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WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Barack Obama said U.S.-Iraqi ties are entering a new period, a change marked by a decreased emphasis on security and an increased focus on the economy.

Appearing before reporters Tuesday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki - in Washington to attend the two-day Iraq Investment and Business Conference and meet with American officials - Obama said the men discussed a wide-range of issues and didn't fixate on security or the military.

"What is wonderful about this trip is that it represents a transition in our bilateral relationship, so that we are moving now to issues beyond security and we are beginning to talk about economy, trade, commerce," the president said.

Obama cited Iraq's "continuing progress," strides on investment and "a commitment to democratic politics." He also cited the election legislation delayed in Iraq's parliament because of disagreement on several issues. The scheduled January 16 parliamentary elections might not be held if legislation isn't passed soon.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Barack Obama spoke with his Iraqi counterpart on Monday and Tuesday, addressing upcoming elections and the security situation in the battered Mideast nation, the White House said.

The White House said Obama spoke with Talabani by phone on Monday and stopped by Talabani's meeting on Tuesday with National Security Adviser General Jim Jones.

Obama passed along his appreciation for Talabani's efforts in promoting national unity, fostering leadership, and working to adopt an election law, the White House said.

Obama underscored the U.S. commitment in helping Iraq "promote security, political progress, and economic development." They spoke about an upcoming conference Oct. 20 and 21 - the U.S.-Iraq Business and Investment Conference in Washington, the White House said.

Talabani's office said the White House meeting on Tuesday included discussions on U.S. troop withdrawal plans, the January legislative elections and the promotion of American investment in Iraq, particularly in the oil, gas and mineral industries.

Dozens of protesters were arrested after they gathered in front of the White House to call for the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (CNN) - As the war in Afghanistan nears the start of its ninth year, a group of anti-war protesters gathered in front of the White House today to express their disappointment that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are not yet over, and to request a meeting with President Obama.

An estimated 500 people from different anti-war groups gathered on the sidewalk in front of the White House. A few chained themselves to the fence, some laid down on the sidewalk as if they were dead, and others chanted: "mourn the dead, heal the wounded, end the war!"

The protest was peaceful, though U.S. Park Police said that 61 people were arrested for failure to obey a lawful order after the crowd was repeatedly asked to move back from the sidewalk. According to Park Police Sgt. David Schlosser, all were cited and released.

Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq in 2004, was among the protestors, and was one of those who were arrested. She said she had not been a supporter of President Obama or of Sen. John McCain during last year's election but said protestors were running out of patience. "I think the mood of the country and the mood of our movement is getting a little bit more desperate, and (that) this will be the time to be able to translate our tireless activism and work for peace," she said.

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Dozens of protesters were arrested after they gathered in front of the White House to call for the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (CNN) - As the war in Afghanistan nears the start of its ninth year, a group of anti-war protesters gathered in front of the White House today to express their disappointment that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are not yet over, and to request a meeting with President Obama.

An estimated 500 people from different anti-war groups gathered on the sidewalk in front of the White House. A few chained themselves to the fence, some laid down on the sidewalk as if they were dead, and others chanted: "mourn the dead, heal the wounded, end the war!"

The protest was peaceful, though U.S. Park Police said that 61 people were arrested for failure to obey a lawful order after the crowd was repeatedly asked to move back from the sidewalk. According to Park Police Sgt. David Schlosser, all were cited and released.

Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq in 2004, was among the protestors, and was one of those who were arrested. She said she had not been a supporter of President Obama or of Sen. John McCain during last year's election but said protestors were running out of patience. "I think the mood of the country and the mood of our movement is getting a little bit more desperate, and (that) this will be the time to be able to translate our tireless activism and work for peace," she said.

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(CNN) – Sometimes, even in Washington, there's no way around a central truth: that in governing, there are moments when real, tough decisions must be made. No waffling. None of the usual "on the one hand, on the other hand." No hiding behind the votes cast by others.

There is one vote, and it belongs to the president.

It was that way with George W. Bush in December 2006, when, after conferring for three months with his generals and his Cabinet - not to mention the advice offered by the pooh-bahs in the Iraq Study Group - he decided on a surge strategy in Iraq. It was not a plan highly touted by many of his advisers, but by January, Bush told the nation "America will change our strategy ... [and] this will require increasing American force levels."

As it turns out, the surge worked.

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(CNN) – Mitt Romney says he wants to return to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Eric Fehrnstrom, an adviser for the the former Massachusetts governor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate, tells CNN that "we are working through the appropriate channels to make this happen."

"I'm going to Afghanistan and Iraq in a couple of months," Romney declared in an interview published Sunday in the Washington Examiner. "I'll get an assessment of what's happening there and what the prospects are. But I certainly would support our troops with the additional troops which are being called for by General McChrystal, and provide the equipment and the manpower and the budgetary support which our troops deserve."

McChrystal is the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. He said Sunday that he wants more troops and a new strategy - but most importantly, he wants to win the battle for the hearts and the minds of the people in the war-torn country.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – The chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee responded Sunday to recent criticism from former White House hopeful Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the committee.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, has lately suggested that the proper course for the United States to pursue in Afghanistan is to beef up the country’s own army and police forces before planning on sending in any additional American troops.

At a hearing of the Armed Services Committee last week, McCain took direct aim at Levin’s approach.

“Despite our successes in Iraq and the hard won understanding we have gained about what it takes to defeat an insurgency,” McCain said on Capitol Hill last Tuesday, “it seems we now, regrettably, must have the same debate again today with respect to Afghanistan. In all due respect, Sen. Levin, I’ve seen that movie before.”

“It’s a very different movie,” Levin said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union, in response to McCain’s recent remarks.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) - The bloody attacks in Iraq last week have raised concerns over a renewal sectarian violence, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Sunday.

Interviewed on CNN's "State of the Union," Adm. Mike Mullen said he is "extremely concerned" about recent bombings. More than 100 people were killed and more than 500 wounded in a series of truck bombings in Baghdad on August 19.

It was was the deadliest day since the United States pulled its combat troops from Iraqi cities and towns nearly two months ago and left security in the hands of the Iraqis. And it raised fears of a renewal of destabilizing Sunni-Shiite violence that raged a few years ago in Iraq.
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PHOENIX, Arizona (CNN) - President Obama will take a brief hiatus from his health care push on Monday and turn his focus to the wars in Iraq in Afghanistan.

Obama will address the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Phoenix, Arizona, where he'll talk about where the United States stands in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, the impact the men and women of the Armed Forces have had in those countries and the United States' responsibilities to maintain the world's finest military, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Nearly 13,000 VFW and ladies auxiliary delegates are expected to be at the convention, where veterans have high expectations for the president.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - The senior U.S. commander in Iraq Tuesday rejected a memo by a subordinate who argued for U.S. troops to withdrawal earlier than planned, the commander's spokeswoman said.

Gen. Raymond Odierno is the first senior U.S. military or civilian official to address the "Reese memo" since it went public last month, according to his spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Josslyn Aberle.

The memo said the withdrawal of U.S. troops should be accelerated because Iraqi forces will not get any better and are good enough to protect the government against attacks.

Aberle confirmed comments Odierno made in an interview with The Associated Press in Iraq on Tuesday.

"Our goal here given to us by the president is a secure, stable, sovereign, self-reliant Iraq. We're not there yet," Odierno told the AP.

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday arrived in Iraq, where he will meet with the country's prime minister, Nuri al Maliki, and get a first-hand look at the American military's new role of supporting Iraqi forces.

U.S. troops have handed over control of key cities and towns to Iraqi security forces and are scheduled to completely pull out of the country by 2011.

Gates arrived at a U.S. base in southern Iraq on an unannounced visit. On Monday, Gates was in Israel and Jordan.

The defense secretary's visit to the region is part of a busy week of U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East.

George Mitchell, Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, also held meetings with top officials, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A day after reported short-range missile tests by North Korea, one of President Obama’s top military adviserS said it was possible the regime could be preparing to test longer range missiles capable of reaching the United States.

“Certainly there are possibilities there,” Adm. Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in an interview that aired Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. But Mullen added, “I haven’t seen any indications of that in recent days. The seven missiles which the leadership [of North Korea] fired yesterday basically into the sea – similar to what they did in 2006 – those were violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions.”

“They continue to thumb their nose at the international community,” Mullen added. “And I think the international community – which has been bound very tightly together to include Russia and China - and putting additional pressure on North Korea that needs to continue and those sanctions need to be enforced.”

On Iraq, Adm. Mullen rejected the suggestion that Iraqis celebrating in the streets earlier this week - as the U.S. met a deadline to pull out of major cities - was a sign that citizens of the war-torn country did not appreciate American sacrifices to establish peace and stability in the country.

Related: History will have to make a judgment on Iraq, says Powell

“I know from my engagement with Prime Minister Maliki as well as the rest of the political and military leadership in Iraq, they’re very appreciative of everything that we have done,” Mullen told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King.

Updated: 4:40 p.m.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Obama administration is committed to providing enough additional troops in Afghanistan, one of President Obama’s senior military advisers says.

In an interview that aired Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union, Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that he, Obama, and retired Gen. Jim Jones, Obama’s National Security Adviser are all in agreement.

“Gen. Jones, and I, and the president, are all on the same page in terms of what we have to do now,” Mullen told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King. “President Obama has committed these troops. They’re arriving as we speak and will through the rest of this year.”

Mullen added that Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the new U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, is conducting a 60-day assessment to determine whether he has sufficient boots on the ground or whether he needs more troops on top of the additional 21,000 the Obama administration recently authorized.

