Washington – Obama Declares End to Iraq War, US Troops Coming Home

Washington – President Barack Obama announced Friday that the Iraq war, one of the most unpopular in U.S. history, is over. America’s long and deeply unpopular war in Iraq will be over by year’s end and all U.S. troops “”will definitely be home for the holidays,” President Barack Obama declared Friday

“After a decade of war,” he added, “the nation that we need to build — and the nation that we will build — is our own.”

The war ended the brutal regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, but at a huge cost to the U.S.: An estimated tab of at least $752 billion; 4,800 American service members killed — about 160 of them from Michigan — and more than 32,000 others wounded.

Michigan veterans who served in the conflict received Obama’s announcement with pride and a sense of accomplishment.

“We had good intentions,” said Marine Master Sgt. Paul McGowan of Jackson, who served with the 1/24th Marine Reserves, which was featured in the Free Press as Michigan’s Band of Brothers. “And we followed through.”

Focus now turns to troop pullout in Iraq

After President Barack Obama announced the nation’s year-end withdrawal from Iraq on Friday, the task now is to speed the pullout of the remaining U.S. forces, nearly 40,000 in number.

Staying behind in Iraq, where bombings and other violence still occur, will be 150-200 U.S. military troops as part of embassy security, the defense attaché’s office and the office of security cooperation. That’s common practice but still a danger to American forces.

For Obama, Friday’s announcement capped a remarkable two days of national security successes, though there’s no indication how much they will matter to voters more concerned with economic woes at home.

On Thursday, the president heralded the death of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, and a day later, the end to one of the most divisive conflicts in U.S. history.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost the U.S. more than $1.3 trillion.

Obama did not declare victory.

He did speak, however, about the string of wins on his watch — none bigger than the killing of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader behind the Sept. 11, 2011, terrorist attacks.

The Afghanistan war still rages, but Obama also has moved to end the combat mission there by the end of 2014.

This was, in essence, the third time Obama had pronounced an end to the war, allowing him to remind the nation he had opposed it all along — a stance that helped his White House bid in 2008.

Shortly after taking office, Obama declared in February 2009 that the combat mission in Iraq would end by Aug. 31, 2010. And when that milestone arrived, he said it was “time to turn the page” on Iraq and put the focus back on building up the U.S. On Friday, he said: “After nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over.”

The 2003 invasion

The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was launched in March 2003 after reports, later discredited, that the country was developing weapons of mass destruction. By early April, American Marines were helping Iraqis pull down a statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. He was captured in December of that year and executed in 2006, but the war dragged on.

The ending was set in motion before Obama took office. In 2008, President George W. Bush approved a deal calling for all U.S. forces to withdraw by Dec. 31, 2011.

At issue was whether that deal would be renegotiated to keep thousands of U.S. forces in Iraq. The Obama administration and Iraqi government spent months debating whether the U.S. would keep troops to maintain a training force, to provide added stability in a country where spectacular attacks still occur and to serve as a hedge against Iran.

Throughout the talks, Iraqi leaders refused to give U.S. troops immunity from prosecution in Iraqi courts, and the Americans refused to stay without that guarantee.

Obama never mentioned that issue Friday.

He said that after speaking with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, both were in agreement on how to move forward. Obama said the two nations will now deal with each other in the normal fashion of sovereign countries and will keep open the idea of how the U.S. might help train and equip Iraqi forces.

“Over the next two months, our troops in Iraq, tens of thousands of them, will pack up their gear and board convoys for the journey home,” Obama said. “The last American soldier will cross the border out of Iraq with their heads held high, proud of their success, and knowing the American people stand united in our support for our troops.”

Some skepticism

“Both countries achieved their goals,” said Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Moussawi. “Iraq wanted full sovereignty while the United States wanted its soldiers back home, and both goals are achieved.”

In addition to remaining military forces, Denis McDonough, White House deputy national security adviser, said the U.S. will have 4,000-5,000 contractors to provide security for American diplomats.

Obama’s announcement was applauded by congressional Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who called it “the right decision at the right time.”

Republicans were more skeptical. Many praised the gains made in Iraq and gave Obama at least partial credit but expressed concern that getting troops out would bring that progress into question.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he feared that “all we have worked for, fought for and sacrificed for is very much in jeopardy by today’s announcement. I hope I am wrong and the president is right, but I fear this decision has set in motion events that will come back to haunt our country.”

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney accused Obama of an “astonishing failure” to secure an orderly transition in Iraq, and said, “The unavoidable question is whether this decision is the result of a naked political calculation or simply sheer ineptitude in negotiations with the Iraqi government.”