Take Me To Post Comment Form President Obama ran on a platform which included the withdrawal of soldiers from Iraq. After he was elected, he announced a phased plan for taking America's military out of Iraq. Following the program for withdrawal was put in motion, the White House has kept it on schedule. All but 50,000 troops will be removed from Iraq by the end of August, 2010. It is projected that all U.S. forces can be gone by 2011. Source of article - Obama announces withdrawal of troops from Iraq by September by Personal Money Store.



Control of Iraq to revert to Iraqi authorities



According to The Guardian, the President announced that military authority will be handed over to Iraqi authorities by the end of August. 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 About 90,000 troops have already been withdrawn from Iraq since he took office. It is projected that on August 31, full military authority will be given to Iraqi forces, and 50,000 American soldiers will remain in an advisory role. American combat maneuvers will then cease.



Focus on Afghanistan



The war in Afghanistan is nevertheless 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 also 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.



Beginning of the end or end of the beginning



The Iraq war is being wound down on schedule. However, the Afghan conflict is far from being resolved. Afghanistan has more Americas troops than Iraq, and there is a growing belief that the war in Afghanistan is not winnable. There is nevertheless no real end in sight for Afghanistan.



Additional reading



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