President Obama dropped in unannounced on Iraq this week, meeting with top U.S. commanders and Iraqi officials and telling a cheering crowd of soldiers that it’s time for Iraqis “to take responsibility for their country and their sovereignty.” Speaking at Camp Victory, the main U.S. military installation, he reaffirmed his determination to withdraw most of the 139,000 U.S. troops in Iraq by the end of 2010. During his five-hour visit, Obama conferred with Gen. Ray Odierno, the senior U.S. commander in Iraq, as well as with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. He pressed al-Maliki to speed up political reconciliation efforts with Sunnis and forge an oil revenue sharing agreement among the Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds. “It is time to transition to the Iraqis,” Obama said. “We can’t do it for them.”
Obama arrived in Baghdad from Turkey, where he addressed the parliament in Ankara and met with university students in Istanbul. He told legislators that “the U.S. is not—and will never be—at war with Islam.” In Istanbul, he acknowledged that America “has made mistakes,” but said we’ve learned from them. His visit fulfilled a campaign pledge to visit a majority-Muslim country during his first 100 days in office.
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