President Obama announces withdrawal of soldiers from Iraq by September

President Obama ran on a platform which integrated the withdrawal of military from Iraq. Creating a plan for the withdrawal of America’s military was begun just after his election. Following the program for withdrawal was put in motion, the White House has kept it on schedule. By the end of August, only 50,000 American military will remain in Iraq. It is projected that all American forces will have left Iraq by the end 2011.

Control of Iraq to revert to Iraqi authorities

The President announced that Iraqi authorities could be put in control of military operations by August 31, according to The Guardian. The announcement was made as the President spoke before the Disabled American Veterans conference in Atlanta. He directly mentioned the withdrawal as part of his campaign promises. About 90,000 troops have already been withdrawn from Iraq since he took office. After the August 31 deadline, after which all authority of military operations will transfer to Iraqi officials, 50,000 American troops will remain initially as an advisory body. Combat operations by American troops will cease at that time.

Focus on Afghanistan

The war in Afghanistan is still ongoing, though the Iraq war is winding down. Obama swore he won’t stand for the Taliban or Al Qaeda returning to power, as outlined by CNN. There has been scandal and outrage over the war in Afghanistan lately. A scandalous Rolling Stone interview prompted the firing of General Stanley McChrystal, and the Wikileaks release of 90,000 pages of documents pertaining to the Afghan conflict have created a firestorm concerning the long term occupation of Afghanistan.

The beginning of the end; or the beginning’s end

The timetable for withdrawal of American troops from Iraq is going forward as planned. However, the Afghan conflict is far from being resolved. Afghanistan has more U.S. troops than Iraq, and there is a growing belief the war in Afghanistan is not winnable. The Afghanistan conflict does not have an ending in sight.

Find more details on this subject

guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/02/barack-obama-us-iraq-combat

cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/08/02/obama.iraq.drawdown/index.html?hpt=T1