As Pullout Date Nears, Iraq Still Very Much a War for US Troops

Embassy Denies Secret Deal With Maliki Govt to Extend Occupation

The Iraq War has been declared over more times in the past eight years than anyone cares to remember, and has fallen almost entirely out of the headlines. It’s over as far as much of the media is concerned, at least.

For the troops still there — “non-combat” troops we must remember, because of their August 2010 “redefinition” — Iraq is still very much a war. Though the “enemy” may have changed, with troops now fighting Shi’ite instead of Sunni militias, combat still rages across the nation’s south.

With the Status of Forces Agreement about to require US troops to withdraw from the nation, there is no indication the war is near ending. Indeed, the US embassy felt the need to deny a secret agreement was already in place to continue the occupation beyond December. Instead, they say, talks on such an agreement continue.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.