Leaving Iraq: Debating Obama’s Withdrawal Timeline

Leaving Iraq: Debating Obama’s Withdrawal Timeline

On March 7, President Barack Obama made a brief appearance in the Rose Garden to comment on Iraq's just-completed parliamentary election. Obama hailed the vote as a success and condemned the insurgents who carried out a few scattered attacks in Baghdad. Then he returned to what is for him a familiar theme, casting the ballot as yet another milestone on the road to ending the seven-year-old Iraq War.

"The Iraqi people must know that the United States will fulfill its obligations," Obama said. "We will continue with the responsible removal of United States forces from Iraq."

Perhaps the framing was notable -- Obama rarely describes the withdrawal as an "obligation" to the Iraqi people -- but the sentiment certainly was not: In dozens of statements, interviews and news conferences since taking office, Obama has been adamant about sticking to the withdrawal timetable, which calls for removing all U.S. combat troops by August 2010 and a complete U.S. withdrawal by the end of 2011. Indeed, ending the war was one of Obama's most often-repeated campaign promises.

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