President Obama will withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of the year, ending a long war that deeply divided the country over its origins and the American lives it consumed. 
 
 In a Friday morning video conference, Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki agreed to a complete U.S. military departure that will fulfill a promise important to Obama’s reelection effort. The decision drew sharp criticism from his Republican rivals, as well as expressions of relieved support from those who believe it is time for the United States to conclude a war Obama once called “dumb.” 
 
 For months, U.S. and Iraqi officials had been negotiating the terms of an accord that would have kept several thousand U.S. troops in Iraq for special operations and training beyond the year-end deadline set by the George W. Bush administration. 
 
 But Obama and Maliki, who have never developed much personal chemistry, failed to reach agreement on the legal status of U.S. troops who would stay in Iraq beyond Dec. 31. As a result, only a contingent of fewer than 200 Marines assigned to help protect the large U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad will remain, along with a small number of other personnel to provide training related to new military sales and other tasks. 
 
 “The rest of our troops in Iraq will come home,” Obama said Friday at the White House, adding that they will “be home for the holidays.” 
 
 “After nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over,” he said. 
 
 The negotiations foundered over the U.S. demand that American troops receive legal immunity for their actions, a request Maliki was ultimately unable to sell to the anti-U.S. elements of his governing coalition after a war that many Iraqis believe has permanently altered their country for the worse. 
 
 The departure of U.S. forces could pose security problems for the Iraqi government, still beset by sectarian and ethnic divisions. There are 39,000 U.S. troops in Iraq today, about 100,000 fewer than when Obama took office. About 16,000 U.S. diplomats and civilian contractors will remain posted in Iraq. 
 
 If sectarian strife or other violence should break out in Iraq once U.S. forces have left, Obama could be blamed for abandoning Iraq before it was ready to protect itself. Such criticism came quickly Friday from Republicans vying for the presidency next year. 
 
 But the result also allows for a more definitive conclusion to the U.S. military intervention in Iraq, which has cost the United States nearly $1 trillion and more than 4,400 American lives. Obama, who separated himself from the crowded Democratic field in 2008 in part through his clear opposition to the Iraq war, will be able to tell voters as he confronts a difficult reelection campaign that he has overseen the promised end to the Iraq conflict. 
 
 Although foreign policy does not rank high in voters’ minds at a time of economic stress at home, Obama used his appearance Friday to showcase some of his accomplishments in winding down expensive wars and killing declared enemies. 
 
 Obama noted that, after the initial troop surge he authorized in Afghanistan, he is withdrawing forces from that decade-old battlefield. He recalled the killing of Osama bin Laden in May and the “definitive end” of Moammar Gaddafi’s long, erratic rule in Libya. 
 
 “So to sum up, the United States is moving forward from a position of strength,” Obama said before shifting the focus of his brief remarks to the economy. 
 
 “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,” he said. 
 
 The plan conforms with the agreement negotiated by the Bush administration to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq at the end of 2011 — something that many of Obama’s Republican rivals failed to note in statements criticizing the complete withdrawal. 
 
 Among them was Mitt Romney, a front-runner for the nomination who has staked out a hawkish foreign policy position. In a statement, Romney said that the “astonishing failure to secure an orderly transition in Iraq has unnecessarily put at risk the victories that were won through the blood and sacrifice of thousands of American men and women.” 
 
 Obama administration officials and Maliki’s government have focused on how many U.S. troops should stay to continue training Iraqi national forces and monitoring potential flash points, such as the boundary between the Kurdish north and the rest of Iraq. 
 
 “Our forces are good, but not to a sufficient degree that allows them to face external and internal challenges alone,” Col. Salam Khaled of the 6th Brigade of the Iraqi army said Friday. “The loyalty of forces is not to their homeland. The loyalty is to the political parties and to the sects.” 
 
 Administration officials said Iraqi forces are indeed prepared to preserve the nation’s stability. 
 
