Anbar handed over to Iraqi security; Petraeus: US combat troops could pull out of Baghdad; Plan to shift US Forces from Iraq to Afghanistan; Iraqi government gives ultimatum to members of MKO to leave
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    • The American military handed over responsibility for the security of the western province of Anbar to Iraqi security forces. Anbar was once a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency. Officials noted that the transfer was made possible due to an increase in the number of Iraqi security forces and a reduction of violence, largely attributed to the working of local forces known as ‘Awakening Councils.’ US President George Bush hailed the handover, and appreciated the “courage” of US troops, the Iraqi Security Forces, and “the brave tribes and other civilians from Anbar who worked alongside them.” The US military had reduced the number of American troops in Anbar, to 25,000 from 37,000 in February, and the strength of the Iraqi police forces had grown to 28,000, up from 5,000 three years ago1.

    Gen. David Petraeus, in an interview with Financial Times, stated that US combat troops could be pulled out of Baghdad within 10 months due to declining levels of violence. While Iraqi leaders have stated that the US and Iraq had agreed on a 2011 date for US troops to leave the country, US officials have been insisting that negotiations were still continuing. Washington on its part has been reluctant to embrace fixed timetables for withdrawal. Democratic contender Barack Obama was pushing for a 16-month timeframe for withdrawal, while Republican John McCain has argued against a set timeline for removing troops2.

    Reports also noted that Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had recommended that an Army brigade and a Marine battalion (consisting of about 4,500 troops) be sent to Afghanistan by early next year from Iraq. American commanders in Afghanistan have been asking for three more brigades to combat a resurgent Taliban3.

    Iraq’s Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Abdul Kareem Khalaf meanwhile stated that the government had given Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), a terrorist grouping, a six-month deadline to leave the country. Iraqi lawmakers had earlier urged the Iraqi government to expel the MKO from Iraqi territory, noting that the organization was a part of the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein. The MKO was set up in the mid-1960s to oppose the US-backed Iranian regime of the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It participated in the 1979 Islamic Revolution but soon launched a campaign of assassinations and bombings in Iran. The MKO was supported by Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war but was disarmed after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 20034.

    In other developments, Iraqi Shiite politician Ahmad Chalabi’s office confirmed that he had escaped an assassination attempt when a car bomb targeted his motorcade in western Baghdad. Chalabi, who was a deputy prime minister for some time after the invasion of Iraq, was currently the chairman of the De-Baathification Authority and the Committee for Popular Mobilization in the Law Imposition Plan, a body concerned with restoring basic services in the country5.

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