Sunday, January 24, 2010
Marines hand over to Army in Anbar Province, Iraq, January 23, 2010 (photo: Cpl. Meg Murray)
After more than six years in country, the U.S. Marines are finally leaving Iraq. A ceremony this weekend formally marked the changeover with elements of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and the 1st Armored Division assuming responsibility for Anbar Province.
The region became notorious during the insurgency when Marines fought deadly battles for control of the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi and massacred two dozen Iraqis in the town of Haditha following a bomb attack. At their peak, Marines totaled about 27,000 in Iraq, mostly in Anbar province. Most of the remaining 3,000 will leave in the next few weeks. The death count for the Corps in the war is 1,021, according to the latest Pentagon statistics.
Marines leave Anbar in relative peace, although there have been signs that sectarian violence could flare again. Eight Iraqis were reportedly killed in five bombings throughout the province on Thursday. Trouble may be stirred by the expected announcement that the Shiite-dominated government plans to blacklist more than 500 parliamentary candidates over suspected links to Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-based regime.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
US Marines' Iraq Command Ends; Biden in Baghdad (By Adam Schreck, Associated Press)
U.S. Marines to Mark Official End of Their Anbar Mission in Iraq (by Nancy Youssef, McClatchy Newspapers)
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