With the last full brigade of U.S combat troops now out of Iraq and another 6,000 to leave by the month's end, the mission in Iraq continues with the transition to stability operations, Army Maj. Gen. Stephen R. Lanza, spokesman for U.S. Forces - Iraq, told reporters,
"Our mission still continues," Lanza said on the CBS "Early Show." "We're going to transition from combat operations to stability operations, and we're doing that as we're drawing down our forces right now to 50,000 by 1 September."
The last U.S. combat brigade here completed a symbolic convoy out of country early today, reminiscent of U.S. forces first pushing into Iraq at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
The Soldiers, with the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, just completed their yearlong tour of assisting, training and advising Iraqi Security Forces in and around Baghdad.
As one of the lead elements in a company-size formation of Stryker armored vehicles, Pfc. Thomas Johnson and Spc. Adam Porter—both combat engineers with the 38th Engineer Company, attached to the 4th SBCT, 2nd Infantry Division—had driven collectively more than 400 miles on the unruly and sometimes deadly roads from here to Kuwait in a Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicle.
Baghdad suicide bomb targets army recruits; dozens killed
By Aziz Alwan and Leila Fadel
A suicide bomber infiltrated a crowd of young Iraqi army applicants Tuesday and detonated explosives, killing at least 51 people and wounding 104 others in an early-morning attack two weeks before U.S. forces are scheduled to end their combat mission in Iraq.
As hundreds of men lined up in central Baghdad to hand in documents on the last day of a week-long application process, the bomber slipped into the crowd in an open area outside Iraq's former Defense Ministry building, now an army recruitment center and military base. A U.S. military training team is based in the building near the site of the 6:30 a.m. blast.
Special Report - 08/24/10
