[Updated at 1:13 p.m. ET] U.S. President Barack Obama, announcing Friday that "the rest of our troops will come home by the end of the year," said: "After nearly nine years, America's war in Iraq will be over."
The new partnership with Iraq will be "strong and enduring" after U.S. troops leave the country, Obama said in the White House briefing room. The United States will continue its interest in a strong, stable Iraq after U.S. troops leave, the president said.
"Today I can say that our troops in Iraq will definitely be home for the holidays," Obama said.
About 39,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq, and the U.S. had wanted to keep from 3,000 to 5,000 troops in Iraq past 2011 to aid in training and security. But the current Status of Forces Agreement with Iraq dictates the U.S. troops leave by year's end, and the United States and Iraq had been unable to come to an agreement on key issues regarding legal immunity for U.S. troops who would remain in Iraq, effectively ending discussion of maintaining a significant American force presence beyond 2011.
Of the 39,000 troops in Iraq, only about 150, a negligible force, will remain to assist in arms sales.
The negotiations were strained following WikiLeaks' release of a diplomatic cable that alleged Iraqi civilians, including children, were killed in a 2006 raid by American troops rather than in an airstrike as initially reported by the U.S. military.
U.S. troops have already started the drawdown - a brigade from Fort Bliss, Texas, that was originally scheduled to be among the very last to leave Iraq was being pulled out of the country months ahead of its planned departure, military officials told CNN last week.
[Updated at 12:47 p.m. ET] The scheduled departure of virtually all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of the year will allow the United States to "say definitively that the Iraq war is over," a White House official said Friday.
[Initial post] Virtually all U.S. troops will be out of Iraq by the end of the year as the current Status of Forces Agreement with Iraq dictates, a U.S. official told CNN Friday.
A small number of U.S. troops will be attached to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
This month, the United States and Iraq had been unable to come to an agreement on key issues regarding legal immunity for U.S. troops who would remain in Iraq after the end of the year, effectively ending discussion of maintaining a significant American force presence beyond 2011.
About 39,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq, and the U.S. wanted to keep from 3,000 to 5,000 troops in Iraq past 2011.
U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to make a statement about Iraq around 12:45 p.m. Friday, according to a White House official.
FULL STORY
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
It took Pres Obama's policy/strategy to help get rid of Binladen and now to get rid of Khadaffi and today to annouce all the troops out of Iraq by year's end. The terrorist teabaggers must be peeing in their teabags These braindead teabagger repugs will never be able to bring themselves to give Pres Obama the credit he is rightfully due.
While Obama certainly deserves some credit for killing Osama Bin Laden and to a lesser extent the ousting of Gadhaffi, a lot of the information that led to the discovering of Bin Laden's location came during the Bush administration. As a matter of fact it was the direct result of "enhanced" interrogations at Guantonomo Bay, the same techniques and prison that liberals wanted outlawed and shutdown. To give Obama credit and comend him you must also comend and give credit to the "enhanced" interrogation techniques used and Guantonomo Bay itself, as well as GW Bush. Can you do that? Or is your hypocrosy going to show through?
America is victorious and the conservatives are weeping. Disloyalty is a conservative value?
While I believe Rich is pretty close to wrong on all counts, I believe Obama is more to credit for the Libyan success than Osama. While I'm pretty sure any of the significant information was not obtained during Bush administration, and had nothing to do with their tortures, any president would probably have ordered that raid (though Bush was kissing up to Pakistan so hard he might not have). Bush would never have chosen Obama's Libyan strategy, which involved cooperation with allies, diplomatic manuevering, discrete secret operations, and selective military actions. He would either have done nothing or launched another expensive failed war.
Rich is completely right, some people just dont get what needs to be done. Bring back Guantonomo Bay
The Pakistan intelligence was not provided by enhanced interrogation. Keep lying, at least you believe yourself.
HA HA! now what you conservatives going to complain about?
They'll complain that Obama should have done it Faster!
They already have!
I am a conservative (mostly) and I am not complaining. I personally think the timing is right and do not think it should have been done sooner or later. I do however think we should ramp up the war in Afghanistan and finish it off properly so that we can leave there as well. To be more specific, so we can leave there victoriously.
TAKE THAT TEA BAGGERS!!!!!!!
Big mistake....Obumbler strikes again.
