Obama marks coming end of US war in Iraq

Barack Obama, the President of the United States, has welcomed home some of the last US troops from Iraq in a ceremony to mark the coming end of his country's near-nine-year military campaign since a 2003 US-led invasion.

The US president paid tribute to about 3,000 soldiers gathered at the Fort Bragg military station in North Carolina on Wednesday, saying he was proud to welcome them home after what he called an "extraordinary achievement".

"I want to speak to you about the end of the war in Iraq," he said, as hundreds of soldiers cheered in appreciation.

"Over the last few months, the final work of leaving Iraq has been done. Dozens of bases ... that house American troops have been closed down or turned over to the Iraqis.

Obama said those US troops still stationed in the country would soon "move south on desert sands, and then they will cross the border out of Iraq with their heads held high".

"One of the most extraordinary chapters in the history of the American military will come to an end. Iraq’s future will be in the hands of its people. America’s war in Iraq will be over."

As of this week, there were 5,500 US troops left in Iraq, down from more than 170,000 at the height of the war.

Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, will attend a formal flag-lowering ceremony to mark the closure of the US military headquarters in Iraq on Thursday.

The US-led invasion in 2003 toppled Saddam Hussein, the former leader who was executed after a controversial trial in Baghdad. Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay also died in the fighting months after it began.

"We knew this day would come. We’ve known it for some time. But still, there is something profound about the end of a war that has lasted so long," Obama said.


Aljazeera