Arun Kumar

Washington, Sep 2 (IANS): US President Barack Obama declared the end of a wounding US combat mission in Iraq Tuesday, that resulted in 4,400 soldier deaths, while signalling escalation of the conflict in Afghanistan to defeat terrorists harboured in the region bordering Pakistan.

"As we speak, Al Qaeda continues to plot against us, and its leadership remains anchored in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan," he said Tuesday in a prime time nationally televised address from the Oval Office.

After seven long years of bloodshed, "It is time to turn the page" in Iraq, he said claiming no victory and suggesting America's most urgent priority now must be fixing its own recession hit economy and the war in Afghanistan.

"We will disrupt, dismantle, and defeat Al Qaeda, while preventing Afghanistan from again serving as a base for terrorists," he said. "And because of our drawdown in Iraq, we are now able to apply the resources necessary to go on offence."

"In fact, over the last 19 months, nearly a dozen Al Qaeda leaders -and hundreds of Al Qaeda's extremist allies-have been killed or captured around the world," Obama said.

"But, as was the case in Iraq, we cannot do for Afghans what they must ultimately do for themselves," he said making clear that from next July, US will begin a transition to Afghan responsibility as announced.

However, "The pace of our troop reductions will be determined by conditions on the ground, and our support for Afghanistan will endure," Obama assured. "But make no mistake: this transition will begin - because open-ended war serves neither our interests nor the Afghan people's."

He said the United States "has paid a huge price" to give Iraqis the chance to shape their future - a price that now includes more than 4,400 dead, tens of thousands of troops wounded and hundreds of billions of dollars spent since March 2003.

In his remarks of slightly less than 20 minutes, only his second address from the Oval Office, Obama declared: "Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country."

"Our most urgent task is to restore our economy and put the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs back to work," he said. "This will be difficult. But in the days to come, it must be our central mission as a people and my central responsibility as president."

Obama ignored Republican suggestions that he acknowledge a personal mistake and give credit to for executing the 2007 troop surge. Obama, then a senator, and other Democratic senators at the time opposed the surge.

But Obama was careful not to declare "Mission Accomplished," a slogan that haunted former President George W. Bush for much of his presidency. The US has "no illusions" that violence has ended, Deputy National Security Adviser Benjamin Rhodes said.

Noting that "Sectarian tensions remain a fact of life, Al Qaeda in Iraq is beaten, but not gone," Defence Secretary Robert Gates declared in a speech to the American Legion's national convention: "This is not a time for premature victory parades or self-congratulations."