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June 4, 2012

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U.S. to pull troops out of Iraq by year’s end

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Evan Vucci / AP

President Barack Obama speaks in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Oct. 21, 2011, where he declared an end to the Iraq war, one of the longest and most divisive conflicts in U.S. history, announcing that all U.S. troops would be withdrawn from the country by year’s end.

Ben Feller, Associated Press

Published Friday, Oct. 21, 2011 | 10:08 a.m.

Updated Friday, Oct. 21, 2011 | 11:06 a.m.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday declared an end to the Iraq war, one of the longest and most divisive conflicts in U.S. history, announcing that all American troops would be withdrawn from the country by year's end.

Obama's statement put an end to months of wrangling over whether the U.S. 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 U.S. forces in Iraq 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 U.S. military presence in Iraq stands at just under 40,000. All U.S. 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 U.S. and its allies invaded Iraq in March 2003.

The Associated Press first reported last week that the United States would not keep troops in Iraq past the year-end withdrawal deadline, except for some soldiers attached to the U.S. Embassy.

In recent months, Washington had been discussing with Iraqi leaders the possibility of several thousand American troops remaining to continue training Iraqi security forces.

Throughout the discussions, Iraqi leaders refused to give U.S. troops immunity from prosecution in Iraqi courts, and the Americans refused to stay without that guarantee.

Moreover, Iraq's leadership has been split on whether it wanted American forces to stay.

When the 2008 agreement requiring all U.S. forces to leave Iraq was passed, many U.S. officials assumed it would inevitably be renegotiated so that Americans could stay longer.

The U.S. said repeatedly this year it would entertain an offer from the Iraqis to have a small force stay behind, and the Iraqis said they would like American military help. But as the year wore on and the number of American troops that Washington was suggesting could stay behind dropped, it became increasingly clear that a U.S. troop presence was not a sure thing.

The issue of legal protection for the Americans was the deal-breaker.

Pulling troops out by the end of this year allows both al-Maliki and Obama to claim victory.

Obama kept a campaign promise to end the war, and al-Maliki will have ended the American presence and restored Iraqi sovereignty.

The president used the war statement to once again turn attention back to the economy, the domestic concern that is expected to determine whether he wins re-election next year.

"After a decade of war the nation that we need to build and the nation that we will build is our own, an America that sees its economic strength restored just as we've restored our leadership around the globe."

Discussion: 11 comments so far…

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  1. By dipstick
    Oct. 21, 2011
    10:37 a.m.
    Flag

    wow! i'm not use to all this good news coming from the white house. apparently, the nightmare that bush/cheney created is coming to an end!

  2. By gmag39
    Oct. 21, 2011
    10:39 a.m.
    Flag

    It's about frickin' time!

  3. By ChunkyFlyRight
    Oct. 21, 2011
    10:44 a.m.
    Flag

    Chunky says:

    Good news for our troops and their families.

    Election season for the White House.

    That's what Chunky thinks!

  4. By The-Socratic-Inkwell
    Oct. 21, 2011
    2:29 p.m.
    Flag

    This is not the FULL story. There are questions as to WHEN the AMERICAN CIVILIAN "nation-rebuilding workforce" will leave IRAQ after our soldiers have come home. The duration and cost of maintaining the "workforce" of thousands of American civilians (including the Blackwater [et al] "security protection forces") remains unanswered.

    WHEN will we remove THE CIVILIAN "workforce"? WHAT are the continuing COSTS to maintain this workforce until they are removed? HOW MUCH LONGER will they stay in IRAQ? WHEN will the American involvement for re-building IRAQ come to an end?

    It appears that Obama did not say anything about these issues! Why not?

    The IRAQ war "MAY" be over, but COSTS continue. While our "repatriation" activities to restore IRAQ continue, the COSTS for that is MORE than what it costs now to support the REDUCED MILITARY LEVEL of soldiers we still have in IRAQ.

