The following is from an interview segment of WNPR's Where We Live from August 19, 2010.

 

As US combat troops leave Iraq, are Iraqis ready to take over control?

The last US combat troops have left Iraq. It marks a new stage in a long war – that displaced Saddam Hussein, but also cost thousands of US and Iraqi lives.

The much discussed “timeline for withdrawl” has – by some accounts – provided incentive for the Iraqi government to train its own military force to provide security. But, some Iraqis, like Nada Naji – a woman in Baghdad – worry that violence will escalate when US troops are gone.

Of course, the US isn’t completely pulling out of the country. Some 50 thousand troops will remain – and the state department will play a larger role in training, security and that means US civilians on the ground.

Scott Bates is one of those civilians. He’s a Connecticut resident – and former Senior Policy advisor for the House Homeland Security committee. He’s on a democracy assistance program in Northern Iraq – and that’s where WNPR reached him.

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