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Obama: U.S. to withdraw most Iraq troops by August 2010


IRAQ



February 27, 2009

Obama says he plans to keep up to 50,000 support troops in Iraq after the combat mission ends in 2010.President Obama said Friday he plans to withdraw most U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of August 2010.

Between 35,000 to 50,000 troops will remain in Iraq, he said. They would be withdrawn gradually until all U.S. forces are out of Iraq by December 31, 2011 -- the deadline set under an agreement the Bush administration signed with the Iraqi government last year.

"Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end," Obama said in a speech at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
"By any measure, this has already been a long war," Obama said. It is time to "bring our troops home with the honor they have earned."

Obama's trip to Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base, was his first trip to a military base since being sworn in.

Administration officials, who briefed reporters on the plan, said the remaining troops would take on advisory roles in training and equipping Iraqi forces, supporting civilian operations in Iraq and conducting targeted counterterrorism missions, which would include some combat.

But the ultimate success or failure of the war in Iraq, Obama said, would rest with the Iraqi people themselves. The U.S. "cannot police Iraq's streets indefinitely until they are completely safe," the president said.

It is up to the Iraqis, he said, to ensure a future under a government that is "sovereign, stable and self-reliant."

"We sent our troops to Iraq to do away with Saddam Hussein's regime and you got the job done," he said, referring to the troops.

The U.S. military had also "exceeded every expectation" suppressing the insurgency in the years that followed.

Al Qaeda in Iraq had been dealt "a serious blow," the president added. "The capacity of Iraq's security forces has improved, and Iraq's leaders have made strides toward political accommodation" through steps such as January's provincial elections.

"Iraq is not yet secure and there will be difficult days ahead," he said, but the Iraqi people now have a "hard-earned opportunity ... for a better life."

Obama said he made his decision after reviewing several options presented by key military and civilian advisers.

He said that he acted with "careful consideration of events on the ground, with respect for the security agreements between the United States and Iraq, and with a critical recognition that the long-term solution in Iraq must be political, not military."