Iraqi-American-Blogger: The War In Is Not Over

By Lisa Kellmna

Despite President Obama’s assurance last week that all American troops will be out of Iraq by the end of the year, Iraqi-American blogger, Raed Jarrar, in an interview today, insisted while this will help Iraq move forward, America will continue to have an obtrusive presence .

Jarrad and those in Iraq believe the war will not end until military and non military American forces erase their footprint in Iraq completely.

By the end of 2011, The U.S. Department of Defense will remove the 40,000 troops still stationed in Iraq, shut all U.S. military bases and hand them over to the Iraqis, leaving only 160 service members in the Iraqi Embassy as part of the Office of Security Cooperation.  

The U.S. Department of State, on the other hand, plans on doubling its personnel from 8,000 to 16,000, half of whom will be armed, in order to train Iraqi soldiers and government members and provide basic aid.

However, training is not the issue argued Jarrar.

“Iraqis and neighboring countries view the Iraqi government and armed forces as puppets of a foreign occupation and legitimacy will not be brought to them by the U.S. presence,” Jarrar said.

Jarrar acknowledged Iraq’s broken military and political system, but emphasized America’s military presence has not nor will ever be part of the solution.

According to Jarrar, to help Iraqis, America needs to cease its military and non military intervention in Iraq.  Those in Iraq who have committed crimes and contributed to Iraq’s downfall need to be held responsible, and the U.S. needs to compensate Iraqis for the destruction it has caused since first arriving.

“The vast majority of solutions will come from within Iraq, by Iraqis, and for Iraqis, things that foreigners cannot and should not attempt to fix,” said Jarrar.