& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Have we forgotten Iraq?

Dan Balz
Obama's approval ratings on Iraq are among his highest on any issue he is dealing with. The decision to withdraw the sharp reduction in American casualties after six years of involvement there have combined to create a political calm over the issue that so convulsed the country.
THE celebrations in Iraq marking the pullback of US combat forces from Baghdad and other cities stand in contrast to the reaction in America. The transfer of power ha? been met almost with public indifference, overshadowed by everything from Michael Jackson's death to the fate of Obama's domestic agenda.
A year ago, the issue of whether US forces should stay or go produced pointed debate and disagreement between Obama and McCain. Now, the transfer of authority for protecting the cities from US to Iraqi forces has been greeted with near-universal acceptance.
Obama marked the moment with brief remarks at the White House, saying that the Iraqi people were "rightly treating this day as a cause for celebration," while noting that Iraqi leaders have many political issues to resolve. He praised US forces for all they have done.
Obama also took note of the recent attacks and killings in Iraq. "There will be difficult days ahead." he said. "We know the violence in Iraq will continue." But he remained confident that the forces behind the bombings will fail. He said, "There is more work to be done, but we've made important progress."
The pullback from the cities is not a withdrawal. US still has roughly 130,000 troops in Iraq. The real drawdown will not begin in earnest until after the national elections in January 2010. But symbolically, yesterday’s handoff marks the beginning of a new phase more than six years after US forces invaded.
Public opinion showed that a majority of Americans had concluded that the invasion ordered by Bush was a mistake. Bush's troop increase has been judged successful in contributing to a reduction in violence. But the Bush administration's management of the war between the invasion and the "surge" has been widely judged a failure.
Debate may continue to rage over the war and the roles Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld played in what became the most politically divisive conflict since Vietnam. Critics remain unforgiving of what that trio did. But the debate is no longer at the centre of American politics. The nation grew weary of Iraq.
As a political issue, Iraq has faded into
the background. The war's potency as a flash point in the political debate diminished rapidly in 2008 as the economy went into a tailspin. McCain made little headway in trying to discredit Obama as unready to be commander in chief, and the Arizona Republican's resistance to setting a timetable for withdrawal generated no traction for his candidacy.
Obama's ordered troop withdrawal has stirred little public debate. In part that's because the Iraqis are as anxious for US to leave as many Americans are to see the end of the US commitment Under Obama's plan, combat forces will be gone by the end of August 2010. The remainder of US forces will leave Iraq by the end of 2011 under an agreement with the Iraqi government.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki signaled his desire to establish a timetable for the departure of US forces last summer. That hastened the ultimate agreement between the two countries. Maliki's statements, in which he has claimed victory in ending the "occupation" of his country, underscore the mutuality of interest in drastically reducing US footprint in Iraq, even if his remarks were targeted to his own country.
The fact that the deadline passed with so little public comment does not negate the fact that it represents the first big test for Obama's policy. In the days leading up to the deadline, there were a series of bombings and attacks, leaving more than 250 people dead.
Administration officials have insisted that the spike in violence was expected as the handoff took place and insurgents
attempted to exploit the transition. Gen. Ray Odierno has publicly expressed his confidence that Iraqi forces can keep their cities secure. Other military leaders have done the same in private to the White House. If they are wrong, there may be questions about what kind of country Americans are preparing to leave behind. Obama could find himself under pressure to adjust the withdrawal timetable.
The president needs a quiet transition in Iraq. He and his advisers are continuing to wrestle with whether and how to adapt their Iran strategy in the wake of the post-election demonstrations there. Encouraging opponents of Ahmadinejad while trying to engage the Iranian leadership over its nuclear ambitions is more complicated now than it was a few weeks ago.
Obama's approval ratings on Iraq are among his highest on any issue he is dealing with. The decision to withdraw, on whatever timetable, the sharp reduction in American casualties and the general warweariness after six years of involvement there have combined to create a political calm over the issue that so convulsed the country.
Unless there is a spectacular reversal there, what happens in Iraq may play out largely outside the consciousness of the American public, despite the lives lost in the war and the fact that so many troops remain stationed there. Who would have thought that was possible not so very long ago?
© Newsweek International. All rights reserved Reprinted by arrangement.