150 bases handed over to Iraqis, shut down
June 30, 2009 - 09:29:58
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: A total of 150 U.S. bases in Iraq have been shut down or turned over to Iraqis in the past nine months, according to Pentagon and military officials.
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) quoted U.S. army officials as saying that the withdrawal of most U.S. military forces from Iraq’s cities was completed on Monday (June 29).
According to the officials, NBC said, within the past 30 days, 30 U.S. military bases have either been closed down or turned over to Iraqi forces.
“Despite the withdrawal, many U.S. military forces will remain in the cities, embedded with Iraqi forces as advisers. They would also act as liaison officers who would be able to summon a U.S. military rapid reaction force if needed — or also call in U.S. military air strikes. Those remaining in the cities would also include intelligence officers,” NBC noted.
“Neither the military or Pentagon could provide a specific number of U.S. forces left behind,” it added.
This morning, Iraqi cities and districts were free of U.S. troops for the first time since the U.S.-led invasion in April 2003.
Today, which has been declared an official holiday and hailed as “National Sovereignty Day,” more than 750,000 Iraqi forces have been deployed to Iraqi cities, replacing U.S. troops which have withdrawn to their bases outside the cities.
On November 27, 2008, the Iraqi Parliament passed a security pact with the United States, known as the Status-of-Forces Agreement (SOFA), 10 days after the Iraqi cabinet approved it with an overwhelming majority.
In accordance with the agreement, U.S. combat forces today left Iraqi cities and districts within preparations for withdrawal from Iraq by August 2010, to be completed by the end of 2011 commensurate with U.S. President Barack Obama’s plan.
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