He wants to redeploy militarily to strengthen the hand of U.S. imperialism in the Middle East." Burner Plan The Burner Plan, formally entitled A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq, was a 36-page policy paper presented 17 March 2008 by Darcy Burner and other 2008 Democratic congressional candidates, in cooperation with some retired national security officials. The plan outlined policy measures the candidates pledged to support in the 2008 United States presidential election. Formulation of Withdrawal Plans Withdrawals under President Bush On 13 September 2007, President Bush announced that the 168,000 American troops in Iraq at that time would be reduced by 5,700 by Christmas and that additional troops would be withdrawn bringing the total U.S. troop level down from 20 to 15 combat brigades by July 2008. By the end of 2008, U.S. troops in Iraq had been reduced to 146,000. 2008 U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement In 2008 the American and Iraqi governments signed the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement. It included a specific date, 30 June 2009, by which American forces should withdraw from Iraqi cities, and a complete withdrawal date from Iraqi territory by 31 December 2011. On 14 December 2008 then-President George W. Bush signed the security agreement with Iraq. In his fourth and final trip to Iraq, President Bush appeared in a televised news conference with Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki to celebrate the agreement and applauded security gains in Iraq saying that just two years ago "such an agreement seemed impossible". President Obama's speech on 27 February 2009 On 27 February 2009, at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, President Barack Obama announced his revision to the original date of withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq. The revision was to extend the original date of 30 June 2009 for an additional 10 months, to 31 August 2010. President Obama reaffirmed commitment to the original complete withdrawal date of 31 December 2011, set by the agreement between the Bush Administration and the Iraqi government. President Obama defined the task of the transitional force as "training, equipping, and advising Iraqi Security Forces as long as they remain non-sectarian; conducting targeted counter-terrorism missions; and protecting our ongoing civilian and military efforts within Iraq". Withdrawal August 2010 partial withdrawal On 19 August 2010 the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division was the last American combat brigade to withdraw from Iraq. In a speech