Hundreds of Iraqis Cheer Departure of US Forces

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**Samus_aran115**

http://www.military.com/news/article/2011/hundreds-of-iraqis-cheer-departure-of-us-forces.html?comp=700001075741&rank=2

BAGHDAD - Hundreds of Sunni Muslims gathered in Baghdad Friday to celebrate the withdrawal of American forces, but in a sign of the sectarian divisions that re-emerged immediately after their departure, Shiite Muslims did not join the event.
The celebration took place near the Abu Hanifa mosque, the main house of worship in the primarily Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah in northern Baghdad. To secure the event, Iraqi troops blocked traffic on roads leading to the mosque and searched people approaching the area.
During the rally, men and children waved Iraqi flags and raised banners praising those who resisted the U.S. presence in Iraq.
"Baghdad is the castle of resistance," one banner read. "The deeds of the heroes are stronger than the weapons of the occupiers," read another banner. Women threw chocolates to the crowd as a sign of joy.

In his sermon, the mosque's preacher, Sheik Ahmed al-Taha, accused the Americans of stirring up sectarian tension among Iraqis.
"The occupiers created the sectarian conflict as an exit from the quagmire they found themselves in when they were facing 200 military operations against them every day. By dividing Iraqis, the Americans made Iraqis attack each other instead of attacking them," al-Taha told worshippers.
The preacher also called on the government to demand compensation from the Americans for the loss of lives and damage caused during the occupation.
The lingering sectarian divisions Iraq faces was clear during the prayer service and rally, which was almost entirely Sunni. Shiites had been invited to join the celebration but did not show up.
Shiites have even given the departure of the U.S. forces a different name than the Sunnis have. Sunnis generally call it the "evacuation day," whereas Shiites often refer to it as the "fulfillment day" as a way to show that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who leads a Shiite-dominated government, fulfilled his promise to get all the troops out of the country.
Tensions between Sunnis and Shiites have deepened since al-Maliki's government issued an arrest warrant for the country's top Sunni politician. The government is also trying to push out another member of his government, leaving many Sunnis to question whether they will ever have a place in the Iraqi power structure.
In spite of the problems, some Sunnis were optimistic.
Omar Abdul-Aziz, 28, said the sectarian conflicts Iraq experienced just a few years ago "won't be repeated because Iraqis now understand that sectarianism was planned by the occupiers."

Thought this was interesting. I had no idea the scale to which they hated us.

**Jihadin**

Eating popcorn as I watch the country go onsane on Fox news

**AustonT**

"Baghdad is the castle of resistance," one banner read. "The deeds of the heroes are stronger than the weapons of the occupiers," read another banner. Women threw chocolates to the crowd as a sign of joy.

Next time we'll just do what J. Khan did and build pyramids.

**Necroshea**

Well now that we're gone we don't have to worry about our troops getting killed when the people over there have a religious disagreement and blow each other up to solve things.

**FabricatorGeneralMike**

Necroshea wrote:Well now that we're gone we don't have to worry about our troops getting killed when the people over there have a religious disagreement and blow each other up to solve things.

Which honestly is how it should of been all along. I honestly believe Dubya just wanted to finish what daddy started. But thats a whole nother can of worms.

I am just glad that the service men and women can be re-united with there loved ones.

Thank you to everyone who had served their country.

**Samus_aran115**

I have a feeling that in a couple months, the place is going to go to gak..... But that's just my opinion. It might be a perfectly happy little place with no strife or crime

**Jihadin**

Samus. Isthat a shiba inu you have there?

**SlaveToDorkness**

Can't happen soon enough.

**Jihadin**

Iran working on that...maybe not...if they block the straight of hormuz

**CT GAMER**

The winning of hearts and minds...

**schadenfreude**

Jihadin wrote:Iran working on that...maybe not...if they block the straight of hormuz

Pure sabre rattling in the name of screwing with world oil prices. Iran knows it can't win a air+ sea only war against the us and saudi arabia.

Back onto the topic of Iraq: there is the fox news spin, and then there is the actual reality of what is going on.

