Iraq, US Challenged as Final US Troop Withdrawal Looms

19 December 2010

U.S. Army soldiers from 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, gather for a briefing after arriving at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Ga. after an 18-hour journey home from a yearlong deployment in Iraq, (File Photo - 04 Dec 2010)

What was hailed as the end to the U.S. combat mission has been followed by continued U.S. military action, under the nominal command of Iraqi forces.

Even the plan to remove U.S. combat troops from Iraqi cities by June 2009 was not implemented. American troops were at key positions in March during elections for parliament.

So what happens at the end of 2011, when all U.S. troops are set to go? Charles Dunne is a scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington.

"A lot is going to depend on the United States-Iraq defense relationship going forward," said Dunne. "The big question here is how many troops is the United States going to leave in Iraq after the end of 2011."

Dunne says there have been no formal talks about a follow-up to the security agreement on an end to the U.S. presence as well as the training of Iraqi soldiers for taking complete control.

Some in the U.S. military believe the Iraqis are ready to stand up as the U.S. stands down, to paraphrase a favorite line of former President George W. Bush.

Brigadier General Jeffrey Buchanan , spokesman for U.S. Forces-Iraq, says Iraqi forces have maintained security, in recent months especially.