BARACK OBAMA HAS today declared an end to the Iraq war, announcing that all American troops would be withdrawn from the country by year’s end.
The US president’s statement put an end to months of wrangling over whether the country would maintain a force in Iraq beyond 2011. He never mentioned the tense and ultimately fruitless negotiations with Iraq over whether to keep several thousand US forces there as a training force and a hedge against meddling from Iran or other outside forces.
Instead, Obama spoke of a promise kept, a new day for a self-reliant Iraq and a focus on building up the economy at home.
“I can report that, as promised, the rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year,” Obama said. “After nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over.”
Obama spoke after a private video conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and he offered assurances that the two leaders agreed on the decision.
The US military presence in Iraq stands at just under 40,000. All US troops are to exit the country in accordance with a deal struck between the countries in 2008 when George W Bush was president.
Obama, an opponent of the war from the start, took office and accelerated the end of the conflict. In August 2010, he declared the U.S. combat mission over.
“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.”
More than 4,400 American military members have been killed since the US and its allies invaded Iraq in March 2003.
The only soldiers to remain in Iraq will be those attached to the US Embassy. Denis McDonough, the White House’s deputy national security adviser, said that in addition to that the US will also have 4,000 to 5,000 contractors to provide security for US diplomats, including at the US embassy in Baghdad and US consulates in Basra and Erbil.
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