a timetable for withdrawal disconnected from reality. President Barack Obama has said that U.S. forces’ ongoing withdrawal will remain dependent upon conditions on the ground — even though America and Iraq aim to pursue a particular timeline. That flexibility will be crucial if American and Iraqi forces are to achieve the success for which they have sacrificed so much.