 “One assessment after another about the Iraqi security forces came back saying these guys are ready, these guys are capable, these guys are proven,” Denis McDonough, the deputy national security adviser, told reporters. 
 
 Obama’s announcement came as Turkey engaged in counteroffensive strikes against Kurdish rebels in the semiautonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. The action is supported by NATO and the United States. 
 
 In the case of the Kurdish region, the U.S. troop withdrawal could be positive “because [the Americans] are helping Turkey in the aggression,” independent Iraqi lawmaker Mahmoud Othman, who is from the region, said in a phone interview. “So maybe it’s better for them not to be around.” 
 
 In a statement this week, factional leader Moqtada al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric who strongly opposes the U.S. presence in Iraq, said that there must first be a complete withdrawal and that training would be allowed “only if a new agreement has been concluded once the withdrawal is completed and the oppressed Iraqi people are financially compensated.” 
 
 Earlier this year, as concerns mounted over ongoing insurgent strikes and Iranian influence in Iraq, the administration made clear its willingness to continue tasks such as training, air defense, intelligence and reconnaissance, and joint counterterrorism missions. 
 
 Throughout the summer, the White House urged the Iraqis to come up with a list of tasks they would like U.S. forces to continue and informally spoke of leaving between 3,000 and 10,000 troops behind. 
 
 Ultimately, minority Kurdish and Sunni leaders pressed for an agreement that would allow U.S. troops to remain. But Sadr and other opponents continued to oppose a deal, and the talks finally faltered on the immunity question. 
 
 “We will continue discussions on how we might help Iraq train and equip its forces — again, just as we offer training and assistance to countries around the world,” Obama said. “After all, there will be some difficult days ahead for Iraq, and the United States will continue to have an interest in an Iraq that is stable, secure and self-reliant.” 
 
 Staff writer Dan Zak in Baghdad and special correspondent Uthman al-Mokhtar in Fallujah contributed to this report. ||||| President Barack Obama on Friday declared an end to the Iraq war, one of the longest and most divisive conflicts in U.S. history, announcing that all U.S. troops would be withdrawn from the country by year's end. 
 
 President Barack Obama speaks in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Oct 21, 2011, address the status of U.S. forces in Iraq. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (Associated Press) 
 
 Obama's statement put an end to months of wrangling over whether the U.S. would maintain a force in Iraq beyond 2011. 
 
 "After nearly nine years," the president, "America's war in Iraq will be over." 
 
 He spoke at the White House after a private video conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and he offered assurances that the two leaders agreed on the decision. 
 
 The American withdrawal by the end of 2011 was sealed in a deal between the two countries when George W. Bush was president. Obama declared the end of the combat mission earlier this year. ||||| President Barack Obama on Friday declared an end to the Iraq war, one of the longest and most divisive conflicts in U.S. history, announcing that all U.S. troops would be withdrawn from the country by year's end. 
 
 U.S. soldiers take a rest in the shade of armoured vehicles at a courtyard at Camp Liberty in Baghdad. U.S troops are scheduled to pull out of the country by the end of this year, according to President Barack Obama. 
 
 “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,” Obama said. 
 
 The withdrawal of American troops marks a major milestone in the war that started in 2003 and resulted in the removal of Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. 
 
 "Today I can say that troops in Iraq will be home for the holidays," the president said. 
 
 Obama, eyeing a 2012 re-election campaign likely to be fought over his handling of the U.S. economy, is looking to wind down a decade of war in the Muslim world that did lasting damage to the U.S. image worldwide and stretched its military and budget to the brink. 
 
 "Over the next two months, our troops in Iraq, tens of thousands of them, will pack up their gear and board convoys for the journey home,'' Obama said. 
 
 "The last American soldier will cross the border out of Iraq with their heads held high, proud of their success, and knowing that the American people stand united in our support for our troops,'' Obama said. "That is how America's military efforts in Iraq will end.'' 
 
