Spring Break
Iraqis celebrate US pullback but bombing kills 33
HAMZA HENDAWI - The Associated Press
Issue date: 7/1/09 Section: News
Some policemen danced atop their vehicles as they moved in convoys across the capital. Traffic was light in Baghdad, but particularly thorough searches at some checkpoints meant long lines of waiting cars in parts of the city.
No matter.
"I felt it was normal for an Iraqi soldier, rather than an American, to order me to stop for a search," said Ali Mohsen, a 30-year-old government employee from the mostly Shiite New Baghdad district. "The Americans' cowboy style was annoying," said Mohsen, recounting his car journey to his brother's home in eastern Baghdad.
"I hope our forces wProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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l be up to the task so we can return to normalcy," he said.
Any failure on their part could plunge the country into a new round of sectarian warfare that could seal Iraq's fate for years. Success would allow reconstruction projects to go ahead and give leaders of Iraq's rival ethnic and religious groups space to negotiate an enduring power-sharing formula.
Iraqi authorities welcomed the U.S. pullback with nationalist rhetoric and celebrations in what appeared to be an attempt by al-Maliki to rally the public behind his government and secure more support ahead of an election in January.
Al-Maliki, whose three years in office saw a dramatic decline in violence, used a nationally televised address to project an air of confidence.
"Those who think that Iraqis are incapable of protecting security in their country and that the withdrawal of foreign forces will leave a security vacuum which will be difficult for Iraqi forces to fill are making a grave mistake," the prime minister said.
In Washington, President Barack Obama declared Tuesday that "Iraq's future is in the hands of its own people," warning of more violence in the days ahead but signaling optimism that Iraq will prevail as a stable, sovereign nation.
"The Iraqi people are rightly treating this as a cause for celebration," Obama said. "The future belongs to those who build, not to those who destroy."
No matter.
"I felt it was normal for an Iraqi soldier, rather than an American, to order me to stop for a search," said Ali Mohsen, a 30-year-old government employee from the mostly Shiite New Baghdad district. "The Americans' cowboy style was annoying," said Mohsen, recounting his car journey to his brother's home in eastern Baghdad.
"I hope our forces wProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0
l be up to the task so we can return to normalcy," he said.
Any failure on their part could plunge the country into a new round of sectarian warfare that could seal Iraq's fate for years. Success would allow reconstruction projects to go ahead and give leaders of Iraq's rival ethnic and religious groups space to negotiate an enduring power-sharing formula.
Iraqi authorities welcomed the U.S. pullback with nationalist rhetoric and celebrations in what appeared to be an attempt by al-Maliki to rally the public behind his government and secure more support ahead of an election in January.
Al-Maliki, whose three years in office saw a dramatic decline in violence, used a nationally televised address to project an air of confidence.
"Those who think that Iraqis are incapable of protecting security in their country and that the withdrawal of foreign forces will leave a security vacuum which will be difficult for Iraqi forces to fill are making a grave mistake," the prime minister said.
In Washington, President Barack Obama declared Tuesday that "Iraq's future is in the hands of its own people," warning of more violence in the days ahead but signaling optimism that Iraq will prevail as a stable, sovereign nation.
"The Iraqi people are rightly treating this as a cause for celebration," Obama said. "The future belongs to those who build, not to those who destroy."
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