All U.S. troops in Iraq are to be withdrawn by the end of 2011, President Barack Obama announced at a White House press conference. “After nearly nine years, the long war in Iraq will come to an end by the end of this year,” stated the president, who noted that he had talked to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki earlier in the day and that they were both in agreement about the withdrawal of all American forces.

The Iraq War, launched in March 2003, cost the lives of approximately 4,400 U.S. troops, some 250 coalition troops, and more than $1 trillion. An estimated 100,000 to 150,000 Iraqis died in war-related violence. The rationale for the war–that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction–proved not to be true.

Iraq War: Invasion by coalition forces

Additional World Book articles:

• George W Bush
• Richard Cheney
• Saddam Hussein
• The War in Iraq and Its Aftermath (a special report)

Tags: barack obama, george w. bush, iraq war, nouri al-maliki