US: Obama warns of more 'senseless' violence in Iraq
Tue Aug 18 04:44:00 EST 2009
PHOENIX, Arizona, Aug 17 AFP - President Barack Obama warned on Monday that Iraqis would be tested by more "senseless" violence but vowed the United States would meet its deadline to pull out all troops by the end of 2011.
"As Iraqis take control of their destiny, Iraqis will be tested and targeted," Obama told the Veterans of Foreign Wars organisation in the southwestern state of Arizona.
"Those who seek to sow sectarian division will attempt more senseless bombings, more killing of innocents. This we know.
"But as we move forward, the Iraqi people must know that the United States will keep its commitments.
"The American people must know that we will move forward with our strategy, we will begin removing our combat brigades from Iraq later this year.
"We will remove all our combat brigades by the end of next August. And we will remove all our troops from Iraq by the end of 2011. And for America, the Iraq war will end."
