WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2010 – President Barack Obama today announced the official end to combat operations in Iraq during a prime-time Oval Office address, declaring “a new beginning” for the Iraqi people.

“Operation Iraqi Freedom is over,” Obama said, speaking just hours after the launch of Operation New Dawn in Iraq. “The Iraqi people now have the lead responsibility for the security of their country.”

Obama offered high praise for the men and women in uniform whose service and sacrifice led to this “historic moment” in time. (continue reading…)

RAMADI, Iraq, Jan. 25, 2010 – The 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force transferred authority of Iraq’s largest province to the Army’s 1st Armored Division in a Jan. 23 ceremony here that marked the end of the Marine Corps’ mission in Iraq.

Before the ceremony, 1st Armored Division’s area of operations, as U.S. Division Center, encompassed Baghdad and its surrounded communities. Now, it extends the throughout Iraq’s Anbar province, a vast landscape spanning more than 53,000 square miles in western Iraq.

“This is a pivotal moment in the history of Iraq,” said Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Richard T. Tryon, commander of 2nd MEF (Forward), the 2nd Marine Division, and U.S. Force West.

Marines have been at the heart of almost every major Iraq campaign period since February 2004, from the early battles in Najaf and Fallujah, along the western Euphrates River Valley from Qaim to Rawah, and continuing with the pivotal Sunni “Awakening” that many historians and diplomatic experts credit as the turning of the tide against al-Qaida in Iraq.

“Since early 2004, the U.S. Marines serving in Al Anbar have consistently exemplified their motto, ‘Semper Fi – Always Faithful,’” said Army Lt. Gen. Charles H. Jacoby Jr., U.S. Forces Iraq deputy commanding general for operations and commander of the Army’s 1st Corps. “They have been especially faithful to the people of Al Anbar, the focal point of their mission in Iraq. Anbaris are resilient people who have sacrificed dearly but now emerge as stronger people.” (continue reading…)

BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AP) — The airplane is the size of a jet fighter, powered by a turboprop engine, able to fly at 300 mph and reach 50,000 feet. It is outfitted with infrared, laser and radar targeting, and with a ton and a half of guided bombs and missiles. The Reaper is loaded, but there is no one on board. Its pilot, as it bombs targets in Iraq, will sit at a video console 7,000 miles away in Nevada.

The arrival of these outsized U.S. “hunter-killer” drones, in aviation history’s first robot attack squadron, will be a watershed moment even in an Iraq that has seen too many innovative ways to hunt and kill.

That moment, one the Air Force will likely low-key, is expected “soon,” says the regional U.S. air commander. How soon? “We’re still working that,” Lt. Gen. Gary North said in an interview.

The Reaper’s first combat deployment is expected in Afghanistan, and senior Air Force officers estimate it will land in Iraq sometime between this fall and next spring. They look forward to it.

“With more Reapers, I could send manned airplanes home,” North said. (continue reading…)