Iraq backs gradual US troops' pullout

MANILA, Philippines – Iraq has expressed support for a gradual withdrawal of US troops after President-elect Barack Obama assumes office.

Speaking through an interpreter, Charge d’Affaires Adel Mawlood Hamoudi Al-Hakimh, of the Iraq Embassy in Manila, said they expect the new administration to begin the withdrawal of US forces but a rapid pull out will not be good for Iraq.

“Now, I don’t think pull out is good. Maybe in the next few years,” al-Hakimh said.

“As for the American issue, we believe the big issue for the President and his concern is the internal issues with the US. It can’t be changed. It’s related to US national security and politics so there’ll be no big difference. So we are not expecting big difference in this issue,” he added.

Obama was firm on his campaign pledge to withdraw US troops from Iraq in as little as 16 months.

In September 2004, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the US-led invasion of Iraq was an illegal act that contravened the UN charter.

He said the decision to take action in Iraq should have been made by the Security Council, not unilaterally.

Annan said he believed that there should have been a second UN resolution following Iraq’s failure to comply with weapons inspections and it should have been up to the Security Council to approve or determine the consequences.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq was led by the United States and backed by British forces and smaller contingents from Australia, Poland and Denmark.

The invasion marked the beginning of the Iraq War.

According to US President George W. Bush and former British Tony Blair, the reasons for the invasion were “to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), to end the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people.”

But in 2005, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) released a report saying that no weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq.