US Marines pull out of Iraq after seven years

Published on Saturday 23 January 2010 18:18

US Marines yesterday ended nearly seven years in Iraq, signalling the beginning of an accelerated withdrawal of American troops from the country.

The corps has had officers and men in the country ever since it helped to oust Saddam Hussein from power in 2003. Yesterday, however, it handed over control to the US regular army in what pundits said was one of the clearest signs yet of America turning its focus away from a waning war in Iraq to a growing one in Afghanistan.

The Marines formally handed over control of Sunni-dominated Anbar, Iraq's largest province, to the army during a ceremony at a base in Ramadi – where some of the fiercest fighting of the war took place.

If all goes as planned, the last remaining Marines will be followed out by tens of thousands of soldiers in the coming months. President Barack Obama has ordered all but 50,000 troops out of the country by 31 August, 2010, with most to depart after the 7 March parliamentary election.

In Baghdad, meanwhile, Vice-President Joe Biden held talks with Iraqi leaders amid growing tensions over plans to ban election candidates because of suspected links to Saddam Hussein's regime.

The White House worries the bans could raise questions over the fairness of the parliamentary elections, which are seen as an important step in the American pullout timetable.

But concerns about the success of the election – and perhaps the loss of hard-won security gains that the Marines helped cement – are on the rise because of a growing political dispute that could see more than 500 candidates blacklisted because of suspected ties to the previous regime.

Biden had a full agenda of meetings with Iraqi leaders, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has strongly supported the blacklist.

Some Sunni leaders have accused the Shi'ite-led government of using the ban as a political tool. But al-Maliki insists that Iraq must purge all ties to Saddam's Sunni-dominated regime. A vetting panel has put 512 names on the blacklist and more are expected.

As many as 25,000 Marines were in Iraq at the peak. The few thousand who remain – except for US Embassy guards and advisers in Baghdad – are expected to ship out shortly.