Baghdadians welcome Obama’s pledges on Iraq

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A number of Iraqi citizens from the city of Baghdad welcomed the promises made by U.S. President Barack Obama about the withdrawal of his forces from Iraq during his speech to the Islamic world on Thursday. Fares al-Qeissi, 32, from al-Shaab neighborhood in northeastern Baghdad, voiced belief that the most important thing in Obama’s speech was the U.S. intention to pullout troops from Iraq according to the security agreement signed between the two countries. However, he expressed fear that Obama would not implement his pledges. In a speech to the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims from Cairo on Thursday, US President Barack Obama said that the United States does not seek to stay in Iraq or Afghanistan. “We will… relentlessly confront violent extremists,” Obama said. “Because we reject the same thing that people of all faiths reject: the killing of innocent men, women, and children. And it is my first duty as President to protect the American people.” “Make no mistake: we do not want to keep our troops in Afghanistan,” the US president said. “We seek no military bases there.” “Unlike Afghanistan, Iraq was a war of choice that provoked strong differences in my country and around the world,” Obama said, repeating the US government’s promise to withdraw troops from the country by 2012. On December 13, 2008, the Iraqi government signed a long-term agreement with the United States, known as the Status-of-Forces Agreement (SOFA) to regulate the presence and withdrawal of foreign troops after 2008. Under the agreement, a complete troop withdrawal from Iraq is supposed to take place by the end of 2011. Two to three minutes of Obama’s nearly hour-long speech were devoted to reassuring Iraqis that the U.S. will honor its commitment to pull troops out of the country by 2012. Afaf Shaker, a 46-year-old citizen, from al-Jaamiaa neighborhood in western Baghdad, expressed hope that Obama’s speech would be a working paper which binds the U.S. and the Islamic world with a mutual good, friendship and partnership relation. Another citizen from the Iraqi capital, Mahmoud Sabar, 44, a bus driver from the Sadr city in eastern Baghdad, considered the speech as useless unless the U.S. implements its promises to withdraw forces and not to keep any permanent military bases in Iraq. To Iraq’s chief spokesman, the fact so little was said about Iraq shows how far the country has come since the invasion of 2003. “It is positive that Iraq does not take up so much of a U.S. president’s speech,” said Ali al-Dabbagh, who said that it shows that Iraq is no longer considered a problem in the region. The speech was carried on all of Baghdad’s main television channels, as well as the regional satellite news channels. Retired engineer Hassan Alwi, who watched the speech at a Baghdad café, said he would wait and see if Obama delivers on the ideas he outlined. “America has very little credibility, but what he said about respecting Islam and improving relations was a great thing,” said Alwi. “The question is, will he practice what he is preaching? Only the future will tell us.” “The speech is an important and good step between America and the Islamic world and it fosters trust between the two sides, but the U.S. has to show its good intention towards the Islamic countries,” Mohamed Saleh, 50, told IraqiNews.com news agency. SH (I) 3