Iraqi security forces paraded in tanks and armored vehicles across Baghdad yesterday as they took control of towns and cities nationwide from departing US troops six years after the invasion.
Iraq was celebrating a national holiday to mark the June 30 pullback, a milestone in the recovery of a country battered by war, insurgency and sectarian bloodshed that has left tens of thousands of people dead since 2003.
Iraqis had celebrated into Monday night but soldiers and police were out in force to prevent insurgent groups spoiling the party as US troops quit their posts in urban centers, ahead of complete pullout by the end of 2011.
PHOTO: AFP
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, however, said the nation’s joy at the handover was mixed with sorrow for “beloved friends and relatives” who had been “targeted by terror.”
But he also took aim at critics of Iraq’s army and police and insisted they were up to the task of defending the country in the wake of the US pullback.
“It is a big mistake for people to think that the Iraqis will not handle the security issue,” Maliki said. “It is an offense to the Iraqis. The people who said that the foreign troops would never withdraw and would keep permanent bases in our country were giving a green light to the terrorists to kill civilians.”
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani thanked US forces for their role in overthrowing former president Saddam Hussein in 2003, and in the years of bloodshed that followed.
“They bore the burden and dangers against the most cruel regime and against the mutual enemy — the terror,” Talabani said on state television.
The handover coincided with a US army announcement that four of its soldiers died from combat-related injuries on Monday, taking to 4,321 the number of US troops killed since the invasion.
US General Ray Odierno, the top US commander in Iraq, told reporters he believed Iraq was now a better country.
“I believe the Iraqi people are much better off not having a dictator such as Saddam Hussein in charge,” he said.
Across Baghdad, tanks and armored vehicles manned by soldiers and police were decorated with artificial flowers, flags and banners, as nationalistic songs and popular music played.
The security shake-up was celebrated by huge crowds in Baghdad’s largest park on Monday.
Revelers had to undergo three security checks to enter but no one seemed to complain amid a jubilant atmosphere, where an onstage banner declared that Baghdad’s sovereignty and independence had been recovered.
Even policemen joined in the fun, dancing with the partygoers.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
CHIP EXCEPTION: An official said that an exception for Taiwanese semiconductors would have a limited effect, as most are packaged in third nations before being sold The Executive Yuan yesterday decried US President Donald Trump’s 32 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods announced hours earlier as “unfair,” saying it would lodge a representation with Washington. The Cabinet in a statement described the pledged US tariffs, expected to take effect on Wednesday next week, as “deeply unreasonable” and “highly regrettable.” Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that the government would “lodge a solemn representation” with the US Trade Representative and continue negotiating with Washington to “ensure the interests of our nation and industries.” Trump at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on most goods
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats