International

U.S. Army Takes Control of Baghdad as Marines Move South

By John Burnett

Published April 20, 2003 at 9:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 21 years ago.

The last of the 20,000 troops of the 1st Marine Division pull out of Baghdad and head south as the Army moves in to take charge of the Iraqi capital. The handover comes as tensions rise between the Marines and Baghdad residents, who express frustration with lawlessness and lack of electricity. Hear NPR's John Burnett.

International

John Burnett

John Burnett is a national correspondent based in Austin, Texas, who has been assigned a new beat for 2022—Polarized America—to explore all facets of our politically and culturally divided nation. Prior to this assignment, Burnett covered immigration, Southwest border affairs, Texas news and other national assignments. In 2018, 2019 and again in 2020, he won national Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio-Television News Directors Association for continuing coverage of the immigration beat. In 2020, Burnett along with other NPR journalists, were finalists for a duPont-Columbia Award for their coverage of the Trump Administration's Remain in Mexico program. In December 2018, Burnett was invited to participate in a workshop on Refugees, Immigration and Border Security in Western Europe, sponsored by the RIAS Berlin Commission.