The iraqis are happy about us leaving for several reasons.

US troops gone means they have an independent state again.

Their democraticly elected government was functional enough to ask us to leave and take over on their own.

The stated goal of Al Qadea in Iraq was to force the USA to stay inside iraq so they can bleed our treasury. They were fighting to force us to stay, and we were fighting to leave. Iraqis don't like Al Quada because they are forigners from other arab nations comming into their country to wreck up the place and turn it into a permanent warzone. American troops leaving was a huge blow to Al Qaeda, so expect a few more attacks in a last desperate push to attempt tricking the us and iraqi government to bring back us troops.

**Medium of Death**

I think the West needs a slow clap for it's efforts in Iraq.

We have increased the number of people that hate us, done nothing reliable for the people and wasted lots of good soldiers lives in the process..

Well done us.

**Mannahnin**

Samus_aran115 wrote:http://www.military.com/news/article/2011/hundreds-of-iraqis-cheer-departure-of-us-forces.html?comp=700001075741&rank=2

BAGHDAD - Hundreds of Sunni Muslims gathered in Baghdad Friday to celebrate the withdrawal of American forces,

Thought this was interesting. I had no idea the scale to which they hated us.

That only hundreds gathered, in a country of over thirty million people? I didn't realize so few of them hated us either.

**mattyrm**

Medium of Death wrote:I think the West needs a slow clap for it's efforts in Iraq.

We have increased the number of people that hate us, done nothing reliable for the people and wasted lots of good soldiers lives in the process..

Well done us.

Hey it's not a total loss, there's a million less Iraqi's to worry about!

**Mr Hyena**

I hope someone nukes these animals. They lived in a tyranny under Saddam and the West freed them. Now we're being blamed for their animalistic behaviour? Im gonna enjoy watching the country go to hell.

**Relapse**

Mannahnin wrote:
Samus_aran115 wrote:http://www.military.com/news/article/2011/hundreds-of-iraqis-cheer-departure-of-us-forces.html?comp=700001075741&rank=2

BAGHDAD - Hundreds of Sunni Muslims gathered in Baghdad Friday to celebrate the withdrawal of American forces,

Thought this was interesting. I had no idea the scale to which they hated us.

That only hundreds gathered, in a country of over thirty million people? I didn't realize so few of them hated us either.

I was wondering the same thing. I also noted that the group, according to the article, consisted of Sunnis. Others had been invited but declined to come.

**CptJake**

Relapse wrote:
Mannahnin wrote:
Samus_aran115 wrote:http://www.military.com/news/article/2011/hundreds-of-iraqis-cheer-departure-of-us-forces.html?comp=700001075741&rank=2

BAGHDAD - Hundreds of Sunni Muslims gathered in Baghdad Friday to celebrate the withdrawal of American forces,

Thought this was interesting. I had no idea the scale to which they hated us.

That only hundreds gathered, in a country of over thirty million people? I didn't realize so few of them hated us either.

I was wondering the same thing. I also noted that the group, according to the article, consisted of Sunnis. Others had been invited but declined to come.

But noticing that doesn't fit in with the USA = BAD message that you are supposed to understand.

**Pacific**

Mr Hyena wrote:I hope someone nukes these animals. They lived in a tyranny under Saddam and the West freed them. Now we're being blamed for their animalistic behaviour? Im gonna enjoy watching the country go to hell.

I've added bold type to the parts of your comment that I feel you would benefit from reading more about.

**Samus_aran115**

Jihadin wrote:Samus. Isthat a shiba inu you have there?

Actually, it's an Akita, which is more or less the big brother of the Shiba

Love Japanese dogs.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Mannahnin wrote:
Samus_aran115 wrote:http://www.military.com/news/article/2011/hundreds-of-iraqis-cheer-departure-of-us-forces.html?comp=700001075741&rank=2

BAGHDAD - Hundreds of Sunni Muslims gathered in Baghdad Friday to celebrate the withdrawal of American forces,

Thought this was interesting. I had no idea the scale to which they hated us.

That only hundreds gathered, in a country of over thirty million people? I didn't realize so few of them hated us either.

