August 12, 2010Obama chairs security meeting on Iraq
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: U.S. President Barack Obama met behind closed doors with his national security team late Wednesday to review the ongoing U.S. engagement in Iraq, according to the AFP.
Obama met with Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, National Security Advisor Gen. Jim Jones and CIA Director Leon Panetta, among others.
Plans to reduce the total number of American troops in Iraq to 50,000 by the end of this month are on schedule, Obama announced last week. At that point, the U.S. military mission will shift to training and supporting Iraqi security forces, as well as support for U.S. diplomats.
A full withdrawal of U.S. troops is scheduled to occur by the end of next year.
Nothing was brought up during Wednesday’s meeting that will delay the planned transition, according to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. The administration remains “on target” to end the combat mission, he said.
The war in Iraq “is nearing an end,” Obama said on August 2. “As a candidate for president, I pledged to bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end. And that is exactly what we are doing.”
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: U.S. President Barack Obama met behind closed doors with his national security team late Wednesday to review the ongoing U.S. engagement in Iraq, according to the AFP.
Obama met with Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, National Security Advisor Gen. Jim Jones and CIA Director Leon Panetta, among others.
Plans to reduce the total number of American troops in Iraq to 50,000 by the end of this month are on schedule, Obama announced last week. At that point, the U.S. military mission will shift to training and supporting Iraqi security forces, as well as support for U.S. diplomats.
A full withdrawal of U.S. troops is scheduled to occur by the end of next year.
Nothing was brought up during Wednesday’s meeting that will delay the planned transition, according to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. The administration remains “on target” to end the combat mission, he said.
The war in Iraq “is nearing an end,” Obama said on August 2. “As a candidate for president, I pledged to bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end. And that is exactly what we are doing.”
