U.S. Troops Reportedly to Leave Iraq by the End of the Year, According to Obama

U.S. Troops to Leave Iraq by Year’s End, Obama Says - NYTimes.com

President Barack Obama in the White House Briefing Room Stating U.S. troops will be home by the holidays.

Yesterday President Obama announced that the last of the U.S. soliders will leave Iraq at the end of this year, which draws to a close eight-and-a-half years of conflict which proved to be divisive given the fact that this was a protracted war.  This war helped define the presidency of Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush.  I recall during the second term of George W. Bush how frustrated I was that he kept prolonging the war and he didn't use the full force of the military to crush the insurgency in Iraq.  The Iraqi War was another no-win war when it came to defeating the insurgency in Iraq that resulted when former Iraqi dictator Sadamm Hussein was toppled and his troops escaped.  This war shouldn't have lasted this long.  It's ridiculous.  However, I believe it was the forces of Nimrod that was in control of calling the shots. 

When President Obama was a U.S. Senator, he was critical of the U.S. fighting in the Iraq War and his opposition to the Iraq War helped fuel his rise to the presidency.  When all the troops leave Iraq, there will be a skeleton presence of Marine embassy guards and liasion officers staying where more than a million troops have served.  The agreement to leave Iraq by 2011 was made in 2008 when Obama's predecessor George W. Bush was about ready to leave the presidency.  Bush made a farewell visit to Iraq when an Iraqi journalist hurled shoes at him. 

I hope the President sticks to his word about the rest of the troops leaving Iraq at the end of the year.  We're holding him to it.  To read the story, click on the above link from the New York Times.