Mullen also expressed optimism about the situation in Iraq where U.S. troops recently pulled back from Iraq’s major cities under an agreement signed by former President George W. Bush.

“I’m really encouraged based on what I see,” Mullen said.

Mullen added that he thought the military was on track to complete a withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011, also under the terms of an agreement with Iraq’s government.

Updated: 3:21 p.m.

(CNN) - The U.S. government intends to have all its troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011, and it's up to the Iraqis to make that timetable work, Vice President Joe Biden said.

In an interview with ABC News' "This Week" during his trip to Iraq that ended Sunday, Biden said a collapse by Iraq into civil war once U.S. troops depart would be "a tragic outcome."

President Barack Obama remains committed to withdrawing combat troops by the end of August 2010 and all U.S. forces out by the end of 2011, he said.

"That is our intention," Biden said, noting that Iraqi elections scheduled for early 2010 would offer the nation an opportunity for a major step forward.

"It is our expectation that election will come out peacefully," he said.

On another issue, Biden refused to speculate on what the United States would do if Israel decided to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says history will make the ultimate judgment on whether the U.S. war in Iraq was worth its costs – in both taxpayer dollars and American lives.

“A dictator is gone. A despicable regime is gone,” the former Secretary of State under George W. Bush said Sunday in an interview that aired on CNN’s State of the Union. “And the Iraqi people have been given a chance to have a representative form of government, living in peace with its neighbors. We’ll have to see what history's judgment of that will be.”

The retired general also gave his take on recent celebrations in Iraq as a deadline passed for U.S. troops withdrew from the country’s major cities.

“I think we should just pocket this,” Powell told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King about celebrations in the streets that heralded the U.S. pull-back.

“They are happy. They have made it clear from the very beginning that they wanted to be free and independent. And they didn’t want to be an occupied nation, which they were when we were there, and now that is starting to change.

“But this is not yet over. . . . it’s now up to the Iraqis to solidify their representative government system and make sure they have the security forces that can handle all of this.”

“They’re now responsible for their own destiny,” Powell added.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Baghdad Thursday, where he will underscore Washington's commitment to a drawdown of American forces there, the White House said.

Biden is to meet with Iraqi and U.S. military officials and will also speak with troops. He is expected to deliver a speech to troops on Saturday, the Fourth of July, and may visit another city.

The trip comes a couple of days after U.S. combat troops withdrew from urban centers in the country, and left security duties in cities like Baghdad, Mosul, Basra and other communities to Iraqi security forces.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Barack Obama said Tuesday that street celebrations in Iraq for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from cities and towns were a testament to the sacrifices of U.S. troops in the country.

In brief remarks at a White House event on technological innovation, Obama said the drawback meant that Iraq's future was now in the hands of its leaders and people.

"The Iraqis are rightly treating this day as a cause for celebration," Obama said, calling the "important milestone" the result of the good work by U.S. forces who first entered Iraq in 2003 and toppled the regime of former leader Saddam Hussein.

Obama warned of tough times ahead in Iraq, noting a bombing earlier Tuesday in Kirkuk that killed at least 30 people. He said the United States would continue to support Iraq as it works to become "a "sovereign, stable, and self-reliant" country.

The U.S. withdrawal was part of an agreement signed last year between former President George W. Bush's administration and the Iraq leadership. The agreement calls for all U.S. forces to leave Iraq by the end of 2011.

The remaining 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq are now tasked with supporting Iraqi troops and police, and will require Iraqi permission to launch operations in the cities.

Listen: New CNN poll numbers about the U.S. troop withdrawal in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) - Tuesday marked the deadline for American troops to pull out of Iraq's towns and cities - a long-anticipated date that has been met by street festivals in Baghdad.

Celebrations were tempered, however, by fears of renewed violence as insurgents seek to use the date to stage new attacks.

At least 30 people, including women and children, were killed and 45 wounded Tuesday in a bombing in northern Iraq, a local police official said.

The blast took place in a busy commercial area in a predominantly Kurdish part of Kirkuk, destroying 20 shops and houses, the official said. Kirkuk is about 235 miles north of Baghdad.

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) - Tuesday marks the long-anticipated deadline for American troops to pull out of Iraqi towns and cities, but on Monday, there will be no long lines of tanks rolling out of Baghdad or thousands of troops marching out of other cities.

The U.S. military has been gradually pulling its combat troops out of Iraq's population centers for months to meet the deadline agreed to by Washington and Baghdad.

Since January, Americans have handed over or shut down more than 150 bases across the country, leaving U.S. troops in a little more than 300 locations in Iraq that gradually will be handed over to Iraqi control.

Iraqis expressed mixed feelings in the run-up to what the government has been describing as National Sovereignty Day.

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