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U.S. pullout spurs pride, fear in Iraq

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The Washington Post

Published: June 29, 2009

BAGHDAD - Salah al Jbory is in no mood to celebrate. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has called on his countrymen to revel today to mark the ostensible departure of U.S. troops from Iraqi cities by the end of the month.

But across Iraq, the deadline is being viewed with apprehension, pride and incredulity.

"I will celebrate when I see my country living in peace," said Jbory, a tribal leader in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Dora.

U.S. troops have thinned in Baghdad and other cities in recent months. Since Jan. 1, more than 150 U.S. bases and outposts were closed.

Violence has spiked in recent days. bombings last week, including ones in Kirkuk and Sadr City in eastern Baghdad, killed more than 200 people. Sunday, a roadside bomb targeting a U.S. convoy in eastern Baghdad wounded six people and a car bomb exploded in a police academy parking lot in western Baghdad, killing an officer and wounding six others.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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