U.S. reduces troop presence in Iraq to 50,000

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The United States has  completed the drawdown of its forces to Iraq to 50,000 ahead of  the scheduled Aug. 31 date, a senior administration official  said yesterday.

He added the combat mission was not yet over and would  continue until Aug. 31. “We have drawn down to 50,000, but to be clear, the mission  changes on the 31st, when brigades that are left are  re-missioned to advise-and-assist brigades,” a senior Obama  administration said.

The Pentagon has said the remaining 50,000 troops will also  continue to train Iraqi armed forces and police units.

NBC News reported that the last U.S. combat troops had left  Iraq and crossed the border into Kuwait, more than seven years  after a U.S.-led invasion toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam  Hussein.

An NBC reporter traveling with the convoy said the troops  from the 4th Stryker Brigade drove through the night and  arrived in Kuwait just before 4 a.m. local time, with TV  footage showing the convoy rolling through the border gates and  the gate shutting as the last vehicle passed through.

Administration officials said the NBC report was premature.  The official said it had never been the U.S. intention to wait  until Aug. 31 to remove the last troops scheduled for the  drawdown.

As a presidential candidate, President Barack Obama  campaigned to end the war responsibly, and as president he has  been explicit in his assurances to Americans that not a single  U.S. service member will remain in Iraq come Jan. 1, 2012.

While violence has dipped sharply since the height of  sectarian warfare from 2006-2007, Iraq is still extremely  fragile and its leaders have not resolved a number of  politically explosive issues that could easily trigger renewed  fighting.

The war in Iraq has gone on longer than the U.S. Civil War,  World War One and World War Two. Opinion polls show Americans  are tired of nearly a decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

As of yesterday, the Defense Department said there were  4,419 U.S. military deaths since the Iraq invasion.