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CAMP BUCCA — The 586th Air Expeditionary Group's 887th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron ended operations during a deactivation ceremony here, Dec. 3. The furling of the squadron’s colors marked the end of the its three-year partnership with the Army providing counterinsurgency, detainee operations and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support. The 887th ESFS was activated in May 2007. Since that time, the squadron endured 40 improvised explosive device detonations, cleared another 16 IEDs, and withstood multiple small arms attacks. As a result of their accomplishments, they've been awarded more than 1,000 medals, including the Bronze Star Medal with Valor, Meritorious Service...

Reliably sympathetic to non-Western lies, the BBC reported yesterday that a prisoner in Pakistani custody knows a guy who saw Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan last January. Headlines! Now, Osama may, indeed, pop over the border into Afghanistan now and then -- but this report is a shameless Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence agency concoction. Why? Because the Pakistanis have taken a lot of heat recently over suspicions -- including those raised in The Post -- that they know where Osama is but shield him for their own benefit. Even party-line US government officials have grown skeptical about the Pakistani government's...

BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday that German troops would stay in Afghanistan until their goals were achieved, dismissing the possibility of setting a timeline for withdrawal. In an interview with ZDF television being aired Sunday night, provided in advance to the AP, Merkel said she could not commit to bringing the troops home in a specific timeframe. She said she wanted them home “as soon as possible” but not until the mission was complete. “We have a goal, and that is self-sustaining security for Afghanistan,” she said. She would not speculate on when that goal might be reached....

Q As you say, the complexity of this training effort, particularly with the Iraqi air force -- again, do you think that some trainers, U.S. trainers and mentors, will be needed after 2011? GEN. HELMICK: Well, I guess it depends on how we identify air sovereignty for the Iraqi air force. There will be a team that comes here from Washington, D.C., in the next week or so, to kind of refine where the Iraqi air force is and where they think the Iraqi air force should be, based on the current glide path, if you will, on procurement of...

BAGHDAD -- Unnerved by bombings that have killed hundreds this summer, many Iraqis are losing faith in their own security forces and fear the Americans are leaving too quickly. The misgivings about the U.S. pullback from the cities, and even about the Dec. 31, 2011 deadline for a full withdrawal, come at a time when a senior U.S. officer has suggested the Americans declare victory and leave even sooner. Iraqis, including military commanders, believe their security forces aren't ready to act alone.

<p>"WHERE are the Ameri cans?" Talk to Iraqis in Baghdad these days, and you'll likely hear the question.</p> <p>Of course, everyone knows where the Americans are physically. The 130,000 US troops cantoned in a diminishing number of barracks outside the cities make their presence felt on occasion. The thousands of civilian Americans who are helping build a new Iraq are also easy to spot.</p>

US troops now a 'coalition of one' in Iraq By CHELSEA J. CARTER, Associated Press Writer Saturday, August 1, 2009 The war in Iraq was truly an American-only effort Saturday after Britain and Australia, the last of its international partners, pulled out. Little attention was paid in Iraq to what effectively ended the so-called coalition of the willing, with the U.S. — as the leader of Multi-National Force, Iraq — letting the withdrawals pass without any public demonstration. The quiet end of the coalition was a departure from its creation, which saw then-U.S. President George W. Bush court countries for...

THE last 12 Australian troops serving with US units in Iraq have finished their mission and are heading home, formally ending Canberra's controversial six-year involvement in the bloody conflict. ..... Under an agreement between Canberra and the Iraqi government all Australian troops except those serving with an embassy-based security detachment had to be withdrawn by July 31. ..... Departing Australian troops were farewelled with flag-lowering ceremonies, with the honour of the last Australian soldier to leave Iraq going to Corporal Don Mander. ..... Defence Minister John Faulkner said the withdrawal of the last Australian troops marked an end to Operation...

AUSTRALIA has officially ended its six-year military presence in Iraq three days ahead of the deadline. Some 20,000 members of the army, navy and air force have served in Iraq since 2003. The honour of being the last Digger to leave the strife-torn country went to Corporal Don Mander. He stepped aboard an RAAF C-130 Hercules transport aircraft at Baghdad International Airport on Tuesday afternoon, the last of 12 Australian personnel embedded within US units operating in Baghdad. They arrived home last night. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says Australia's troops did a "fantastic'' job and Iraq has now achieved "a...

BAGHDAD — Britain says it will withdraw its remaining forces in Iraq to Kuwait, after the Iraqi parliament failed to pass a deal allowing the British troops to stay beyond the end of the month. The deal would have let up to 100 British troop stay in Iraq to protect oil platforms and provide training in the south of the country. The rest of the British forces are withdrawing under a separate agreement. British Embassy spokesman Jawwad Syed said Tuesday it's a procedural delay and that the remaining British forces will pull back to Kuwait until the issue is resolved....

