Obama Declares End Date for Iraq War

President Barack Obama today formally declared August next year to be the end date for America's long, bloody and costly war in Iraq.

Fulfilling a campaign pledge to bring US troops home, he said the combat mission would be completed by then, with the bulk of US troops out, with the remainder leaving by the end of 2011.

In an emotional speech in front of 8,000 marines at their base in Fort Lejeune, North Carolina - many about to head to Afghanistan - Obama recalled the cost of the war in terms not only of the death tolls but the divisions it had created in America and in relations with the rest of the world.

In a speech designed to leave no doubt that he was signaling the end of US involvement, Obama thanked the US forces for having completed their task with honor and spoke wistfully of an America having to come to terms with the war's legacy, of the names etched in the stones at Arlington cemetery.

To applause from the marines, he said: "Today, I have come to speak to you about how the war in Iraq will end."

The sober delivery contrasted with the premature celebrations of President George Bush almost six years ago when, shortly after the invasion, he spoke on an aircraft carrier beneath the now infamous banner reading "mission accomplished".

The next few years saw tens of thousands of Iraqis and more than 4,200 US troops killed.

Obama, who ordered a review of Iraq policy on taking office, offered a completely different assessment of the war to his predecessor, and a new strategy on how to go about ending it.

"By any measure, this has been a long war." he said. US forces had endured tour after tour in what had been one of the most extraordinary chapters in American history, he said, but they had completed their task with honour.

"Let me say this as plainly as I can: by August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end," he said.

The speech marked an end to Bush's most divisive policy and the final abandonment of the hopes of the neo-conservatives round him to use Iraq to remodel the Middle East. Obama said the US could no longer continue in pursuit of a perfect Iraq and would have to leave it as best it could.

"We cannot rid Iraq of all who oppose America or sympathize with our adversaries. We cannot police Iraq's streets until they are completely safe, nor stay until Iraq's union is perfected. We cannot sustain indefinitely a commitment that has put a strain on our military, and will cost the American people nearly a trillion dollars," he said.

"America's men and women in uniform have fought block by block, province by province, year after year, to give the Iraqis this chance to choose a better future. Now, we must ask the Iraqi people to seize it."

To try to counter Iraqi suspicions that the US is intent on keeping bases in the country to safeguard oil supplies and influence the Iraqi government, Obama said: "So to the Iraqi people, let me be clear about America's intentions. The United States pursues no claim on your territory or your resources."

The plan is for 92,000 to 107,000 US troops to be gradually withdrawn by August next year, the bulk of them after the Iraqi elections (tentatively scheduled for the end of this year or early next). Obama said the remainder, about 35,000-50,000, would be given a new, mainly non-combat related mission focused on training Iraqi forces and supporting the government. Those remaining troops will be withdrawn by December 31, 2011, he said.

The prospect of 50,000 staying, even if only for another year, brought howls of dismay from the Democratic leadership in Congress. But the plan was welcomed by Republicans, including John McCain, who had opposed early withdrawal.

In another shift from the Bush era, Obama also attempted to draw in Iran and Syria in the interests of greater Middle East peace. "And going forward, the United States will pursue principled and sustained engagement with all of the nations in the region, and that will include Iran and Syria," he said.