US President Barack Obama declared an end to the seven-year US combat mission in Iraq last night and promised to repair the US economy.
Mr Obama said he had fulfilled a 2008 campaign promise to end US combat operations in Iraq and declared the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for their security.
'Now, it is time to turn the page,' Mr Obama said in last night's Oval Office address, speaking from the same desk George W Bush had used to declare the 2003 start of the war.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki yesterday told Iraqis that their country 'is sovereign and independent'.
But many Iraqis are apprehensive as the US presence is scaled down, with violence continuing and efforts to form a new government stalled six months after an election.
The US has spent almost $1 trillion and more than 4,400 US soldiers have been killed since the war began. More than 100,000 Iraqis have been killed since the invasion.
A recent CBS News poll found 72% of US citizens now believe the war was not worth the loss of lives.
The impasse in Iraq has raised tension as politicians squabble over power and insurgents carry out attacks aimed at undermining faith in domestic security forces.
Mr Obama called on Iraqi leaders to move ahead with a 'sense of urgency' to form an inclusive government.
'Our combat mission is ending, but our commitment to Iraq's future is not,' he said.
The president, who opposed the war and the troop surge launched by Mr Bush in 2007, said he spoke to Mr Bush earlier in the day by phone.
He stopped short of praising Mr Bush, as Republicans have demanded, for the surge which many believe helped turn the tide in the war.
'It's well known that he and I disagreed about the war from its outset. Yet no one could doubt President Bush's support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security,' Mr Obama said.
The US is looking to Mr Obama for leadership on boosting the economy at a time of fears of a double-dip recession.
In the same sober tone he used to discuss the war, Mr Obama sought to allay those fears.
'Today, our most urgent task is to restore our economy, and put the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs back to work,' he said.
'This will be difficult. But in the days to come, it must be our central mission as a people, and my central responsibility as president.'
