After an intense week of travel to the U.K., France, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Turkey, President Obama made an unannounced trip to Iraq. There he met with Iraqi leaders, but emphasized that the visit's primary purpose was "to say thank you to the troops."
"You have given Iraq the opportunity to stand on its own as a democratic country," he told them. "This is an extraordinary achievement, and for that you have the thanks of the American people." He also reiterated his pledge to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq by 2011, and challenged Iraqis to "take responsibility for their country and their sovereignty."
He also met with Iraqi President Talabani and Prime Minister al-Maliki. In a joint press statement with al-Maliki, Obama emphasized that "it's absolutely critical that all Iraqis are fully integrated into the government and the security forces."
Despite the six car bombings yesterday that killed at least 33 people, over the past several months, violence in Iraq has decreased to the lowest levels since 2003. A poll by CNN and Opinion Research Corp. indicates that about 70% of the American public supports the plan for withdrawal, but the president has no plans to speed up the present timetable to bring the troops home.
Of course, even if the plan for withdrawal from Iraq goes according to plan, the president has his work cut out for him in Afghanistan.