Obama: Iraq combat mission is over
10:37, September 01, 2010

U.S. President Barack Obama declared an end Tuesday to the seven-year American combat mission in Iraq, saying it is now time to turn to pressing economic problems at home.

In a prime-time address from the White House, Obama balanced praise for the troops who fought and died in Iraq with his conviction that getting into the conflict had been a mistake in the first place. But he also used the moment to emphasize that he sees his primary job as addressing the weak economy and other domestic issues.

"We have sent our young men and women to make enormous sacrifices in Iraq, and spent vast resources abroad at a time of tight budgets at home," Obama said. "Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, we have met our responsibility. Now, it’s time to turn the page."

Seeking to temper partisan feelings over the war on a day when Republicans pointed out that Obama had opposed the troop surge generally credited with helping to bring Iraq a measure of stability, the president offered some praise for his predecessor, George W Bush. Obama acknowledged their disagreement over Iraq but said that no one could doubt Bush’s "support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security."

Obama spoke for about 18 minutes, saying that violence would continue in Iraq and that the United States would continue to play a key role in nurturing a stable democracy there. He celebrated America’s fighting forces as "the steel in our ship of state," and pledged not to waver in the fight against Al Qaeda.

But he suggested that he sees his role in addressing domestic issues as dominant, saying that it would be difficult to get the economy rolling again but that doing so was "our central mission as a people, and my central responsibility as president."

With his party facing the prospect of losing control of Congress in this fall’s elections and his own poll numbers depressed in large part because of the lackluster economy and still-high unemployment, he said the nation’s perseverance in Iraq must be matched by determination to address problems at home.

Over the last decade, "we have spent over a trillion dollars at war, often financed by borrowing from overseas," he said. "And so at this moment, as we wind down the war in Iraq, we must tackle those challenges at home with as much energy and grit and sense of common purpose as our men and women in uniform who have served abroad."

Obama acknowledged a war fatigue among Americans who have called into question his focus on the Afghanistan war, now approaching its 10th year. He said that American forces in Afghanistan "will be in place for a limited time" to give Afghans the chance to build their government and armed forces.

"But, as was the case in Iraq, we cannot do for Afghans what they must ultimately do for themselves," the president said. He reiterated that next July he would begin transferring responsibility for security to Afghans, at a pace to be determined by conditions.

"But make no mistake: this transition will begin, because open-ended war serves neither our interests nor the Afghan people’s," he said.

This was no iconic end-of-war moment with photos of soldiers kissing nurses in Times Square or victory parades down America’s Main Streets.

The withdrawal of combat forces represents a significant milestone after the war that toppled Mr. Hussein, touched off waves of sectarian strife and claimed the lives of more than 4,400 American soldiers and more than 70,000 Iraqis, according to United States and Iraqi government figures.

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