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Withdraw U.S. Combat Troops From Iraq |
"I will begin to remove our troops from Iraq immediately. I will remove one or two brigades a month and get all of our combat troops out of Iraq within 16 months. The only troops I will keep in Iraq will perform the limited missions of protecting our diplomats and carrying out targeted strikes on al-Qaida."
-- Chicago
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DECEMBER 18, 2009
Mullen: Drawdown On Schedule
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is confident that the drawdown of 65,000 troops will begin in March after scheduled elections. |
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JUNE 30, 2009
US Troops Out Of Iraqi Cities
U.S. forces completed their withdrawal from Iraqi cities as scheduled, but nearly 130,000 troops remain in the country to contain violence wherever it may flare up. |
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FEBRUARY 27, 2009
Obama Announces Drawdown Plan
Obama announced at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina that he would withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq by August 2010, leaving between 35,000 and 50,000 troops to train and equip the Iraqi military, protect U.S. assets in-country and "conduct targeted counterterrorism operations." The president added that, "under the Status of Forces Agreement with the Iraqi government, I intend to remove all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011." |
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JANUARY 21, 2009
Military Tasked With Developing Plan
Obama met with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and Gens. David Petraeus and Ray Odierno; during the meeting, Obama said, he "asked the military leadership to engage in additional planning necessary to execute a responsible military drawdown from Iraq." |
