I've had three congressional delegations visit thus far which have provided some great opportunities to see Baghdad from the air and road, in the day and the night. I've also been to Joint Base Balad which is about 60 miles north of Baghdad. Take a look at the pictures to see some of what I've seen.
Last night as I was leaving my office at 9pm, my eye was caught by the moon. Then I noticed the sky seemed to have an odd blackness to it. It took most of the three minute walk from my office to my CHU to realize there were no stars even , but one, even though the sky was cloudless. Rather the stars are hidden by the dust and smog. In fact, the atmosphere is such that you can look straight into the sun about an hour before it sets. It is just a white dot in a beige sky.
June is going to be a month of transition here in Iraq as US forces honor the Strategic Framework Agreement with the Government of Iraq to remove all "combat" forces from Iraqi cities by June 30. The truth is we're already out of most cities except Mosul and Baghdad. As Gen. Odierno pointed out yesterday, we will fully comply with the agreement and leave these two cities as well.
What we will watch now is whether the Iraqi Security Forces can keep violence to a minimum. Our troops will continue to train, advise, and assist if called upon. But as we move towards and beyond Parliamentary Elections next January, American forces will continue to draw down in order to meet the president's order to remove all "combat" troops out of Iraq by 31 August 2010. The burden is now and will be on the Iraqi government and security forces to ensure that democracy holds here.
