Iraq signs troop-withdrawal agreements with Britain and Australia

September 30th, 2009 UK can play only small role in Afghan troop surgeBRIGHTON, England — Britain's defense secretary said Monday that the U.K. has only limited scope to send more troops to Afghanistan, despite calls from military leaders to support U.S.

September 17th, 2009 Biden: Iraq won't alter troop withdrawal timingBAGHDAD — Vice President Joe Biden says he is confident that Iraq will not alter the timetable for the withdrawal of American troops. Biden told reporters in Baghdad on Thursday that there are a number of steps that would have to be taken before Iraq could call a referendum that could alter the so-called status of forces agreement.

July 23rd, 2009 Current troop levels and deaths in AfghanistanCurrent troop levels and deaths since 2001 among leading members of the NATO-led force and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan: UNITED STATES — About 59,000 soldiers, at least 675 died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department.

July 22nd, 2009 Obama says US on schedule to leave Iraq by 2011WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Wednesday that despite continuing violence in Iraq, the U.S. is on schedule to remove all troops by the end of 2011.

July 22nd, 2009 Obama says US will keep pledge to leave IraqWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says violence will continue in Iraq, but that the insurgents will fail. Obama met Wednesday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (NEW-ree ahl MAHL-eh-key) at the White House.

July 2nd, 2009 Obama confident US can abide by pullout agreementWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is telling the Associated Press that he always has reserved the right to adjust the U.S. troop withdrawal timetable in Iraq based on changing circumstances.

June 5th, 2009 US military reports 2 US troop deaths in IraqBAGHDAD — The U.S. military on Friday reported two American troop deaths in Iraq, including a soldier who was killed in a grenade attack north of Baghdad.

June 4th, 2009 Romanian contingent ends Iraq deploymentBAGHDAD — Romania's small military contingent ended its deployment in Iraq on Thursday, reducing the U.S.-led coalition to three countries. In Iraq's north, another U.S.

May 29th, 2009 US soldier killed in northern Iraq, military saysBAGHDAD — The U.S. military says an American soldier has been killed in a grenade attack in northern Iraq.

March 31st, 2009 BAGHDAD - The British military Tuesday formally transferred control of its base in the southern Iraqi city of Basra to US forces in a ceremony attended by Iraqi leaders. The transfer follows Britain's agreement last year to withdraw all but 500 of the 4,100 troops it had stationed in Iraq ahead of its complete military withdrawal from the country in July.

March 31st, 2009 BAGHDAD - The British army is to begin Tuesday its official troops withdrawal from Iraq's southern city of Basra, a police source said. American troops are expected to replace the withdrawing British troops, which were stationed in Basra's air-base during the past six years since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the source said.

January 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Describing Afghanistan as the greatest military challenge for the US, Defence Secretary Robert Gates has indicated that missile strikes in Pakistan will continue to root out Al Qaeda members based across the porous border. 'There is little doubt that our greatest military challenge right now is Afghanistan,' Gates said in his first comments to the Congress as President Barack Obama's defence secretary Tuesday.

January 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The elections in Iraq Jan 31 are the first of three this year that will be critical for evaluating the country's stability and determining how quickly US President Barack Obama can move forward on a campaign promise to order larger withdrawals of combat troops. Iraqis are set to cast ballots in provincial elections followed later this year by local and then national elections in what is seen as a test of political reconciliation especially between rival Shiite and Sunni populations.

January 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US military is to deploy about 20,000 Marines to Afghanistan in six to eight months, a senior military officer has said. 'The time is right for Marines to leave Iraq,' Marine Commandant James Conway told reporters here, adding that the deployment is a result of troop withdrawal from Iraq.

January 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US president-elect Barack Obama would deal with military withdrawal from Iraq and the domestic financial crisis after his swearing-in, incoming White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Sunday. 'First he's going to meet with his economic team to see where we are on an economic recovery and re-investment plan ...