President Barack Obama stated in a speech on February 27, 2009, that he intended to remove combat brigades from Iraq by the end of August 2010.

 

In order to live up to his promise, Obama redefined the role of American troops during a speech this week before veterans. He said that America’s “combat mission” will end. Instead, the 50,000 U.S. soldiers remaining in Iraq “will have a focused mission--supporting and training Iraqi forces, partnering with Iraqis in counterterrorism missions, and protecting our civilian and military efforts.” In other words, they will still be taking part in combat.

 

U.S. troops will remain in Iraq until at least the end of 2011.

 

Some Iraqis believe they never will see the end of America’s military presence in their country.

 

“The Americans aren’t leaving,” Qahtan Sweid told The New York Times. “For one million years, they won’t leave. Even if the world was turned upside down, they still wouldn’t withdraw.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

Obama Drops 2009 Pledge to Withdraw Combat Troops from Iraq (by Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service)

As Obama Talks Peace, Many Iraqis Are Unsure (by Anthony Shadid, New York Times)

Withdrawing Combat Troops from Iraq…Kind of, Sort of, Maybe (by Aaron Wallechinsky, AllGov)