Election+of+08+-+Iraq+War

**War in Iraq**
During the Election of 2008, the ongoing [|War in Iraq] was a huge issue among the candidates. John McCain, the Republican candidate, was in support of the War, while Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate, opposed it. Obama's strong opposition to the war actually helped him gain even more support from the public, while McCain's quote that the war could last another "50 to 100 years" created a dent in his campaign. Eventually Obama's promise to pull out of the war in the future would aid him in winning the presidency.



Now that Barack Obama is the 44th [|President], the public has made it clear that they want to know what will happen with the Iraq War. As promised, on Febuary 27, 2009, President Obama announced the within the next 18 months he would end operations and pull out troops in Iraq. The official pulling out of troops will come to an end in August of 2010. Obama decided it would be safer and smarter to do a gradual transistion by reducing troop numbers from 142,000 and at the same time, leaving an addtional 35,000 to 50,000 troops in Iraq until 2011. These additional soldiers will be in Iraq to protect America's embassy and our diplomats. President Obama has also decided not to build any permanent bases in Iraq and his main goal is change the soldiers' mission from combat operations to anti/counter-terrorism.

Another part of Obama's plan to minimize involvement in Iraq is to work with Iraq's neighboring countries, including Iran and Syria. His plan includes a compact to secure Iraq's borders, isolate the terrorist group al Qaeda and separate other countries from becoming involved and meddling with Iraq. Obama is also planning to hold a convention in Iraq (involving the United Nations) which will engage many of Iraq's representatives to rethink and re-plan the Iraq Constitution and government.

__**Sources:**__ [|Homeland Security] [|Iraq War Stats]

 **Additional Topics for Election of '08:** Vocabulary AP PARTS Health Care Domestic Policy Economy Obama's Political and Personal Life