Obama pledges US will be a loyal partner for Iraq

US President Barack Obama and visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki have remembered the almost 4,500 American troops killed in the Iraq War.

With US forces set to leave by the end of the year, the pair jointly laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery for fallen American service members.

Iraqi casualties in the conflict are thought to exceed 100,000.

Hosting Iraq’s premier, Obama pledged that Washington would remain a strong partner.

“In the coming days, the last American soldiers will cross the border out of Iraq, with honour and with their heads held high,” he told a news conference.

“There should be no doubt the drawdown in Iraq has allowed us to refocus our resources to achieve progress in Afghanistan, put al Qaeda on the path to defeat and to better prepare for the full range of challenges that lie ahead.”

For Obama, the war’s end is an accomplishment he can put before voters in his bid for re-election next year. But as final handovers are completed, some fear a power vacuum in Iraq that its neighbour Iran could exploit.

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