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U.S. troops fight on despite end to combat in Iraq
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U.S. troops fight on despite end to combat in Iraq
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By Jim Loney
BAGHDAD |
Fri Sep 24, 2010 5:48am EDT
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Since President Barack Obama declared an end to combat operations in Iraq, U.S. troops have waged a gun battle with a suicide squad in Baghdad, dropped bombs on armed militants in Baquba and assisted Iraqi soldiers in a raid in Falluja.
Obama's announcement on August 31 has not meant the end of fighting for some of the 50,000 U.S. military personnel remaining in Iraq 7-1/2 years after the invasion that removed Saddam Hussein.
"Our rules of engagement have not changed. Iraq does remain from time to time a dangerous place, so when our soldiers are attacked they will return fire," said Brigadier General Jeffrey Buchanan, a U.S. military spokesman.
The American role in Iraq's battle to quell a tenacious Islamist insurgency has been waning since security in cities and towns was handed over to Iraqi police and soldiers in June 2009.
Officially, U.S. forces remain in Iraq to "advise, train and assist."
When they answered a call for help two weeks ago from Iraqi soldiers overwhelmed in a gunfight with militants hiding in a palm grove near Baquba in Diyala province, U.S. troops brought in attack helicopters and F-16 jet fighters.
The F-16s dropped two bombs to help end the skirmish. They were the first bombs used in Iraq by the United States since July 2009, Buchanan said.
15 ATTACKS PER DAY
Overall violence has dropped sharply since the peak of the sectarian slaughter in which tens of thousands of people were killed in 2006-2007. The U.S. military says there are about 15 attacks in Iraq each day on average.
American soldiers are no longer supposed to be on the front line of the fight against Sunni Islamist al Qaeda, Shi'ite militias and other groups still active in Iraq.
They routinely ride along with Iraqi special forces in counter-terrorism operations but no longer play a direct role, for example, in a raid on an al Qaeda hideout.
Colonel Mark Mitchell, commander of a U.S. special operations training force, said Americans are routinely outnumbered by Iraqis two-to-one on such missions but the ratio can be as high as eight-to-one.
Iraqis plan and lead the operation and conduct the assault, while Americans hold back, watching, coaching and supervising, entering the hideout only when the Iraqis have secured it.
"We call it the Darth Vader model ... the imperial storm troopers, they'll go in, secure the target. Once it's all secure then Darth Vader can go in and walk through," Mitchell said.
"The bottom line is, we're not in the house."
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See All Comments (3) | Post Comment
Sep 24, 2010 8:13am EDT
So just when is the US pulling out of Iraq?
Didn’t McCain say something about 25 years, seems where Obama might be going.
Skylor
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Sep 24, 2010 9:41am EDT
My son is an Iraq War veteran and is currently working as a military contractor in the ME…Let’s be perfectly clear, Barack Obama’s insistence on keeping a campaign promise made to his base is endangering the progress that was made in Iraq over the last four years…It truly is pathetic to see this man posture for political gain at the expense of what was real progress in Iraq. Someone needs to tell the clueless one on our Oval Office just how long it took these United States to finally form our government…for a supposed “Constitutional Scholar”, he does know jackshid about America…
HappyG
Report As Abusive
Sep 24, 2010 11:13am EDT
They really must find another name for the way they deal with securing hostile targets other than the “Darth Vader model.”
We’ve taken the training wheels off, and now we’re going to see if giving the Iraqi’s a little help when they need it will be enough for them to protect their people.
WRL
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