Page 2 - ARUBA TODAY

A2 UP FRONT
Monday 19 February 2018

Book online using our special promo code casa18
Iraqi victories remain fragile as US reduces troops

By SUSANNAH GEORGE nated central government. After just a few hours mov- PMF of being a rival to gov- rests with Iraq’s political
QAIM, Iraq (AP) — From Still, Iranian-backed militias ing on foot across farmland ernment power. leadership, he said.
their outpost on Iraq's west- with strong voices in Bagh- and orchards to a cluster PMF flags line highways “I guess some people could
ernmost edge, U.S. 1st Lt. dad are pushing for a com- of modest houses, Hager- crisscrossing Anbar. At a see that as a cop-out, but
Kyle Hagerty and his troops at the same time it’s not my
watched civilians trickle place as a lowly colonel to
into the area after Ameri- define how long the U.S.
can and Iraqi forces drove presence is going to be.”
out the Islamic State group. For the senior officers lead-
They were, he believed, ing the current fight against
families returning to liber- IS, decades of U.S. military
ated homes, a hopeful sign intervention in Iraq has de-
of increasing stability. fined their careers.
But when he interviewed The top U.S. general in Iraq
them on a recent recon- — Lt. Gen. Paul Funk —
naissance patrol, he dis- served in Iraq four times: in
covered he was wrong. the Gulf war in 1991; in the
They were families look- 2003 invasion; in the surge
ing for shelter after being when some 170,000 Ameri-
driven from their homes in can troops were serving in
a nearby town. Those who Iraq in 2007; and most re-
pushed them out were cently in the fight against
forces from among their IS.“It will definitely be posi-
"liberators" — Shiite militia- tive,” Funk said of the leg-
men who seized control of acy of the U.S. role against
the area after defeating IS in Iraq. “People see their
the IS militants. young men and women
It was a bitter sign of the In this Jan. 27, 2018 photo, U.S. Army soldiers speak to families in rural Anbar on a reconnaissance out here defeating evil.
mixed legacy from the Unit- patrol near a coalition outpost in western Iraq. Thousands of U.S. troops and billions of dollars spent That’s a positive thing.”
ed States' intervention in by Washington helped bring down the Islamic State group in Iraq, but many of the divisions and On a recent flight from
Iraq to help defeat the mili- problems that helped fuel the extremists’ rise remain. Baghdad to a small U.S.
tants. American-backed (AP Photo/Susannah George) outpost in northern Syria
military firepower brought near Manbij — a trip that
down the IS "caliphate," traversed the heart of the
but many of the divisions plete U.S. withdrawal, and ty realized the families he PMF checkpoint outside al- battlefield with IS for the
and problems that helped some Iraqis liken any Ameri- thought were returnees to Asad airbase — a sprawl- past 3½ years — Funk de-
fuel the extremists' rise re- can presence to a form of the area were in fact newly ing complex used by both scribed the future of the
main unresolved. occupation. displaced. Their homes in Iraqi and coalition forces fight as ideological and
The U.S.-led coalition, That has left an uncom- Qaim had been confiscat- — U.S. convoys are regular- open-ended.“The prob-
which launched its fight fortable limbo in this area ed by the government-affil- ly stopped for hours while lem is people believe it’s
against IS in August 2014, is that was the last battle- iated Popular Mobilization busloads of PMF fighters already over, and it’s not,”
now reducing the numbers field against the extrem- Forces, or PMF, made up are waved through. he said. “Beating the ideol-
of American troops in Iraq, ists. Coalition commanders mainly of Shiite paramilitary U.S. Marine Col. Seth Fol- ogy, destroying the myth,
after Baghdad declared still work with Iraqi forces to fighters backed by Iran. som works closely with the that’s going to take time.”
victory over the extremists develop long-term plans “Our end goal is a stable branches of Iraq’s security Touching down outside an
in December. Both Iraqi for stability even as a draw- Iraq, right?” Hagerty said forces — Sunni tribal fight- orchard on the perimeter
and U.S. officials say the ex- down goes ahead with no later, back at the base. ers and the Iraqi army — of the Manbij base, Funk
act size of the drawdown one certain of its eventual “But when you see stuff like who are increasingly con- exclaimed: “Welcome to
has not yet been decided. extent. that, it makes you wonder cerned about the rise in the front line of freedom!”
U.S. and Iraqi commanders "Let's go win us some hearts if they are ever going to be power of the PMF. Iran has Funk predicts the ideologi-
here in western Iraq warn and minds," Sgt. Jonathan able to do it themselves.” given no indication of dial- cal fight could take years
that victories over IS could Cary, 23, joked as he and After victories against IS, ing back its support after and easily require U.S.
be undercut easily by a Hagerty and the patrol the PMF has built up a the defeat of IS extremists. troop deployments else-
large-scale withdrawal. convoy set off from a base presence in many parts of “The biggest question I get where. He said that is one
Iraq's regular military re- outside the town of Qaim, Sunni-majority provinces, now is, ‘how long can we reason he believes it’s so
mains dependent on U.S. evoking a phrase used in including western Anbar. count on you being here?’” important to visit U.S. troops
support. Many within Iraq's American policy goals for It formally falls under the Folsom said of his conversa- on the current front lines —
minority communities view Iraq ever since the 2003 command of the prime tions with Iraqi command- to show them “the Ameri-
the U.S. presence as a buf- U.S.-led invasion that oust- minister, but some Iraqi ers and local politicians. can people believe in their
fer against the Shiite-domi- ed Saddam Hussein. commanders accuse the That decision ultimately purpose.”q