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Reporting from Atlanta and Baghdad — President Obama affirmed Monday that U.S. combat troops would leave Iraq by the end of August — "as promised and on schedule" — in a speech aimed at highlighting a foreign policy bright spot and rebuilding support for the struggling mission in Afghanistan.
"Make no mistake: Our commitment in Iraq is changing — from a military effort led by our troops to a civilian effort led by our diplomats," Obama told a group of disabled veterans in Atlanta.
There are currently 65,000 troops in Iraq. The president gave assurances that the U.S. force would drop to 50,000 by the end of the month — a reduction of 94,000 since he took office 18 1/2 months ago. The remaining troops will form a transitional force until a final U.S. withdrawal from the country at the end of 2011, he said.
During his campaign, Obama pledged to bring a swift and orderly end to a war he said he would not have waged, but the departure has not been as quick as he had initially promised. Shortly after taking office, the president revised a 16-month withdrawal timeframe and set the Aug. 31 deadline.
U.S. officials say the withdrawal will make little practical difference in Iraq. It is rare these days to see a U.S. military vehicle on the streets — and even the withdrawal is taking place stealthily, at night.
Many Iraqis who might otherwise have welcomed the drawdown as a step toward sovereignty are instead apprehensive. Political tensions are rising among the country's divided factions, and the insurgency has not yet been defeated.
Still, for a White House beleaguered on other fronts — from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill to increasing violence in Afghanistan — Iraq is seen as a success story the administration intends to tell. Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and other administration officials will emphasize progress in Iraq in a series of speeches in the coming weeks, the White House said.
On Monday, Obama addressed a convention of the Disabled American Veterans before speaking at a high-dollar fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee.
Read the full story: www.articles.latimes.com
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