It may not be "Mission accomplished," but we are getting closer. Yesterday, the United States completed the process of withdrawing from Iraq's cities. American forces closed or turned over to Iraqi authorities 150 bases and facilities. The Iraqis are happy to see us go, and we are glad to be leaving.

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, June 30, 2009 – In accordance with Article 5 of the security agreement between the U.S. and Iraqi governments, Iraqi security forces now have full ownership of security in their cities, towns and villages. Army Capt. Rich Turvey, commander of 2nd Battalion, 20th Field Artillery Regiment, signs over Joint Security Station Salaam to Iraqi army 1st Lt. Jassim Abbas at a transfer ceremony near Numaniyah, Iraq, June 20, 2009. In accordance with the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement, Iraqi security forces took full ownership of security in their cities, towns and villages on June 30, 2009. U.S....

Today is a milestone in Iraq. Under the terms of the Strategic Framework Agreement, U.S. troops will withdraw from Iraqi cities. In retrospect, however, June 30 will likely mark another milestone: the end of the surge and the relative peace it brought to Iraq. In the past week, bombings in Baghdad, Mosul and near Kirkuk have killed almost 200 people. The worst is yet to come. While the Strategic Framework Agreement was negotiated in the twilight of the Bush administration, President Barack Obama shaped the final deal. He campaigned on a time line to withdraw combat troops from Iraq, and...

OUR effort in Iraq passed a major milestone today: Our troops are leaving the cities. Advisers remain in place. Joint patrols will still occur. And our forces will wait nearby to respond to Iraqi calls for support. But the last of the bases and US-only outposts within Iraq's urban centers will be vacated. Terrorists have already begun testing the new security arrangements. Iraqi forces won't always pass with flying colors. Yet this situation seemed a pipe dream not so long ago: Iraq's security forces, serving an elected government, assume primary responsibility for the good order of their own country. We...

BAGHDAD – Iraqi forces assumed formal control of Baghdad and other cities Tuesday after American troops handed over security in urban areas in a defining step toward ending the U.S. combat role in the country. A countdown clock broadcast on Iraqi TV ticked to zero as the midnight deadline passed for U.S. combat troops to finish their pullback to bases outside cities. "The withdrawal of American troops is completed now from all cities after everything they sacrificed for the sake of security," said Sadiq al-Rikabi, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "We are now celebrating the restoration of...

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2009 – The withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from all Iraqi cities and towns was completed over the weekend and ahead of tomorrow’s deadline, a Pentagon spokesman said on a cable TV news show today. “Overall, the security situation is stable enough for Iraqi security forces to take on this added responsibility,” Geoff Morrell said on CNN’s “Newsroom.” “It’s one that they want, and it’s one that the commanders on the ground feel they are capable of taking on. “It has to be OK because there’s a legal agreement, which forces us to abide by these timelines,”...

NAJAF, Iraq — A stream of U.S. military trucks laden with supplies rolled down a dusty four-lane highway over the weekend, ending the U.S. presence in one of Shiite Islam’s holiest cities. Coalition forces, including U.S., British and Spanish troops, have patrolled Najaf, with its population of around 900,000, since it was captured by the 101st Airborne Division in April 2003. The city has had its share of violence since then. Uprisings by firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s militia in 2004 sparked fierce fighting in the Wadi al-Salem — a sprawling cemetery where Shiites from around the world hope to be...

We have victory in Iraq due to our brave military members, the brave Iraqi's who stood and fought for their country, and President Bush. But where is the MSM on this great day? Iraqi government TV has been playing patriotic music to celebrate the U.S. military withdrawal from cities, towns and villages across the country, officially set to be completed by Tuesday June 30th. Iraqi military vehicles were also covered with flowers to celebrate the event, and military parades, complete with band music, were organized in Diyala and Diwania provinces. The government declared a "Day of National Sovereignty" to mark...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – U.S. troops pulled out of Baghdad on Monday, triggering jubilation among Iraqis hopeful that foreign military occupation is ending six years after the invasion to depose Saddam Hussein. Iraqi soldiers paraded through the streets in their American-made vehicles draped with Iraqi flags and flowers, chanting, dancing and calling the pullout a "victory." One drove a motorcycle with party streamers on it; another, a Humvee with a garland of plastic roses on the grill. U.S. combat troops must pull out of Iraq's urban centers by midnight on Tuesday under a bilateral security pact that also requires all troops...

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2009 – Predicting an uptick in violence in Iraq as U.S. combat troops leave the cities by June 30, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said today that deployed troops have geared up for the heightened threat as they comply with the U.S.-Iraq status of forces agreement. “I think we have reason to believe -- and I think our forces have been alerted to the possibility -- that we will likely see an uptick in violence leading up to the June 30 deadline for U.S. combat forces to leave Iraqi cities and towns,” Morrell told Pentagon reporters. He...