U.S. Marines seized Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit Monday, catapulting progress in the war from a focus on major military battles into a new stage of occupation and nation-building.
The advancement meant that \major combat operations are over,"" according to Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, vice director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Following the victory, thousands of soldiers from the Army's 4th Infantry Division moved from their staging area in Kuwait to southern Iraq to assist in establishing peace and rooting out remaining pockets of resistance.
Although the Pentagon gave an upbeat assessment of the war, analysts cautioned that there will be a difficult and possibly lengthy road ahead to peace and stability. UW-Madison history Professor John Sharpless said coalition troops will certainly face resistance from Baath Party loyalists.
""Sometimes we forget that Russian officers told tragic stories of arriving in Berlin and still fighting 13 and 15 year-olds, even after Hitler was dead in 1945,"" he said. ""So there are always people who, for a variety of reasons, maintain their loyalty to a dictator.""
The difficult transition period will not produce immediate results, Sharpless said. It will require patience from the American government and the American people.
Families and friends of those serving overseas understand that need for patience all too well. While the success in Tikrit marks a milestone in the war, it does not guarantee safety to troops left to occupy the country.
""From the families' perspective, it's a relief that it's not necessarily war [anymore], but ... it doesn't necessarily mean they get to come back any sooner,"" Madison resident Laura Ziegler said about the troops. ""It's nice to know it's not as dangerous, but ...""
Laura Ziegler's husband Brian Ziegler is serving overseas, flying helicopters for the Army National Guard's 147th Aviation Battalion. She said her husband's unit might be involved in reconstruction since they recently arrived overseas, and she has no idea when he will return.
Monday's success might bring a measure of comfort to soldiers' families, but its significance does not go much farther than that, according to UW-Madison political science Professor Neil Richardson.
""The brevity of the war slightly ameliorated, and I emphasize slightly ameliorated, ... negative views of U.S. intervention,"" Richardson said.
However, he added that despite that success, the war has not unearthed stockpiles of weapons or other evidence that Iraq in fact posed a threat to the United States.
