Iraq – Obama’s Troop Exit that Wasn’t

U.S. ‘significant’ in Iraq despite troop exit: Dempsey
22 August, 2012 – By Dan De Luce – Agence France Presse

BAGHDAD: Top U.S. military officer General Martin Dempsey insisted Tuesday during a quick trip to Iraq that Washington was still playing an important role there, eight months after the last American troops departed.

Dempsey met with Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and army chief of staff Lieutenant General Babaker Zebari during a six-hour stop, becoming the highest-ranking American to visit Iraq since the December 2011 pullout.

The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said in an interview with AFP that Iraq was now a sovereign state, on an equal footing with the United States, a remark completely removed from the 2003 American-led invasion.

“We still retain significant investment and significant influence. But now it’s on the basis of a partnership and not on the basis of ownership,” Dempsey, who served in Iraq as a commander during the war that toppled Saddam Hussein, said before landing in Baghdad.

Clad in a formal military dress uniform instead of the combat fatigues worn during the war years, Dempsey stressed that he came to build a dialogue with his Iraqi counterparts and not to make demands.

After a 90-minute meeting with Maliki, Dempsey later told reporters the two discussed the conflict in neighbouring Syria, Iraq’s interest in expanding training with US forces and the purchase of American military hardware, including radar, air defence weaponry and equipment to bolster border security.

After flying over the bustling Iraqi capital by helicopter, Dempsey said he was struck by the air of “normalcy” compared to a few years ago when he served during a raging war with insurgents.

“Only eight months out, and it seems to me that they’ve gripped the opportunity for now that we hoped they would grip,” he said en route back to Washington.

Although Iraq still faced daunting challenges, Dempsey said the country could eventually serve as a democratic model for the rest of the Middle East, which has been shaken by popular uprisings since early 2011. …more