| Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Iraq War | |||||||
Last U.S. convoy crosses the border from Iraq into Kuwait during the withdrawal. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| United States | Iraqi Ba'ath Party Loyalists Islamic State of Iraq |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Lloyd Austin | Various | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 161 killed[1] | various estimates | ||||||
The withdrawal of American military forces from Iraq has been a contentious issue within the United States since the beginning of the Iraq War. As the war has progressed from its initial 2003 invasion phase to a multi-year occupation, U.S. public opinion has turned in favor of troop withdrawal. As of May 2007, 55 percent of Americans believed that the Iraq war was a mistake, and 51 percent of registered voters favored troop withdrawal.[2] In late April 2007, the U.S. Congress passed a supplementary spending bill for Iraq that sets a deadline for troop withdrawal, but President Bush vetoed this bill soon afterwards.[3][4] All US Forces are mandated to withdraw from Iraqi territory by December 31, 2011 under the terms of a bilateral agreement signed in 2008 by President Bush. The U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq was completed on December 18, 2011 early Sunday morning.[5] Immediately, following the departure of American soldiers in Iraq, on December 19th, an arrest warrant was issued for the Sunni Vice-President Al-Hashemi. He has been accused of involvement in assassinations and fled to the Kurdish part of Iraq.
Immediately before and after the 2003 invasion, most polls within the United States showed a substantial majority supporting war, though since December 2004 polls have consistently shown that a majority now thinks the invasion was a mistake. In the spring of 2007, surveys generally showed a majority in favor of setting a timetable for withdrawal.[6] However, in this area responses can vary widely with the exact wording of the question. Surveys found that most preferred a gradual withdrawal over time to an immediate pullout.[7]
The issue was one on which John Kerry and George W. Bush differed in the 2004 U.S. presidential election. Kerry said in August 2004 that he would make the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq a goal of his first presidential term. However, he did not offer a deadline or a timetable, and proposed an increase in deployment size in the immediate future. In the debate, he said that he reiterated that withdrawal was a goal, if an initial troop increase works.
In the debate, Bush did not offer any timetable or estimate of troops, either increasing or decreasing, but said only that the commanders of the troops in Iraq had the ability to ask for whatever force they needed. In general, this is consistent with his earlier remarks. When questioned about troop strength, Bush and then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said that they were using the troops asked for by the general staff.
| U.S. Congressional opposition to U.S. involvement in wars and interventions
|
|---|
| 1812 North America |
| House Federalists’ Address |
| 1847 Mexican–American War |
| Spot Resolutions |
| 1917 World War I |
| Filibuster of the Armed Ship Bill |
| 1935–1939 |
| Neutrality Acts |
| 1935–1940 |
| Ludlow Amendment |
| 1970 Vietnam |
| McGovern–Hatfield Amendment |
| 1970 Southeast Asia |
| Cooper–Church Amendment |
| 1971 Vietnam |
| Repeal of Tonkin Gulf Resolution |
| 1973 Southeast Asia |
| Case–Church Amendment |
| 1973 |
| War Powers Resolution |
| 1974 |
| Hughes–Ryan Amendment |
| 1976 Angola |
| Clark Amendment |
| 1982 Nicaragua |
| Boland Amendment |
| 2007 Iraq |
| House Concurrent Resolution 63 |
On 17 November 2005, Representative John Murtha introduced H.J.Res. 73, a resolution calling for U.S. forces in Iraq to be "redeployed at the earliest practicable date" to stand as a quick-reaction force in U.S. bases in neighboring countries such as Kuwait. In response, Republicans proposed a resolution that "the deployment of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately," without any provision for redeployment, which was voted down 403–3.
On 16 June 2006, the House voted 256–153 in a non-binding resolution against establishing a deadline for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Republican then-House Majority Leader John Boehner, who argued against a deadline, stated "achieving victory is our only option", and "we must not shy away". On the other hand, Democratic then-House Minority Leader and current Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi argued that a deadline is necessary, and stated "'stay the course' is not a strategy, it's a slogan", and "it's time to face the facts."[8]
On 27 March 2007, Congress passed H.R. 1591, which called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq by March 2008. However, President Bush vetoed the bill and the House of Representatives failed to override the veto.[9] Congress then passed H.R. 2206, which provided funding for the Iraq War through 30 September 2007 and was signed into law by President Bush on 25 May 2007. H.R. 2206 included eighteen benchmarks for the Iraqi government to meet.[10]
On 9 May 2007, Representative Jim McGovern introduced H.R. 2237[11] to the House: "To provide for the redeployment of United States Armed Forces and defense contractors from Iraq." The bill failed with a vote of 255 to 171, thirteen of the Nays coming from Democrats representing districts won by John Kerry in 2004.
