Troops want responsible pullout
2008-11-05 11:14
Baghdad - Watching election results that
showed Barack Obama would be their new commander-in-chief, US
soldiers in Iraq said they hoped he would fulfil his promise to
bring them home quickly and responsibly.
Breakfast was already being served in Baghdad on Wednesday
morning when Tuesday's polls closed back home, and at Forward
Operating Base Prosperity all eyes in the 2nd Brigade Combat
Team of the 101st Airborne were on the dining hall's giant TVs.
Someone whooped when NBC called the election, but mostly the
troops sat in rapt silence, eyeing their new president while
eating their eggs.
"What soldier's going to say they don't want to go home? I
have a wife and four kids. I want to go home. But one thing we
all want is to make sure the friends we lost over here weren't
for nothing," said Captain Ryan Morrison, from Colorado Springs.
"We have to pull out responsibly. I have the feeling he
wants to do it responsibly," he said.
Obama has pledged to pull US combat troops out of Iraq
within 16 months of taking office, a promise that seemed bold
when he first made it last year but now coincides roughly with
the timetable favoured by Iraq's government.
"I'm excited. He's going to be president and he's going to
pull us from over here," said Sergeant First Class Norman Brown.
"If McCain had won we'd be over here for years, and I mean
years and years. I reckon even people here don't want us here."
With levels of violence falling - last month saw the fewest
violent deaths among both Iraqi civilians and US troops since
the war began - Iraqis increasingly express their hope that the
force of more than 150 000 US troops can leave soon.
"I as an Iraqi am asking Obama to keep his promises about
the withdrawal of the US security forces from our land," said
Baqi Naqid, a Baghdad journalist. "We don't need an occupation."
Iraqi government negotiates withdrawal
The Iraqi government is negotiating a security pact with the
outgoing administration of President George W Bush that would
require US troops to exit by the end of 2011. But some Iraqis
still fear violence may return if US troops leave too rapidly.
"They came on a mission. They should complete it. There
should be 100% security before they leave," said Baghdad
housewife Um Saba, 58. She said she preferred the Republicans
for supporting an increase of troops last year that she credited
with helping to curb violence.
Among US troops, political loyalties were divided and
debate spirited during the long campaign. African American
soldiers described Obama's victory as inspirational.
"It gives me hope that anybody can accomplish anything no
matter what your race, colour or creed," said Los Angeles native
Staff Sergeant Andre Frazier, adding he hoped it would improve
the US image abroad.
"We're going to get back to where we were as a nation before
the turmoil kicked in, in terms of other nations not seeing us
as we are," he said.
There was also a great deal of support for Obama's defeated
rival John McCain, whose own war record makes him popular in a
military that socially tilts toward the right.
"I supported McCain because he's closer to the
constitutional values I believe in and because he clearly
supports the military," said another soldier from Colorado who
asked not to be named when giving his political preference in
uniform.
"But in the end it doesn't matter. We'll serve whoever
is the commander in chief."
- Reuters