Barack Obama on 2013

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"It's time for a policy that can bring a responsible end to this war and bring our troops home."
-- Barack Obama, Press Release 1/30/07

This IS the time for such a policy, but Bill Richardson is the only major candidate who will get out ALL of our troops out of Iraq -- and pledges to do so by the end of his first year in office -- in 2009.

OBAMA RECORD

Refuses to Pledge to Get Our Troops Out by 2013, the End Of His First Term

RUSSERT: "Will you pledge that by January 2013, the end of your first term, more than five years from now, there will be no U.S. troops in Iraq?"

OBAMA: "I think it's hard to project four years from now, and I think it would be irresponsible. We don't know what contingency will be out there.

What I can promise is that if there are still troops in Iraq when I take office -- which it appears there may be, unless we can get some of our Republican colleagues to change their mind and cut off funding without a timetable -- if there's no timetable -- then I will drastically reduce our presence there to the mission of protecting our embassy, protecting our civilians, and making sure that we're carrying out counterterrorism activities there. I believe that we should have all our troops out by 2013, but I don't want to make promises, not knowing what the situation's going to be three or four years out."
-- From 9/26 DNC Debate at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Would Leave a Residual Force of Up to 60,000 troops in Iraq

"My plan for ending the war would turn the page in Iraq by removing our combat troops from Iraq's civil war."
-- Speech in Clinton, Iowa 9/12/2007.

Under the Obama plan, American troops may remain in Iraq or the region. These American troops will protect American diplomatic and military personnel in Iraq, and continue striking at al Qaeda in Iraq. If Iraq makes political progress and their security forces are not sectarian, we would also continue training othe [sic] Iraqi Security Forces.
-- Barack Obama: Turning the Page in Iraq. BarackObama.com

The Center for American Progress estimates that such an undertaking in Iraq would require a force of around 60,000 troops.
-- "Strategic Redeployment 2.0: A Progressive Strategy for Iraq." The Center for American Progress. By Lawrence Korb and Brian Katulis. May 2006.

Claims to Want to End War, but Votes for Half Measures

Senator Obama has again and again advocated ending the war in Iraq, but has settled for half measures, including an amendment proposed by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) that, by Senator Levin's own admission, would only, "cut troop levels in Iraq by more than half."
-- From "Senate Blocks Bill on Combat Tours." Associated Press. By Anne Flaherty. 19 September 2007.