Obama welcomes returning troops

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Obama welcomes returning troops

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President Obama attends special ceremony with returning troops to mark the end of the war in Iraq.

21 December,2011 01:42 pm

US President Barack Obama welcomed home troops from Iraq in a special ceremony at Andrews Airforce Base to commemorate the end of deployment on Tuesday.The president was joined by Vice-President Biden as they saw the return of the United States Forces-Iraq Flag return to home soil to mark the symbolic end of the war there.Obama and Biden greeted General Lloyd Austin, who is the last commanding general of US forces in Iraq, and his top command staff on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews.Neither the president nor vice-president spoke at the event, but they both greeted the troops and their families.General Austin called the troops the next greatest generation.Theres one thing that particularly impresses me about our force. That is that a significant number of those who served in Iraq answered the call to arms after the life altering events of 9/11, knowing that they might go into harms way. Even more impressive is that after multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them have re-enlisted to continue serving our nation. Now these are the things that make them the next greatest generation, he told the troops.Bringing American troops home from Iraq was one of President Obamas key platforms during his election campaign, which he achieved after early set-backs during the start of his term in office.