PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Good afternoon, everybody. As a candidate for president, I pledged to bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end, for the sake of our national security, and to strengthen American leadership around the world. 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.
...So today, I can report that as promised, the rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year. After nearly nine years, America's war in Iraq will be over.
...Here at home, the coming months will be another season of homecomings. Across America, our servicemen and -women will be reunited with their families. Today, I can say that our troops in Iraq will definitely be home for the holidays.
...This December will be a time to reflect on all that we've been through in this war.
...So to sum up, the United States is moving forward from a position of strength. The long war in Iraq will come to an end by the end of this year. The transition in Afghanistan is moving forward. And our troops are finally coming home. As they do, fewer deployments and more time training will help keep our military the very best in the world.
And we welcome home our newest veterans, we'll never stop working to give them and their families the care, the benefits and the opportunities that they have earned.
This includes enlisting our veterans in the greatest challenge that we now face as a nation, creating opportunity and jobs in this country, because after a decade of war, the nation that we need to build and the nation that we will build is our own, an America that sees its economic strength restored, just as we've restored our leadership around the globe.
Thank you very much.
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