President Obama states withdrawal of troops from Iraq by September

One of President Obama’s campaign pledges was a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. Creating a strategy for the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers was begun just after his election. Following the strategy for withdrawal was put in motion, the White House has kept it on schedule. All but 50,000 troops will be removed from Iraq by the end of August, 2010. It is projected that all American forces will have left Iraq by the end 2011.

Iraq to pass back to Iraqis

According to The Guardian, the President announced that military authority can be handed over to Iraqi authorities by the end of August. The announcement was made as the President spoke before the Disabled American Veterans conference in Atlanta. He directly mentioned the withdrawal as part of his campaign promises. The President also pinpointed that 90,000 troops have already been withdrawn from Iraq since he took office. It is projected that on August 31, full military authority can be given to Iraqi forces, and 50,000 American troops will remain in an advisory role. Combat operations by American troops will cease at that time.

Focus to shift to Afghanistan

The war in Afghanistan is nevertheless ongoing, though the Iraq war is winding down. Obama swore he won’t stand for the Taliban or Al Qaeda returning to power, according to CNN. The war in Afghanistan has been the subject of considerable controversy of late. The 90,000 pages of documents released by Wikileaks and also the Rolling Stone Stanley McChrystal interview have been subjects of significant contention.

The end of the beginning or the beginning of the end

The withdrawal from Iraq is proceeding according to plan. However, the Afghan conflict is far from being resolved. Afghanistan has more Americas troops than Iraq, and there is a growing belief that the war in Afghanistan is not winnable. There is still no real end in sight for Afghanistan.

More on this topic

guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/02/barack-obama-us-iraq-combat

cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/08/02/obama.iraq.drawdown/index.html?hpt=T1