I'm sure you want another surge, don't you James. Keep those guys over there!!! Support our troops!!!! Aren't you sitting on your behind while they take care of it for you? great support. please don't vote.
Hey, James Dean – Tell us all WHY!
To your commenter below: How is that a mistake? Going there in the first place was a mistake.
JamesDean.. why do you hate America? Cant you just be cool for a second. YOU would probably complain that we ended WW2 if it didnt fit your political standings. Get a life, get a clue, get off the computer and go outside. You need some perspective.
VOTE OBAMA 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not a chance....worst president ever and he just validated it today.
The James Dean moronathon continues!!!!
JamesDean must be a terroist. No other reason for him posting the things he`s posting. Don`t pay him any attention, he is abviously either a terrorist or a child.
All the Republicans are going to vote for Obama to keep Mitt out of the White House, and they've just realized it. That's why they are so angry.
Jamesdean knows what hes talking about. 100% correct.
Two possibilities for JamesDean. He's Iranian, or he works for Haliburton. Those are the two parties that benefitted most from the Iraq war, and from the clumsy, ignorant, expensive actions of the GW Bush administration. Absent that (Iraq) idiotic screw-up we would likely have skipped the recession, finished Afghanistan successfully, and be sitting pretty. What a numbskull!
The military industrial complex will now be pushing for us to attack Iran. You know, they need to keep the money pipeline flowing.
Well at least Obama did ONE thing he promised... not really though, because if Iraq agreed to the immunity terms, we would be staying.
If you claim the Republican party is going to establish an oligarchy, I'll claim, with enough "factual evidence," that Obama is the reincarnation of Catiline. Remember, dictatorships are established on both sides of the political spectrum, the right wing simply "offs" you when you've become worthless, the left wing eventually "offs" the state itself.
Please don't drink and type.
I wonder what the Republicans are going to say about this one. Keep them there? We need another surge? I support our troops. Get them out of that dark hole of a country.
Outstanding!
I can't wait to watch the Fox news exploding heads when I get home from work.........BOOM!.....BOOM!.....BOOM!
Hahaha. With Republicans so hell bent on doing the opposite of whatever Obama does, I wouldnt be surprised if in a moment of their blind hate for the man, they somehow call this a mistake, or bad, or leave the troops there. That'd be hilariously awesome.
hahaha dave!!! you know it will turn all about how bush should get the credit, obama still didnt do what he promised, blah blah. maybe they'll run across the screen "President Obama is Dead" like the night Osama Bin Laden was killed, and they did exactly that. Its shameful.
They will predict an imminent Iraqi invasion that will totally defeat us and occupy all 48 states unless Bush and Cheney are given full credit.
Nice Job Obama. Thank you! And for your people complaining- get a life. Every time Obama does something good you still criticize him. This President is dealing with the largest financial crisis in history. He is drawing down in Afghanistan and is ending the senseless Iraq War. He KILLED the man who attacked the US-Bin Laden and his military strategy worked and created a democratic nation out of Libya with NO LOSS OF AMERICAN LIFE. Those who criticize him should go live in Palin-Land.
This is NOT Obama's credit.
This deal was made with Iraq when Bush was still in office. Look it up. Obama is only following the time line set by Bush and is trying to take credit for it to bolster himself.
Barrack Obama deserves 110% of the credit for getting us out of this war, and Bush deserves 110% of the credit for lying to the American people about Weapons of Mass Destruction and getting us into this war.
at least he did it, your hero couldn't and didn;t do as much in 8 years – crawl back under your Tea Party rock – this is a great day for ALL AMERICANS – even you.
Cheney will be crying again. There goes a billion a week for Halliburton.
Right on. Cheney is and was a liar and cheat.
They are Republicans first not Americans.
mr president, just make sure you will have 40,000 new jobs created for all tese people comming back home.
If the GOP Congress would only stop fighting the jobs bill
Now if the lib tards only believed in democracy.....
Some of them are active. That means they have jobs.
and the James Dean MORONATHON continues!!!!!
Yes thank you. Pat has the most realistic comment here. I'm happy for them to be coming home, just create jobs for them! Create jobs for us too! Whats sad is that there won't be any.
The teabags are begging businesses not to hire until next year in hopes of dragging the economy down to offset all this good news. They are afraid the stock market will boom and jobs will open up.
And how much would the Republicans have screamed about treason and betrayal if he had?
...ye tools for the 1% sound like Westboro members today