President Obama Announces Iraq Troop Withdrawal By End of 2011

President Obama announced today that all U.S. troops will be coming home from Iraq at the end of this year, closing out a war that has lasted nearly nine years and cost nearly 4,500 American lives. The announcement came after the White House and Iraqi government failed to reach an agreement that would have left U.S. forces in Iraq to provide security and function as trainers.
The White House said that all of the approximately 40 thousand troops now serving in Iraq will be home by the end of 2011. Only a "normal embassy presence" will remain, said a White House official. The announcement comes a day after Libyan rebels killed longtime dictator Moammar Kadafi. Time will tell if Iraq and Libya can find ways to peacefully govern themselves and not become havens for terrorist elements.

In the meantime, welcome home to our troops!