CIAO DATE: 04/2009
December 2008
United States Institute of Peace
President-elect Obama has stated his commitment to withdraw combat brigades from Iraq within 16 months, leaving a residual force of unspecified size for counterterrorism operations, training and equipping Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and protection of Americans. Judging from his statements during the campaign, it appears that the President-elect would like to leave Iraq's internal problems to the Iraqis and treat Iraq as part of overall regional concerns rather than being his central focus.
Resource link: Iraq in the Obama Administration [PDF] - 221K