Barack Obama, Iraq War | featured news

Dick Cheney's new heart has not softened his attitude toward President Obama... Of course, the feeling is no doubt mutual; Obama and his backer say the policies of Cheney and President George W. Bush in Iraq and elsewhere lowered U.S. standing in the world.

Paying tribute to dead soldiers and their families, President Obama said Monday that the nation had reached a "milestone” of relative peace, noting the end of the Iraq war and plans to end America’s role in the Afghan war.

President Obama has wound down America’s war in Iraq, ordered the operation that killed Osama bin Laden and set in motion the end of U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan. He also has focused particular attention on veterans and military families, increasing funds for the Department of Veterans Affairs, implementing the post-Sept. 11 G.I. Bill and launching job programs for returning troops.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Thursday attacked U.S. President Barack Obama for a "signature failure" to keep some troops in Iraq to prevent the country falling back into sectarian conflict.

President Barack Obama welcomed home some of the last U.S. troops from Iraq on Wednesday, marking a symbolic end to the nearly nine-year war that strained America's armed forces and inflicted lasting damage to its standing worldwide.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry accused President Obama Saturday of endangering U.S. troops by announcing plans to end the nation's military role in Iraq by Christmas. "The last thing you want to do is put those men and women's lives in peril, and I think that's what the president's done by making a political statement to his base that he's going to be out of Iraq by a date certain," Perry said.

By declaring the Iraq war over, President Barack Obama scored what his allies see as a fourth big foreign policy success in six months, starting with Osama bin Laden's killing. But in his re-election bid, these events might play a discouragingly small role even if they burnish his eventual place in history. Voters tend to focus heavily on domestic issues, especially in times of high unemployment. That will limit Obama's campaign options.

All US troops will be pulled out of Iraq by the end of the year, President Barack Obama has announced. He ordered a complete withdrawal from the country, nearly nine years after the invasion under President George W Bush. About 39,000 US troops remain in Iraq, down from a peak of 165,000 in 2008. The US and Iraq were in "full agreement" on how to move forward, Mr Obama said, adding: "The US leaves Iraq with our heads held high."

At a White House ceremony later today, Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry, an Army Ranger, will become only the second living recipient of the Medal of Honor for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

President Obama said Monday that the world is "a better place" because of death of Osama bin Laden, calling it "a good day for America."