US President Barack Obama announced today that he will withdraw most US combat troops from Iraq by the end of August 2010, sharply reducing the American presence but keeping in place thousands of soldiers to support and train Iraqi forces, according to dpa. Obama plans to keep about 35,000 to 50,000 soldiers in Iraq to help train and equip the Iraqis and participate in special counterterrorism missions. There are presently more than 140,000 US troops in Iraq. "Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end," Obama said at Camp Lejeune, a Marine base in North Carolina. All US forces must leave Iraq by the end of 2011 under the security agreement worked out by the Bush administration last year with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Obama said he intends to stand by that agreement and called on the Iraqi people to take control of their country.
