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What Candidate Obama promised and President Obama delivered has many of his most ardent supporters on the left -- from members of Congress down to grassroots anti-war activists -- wondering whether he can be counted on to advance the liberal agenda. The president, speaking to Marines in Camp Lejeune, N.C, on Friday, announced that the U.S. will end the Iraq war over the next 18 months, ordering the immediate drawdown of the 142,000 troops in Iraq. The war will officially end on Aug. 31, 2010. But Obama's withdrawal plan will take three months longer than he promised on the campaign...

CQ TODAY PRINT EDITION – DEFENSE Feb. 25, 2009 – 7:41 p.m. President’s Plan for Withdrawal From Iraq Is Attacked From Both Fronts By Josh Rogin, CQ Staff Senior lawmakers from both parties criticized President Obama’s soon-to-be announced Iraq withdrawal plan from different directions Wednesday, setting the stage for a contentious debate over one of the president’s top campaign promises. Obama’s new withdrawal schedule, which reportedly will be unveiled this week, is expected to call for removing most major combat forces from Iraq by August 2010. The strategy would also leave up to 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq for various...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama told lawmakers on Thursday he plans to withdraw most American troops from Iraq by August 2010 but leave tens of thousands behind to advise Iraqi forces and protect U.S. interests, congressional officials said. Obama is expected to announce the new strategy on Friday during a trip to Camp Lejeune, N.C. In a closed-door meeting with Republican and Democratic leaders, Obama and his top advisers estimated that 35,000 to 50,000 troops would remain. Among those attending the meeting were House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Minority Leader John...

President Barack Obama is expected to order all U.S. combat troops to leave Iraq by August of next year, administration officials said, closing the door on a war that has led to the death of 4,250 American soldiers...

WASHINGTON – The United States plans to withdraw most of its troops from Iraq by August 2010, 19 months after President Barack Obama's inauguration, according to administration officials. The withdrawal plan would fulfill one of Obama's central campaign pledges, albeit a little more slowly than he promised. He said he would withdraw troops within 16 months, roughly one brigade a month from the time of his inauguration. The officials said they expect Obama to make the announcement this week. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has not been made public

Administration officials say President Barack Obama is planning to announce that most U.S. troops will be out of Iraq in less than 19 months.

The United States needs to stay in Iraq and Afghanistan until it has achieved a decisive victory over Islamic jihadists, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum said Monday. “Containing them is not enough,” the two-term conservative Republican senator said during a telephone interview. Santorum, who will be in Lincoln Tuesday for two speaking appearances, said Islamic radicals view the election of President Barack Obama as a signal that the United States is “in the process of surrender.” Obama plans to order a phased withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq over the next 16 months. Although he is preparing to send...

A more methodical and independent decision-making style than expected has surprised U.S. military officials. President Barack Obama is refusing to be rushed into his first decision to send troops into combat, an early sign he may be more independent-minded than U.S. military leaders expected. The new president's methodical decision-making offers an early insight into how the new commander in chief will approach the war in Afghanistan and has surprised some Pentagon officials, who had predicted repeatedly in the past two weeks that Obama would decide within days on additional forces, only to find the White House taking more time. Rather...

WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (IPS) - CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus, supported by Defence Secretary Robert Gates, tried to convince President Barack Obama that he had to back down from his campaign pledge to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months at an Oval Office meeting Jan. 21. But Obama informed Gates, Petraeus and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen that he wasn't convinced and that he wanted Gates and the military leaders to come back quickly with a detailed 16-month plan, according to two sources who have talked with participants in the meeting. Obama's decision to override...

WASHINGTON: CENTCOM commander General David Petraeus, supported by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, tried to convince President Barack Obama that he had to back down from his campaign pledge to pullout all US combat troops from Iraq within 18 months at an Oval Office meeting on January 21, sources have said. But Obama informed Gates, Petraeus and Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen that he wasn't convinced and wanted Gates and the military leaders to come back quickly with a detailed 16-month plan, according to two sources who have talked with participants in the meeting. Obama's decision to override Petraeus' recommendation...