I don't think the number of people who showed up has much to do with it. It's just the principle that they literally threw a ball because they're so happy to see us go makes me think they hated us like the devil. I'm sure the people who didn't show up sympathize with the sentiment.

**CptJake**

Samus_aran115 wrote:I don't think the number of people who showed up has much to do with it. It's just the principle that they literally threw a ball because they're so happy to see us go makes me think they hated us like the devil. I'm sure the people who didn't show up sympathize with the sentiment.

Plenty of US citizens here in the good ol' USofA protest US military action and cheer when we don't looks good. Guess we all hate ourselves too by your logic.

**Samus_aran115**

CptJake wrote:
Samus_aran115 wrote:I don't think the number of people who showed up has much to do with it. It's just the principle that they literally threw a ball because they're so happy to see us go makes me think they hated us like the devil. I'm sure the people who didn't show up sympathize with the sentiment.

Plenty of US citizens here in the good ol' USofA protest US military action and cheer when we don't looks good. Guess we all hate ourselves too by your logic.

Yeah, that's true.

I'm sure more than a couple Iraqis appreciate what we were doing there (whatever that was).

**biccat**

Samus_aran115 wrote:I don't think the number of people who showed up has much to do with it. It's just the principle that they literally threw a ball because they're so happy to see us go makes me think they hated us like the devil. I'm sure the people who didn't show up sympathize with the sentiment.

Significantly more people than "several hundred" showed up to protest President Obama in the last few years.

Did you have "no idea the scale to which they hated" the President?

There also have been protests in South Korea about our military presence there, does that mean that everyone there hates us too?

In fact, I can only think of a few places where people don't protest their government - North Korea and Cuba spring to mind - does the lack of protests mean they love their governments?

**Mannahnin**

Considering that our entire mission there was ill-founded, and we initiated a war which never needed to happen, and thus are completely responsible for all the death and destruction their country has suffered, I'm pleasantly surprised by how little they hate us,

I think our servicemembers, for the most part, have done a good job of conveying to the people that they talk to and work with every day that we really are and have been trying to help, even if the initial mission was deeply wrongheaded and inadvertently destructive, and despite many instances of brutality exemplied by nightmares like Abu Ghraib and Bagram.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Mr Hyena wrote:I hope someone nukes these animals.

I hope you never have to suffer anything like what they've suffered. But perhaps if you had a family member die to a foreign bomb, and/or spent a decade with intermittant electricity and clean water due to a foreign invasion, and had the museums and cultural treasures of your country destroyed and looted due to said invasion, you might be a little more thoughtful. Saddam was a horrible, brutal dictator. But their country was substantially safer for them and more stable before we started bombing.

Mr Hyena wrote:They lived in a tyranny under Saddam and the West freed them.

Sure we freed them. We're also responsible for (by some estimates) the deaths of perhaps a million or more of them. Even if ONLY the people who lost immediate family members due to our actions were angry enough at us to protest, that would be what? Five million, ten million, more?

Mr Hyena wrote:Now we're being blamed for their animalistic behaviour?

Holding a protest is "animalistic behavior"? The mere fact that so few of them are cheering our departure is a sign that the vast majority of them recognize that we came into it with good (if musguided) intentions, and are trying to move on with their lives rather than holding onto their hate. Dismissing them as animals would be deeply stupid and thoughtless.

Mr Hyena wrote: Im gonna enjoy watching the country go to hell.

I'm going to do you the favor of assuming that's internet hyperbole. If it's actually true, then you need to grow up and become a better person.

**mattyrm**

As I've said before, I did two tours of Iraq convinced it was a good idea, with age and hindsight I now think it was pretty pointless. I lost some good friends over there as well, so I cant help but feel like maybe it was a waste of time. I also feel aggrieved that one of the main reasons we may have went was because Bush thought Jesus would have liked the idea.

Although, no actually I'm really glad I went because I was desperate to go to a proper war, and that was the first time I got to do a cool fast roping assault in a chopper and fire a machine gun at someone, so I definitely got something out of it.

