U.S. to cut 12,000 troops in Iraq over next 6 months

By Greg Miller and Usama Redha
Tribune Washington Bureau
(MCT)

BAGHDAD _ The U.S. will reduce its military presence in Iraq by 12,000 troops over the next six months as part of the first major drawdown since President Barack Obama announced his plan to end combat operations in the country in 2010, U.S. military officials in Baghdad said Sunday.

The announcement came just hours after a suicide bomber on a motorcycle struck a crowd of police recruits outside an Interior Ministry compound in Baghdad, killing at least 33 people and wounding 61.

Despite that grim reminder of the lingering danger, U.S. officials said the drawdown reflected growing confidence in the security gains in Iraq over the past two years. It also reflects a major shift in priorities for the U.S. military, which increasingly is focused on efforts to arrest the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.

The plan would reduce U.S. troop strength by nearly 10 percent just as Iraq is preparing for nationwide elections in the fall _ a step that would have been unthinkable at the height of the insurgency but was endorsed in this case by top U.S. military officials.

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"The time and conditions are right for coalition forces to reduce the number of troops in Iraq," Army Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said in a prepared statement. Successful provincial elections in January "demonstrated the increased capability of the Iraqi army and police to provide security," he said.

In the coming months, Odierno said, "Iraqis will see the number of U.S. forces go down in the cities while more and more Iraqi flags go up at formerly shared security stations."

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The plan calls for the number of U.S. combat brigades to drop from 14 to 12. Two brigades that had been scheduled to redeploy in the next six months will not be replaced.

A British brigade of 4,000 troops also will leave without being replaced, the final British combat troops in Iraq.

When the American move is completed, the U.S. military presence in Iraq will have been reduced to about 128,000 troops, dipping for the first time below the number of troops in the country before then-President George W. Bush ordered the buildup he referred to as the surge in 2007.

The schedule for the withdrawal represents a compromise between the 16-month timetable Obama advocated during his campaign and a 23-month plan pushed by the military.

Under the compromise, all combat forces will be pulled out of Iraq by Aug. 31, 2010, but a residual force of 35,000 to 50,000 soldiers will remain for training and support missions.

The Iraq withdrawals are crucial to the Obama administration's plans to devote more military resources to Afghanistan, as well as to limit spending at a time when the government is facing record deficits.

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Senior U.S. national security officials are nearing completion of a strategic review of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, a step that Obama has described as an effort "to stabilize a deteriorating situation," one he has implied was neglected by Bush.

Seven years after the U.S. invasion, Afghanistan's stability is threatened by a Taliban insurgency, as well as frustration with a central government regarded by its own people as corrupt and ineffective.

In February, Obama announced plans to send 17,000 additional U.S. soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan _ deployments that would more than offset the troop reductions in Iraq outlined Sunday.

Despite the suicide bombing Sunday, U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. David Perkins said violence had dropped to its lowest level since summer 2003, just months after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. In February, 221 civilians were killed, despite violence during a major Shiite religious festival that saw at least 60 people killed.

Even with the dramatic turnaround, bombings and assassinations occur almost daily, and Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Mohamed Askari said it was impossible to fully stop the violence.

"Definitely the security situation is improving, but such terrorist thoughts are not easy to eliminate. There are breaches. They want to affect the situation," Askari told the satellite news channel Al-Arabiya.

He vowed more precautions would be taken around recruiting centers, where large crowds are an appealing target for armed groups.

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© 2009, Tribune Co.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

Iraqi who threw shoes at Bush sentenced to 3 years

By Laith Hammoudi
McClatchy Newspapers
(MCT)

BAGHDAD _ An Iraqi court Thursday sentenced television journalist Muntathar al Zaidi to three years in prison for throwing his shoes at former U.S. President George W. Bush.

The decision by Iraq's Central Criminal Court provoked an outcry among those at the trial. "Hero, hero, Muntathar. God is great," a group of relatives chanted.

Zaidi's immediate family wept on hearing the sentence. His brother Udai accused the court of being Americanized. "This was expected from an Americanized court," he said. "We don't feel sorry for Muntathar, we only feel sorry for Americanized Iraq."

Zaidi, who reports for the satellite channel al Baghdadiyah, threw his shoes at Bush during the former president's final media appearance with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki in December. "This is the farewell kiss, dog," Zaidi shouted as he threw the first shoe.

Bush ducked nimbly. Zaidi threw the second shoe, and Bush ducked again. Later, the president joked that he'd noticed that the shoes were a size 9. He also said the incident reflected the new freedom of expression that had taken hold in Iraq.

To Muslims in many countries, it wasn't a joke but an act of defiance against what's widely seen as an oppressive American presence in Iraq and throughout the region.

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In his first court appearance last month, Zaidi almost bounced into the courtroom. On Thursday, however, arriving under heavy guard, he almost stumbled in, exhausted and looking worried, and no longer wearing an Iraqi flag scarf.

Chief Judge Abdul-Amir al Rubaie started the proceedings by reading a ruling that Bush's visit had been an official visit of state, implying that Zaidi could be sentenced under criminal law.

Tariq Harb, a leading defense attorney, urged the court instead to follow Bush's words and consider the incident an act of democratic expression.

"There should be no case without the approval of the prime minister, which didn't happen. I trust the justice of the Iraq judiciary, but I can't ignore the law," he said.

Dhia al Saadi, who headed the defense team, told the court that Zaidi had committed an action "meant to insult, not attack, the U.S. president."

Saadi added that his client had a right under international law to "fight the occupier" and that his "patriotic motives" shouldn't be overlooked. He admitted that Zaidi had broken the work rules for journalists. Saadi insisted, however, that this was an issue for the journalists union, not the courts.

Zaidi's sentencing came the same week that a car bomb killed two of his co-workers as they covered a national reconciliation conference in Abu Ghraib.

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© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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ARCHIVE PHOTO on MCT Direct (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): Dhia al Saadi