"Substantial" troops home from Iraq in year: Obama Sun Feb 1, 2009 5:32pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said Sunday that a substantial number of U.S. troops will have returned from Iraq within a year and predicted his economic stimulus package will pick up more Republican support. "We are in a position to start putting more responsibility on the Iraqis and that's good news not only for the troops in the field but their families," Obama said in an interview on NBC. Asked whether a "substantial" number of troops will be home from Iraq within a year, Obama...

The U.S. military has officially signed over ownership of Camp Ramadi to the Iraqi government, though American troops are not scheduled to leave the base before 2012. According to the U.S. command in Baghdad, a memorandum of agreement has been drawn up and signed "outlining the areas that will continue to be used by Coalition forces." American and other troops have operated from Camp Ramadi since shortly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. For several years, Ramadi was among the deadliest battlegrounds for American troops and was the heartland of the Sunni insurgency. Rocket and mortar attacks on the...

Maj just got the word, on Shep Smith show, scheduled to be announced tomorrow. All combat brigades to be out in 16 months. Real effect is immediate surrender of purpose. No commander is going to undertake any major mission knowing that, at the very longest, no US offensive military power will be in-country after next Spring, so why waste lives to gain something we soon will give away. Offensive operations will stop. Brigades will go into a useless, purely defensive mode. It's over. Our POTUS surrendered. About 3000 Americans volunteered to pay the ultimate price in Iraq so we could...

Iraq is willing to have the U.S. withdraw its troops and assume security for the country before the end of 2011, the departure date agreed to by former President George W. Bush, the Iraqi prime minister's spokesman said. Spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh made the comment Tuesday, the day before President Barack Obama and his senior commanders were to meet in Washington to discuss the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama promised during the campaign to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office. The new president said in his inaugural address Tuesday that he would "begin...

Incoming White House senior adviser David Axelrod said this morning that President-elect Barack Obama will fulfill his campaign promise and begin on Wednesday the process of withdrawing America forces from Iraq within 16 months. On Wednesday, Obama will call in his military commanders and ask them to come back with a plan for withdrawal.

WASHINGTON — Military commanders are drawing up plans for a faster withdrawal of American troops from Iraq in anticipation that President-elect Barack Obama will reject current proposals as too slow, Pentagon and military officials said Wednesday. The new plans would provide alternatives to a timetable drawn up by the top American commanders for Iraq to bring troops home more slowly than Mr. Obama promised during his presidential campaign. Those plans were described to Mr. Obama last month. The officials said that Mr. Obama had not requested the new plans, but that they were being prepared in response to public statements...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Iraqi Presidency Council approved a resolution Sunday that will allow non-U.S. foreign troops to remain in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at year's end.

BAGHDAD — In September 2008, the President of the United States announced an American military drawdown in Iraq. The drawdown is a return on success, which follows the departure of the five “surge” brigades, the Marine Expeditionary Unit, two Marine Corps battalions, and a majority of the Coalition nations. These reductions have been made possible because security conditions on the ground improved dramatically, the Iraqi Securtiy Forces grew in capacity and capability, and the partnership between the Government of Iraq and the Coalition continues to improve. With the passing and ratification of the Strategic Framework Agreement and the Security Agreement,...

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has told US troops in Iraq that their mission there is in its "endgame".

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - President George W. Bush on Thursday hailed the Iraqi Parliament's approval of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). The agreement, which is expected to be ratified by Iraq's presidential council, will require U.S. combat troops to leave in 2009 and all American troops by the end of 2011. "Today's vote affirms the growth of Iraq's democracy and increasing ability to secure itself. We look forward to a swift approval by Iraq's Presidency Council," Bush said in a statement. "Two years ago, this day seemed unlikely - but the success of the surge and the courage of...