Bomb kills 30 in Northern Iraq as U.S. troops leave

[Turborama]

Source: Reuters

By Tim Cocks and Muhanad Mohammed

- Hours after U.S. troops handed over full control of Iraq's cities to its domestic security forces, a car bomb in the northern city of Kirkuk killed at least 30 people on Tuesday, police said.

The blast tore through a busy market in a largely Kurdish part of the city, which is seen as a potential flashpoint between ethnic Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens. Police said at least 45 people were wounded and the death toll could rise.

The U.S. pullback to rural bases from towns and cities is the first step toward a full U.S. withdrawal by 2012 agreed under a bilateral security pact.

Some Iraqis fear it leaves them open to attack by insurgent groups but many Iraqis celebrated what the government named "National Sovereignty Day," more than six years after the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/30/AR2009063001629.html

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Muted Response to Iraq Troop Pullback from War-Weary Nation

By Dan Balz

The celebrations in Iraq marking the pullback of U.S. combat forces from Baghdad and other cities stand in stark contrast to the reaction in the United States. Here the transfer of power has been met almost with public indifference, overshadowed by everything from Michael Jackson's death to the fate of President Obama's domestic agenda.

A year ago, in the heat of the presidential campaign, the issue of whether U.S. forces should stay or go produced pointed debate and disagreement between Obama and John McCain. Now, the transfer of authority for protecting the cities from U.S. to Iraqi forces has been greeted with near-universal acceptance -- if also with some trepidation over what may happen next.

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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. Defenders believe Bush yet may be partially vindicated for seeing the conflict through. But the debate is no longer at the center of American politics. The nation grew weary of Iraq.

As a political issue, Iraq has faded into the background, despite the sizable troop presence that remains there. The war's potency as a flashpoint 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 his resistance to setting a timetable for withdrawal generated no traction for his candidacy.

Read more: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/06/30/muted_response_to_iraq_troop_p.html?wprss=44