President Obama Turns the Page on Iraq

President Obama has turned the page on Iraq. On August 18, 2010 the last U.S. combat fores left Iraq, and this marks the end of our combat mission there. From here the future is ours to establish. Seven years ago President Bush announced that we were going into Iraq. Our soldiers paid the price with courage and resolve. Our soldiers shifted tactics and trained Iraqi forces. Operation Iraqi Freedom is over. We have removed nearly 100,000 soldiers and millions of pieces of military equipment. Military bases have been turned over to the Iraqis.

The Situation in Iraq

Iraqi Forces are taking it to Al Queda. An election was held and now a new government is being formed based on the results of that election. All US troops will leave at the end of next year. We will continue to train the Iraqis until then. The Iraqis are a proud people and only the Iraqi People can build a democracy there. We have spent vast resources, and American Lives to support the Iraqi people. We have met our responsibilities and now it is time to turn the page. It is time to turn the page at home as well and heal the wounds that have divided us on the Iraq War.

Afghanistan

This is our tenth year in Afghanistan, and we will defeat Al Queda there. Because of the draw down in Iraq we can build up our forces in Afghanistan. Eventually, we will turn the responsibility to fight over to the Afghan People.

A New Peace

At the same time a new diplomatic push for peace in the Middle East will begin. The effort must begin at home. We spent trillions of dollars at war and this has cut domestic spending. We must take on the challenges at home with the same resolve as our soldiers have displayed. We must put Americans back to work. A major objective will be to end our dependence on foreign oil and rebuild our manufacturing industries. We must take care of our Veterans and serve them as they have served us.

Source: President Obama's News Conference, August 31, 2010.