New: Obama said it is now on its campaign promise to end the warAlmost all American troops will be home by the end of December, it saysThere has an expectation that some would remain to assist in the training and securityNegotiations have failed on the question of legal immunity for Americans
(CNN) - President Barack Obama said Friday the long and expensive war us in Iraq to the course and announced that virtually all American troops will come home by the end of the year.
"After almost nine years, the war in Iraq will be completed," Obama said.The coming months will be a season of always. Our troops in Iraq will certainly be home for the holidays. »
39,000 Soldiers in Iraq, only about 150, a negligible force, will remain to assist in arms sales, a U.S. official told CNN. The rest will be out of the Iraq by December 31.
Obama said that he was good on the 2008 campaign promise to end a war that has divided the nation and claimed more than 4,400 American lives.
He met with Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki at a video conference Friday and said the two nations are comfortable with the decision on how to move forward.
The new partnership with the Iraq will be "strong and sustainable", said Obama.
American soldiers with patrol 3rd armoured Cavalry on 17 July in Iskandariyah, Iraq.
"The last American soldier will cross the border outside Iraq their head held high, proud of their success and knowing that the stand of the American people United in our support for our troops," said Obama.
Current status of understanding Force called for U.S. forces to leave the Iraq at the end of 2011, but lengthy negotiations had given rise to the expectation that a US presence would continue beyond that date.
The United States had planned that some of the approximately 40,000 Americans in Iraq would be y remain to assist in the training and safety.
But the talks broke down on the thorny issue of legal immunity for US troops in Iraq, a senior military official U.S. with direct knowledge of the discussions told CNN earlier this month.
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and other top brass have said on many occasions any agreement to keep US troops in Iraq beyond the withdrawal deadline would require a guarantee of legal protection for American soldiers.
But the Iraqis refused to accept that, open the perspective of the Americans being tried in Iraqi courts and submitted just Iraq.
The negotiations were tense after publication of the WikiLeaks of a diplomatic cable which claimed civilian Iraqis, including children, were killed in a raid of 2006 by the American troops rather than in an airstrike initially reported by the US Army.
US troops have already begun the drawdown - a brigade from Fort Bliss, Texas, which was originally scheduled to be among the last to leave the Iraq was fired from the month before his scheduled departure, military officials told CNN last week.
CNN's Chris Lawrence contributed to this report.
View the original article here
(CNN) - President Barack Obama said Friday the long and expensive war us in Iraq to the course and announced that virtually all American troops will come home by the end of the year.
"After almost nine years, the war in Iraq will be completed," Obama said.The coming months will be a season of always. Our troops in Iraq will certainly be home for the holidays. »
39,000 Soldiers in Iraq, only about 150, a negligible force, will remain to assist in arms sales, a U.S. official told CNN. The rest will be out of the Iraq by December 31.
Obama said that he was good on the 2008 campaign promise to end a war that has divided the nation and claimed more than 4,400 American lives.
He met with Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki at a video conference Friday and said the two nations are comfortable with the decision on how to move forward.
The new partnership with the Iraq will be "strong and sustainable", said Obama.
"The last American soldier will cross the border outside Iraq their head held high, proud of their success and knowing that the stand of the American people United in our support for our troops," said Obama.
Current status of understanding Force called for U.S. forces to leave the Iraq at the end of 2011, but lengthy negotiations had given rise to the expectation that a US presence would continue beyond that date.
The United States had planned that some of the approximately 40,000 Americans in Iraq would be y remain to assist in the training and safety.
But the talks broke down on the thorny issue of legal immunity for US troops in Iraq, a senior military official U.S. with direct knowledge of the discussions told CNN earlier this month.
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and other top brass have said on many occasions any agreement to keep US troops in Iraq beyond the withdrawal deadline would require a guarantee of legal protection for American soldiers.
But the Iraqis refused to accept that, open the perspective of the Americans being tried in Iraqi courts and submitted just Iraq.
The negotiations were tense after publication of the WikiLeaks of a diplomatic cable which claimed civilian Iraqis, including children, were killed in a raid of 2006 by the American troops rather than in an airstrike initially reported by the US Army.
US troops have already begun the drawdown - a brigade from Fort Bliss, Texas, which was originally scheduled to be among the last to leave the Iraq was fired from the month before his scheduled departure, military officials told CNN last week.
CNN's Chris Lawrence contributed to this report.
View the original article here
