Robert Gates in Baghdad
Baghdad - 01-09-2010
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Iraq on Wednesday, a day after U.S. troops formally ended combat operations in the country, according to Reuters news agency. Gates was expected to attend a ceremony in Baghdad at which the U.S. military’s outgoing commander in Iraq, General Raymond Odierno, was due to hand over to the incoming commander, Lieutenant General Lloyd Austin. U.S. President Barack Obama is seeking to fulfill a 2008 election campaign pledge to end the war launched by his predecessor George W. Bush in 2003. U.S. troop numbers in Iraq have fallen below 50,000 ahead of a full withdrawal next year. The U.S. military is scaling back despite continuing attacks and a political deadlock in Iraq that has prevented the formation of a new government six months after the March 2010 election.
Reuters
