BAGHDAD, Aug 19, (Agencies): The last US combat brigade pulled out of Iraq at dawn on Thursday, a key milestone in the withdrawal of American forces more than seven years after the US-led invasion that ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.

Under cover of darkness, the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, crossed into neighbouring Kuwait ahead of the planned declaration of an end to US combat operations in Iraq by an August 31 deadline.
The pullout came two days after a suicide bomber killed 59 people at a Baghdad army recruiting centre in Iraq’s deadliest attack this year, sparking concern the country’s forces are incapable of handling security on their own.

“Yes, they did,” Lieutenant Colonel Eric Bloom told AFP, when asked if the brigade had entered Kuwait. “The last one crossed at about 6:00 am this morning.”
“They have a few more days to clean the equipment, prepare the equipment, get it ready for shipment and then they’ll fly out (to the United States).”

It took two days for 360 vehicles and 1,200 soldiers to travel from Camp Liberty on Baghdad’s outskirts and Camp Taji north of the capital, through the Shiite south and into the Gulf emirate, Bloom said.
The rest of the 4,000-strong brigade left by air.

Kuwait, which hosts several American military camps in its northern desert close to the border, as well as a naval base, was used as the springboard for the 2003 invasion.
About 56,000 US soldiers remain in Iraq, with that figure set to drop to 50,000 by September 1, less than a third of the peak level during the 2007 “surge.”

From September 1, the US mission in Iraq will be called “Operation New Dawn” instead of “Operation Iraqi Freedom” — the name given to American operations since the invasion.

To fill the gap left by departing troops, the US State Department will more than double the number of security contractors it employs in Iraq to around 7,000, the New York Times reported.
Citing unnamed administration officials, it said private contractors would operate radar to warn of enemy fire, hunt for roadside bombs and fly surveillance drones.

The pullout coincides with Wednesday’s arrival of new US ambassador James Jeffrey.
He takes up his post amid political deadlock, with no new government yet formed since elections in March, and during the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, when insurgent attacks typically peak.
A spike in violence in July, Iraq’s deadliest month since 2008, and Tuesday’s suicide attack blamed on Al-Qaeda have sparked disquiet over the readiness of Iraq’s own forces.

“This is an irresponsible withdrawal,” said Hamid Fadhel, political science professor at Baghdad University. “There are dangers to do with security of the country, concerns and fears for Iraq’s external security, because of the lack of a military that is able to protect the country.”

Many Iraqis agreed, voicing doubts about their own security forces.
“It would have been better for the Americans to wait until the Iraqi army and police complete their training and become a truly loyal force,” engineer Ali Khalaf, 30, told AFP.

While US officers insist their Iraqi counterparts are up to the task, the country’s top military officer told AFP last week that American forces may be needed in the conflict-wracked nation for another decade.
But that seems unlikely. The White House has repeatedly insisted that the withdrawal schedule, which will see the last US soldier depart at the end of next year, remains on track.
Doubts

Many Iraqis openly admitted doubts on Thursday about whether their own forces could protect them after the last US army combat brigade left the country overnight following more than seven years of war.
The concerns echo those of Iraq’s top military officer, who said last week that the conflict-wracked nation’s army would need until 2020 to be completely ready to handle security, and called for US forces to stay until then.

On the streets of Baghdad a lack of trust and confidence was obvious.
“It would have been better for the Americans to wait until the Iraqi army and police complete their training and become a truly loyal force,” Ali Khalaf, 30, an engineer who also paints houses to eke a living, told AFP in Baghdad.

The Iraqi capital has seen the worst of the country’s violence since a 2003 US-led invasion ousted dictator Saddam Hussein from power but ushered in chaos that culminated in a brutal sectarian insurgency that killed tens of thousands.

On Tuesday, a suicide bomber in Baghdad killed 59 mostly young men who had lined up to join Iraq’s army at a recruitment centre in the worst single attack to hit the country this year.
“It was after the Americans withdrew from our cities that the attacks began again,” Abu Ali, who works in the interior ministry that controls Iraq’s police force, told AFP.

He was referring to a series of devastating bombings since the US military’s exit from urban areas in June 2009.
“If they withdraw completely, what will happen?” he asked, openly expressing doubt about the country’s stability. “The Americans must stay because the Iraqi government does not control anything.”
Also sceptical was Mohammed al-Gartani, a leader of the Sahwa (Awakening) militia also known by the US army as the Sons of Iraq.

This force of former Sunni rebels was founded, trained and paid for by the Americans in late 2006 and it won credit for taming the insurgency in the next two years.
“The US withdrawal will subject Iraq to strong attacks from terrorists, because we are now in a critical situation and the country is suffering from foreign interference,” said Gartani in the Karkh district of Baghdad.

“The reduction in US troop numbers is not at a good time, especially with the lack of an agreement to form the new government,” he said. “The Iraqi forces need at least two years to improve their abilities.”
In Basra, Iraq’s third largest city, the feeling was similarly anxious, particularly in the wake of a triple bombing that killed 43 people on August 7.
“I do not support the US forces withdrawal because there is no security now, especially in Basra,” said Muna Jassim Ali, 31, a teacher in the sprawling southern city.
“There is good evidence that the latest attacks, even in places where there are large numbers of Iraqi forces, show what the situation will be like after the Americans leave. I don’t think the Iraqi forces can protect us,” she said.

Polls
Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Abdel Rahman Al-Attiah called on Wednesday on the Iraqi factions to restore national unity for sake of forming a government and stressed Iraqis should accept result of the recent parliamentary polls.
The GCC chief said in a statement, regardless of the proposed scenarios for forming a new government in Iraq, the national conciliation among the diverse Iraqi blocs must be restored “where Iraq can acquire vital immunity in the face of internal and external pressures.” Al-Attiah criticized rhetoric uttered by some Iraqi officials, intended to foment sectarian hatred, “even though the country needs coordination among all for its rescue.” The GCC secretary general said solution for the current crisis lies in accepting results of the parliamentary elections, “so that those who won the confidence of the Iraqi people may take the lead and form a national conciliation government, with no influence of regional or international powers. “ Iyad Allawi, the chief of Al-Iraqia party, had won the polls by a narrow margin.