The Military Minute: U.S. No Longer Responsible For Green Zone Security

On January 1, 2009, the United States formally turned over security of the Green Zone to the Iraqi government, which is a sign that conditions are continuing to improve in Iraq. Once daunted as the only safe place in Iraq, the Green Zone is now secured by Iraqi forces with coalition forces playing a support role. The Iraqis will also have more responsibility in making the key decisions with respect to the security of Baghdad.

The Green Zone contains one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces, which has been used as the headquarters of the coalition's forces since the beginning of the war. Placing the security of our forces' headquarters into the hands of the Iraqis is a real and symbolic sign that the security situation, in what was once a notoriously violent area, is dramatically improving.

Many of our lawmakers, political pundits and naysayers in general wrote off the Iraq War long ago, saying that it essentially had been lost. They called for immediate withdrawal of our troops. However, rather than retreat and wave the white flag, we sent in more troops. Perhaps if we had done that at the start of the war, the insurgency would have never gained a foothold. Hindsight is 20/20.

Has this been big news on the mainstream media? I haven't seen it. It's just another example of news that doesn't fit the MSM's political agenda.

Source: Department of Defense