The United States will end its combat mission in Iraq as scheduled on August 31 despite a recent flare-up in violence, the US president Barack Obama will say in a speech prepared for delivery today. "Shortly after taking office, I announced our new strategy for Iraq and for a transition to full Iraqi responsibility," Mr Obama will tell a national convention of Disabled American Veterans in Atlanta, Georgia, according to excerpts of his speech released by the White House.
"And I made it clear that by August 31, 2010 America's combat mission in Iraq would end," the president continued. "And that is exactly what we are doing, as promised, on schedule." When he became president, Mr Obama inherited a security agreement with Baghdad that calls for all US forces to pull out by the end of 2011. He has ordered the force to draw down to 50,000 by September 1. There are about 65,000 US soldiers currently stationed in Iraq.
The pullout confirmation comes amid an increase of violence in Iraq, with the Baghdad government releasing figures on Saturday that said 535 people died in July, including 396 civilians, 89 policemen and 50 soldiers. That figure was the highest for a single month since May 2008 when 563 people were killed in violence. But Major Gen Stephen Lanza, a spokesman for US forces in Iraq, said the Iraqi figures did not "reflect the security situation" while data provided to media by unofficial sources were "grossly overstated".
Mr Obama said that even as militants try to derail the country's progress, "violence in Iraq continues to be near the lowest it's been in years". He said the US will maintain a transitional force in Iraq in the coming months and remove all its troops by the end of 2011. US forces will focus during this transitional period on supporting and training Iraqi forces, counter-terrorism missions and protecting US civilian and military initiatives, the president will say.
"But make no mistake, our commitment in Iraq is changing - from a military effort led by our troops to a civilian effort led by our diplomats," will stress. "And as we mark the end of America's combat mission in Iraq, a grateful America must pay tribute to all who served there." * AFP