Nation & World The Daily Reflector A SUNDAY, October 23, 2011 INSIDE • Business and Technology, A10 • Motley Fool, Your Financial Health, A11 • Editorials and Opinions, A12-13 Iraqis to face future without U.S. troops BY REBECCA SANTANA AND LARA JAKES The Associated Press BAGHDAD — For the first time in decades, Iraqis face a future on their own, with neither Saddam Hus- sein’s iron fist nor the Unit- ed States’ military might to hold them together. This has been both their dream and nightmare: They want- ed American troops (the occupiers) to go, but they wanted American troops (the protectors) to stay. Now many fear an in- crease in violence, growing Iranian influence and po- litical turmoil after Presi- dent Barack Obama’s de- finitive announcement that all U.S. forces will leave by the end of the year. In conversations with The Associated Press, Iraqis across the political, religious and geographic spectrum on Saturday questioned what more than eight years of war and tens of thousands of Iraqi and U.S. lives lost had wrought on their country. They wondered how their still struggling de- mocracy could face the challenges ahead. “Neither the Iraqis nor the Americans have won here,” said Adnan Omar, a Sunni from the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. Rifaat Khazim, a Shiite from the southern city of Basra, said, “I do not think that this withdrawal will bring anything better to Iraq or that Iraqi leaders will be able to achieve sta- bility and security in this country. Most of the Iraqis yearn now for Saddam’s time. Now, Iraq is defenseless in the face of the threats by the neighboring coun- tries.” Across the country there was a strong sense of disbe- lief. The Americans, hav- ing spent hundreds of bil- lions of dollars, lost nearly 4,500 troops’ lives and built up sprawling bases as big as many Iraqi cities, would never really leave, many Iraqis thought. Some cel- ebrated the exit of foreign occupiers and the emer- gence of real sovereignty. But there was also an ap- prehension, almost a sense of resignation, that things will get worse. Though greatly reduced from the depths of near civil war from 2006 to 2008, shooting and bomb- ings rattle Iraqis daily. Sig- nificantly all the elements from those darkest days remain: al-Qaida militants, Shiite militias, Sunni in- surgents. Resentment still simmers among the Sunni Muslim minority over domination by the Shi- ite majority, Kurds in the north still hold aspirations of breaking away. Despite years of prom- ises of better government services, most of the coun- try gets by on a few hours of electricity a day. In the eyes of Iraqis, the Americans were both the cause of those woes and the bulwark against them ex- ploding. Many blame the 2003 U.S.-led invasion for un- leashing all the demons kept bottled up by Saddam’s dictatorship, and allowing new ones — like al-Qaida — to slip in. Yet at the same time, U.S. troop reinforcements helped rein them in by 2008. Many feel the power- ful American presence prevents Iraqi politicians from dragging the country into the worst of sectarian reprisals and hatreds. Few believe Iraqi forces are up to keeping security or can avoid falling into the same sectarian splits. “After the American withdrawal, the security in Iraq will definitely dete- riorate. More attacks by al- Qaida are likely to happen,” said Dhia Abdullah, a Shi- ite from eastern Baghdad. “The security elements are not loyal to Iraq but to par- ties and militias therefore the security situation will be very bad after the with- drawal.” Nearly 40,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, all of whom will withdraw by Dec. 31, a deadline set in a 2008 se- curity agreement between Baghdad and the admin- istration of then-President George W. Bush. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA on Friday declared an end to the Iraq war, one of the longest and most divisive conflicts in U.S. history, announcing that all American troops would be withdrawn from the country by year’s end. 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