On 12 July 2007 the House passed H.R. 2956 by a vote of 223 to 201, for redeployment (or withdrawal) of U.S. armed forces out of Iraq. The resolution requires most troops to withdraw from Iraq by 1 April 2008.[9][12][13]
On 18 July 2007, after an all-night debate, the Senate blocked the passage of a bill that would have set a troop withdrawal timetable with a vote of 52–47. The withdrawal would have started within 120 days, and would have required that all troops (except an unspecified number could be left behind to conduct a very narrow set of missions) be out of the country by 30 April 2008.[14]
Former U.S. Senator George McGovern and William R. Polk, director of the University of Chicago Center for Middle Eastern Studies, published a detailed proposal for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq in their book, Out of Iraq: A Practical Plan for Withdrawal Now. (Simon & Schuster, 2006. ISBN 1-4165-3456-3) A sizable excerpt was published in the October 2006 edition of Harper's magazine. This plan was completely abandoned. Some of the basic features of their proposal included:
The three largest coalitions which organized demonstrations against the invasion of Iraq in 2003, United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER), and Not in Our Name (NION), have all called for the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops, "out now." The anti-war movement has debated whether to support existing proposals in Congress.
The UFPJ legislative working group has endorsed Murtha's redeployment proposal "because it is a powerful vehicle to begin the debate on the war," though the organization as a whole has not taken a position.[15] ANSWER, on the other hand, has stated that "Murtha has not adopted an antiwar position. He wants to redeploy militarily to strengthen the hand of U.S. imperialism in the Middle East."[16]
The Burner Plan, formally entitled A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq, was a 36-page policy paper presented 17 March 2008 by Darcy Burner and other 2008 Democratic congressional candidates, in cooperation with some retired national security officials. The plan outlined policy measures the candidates pledged to support in the United States presidential election, 2008.
In 2008, the US and Iraqi government signed the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement which implments that all US forces would withdraw from Iraqi cities by 30 June 2009 and that All US Forces would be mandated to withdraw from Iraqi territory by 31 December 2011 under the terms of a bilateral agreement. On 14 December 2008, then-U.S. President George W. Bush signed the security pact with Iraq. In his fourth and final trip to Iraq, the president appeared with Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki and said more work is to be done.
On 27 February 2009, at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, President Barack Obama announced a deadline for the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq. According to the president, by 31 August 2010, after nearly seven and a half years of United States military engagement in Iraq, all but a "transitional force" of 35,000 to 50,000 troops would be withdrawn from the Middle Eastern nation. President Obama defined the task of the transitional force as "training, equipping, and advising Iraqi Security Forces as long as they remain non-sectarian; conducting targeted counter-terrorism missions; and protecting our ongoing civilian and military efforts within Iraq".[17] Under this plan, the majority of troops will be withdrawn just a month after the deadline in the signed agreement between former President George W. Bush and Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki where the majority of troops will be withdrawn at one point, and the entirety of troops to be out by 31 December 2011.[18][19][20]
On 19 August 2010, the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division was the last US combat brigade to withdraw from Iraq. About 50,000 US troops will remain in the country in an advisory capacity. According to the US, they will help to train Iraqi forces in a new mission dubbed by the US as "Operation New Dawn," which will run until the end of 2011.[21] The mission that ended 19 August 2010 was dubbed by the US as "Operation Iraqi Freedom," at a projected cost of more than $900 billion and 4,415 US troops killed in action.[21] Over 100,000 Iraqi civilians were estimated to be killed, according to the Iraq Body Count website.[21] President Obama announced the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom in his Oval Office address on 31 August 2010.
With the collapse of the discussions about extending the stay of any U.S. troops, on 21 October 2011, President Obama announced the full withdrawal of troops from Iraq as scheduled before. The U.S. will retain an embassy in Baghdad and two consulates with around 4,000 to 5,000 State Department employees.[22] President Obama and al-Maliki outlined a broad agenda for post-war cooperation without American troops in Iraq during a joint press conference on 12 December 2011 at the White House. This agenda includes cooperation on energy, trade and education as well as cooperation in security, counter-terrorism, economic development and strengthening Iraq's institutions. Both leaders said their countries will maintain strong security, diplomatic and economic ties after the last U.S. combat forces withdraw at the end of 2011.[23][24]
President Barack Obama paid tribute to the troops who served in Iraq on 14 December 2011, at the Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina. As the last of the American troops prepared to exit Iraq, he said the United States was leaving behind a "sovereign, stable and self-reliant" Iraq.[25] On 15 December, an American military ceremony was held in Baghdad putting a formal end to the U.S mission in Iraq. Only 4,000 U.S troops remain in Iraq and they are scheduled to leave by the end of the year.[26][27][28] The latest 500 soldiers left Iraq to Kuwait under cover of darkness and under strict secrecy. All American troops would be home for Christmas, but at least 4,000 soldiers will remain in Kuwait for some months.[29]The US troop withdrawal from Iraq was completed on 18 December 2011.[30][31][32][33][34]
The United States has one remaining soldier, Staff Sergeant Ahmed K. Altaie, still missing in Iraq since 23 October 2006, and has offered a $50,000 reward for his recovery.[35]
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