LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – In the wake of President Barack Obama's Friday announcement that the remaining US troops in Iraq would be withdrawn, Lake County's congressman applauded the final end to the Iraq war.

After announcing last year that the United States' combat mission in Iraq was ending, with the removal of 100,000 troops, on Friday Obama said that – with Iraqis taking full responsibility for their country’s security – the rest of the troops are coming home by year's end, in time for the holidays.

“After nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over,” Obama said.

Congressman Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena), who represents Lake County in the US House of Representatives, applauded the news.

“Today’s announcement that all United States troops will be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of the year is overdue, but welcome news,” said Thompson.

Thompson, a Vietnam combat veteran who opposed the Iraq war from the start, is a senior member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and has spent several years working as part of the group on intelligence and security related issues.

“Our country has sacrificed enormously in this conflict, suffering the loss of more than 4,400 brave American soldiers and spending more than $1 trillion,” he said. “More than 32,000 servicemen and women have been wounded.”

He added, “As a combat veteran, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart to the brave men and women who have served in Iraq, each with great distinction, and to their families. Our troops have done an outstanding job. They have done all that we asked of them and more. Now it is time to bring them home to their families and for the Iraqis to take full control of their country’s defenses.”

Obama said that as US troops prepare to come home over the next two months, they can hold their heads high and be proud of their success. “That is how America’s military efforts in Iraq will end.”

The president said that as of Jan. 1, in keeping with the United States' Strategic Framework Agreement with Iraq, the two countries will have “a normal relationship between sovereign nations, an equal partnership based on mutual interests and mutual respect.”

Obama said the drawdown in Iraq allowed the United States to refocus its fight against al Qaeda.

“Now, even as we remove our last troops from Iraq, we’re beginning to bring our troops home from Afghanistan, where we’ve begun a transition to Afghan security and leadership,” the president said. “When I took office, roughly 180,000 troops were deployed in both these wars. And by the end of this year that number will be cut in half, and make no mistake: It will continue to go down.”

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