 The U.S. military role in Iraq has been mostly reduced to advising the security forces in a country where levels of violence had declined sharply from a peak of sectarian strife in 2006-2007, but attacks remain a daily occurrence. 
 
 The U.S. has been withdrawing about 520 military personnel every day in accordance with the mission set by Obama in early 2009, sources told NBC News. 
 
 Denis McDonough, the White House's deputy national security adviser, said that in addition to the standard Marine security detail, the U.S. will also have 4,000 to 5,000 contractors to provide security for U.S. diplomats, including at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and U.S. consulates in Basra and Erbil. 
 
 US troops in Iraq 
 
 In Iraq, where the U.S. force peaked at around 190,000 during the height of President George W. Bush's troop surge in 2007, almost 4,500 U.S. soldiers have died and the war has cost U.S. taxpayers over $700 billion in military spending alone. 
 
 Even as leaders of Iraq's fragile democracy seek to distance themselves from Washington, Iraq is only slowly getting to its feet after years of ferocious violence that shattered its society and killed tens of thousands of people. 
 
 While Washington has hailed Iraq's halting progress, especially as tumult has swept the Middle East, its political system remains gripped by perennial deadlock on issues dividing a religiously and ethnically fractured country. 
 
 Violence there is a far cry from the sectarian slaughter of 2006-07, but Iraq still suffers daily attacks from a stubborn insurgency allied with al-Qaida, and from Shi'ite militiamen. 
 
 "I wish we had been able to make more progress in resolving the internal differences while our troops are still there," said retired Gen. Brent Scowcroft, who was national security advisor to President George H.W. Bush, and became a prominent Cassandra before the Iraq war. 
 
 Shared vision for Iraq? 
 
 Obama's announcement in the White House briefing room was freighted with political overtones. 
 
 The president, who was an early opponent of the war and campaigned on a promise to end it, repeated his mantra that "The tide of war is receding." 
 
 But prominent Republicans criticized the president. Sen. John McCain told Reuters the decision went against the advice of U.S. military commanders, could embolden Iran and likely will be met with alarm by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is already concerned about U.S. commitment to his country. 
 
 "In retrospect, I don't think the political side of the Obama administration ever had any serious intentions of keeping a residual force there because none of their actions were serious," said McCain, ranking GOP member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. 
 
 Obama made his announcement after a video conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. He said the two leaders agreed to stick to an earlier arrangement to pull the remaining 40,000 U.S. troops by year's end. 
 
 About 160 U.S. soldiers will remain behind under State Department authority to train Iraqi forces along with a small contingent of soldiers guarding the U.S. Embassy. There will also likely be a U.S. special operations presence in Iraq. 
 
 But the announcement underscores the gaps that remain between U.S. and Iraqi priorities and political realities. 
 
 But administration officials said they feel confident that the Iraqi security forces are well prepared to take the lead in their country. McDonough said assessment after assessment of the preparedness of Iraqi forces concluded that "these guys are ready; these guys are capable; these guys are proven; importantly, they're proven because they've been tested in a lot of the kinds of threats that they're going to see going forward. 
 
 "So we feel very good about that." 
 
 Earlier this week, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said American and Iraqi officials were continuing discussions that might permit his soldiers to stay beyond the December 31 deadline.
– A holiday present for families of soldiers serving in Iraq: Everybody's coming home by the end of the year, President Obama announced today. "After nearly nine years, America's war in Iraq will be over," said Obama, who had announced the end of the combat mission earlier this year, notes AP. The US had considered leaving several thousand troops in the country for special ops and training but could not reach an agreement on that with the Iraqi government, reports the Washington Post. That means the only US forces in the country next year will be the relative handful, about 150, necessary to provide protection for the US embassy and American diplomats. "Today I can say that troops in Iraq will be home for the holidays," said Obama, who spoke earlier in the day with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. More than 4,400 American forces have been killed since the US invaded in 2003, notes MSNBC.