Iraqis joyful as US leaves but doubtful of leaders

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The last US forces left Iraq and entered Kuwait Sunday, nearly nine years after launching a divisive war to oust Saddam Hussein, and just as the oil-rich country grapples with renewed political deadlock. The last of roughly 110 vehicles carrying 500-odd troops mostly belonging to the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, traversed the border at 7.38am (0438 GMT), leaving just a couple hundred soldiers at the US embassy, in a country where there were once nearly 170,000 troops on 505 bases.
It ends a war that left tens of thousands of Iraqis and nearly 4,500 American soldiers dead, many more wounded, and 1.75 million Iraqis displaced, after the US-led invasion unleashed brutal sectarian killing. The withdrawal comes as the country struggles with renewed political deadlock as the Iraqiya bloc, which won March 2010 elections and drew most of its support from minority Sunnis, said it was boycotting parliament to protest Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s centralisation of decision-making.
Meanwhile, Iraqis expressed joy at the news that US forces had completed their withdrawal on Sunday, but voiced doubts their politicians could come together to rebuild the violence-wracked country.
Their lack of confidence in their leaders was highlighted by renewed political crisis as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sought to oust one of his deputies and the main Sunni-backed political bloc boycotted parliament, just as the final US troops crossed into Kuwait to end the nearly nine-year war.
“I am proud – all Iraqis should be proud, like all those whose country has been freed,” 26-year-old baker Safa, who did not want to give his real name, said in Baghdad’s Karrada commercial district. “The Americans toppled Saddam, but our lives since then have gone backward.
“I don’t think we can ever forgive the Americans for what they did to us, from killings to terrorism,” said a 50-year-old mother-of-four. “Americans think only about themselves, and not about the consequences of their actions.”
In the mostly Sunni Arab north Baghdad neighbourhood of Adhamiyah, where Saddam Hussein was last seen publicly before his capture, 60-year-old retiree Mohammed Abdelamir said he felt “freed from the occupation,” referring to US troops as many Iraqis long have, as an occupying force. He was referring to signs of unravelling in Iraq’s year-old national unity government which emerged just as US forces completed their withdrawal.
On Sunday, Maliki conveyed an official message to parliament, calling on lawmakers to oust his deputy Saleh al-Mutlak, a Sunni Arab and member of the secular Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc. As US troops complete their withdrawal from Iraq, more than eight years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein, they leave behind a country still facing a litany of challenges. Here is an overview of some of the key problems:
– Disputed territories
Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region in the north wants a swathe of territory stretching from the border with Iran to the Syrian frontier to be incorporated into its three-province area. Baghdad also claims the land, which includes portions of four provinces, and centres around the oil-rich, multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk.
– Insurgents and Al-Qaeda
The Sunni insurgency has dramatically declined since violence peaked in 2006 and 2007, thanks to an alliance between Sunni tribesmen and the US military against Al-Qaeda since late 2006. Attacks, kidnappings and executions remain common, however, and the Islamic State of Iraq, Al-Qaeda’s front group, still carries out major attacks against the security forces, Shiites and Christians.
– Tensions between religious communities
Many Iraqis accuse the US of bringing sectarianism to politics, a dimension they say was largely absent under Saddam. The Shiite-led government has accused Sunni Arabs, who dominated Saddam’s regime, of plotting to overthrow it. On Saturday, the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc suspended its participation in parliament over what it claimed was Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s centralisation of decision-making power.
– Syria crisis
Iraq shares a long border with Syria, where an offshoot of Saddam’s Baath Party rules. A potential fall of Syria’s minority Shiite Alawite regime could push refugees across the frontier, threatening to raise tensions between Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites.
– Iranian influence
Iran is widely believed to exert major influence on the government, and has been accused by Washington of training and equipping Shiite militias in the south of Iraq, charges Tehran denies.
– Institutional corruption and fragility
Iraq lacks an interior minister, and no permanent defense minister has been named since March 2010 elections because of political disputes. Institutions are weak and rife with graft, with Iraq rated the eighth-most corrupt country in the world by Transparency International. Some provinces want more autonomy, along the lines of the Kurdistan region.