Obama Sending Troops Home from Iraq

The U.S. will pull out all troops by Christmas after talks about a lasting American presence in the region collapsed.

As promised, President Obama announced that he would send home all American troops from Iraq by Christmas. The last 40,000 troops are being withdrawn after nearly nine years of war, (remember that time Bush decided to topple Saddam Hussein?), 4,500 troops have died, and nearly $700 billion has been spent. The president’s talks with Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to negotiate a more permanent presence in a training role failed after Maliki’s coalition rejected legal immunity for American soldiers. Less than 200 soldiers will stay on to train Iraqi forces and guard the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, the largest in the world.

Image courtesy of Reuters