Obama: Troop Withdrawal from Iraq

Obama just announced that he is withdrawing all American troops from Iraq.

By the end of the year, our troops will be out. It's over.

Mission accomplished.

President Barack Obama said on Friday the United States will fulfill its pledge to pull troops out of Iraq by the end of the year.

"As promised, the rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year. After nearly nine years, America's war in Iraq will be over," Obama told reporters.

He spoke after a video conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and said the two were in full agreement about how to move forward.

Obama said the two countries now move into "a new phase" and that it will be "a normal relationship between sovereign nations. An equal partnership based on mutual interests and mutual respect."

The withdrawal of American troops marks a major milestone in the war that started in 2003 and resulted in the removal of Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq.

"Over the next two months, our troops in Iraq, tens of thousands of them, will pack up their gear and board convoys for the journey home," Obama said.

"The last American soldier will cross the border out of Iraq with their heads held high, proud of their success, and knowing that the American people stand united in our support for our troops," he said. "That is how America's military efforts in Iraq will end."

...Senior Iraqis say in private they would like a U.S. troop presence to keep the peace between Iraqi Arabs and Kurds in a dispute over who controls oil-rich areas in the north of Iraq.

Although Obama claimed to be in complete agreement with Maliki about troop withdrawal and moving forward, that's questionable.

From the Washington Post:

The Obama administration has decided to withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of the year after failing to reach an agreement with the Iraqi government that would have left several thousand troops there for special operations and training.

President Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki spoke Friday morning to cement that agreement in a scheduled telephone call.

The two leaders also agreed to continue informally discussing the need for and the terms of a U.S. military presence in Iraq into next year, people familiar with the agreement said. As a result, the only U.S. military presence that will remain in Iraq after the end of the year will be the roughly 150 troops needed to protect the large U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad and its thousands of American diplomats and other personnel, as well as provide training related to new military sales and other tasks.

“The rest of our troops in Iraq will come home at the end of the year,” Obama said Friday at the White House. “After nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over.”

The failure to reach an agreement could pose security problems for the Iraqi government, still largely divided by sect and ethnicity, and for an Obama administration that inherited the war but has pledged an orderly withdrawal.

If sectarian strife or other violence should break out in Iraq once U.S. forces have left, Obama could be blamed, particularly by his conservative critics, for abandoning Iraq after nearly nine years of war before it was ready to protect itself.

You have to parse words to find "complete agreement" about the way to move forward.

I want all our troops to be home and out of harm's way. I'm glad they're coming home, but I worry about Obama's decision.

The statement seemed like a political move, like Obama has his eye on the 2012 election more than making sound judgments, or telling the truth for that matter.

The "as promised" bit was clearly a campaign line.

I thought it was really cheesy the way Obama said Iraq veterans will be the beneficiaries of his plans to create jobs at home. That was a lame campaign ploy.

Whatever it takes... to get reelected.

I find it strange to hear Obama speak about success in Iraq with any degree of pride, given his opposition to the war.

In 2007, when Obama was campaigning in Madison, here's what he said about Iraq:

Obama talked about Iraq. He told of how he spoke out against the war during his Illinois Senate campaign in 2002.

"This is a dumb war, ...and we shouldn't fight it."

I wish Obama would have started his announcement today with that line.

"Of course, as you know, Iraq is a dumb war and we shouldn't fight it. It was a mistake. I'm bringing American troops home."

When Obama spoke of the loss of American lives in Iraq, he didn't say they died in a dumb war.

The many faces of Obama.