Reuters Tuesday, June 30, 2009; 3:40 PM WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday lauded the pullout of U.S. forces from towns and cities in Iraq as an important step toward a full U.S. troop withdrawal by 2012, but warned of "difficult days" ahead. "Today's transition is further proof that those who have tried to pull Iraq into the abyss of disunion and civil war are on the wrong side of history," Obama said at the White House. Obama, who has made ending the six-year-old Iraq war a top foreign policy priority, was speaking hours after a car bomb in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk killed at least 30 people and wounded 65 others. The bombing underscored the fragility of Iraq's security. The country was almost torn apart by tit-for-tat sectarian attacks in 2006-2007 that killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions more. Despite major bombings in recent weeks, U.S. officials say overall levels of violence are down. "There will be difficult days ahead," Obama said. "We see that already in the senseless bombing in Kirkuk earlier today. And there are those who will test Iraqi security forces and the resolve of the Iraqi people through more sectarian bombings. ... But I'm confident that those forces will fail." Obama said U.S. forces had met a June 30 deadline to complete their withdrawal from urban areas and hand over full control to Iraqi security forces. All U.S. troops are due to withdraw from Iraq by 2012, after invading to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003. Obama said Iraq's future was now "in the hands of its own people," and its Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders had to make some hard choices to resolve disputes that have been obstacles to real political reconciliation. (Reporting by Ross Colvin; Editing by Will Dunham)
Reuters Tuesday, June 30, 2009; 3:40 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday lauded the pullout of U.S. forces from towns and cities in Iraq as an important step toward a full U.S. troop withdrawal by 2012, but warned of "difficult days" ahead.
"Today's transition is further proof that those who have tried to pull Iraq into the abyss of disunion and civil war are on the wrong side of history," Obama said at the White House.
Obama, who has made ending the six-year-old Iraq war a top foreign policy priority, was speaking hours after a car bomb in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk killed at least 30 people and wounded 65 others.
The bombing underscored the fragility of Iraq's security.
The country was almost torn apart by tit-for-tat sectarian attacks in 2006-2007 that killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions more. Despite major bombings in recent weeks, U.S. officials say overall levels of violence are down.
"There will be difficult days ahead," Obama said. "We see that already in the senseless bombing in Kirkuk earlier today. And there are those who will test Iraqi security forces and the resolve of the Iraqi people through more sectarian bombings. ... But I'm confident that those forces will fail."
Obama said U.S. forces had met a June 30 deadline to complete their withdrawal from urban areas and hand over full control to Iraqi security forces. All U.S. troops are due to withdraw from Iraq by 2012, after invading to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Obama said Iraq's future was now "in the hands of its own people," and its Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders had to make some hard choices to resolve disputes that have been obstacles to real political reconciliation.
(Reporting by Ross Colvin; Editing by Will Dunham)
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