U.S. readies to wrap up its combat role in Iraq

White House says pullout is on schedule

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON � President Obama is satisfied that the United States can finish its combat role in Iraq safely at the end of this month and meet the deadline for removing all U.S. troops from the country by the end of 2011, White House officials said Wednesday.

Obama was briefed on the status of the withdrawal from Iraq by his national security team and the top U.S. commander in Iraq. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the president also was brought up to date on Iraq's so far unsuccessful efforts to form a new government five months after national elections.

Obama met with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, national security adviser James Jones and, by videoconference, the U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno.

"The president heard directly from Gen. Odierno, who said that we were on target to complete our drawdown by the end of August. Already we have removed over 80,000 troops from Iraq since President Obama took office," Gibbs said.

Gibbs and other U.S. officials said an uptick in violence as Aug. 31 draws nearer was expected. They blamed it on the start of the month-long Islamic observance of Ramadan, and efforts by factions to further complicate efforts to form a coalition government and by some militants to create the appearance that they were running the United States out of the country.

Continuing attacks against Iraq's security forces come as the United States is moving to reduce its troop levels to 50,000.

"There continues to be terrorists in Iraq. There continues to be acts of violence," Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told a group of reporters. "They have not affected the positive trends" happening in Iraq and the overall level of violence is lower than it has been in the past, he said.

Gibbs said Odierno told Obama the security situation has continued to improve, and Iraqi forces are fully prepared to take over.

Obama has vowed both to end the official U.S. combat mission on schedule and to move all remaining U.S. troops off Iraqi soil by the end of 2011, a timetable set in an agreement with the Iraqi government.

The president also received an update from Vice President Biden and Christopher Hill, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, on Iraq's troubled efforts to form a new government.

Biden's national security adviser, Tony Blinken, said frustration is building among Iraqis over failure to form a governing coalition. "We really believe there is forward movement," he said. "But it's not up to us."

In a National Public Radio interview from Baghdad, Hill said the pace of political progress has quickened in recent weeks, and "things may be heading in the right direction" even though "more needs to be done."

White House officials sought to blunt suggestions that the 2011 deadline for removing all remaining troops might be impossible to meet. "All systems in the U.S. government are getting down to … 'there will be no troops (in Iraq) after 2011,' " Rhodes said. He said an exception would be security forces to protect the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.