    SO, Obama needs to answer these questions too. Until then, the "war" is NOT over, entirely. and there are other issues to resolve.

  5. By petef (Peter Fritz)
    Oct. 21, 2011
    4:10 p.m.
    Flag

    foss and other should visit sites that are pro Iraq and see what great things the USA has brought to that country. I mean really, good things. The men who have fought this war come home heads held high, so please Foss stop the crap about illegal wars and acknowledge theses heroes!! Job well done and more importantly need to be done. Foss will be adding a statement to the fact that Bush did the right thing I am sure.

  6. By dipstick
    Oct. 21, 2011
    5:57 p.m.
    Flag

    some of the republicans are saying we are leaving TOO EARLY! we might lose iraqs fragile democracy to the iranians or the pakistanis or even the albanians! they say we need to stay there another 50 to 60 years until all the oil has been pumped out of the ground... er, i mean until democracy has taken hold.

  7. By Det__Munch
    Oct. 22, 2011
    4:33 a.m.
    Flag

    @@ClintEastwood: This decision was not "all of a sudden". IF he has talked about it since 2008 - why is it "all of a sudden"? And a ploy for votes?

    @@Socratic Inkwell: My guess is the parents, families and friends, hell the country for that matter, of the soldiers coming home could care less about the "AMERICAN CIVILIAN "nation-rebuilding workforce" staying in Iraq. Why should Obama talk about these issues? Maybe it's none of anyone's business because of security reasons.

    @@Dennis: Of course, the Republicans don't want this!! They'll find another war to start if they get into the White House!!! They can't let their cronies down

    @@Summer of 69: This has been Obama's stand and has been talked about since 2008; the only difference was the time was pushed back.

  8. By newnvres (Ben Lambert)
    Oct. 22, 2011
    7:53 a.m.
    Flag

    Bush signed the agreement that the war would end this year. Obama is just carrying out what Bush signed. Iraq basically threw us out because their Government is in gridlock and could not make a decision to immunize our soldiers from Iraqi prosecution. I don't see where Obama should get a lot of credit for this.
    I'm also waiting to hear about the Civilian Force, The Money we are sending to rebuild, Iraqi and U.S. Military links. We need More Information.
    Now let's end Afghanistan (except for a few Special Ops) and stop this insane spending and concentrate at home for the next decade.

  9. By Bob_Realist (Bob Realist)
    Oct. 22, 2011
    9:38 a.m.
    Flag

    Does anyone know when we will start receiving payments from Iraq to repay the war debt? How about the debt repayment from Afghanistan? The drugs supplied to American manufacturers does not count toward America's debt.

  10. By timbo123
    Oct. 22, 2011
    12:56 p.m.
    Flag

    4,500 American lives lost. Over $1 trillion spent. Now, we are finally leaving a country that will align itself with Iran. Then, we have Egypt
    to worry about the Muslim Brotherhood taking over
    and Libya will join the ranks of countries to
    fret over. Perhaps, the world has less dictators,
    but I don't see how democracy hsa gained. More
    likely, we'll see an increase in the number of
    Christians murdered and their churches burned.
    More Muslim women will serve as household slaves,
    forbidden to vote or even drive a car. Whenever
    we occupy a country for a lengthy period of time,
    even if the goal is to protect citizens, the
    country eventually turns on us and whatever good
    we did is quickly forgotten. As Commander-In-Chief, Obama can order home the troops at anytime
    and I hope he gives this thought appropriate
    consideration as we look, once again, at Afghanistan and those politicaly drawn up rules of
    engagement that favor the enemy resulting in a
    needless loss of military lives. Veterans, loyal to country and flag, must be looking at Iraq and wondering, what did we truly accomplish?

  11. By petef (Peter Fritz)
    Oct. 23, 2011
    7:06 a.m.
    Flag

    So Bush was the one who signed the deal for their exit in 2008. We need the troops for the US/Mexican border so welcome home Soldiers! ( but keep that desert gear handy)

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