By the end of 2011, which is in just a few weeks, there will no longer by any US troops stationed on the soil of Iraq. At the peak of the US involvement in Iraq in 2007 there were over 170,000 soldiers stationed there, as part of the US national security strategy. When President Obama came to power in 2009, that policy was abandoned, and the troops began to be removed.
Training and Trade, No Troops
On Monday Obama appeared in Washington DC with Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and explained that the US is prepared to assist Iraq with their national security with training and
Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki
trade, but not with troops.
Addressing the issue of the US war to liberate Iraq and quell the al Qaeda insurgency, Obama said, “Those days are over.”
“This is an historic moment, a war is ending,” Obama said.
US and Iraq Partners
Al-Maliki emphasized that just because there are no longer any US troops in Iraq does not mean that the relationship between the two countries is over.
“It only started when it was signed in 2008, in addition to the withdrawal treaty, the strategic framework agreement for the relationship between our two countries,” he said.
Obama said that there will be a “comprehensive relationship with Iraq based on commerce, power generation, science and “a whole range of issues.”
“We want to make sure there is a constant communication between our governments, that there are deep and rich exchanges between our two governments, and between our peoples,” he said.
