President Barack Obama announced Friday plans to pull US combat forces out of Iraq by August 2010. Obama broke the news at Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina.

President Barack Obama: “As a candidate for president, I made clear my support for a timeline of sixteen months to carry out this drawdown, while pledging to consult closely with our military commanders upon taking office to ensure that we preserve the gains we’ve made and to protect our troops. These consultations are now complete, and I have chosen a time line that will remove our combat brigades over the next eighteen months.”