I didn't get to stab anyone though, or run anyone over with an armoured vehicle.

.......

That was what Afghanistan was for!

**Samus_aran115**

I'm sure plenty of soldiers were convinced that they were doing the right thing there, and there's nothing wrong with that. There will always be guys that are convinced it's bs and make it miserable for themselves too though.

**Mannahnin**

Once we were in, it was just the job of the soldiers to try to do the best they could. Try to do their jobs with humanity and not brutality. Try to stay alive and get back to their families.

**mattyrm**

Mannahnin wrote:Once we were in, it was just the job of the soldiers to try to do the best they could. Try to do their jobs with humanity and not brutality. Try to stay alive and get back to their families.

Hey whenever I opened an MRE I always threw my skittles to the local kids.

It was the least I could do after throwing grenades at their Dad's.

**RiTides**

Mannahnin wrote:I think our servicemembers, for the most part, have done a good job of conveying to the people that they talk to and work with every day that we really are and have been trying to help...

I'm glad you think this. Personally, I am very grateful for the men and women who go to war to fight on our (and in this case, others') behalf.

Do I think the war was ill-advised? Do I think that there were things that were handled very badly? Do I think that we made a lot of mistakes as a country? The answer to all of these may be "yes"... but the fact is, Americans have been over there trying to keep the peace and help the country reestablish itself for years now. If they are cheering the soldiers departure, that's fine... but imo the "macro" issues do not diminish that heroic effort that so many men and women have made, for a country they have no personal reason to defend.

I like to focus on the individual sacrifices made in war... yes, Iraqis have been through a ton. But so have Americans on their behalf. The fact that our "country" got them into the mess doesn't diminish what individual men and women do to try to make things right. If the local people want to cheer their departure... again, that's their right (won for them by American soldiers) but they're missing the point of what those men and women have done for them, imo.

They can fight for their own rights, liberty, and freedom now... a shame it's not farther along than it is, but in the end people have to stand for themselves and their country, and it is time for them to do that. Hopefully, they make it through fine...

**AustonT**

I was pretty convinced that it was pointless crapstorm both times I was there, but as it turns out soldiers don't make policy.

The number of attendees might be misleading in several directions. There might be a large number of people who were unable to come due to lack of transportation, work, or other concerns. Maybe more people came than represent the demographics of even Sunnis because this is a rich highly motivated core. Maybe the Sunnis are under represented because squads of 3-5 of them are roaming the streets of Shi,ite neighborhoods to kidnap, torture, and execute their fine neighbors in the name of the God the share, and are therefor too busy to come.
I'm not impressed by thier rally, and Baghdad as a capital of resistance is laughable. Maybe it was the capital for guys who had the idea to import Syrian and Iranian clerics and fighters to form the core of thier resistance...in Magmudiya. You can't have them in your front lawn of course.
I for one welcome Iraq into the world of free government. feth You Iraq. I say not a penny of our money or another drop of our blood goes to that craphole. If they implode, good riddance.

**A Kvlt Ghost**

Samus_aran115 wrote:I had no idea the scale to which they hated us.

You could probably have made a decent guess based on the fact that you invaded their country, slaughtered tens of thousands of their citizens, set up torture camps, detained hundreds of people in defiance of international law, subjected them to sanctions which led to mass starvation and had the audacity to demand their grattitude in the process based on the fact that you overthrew a dictator you put into power in the first place.

It's amazing more of them don't hate you. And by "you" I mean us, since our lickspittle labour government decided it'd be a great idea to hurl our servicemen and women into the mess as your dogsbodies getting hundreds of them killed or injured for absolutely no benefit to our national interests.

Honestly, how can anyone be surprised or indignant that they hate us? How would you react if someone invaded the your homeland? would you believe them if they told you it was "for your own good" and you should be grateful? Would you even care why they said they were there? I'm guessing you'd fight them tooth and nail and hate them for every bomb dropped, every countryman killed, and every inch of your soil they left their bootprints in. I certainly hope you would, that's the normal response to being invaded unless you happen to be Vichy.