U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reiterated President Obama’s statement that combat troops would leave Iraq by the end of this year during an interview with Chris Wallace of Fox News.
“President Obama said that combat troops would leave Iraq by the end of this year, but before he ever said that, the Bush Administration also committed to withdrawing all troops by the end of this year.” – Hillary Clinton Secretary
Clinton stated that the U.S. govenrment always made clear they are open to discussions with the Iraqis if they wanted some kind of continuing presence.
“What we’ve agreed to is a support-and-training mission similar to what we have in countries from Jordan to Colombia, and we will be working with the Iraqis. We will also have a very robust diplomatic presence, and we will fulfill what are the requests that the Iraqis have made to us.”
She explained that the President has fulfilled the commitment he made to the American people. She said under the President’s leadership, they have fulfilled the commitment requested by the Iraqis.
“Iraq is a sovereign, independent nation with whom we have very good relations, and we expect to have a continuing strong security relationship for many years to come.”
