American President Barack Obama made an unannounced visit to Iraq today, the New York Times reported Tuesday. This is Obama's first visit to Iraq since he became president. Barack Obama, 2009Air Force One touched down at 4:42 p.m. local time (1:42 p.m. UTC, 9:42 EDT), amid heavy security at Baghdad International Airport. Gibbs also said that Obama planned to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki, but poor weather in Baghdad means that Obama will likely talk to the prime minister and Iraqi President Jalal Talibani by telephone. American troops are slated to leave Iraq by August 2010, with the New York Times reporting that troop levels will continue to be high until Iraq's federal elections in December. "I have a responsibility to make sure that as we bring troops out, that we do so in a careful enough way that we don't see a complete collapse into violence," Mr. Obama said, according to the New York Times. "So some people might say, wait, I thought you were opposed to the war, why don't you just get them all out right away? Well, just because I was opposed at the outset it doesn't mean that I don’t have now responsibilities to make sure that we do things in a responsible fashion."
American President Barack Obama made an unannounced visit to Iraq today, The New York Times reported Tuesday. This is Obama's first visit to Iraq since he became president. Barack Obama, 2009 Air Force One touched down at 4:42 p.m. local time (1:42 p.m. UTC, 9:42 EDT), amid heavy security at Baghdad International Airport. Gibbs also said that Obama planned to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, but poor weather in Baghdad means that Obama will likely talk to the prime minister and Iraqi President Jalal Talibani by telephone. American troops are slated to leave Iraq by August 2010, with The New York Times reporting that troop levels will continue to be high until Iraq's federal elections in December. "I have a responsibility to make sure that as we bring troops out, that we do so in a careful enough way that we don't see a complete collapse into violence," Mr. Obama said, according to The New York Times. "So some people might say, wait, I thought you were opposed to the war, why don't you just get them all out right away? Well, just because I was opposed at the outset it doesn't mean that I don’t have now responsibilities to make sure that we do things in a responsible fashion."
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