President Barack Obama “Awed” by Sacrifice Paid in Iraq, Says “Future in its People’s Hands”

Addressing the nation from the Oval Office on Tuesday evening U.S. President Barack Obama signaled the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq, saying he had been “awed” by the sacrifice made by the U.S. military so that Iraq’s “future could be put in its people’s hands.”

On the topic of Iraq’s future Obama stated “"Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country.”

While Operation Iraqi Freedom has ended it doesn’t mean all U.S. troops will be leaving as a large number of military servicemen and women will remain to usher in Operation New Dawn with the goal of assisting Iraqi forces.

That change in operations will be marked in a ceremony in Baghdad on Wednesday with Vice-President Joe Biden and U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates among those in attendance. As part of the ceremony outgoing U.S. military commander, Gen. Raymond Odierno, will be handing over to Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin who will now lead the new operation.

For Obama, the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom will allow him to focus more attention on domestic issues, more specifically the economy. With an election not too far in the future Obama knows that the American people will expect more than just the end of military operations in Iraq.

Obama has acknowledge that the end of military operations in Iraq wouldn’t be the end of service for American troops as many will now be diverted to Afghanistan as the U.S. remains committed to defetating al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

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