On August 31, 2010, President Obama announced the end of combat operations in Iraq, saying this had been his “pledge to the American people as a candidate for this office” and that it was “what we’ve done.” American troops remained in an advisory capacity to assist the Iraqis in assuming security of their own nation.
On October 21, 2011, President Obama announced that all remaining American troops would be shortly leaving Iraq. “As a candidate for President, I pledged to bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end. … After taking office, I announced a new strategy that would end our combat mission in Iraq and remove all of our troops by the end of 2011. … Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki and I are in full agreement about how to move forward.”
CNN Presidential debate: Obama, Romney spar over troops in Iraq [1:17]
This morning, President Obama was asked if he regretted pulling the remaining U.S. troops from Iraq in 2011. He said it wasn’t his decision to do so! BUSH negotiated the SOFA draw down and MALIKI had not wanted any Americans to stay in Iraq!
But on October 21, 2011, the New York Times had reported that American military officials were dismayed by the complete withdrawal of forces from Iraq, saying the Iraqi’s security was still too fragile to endure without an American military presence. They said that the Bush administration had negotiated the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) as a symbolic gesture to help Iraq establish itself as a sovereign nation but that had always been an understanding that a sizable American force would actually stay in Iraq beyond that date.
If Obama had wanted our forces to stay in Iraq, he could’ve made it happen. Now that the country’s gone to hell, he suddenly doesn’t remember that the military warned him this could happen or that he repeatedly boasted about and took full credit for the removal of every last one of our troops from a still fragile Iraq.
What a schmuck.
Sources:
- http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/08/31/remarks-president-address-nation-end-combat-operations-iraq
- http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/21/remarks-president-ending-war-iraq
- http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/22/world/middleeast/united-states-and-iraq-had-not-expected-troops-would-have-to-leave.html
- http://twitchy.com/2014/08/09/astounding-flashbacks-shred-obama-claim-troop-withdrawal-from-iraq-wasnt-his-decision/
polination.blog 
Baraq owns Iraq.
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