U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Iraq on Tuesday in a surprise visit to see American troops and discuss their withdrawal with Iraqi leaders.
Obama’s visit to Iraq, his first since taking office three months ago, came at the end of a European tour that included economic and NATO summits.
According to the BBC, Obama arrived at Baghdad's international airport on Air Force One in the late afternoon, local time. He was taken immediately by road to meet Gen Ray Odierno, the U.S. military commander in Iraq, and some of the 140,000 U.S. soldiers serving in the country.
"We spent a lot of time trying to get Afghanistan right [but] there's still a lot of work to be done here," he said.
President Obama, who has called for an end to U.S. combat operations in Iraq by August next year, also said that the next 18 months could be "critical" and told the Iraqis that they would soon have to look after themselves.
"It is time for us to transfer (control) to the Iraqis," Obama told soldiers gathered at Camp Victory military base near Baghdad, AFP reported.
"They need to take responsibility for their country," he said.
President Obama also told the soldiers that they had helped Iraq to "stand on its own as a democratic country".
"That is an extraordinary achievement, and for that you have the thanks of the American people," he said.
The President also said his presence in Iraq could help the country's competing political factions to reach "equitable" solutions to the issues facing Iraqis.
President Obama thanked Gen Odierno for "helping to lead a very effective operation" in Iraq.
In addition to the planned U.S. withdrawal, Obama and Odierno also talked about diplomatic and political challenges, the need to build strong Iraqi institutions and the importance of future general elections, AFP reported.
The president then shook hands with many of the soldiers, who greeted him with cheers.
President Obama announced last February a new plan for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by August 2010, although a force of about 50,000 will remain until the end of the following year.
A military agreement between Iraq and the U.S. requires all American soldiers to leave Iraq by the end of 2011.
American officials said President Obama would have talks by telephone with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani while in Iraq, and would meet Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in person at Camp Victory.
Reports say President Obama couldn’t travel into the city to meet President Talabani as planned due to weather conditions but correspondents say this may have been a diplomatic excuse to keep the visit short to allow Mr Obama to return to the United States to deal with domestic issues.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Obama had chosen to visit Iraq rather than Afghanistan, where the U.S. is also engaged in conflict, to show Iraqi leaders that the way forward for the country lies "in political solutions".
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