DETROIT — President Obama’s announcement on October 21st for the full withdrawal of U.S troops from Iraq after a long nine-year stretch has gained mixed reaction from local Iraqi leaders, making matters all the more complicated for what has been one of the most controversial wars in American history.

In Obama’s announcement, it states that “Iraqis have taken full responsibility for their country’s security,”  however some community leaders tend to disagree with this statement. 

“I’m very concerned about it,” said Sam Yono, the Chaldean former candidate for the Iraqi Parliament. “After all the bloodshed and money spent, I hope the military doesn’t have to go back in and straighten things out,” he added. “I’m not convinced that Iraq is ready.”

Others however, feel that Iraq should be able to clean up its own mess, without the assistance of the U.S.

“I do think it’s better for the soldiers to come home,” said Iraqi American Shareef Shami. “Iraq is a completely different state than it was at the beginning of the war.” 

Under Obama’s plan, on January 1st 2012, the U.S military will begin to pull out from Iraq and eventually leaving behind an estimated 160 U.S troops to guard the U.S Embassy. In comparison, the U.S has stationed 1,234 troops in Belgium, 1,894 troops in Bahrain and 678 troops in Qatar, according to the Department of Defense. These numbers show the extent of Obama’s planned pull out, at least military-wise;

“There will still be a strong presence through the American Embassy,” said Nabby Yono, a Chaldean Leader from West Bloomfield. “It’s not an actual withdrawal, they are still going to be doing intelligence operations there,” he added. “I still look at this as a positive thing. Let the Iraqis solve their own problems.”

Others don’t necessarily think President Obama deserves any credit for putting an end to the war;

“Obama is just fulfilling what Bush said he would do,” said Ronald Stockton, an author and political science professor at the University of Michigan Dearborn. “Ending the war at this time was always on Bush’s schedule,” he added. 

In 2008, President Bush had signed an agreement with Iraq that was called “The Status of Forces” agreement, that would be overseen by the following president. The agreement allowed the U.S to extend their military presence for an additional three years. However, it appears that Obama wasn’t always certain about putting a close to the war by the end of this year.

In July of 2011, President Obama had tried negotiating with Iraq to allow up to 10,000 soldiers to stay stationed there in 2012. After Iraqi officials had refused, he even lowered that number down to 3,000 as early as last month.  

According to Stockton, Iraqi’s determination to get U.S Forces out was one of the main reasons to call an end to the war.  Another main factor in determining whether to end the war was an issue the U.S military was having with the Iraqi laws. Iraqi officials were refusing to continue to allow U.S forces to follow U.S laws while occupying Iraq, with officials expecting them to follow the laws of their country.

“This was a factor that made it nearly impossible for the U.S to extend their stay there,” he added. 

The War, which kicked off on March 19, 2003, has resulted in the deaths of over 4,400 soldiers and has cost the country over $700 billion. The Iraqi death toll due to U.S invasion, has greatly differed depending on the source. U.S intelligence has estimated close to 1 million casualties, but other sources have estimated that number could be hundreds of thousands more.  

With these numbers and Obama’s announcement that the war will be concluding at the end of the year, many have been questioning whether the invasion was even worth it.

“The U.S invaded Iraq for no reason and it has been under destruction for eight years,” said Dr. Hachem Al-Tawil, an Iraqi professor and scholar on Islamic Art History from Henry Ford Community College. “Whether the Americans leave or stay, that’s not an issue,” he added. “It’s not a functioning country…. I see no optimistic situation regardless of whether the U.S pulls out or not.” 

It seems even White House officials are questioning whether the war was worth it in the long run. 

“History is going to have to judge that,” said Anthony Blinken, National Security Advisor to Vice President Joe Biden.