U.S.President Barack Obama said on Saturday Iraq could "chart its own course" and told Americans the drawdown of U.S. troops helped fulfill a promise he made during the 2008 presidential campaign. Obama, who is vacationing on the Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard, declared in his weekly radio and Internet address that "the war is ending" and pledged to take care of troops who are returning home, Reuters reported. The U.S. military recently cut its strength to under 50,000 troops in Iraq, helping to make good on Obama's promise to end the war launched 7-1/2 years ago by his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush. Obama's Saturday remarks may be a preview of a rare, televised address the president plans on Tuesday evening from the White House Oval Office about the troop drawdown. "On Tuesday, after more than seven years, the United States of America will end its combat mission in Iraq and take an important step forward in responsibly ending the Iraq war," Obama said. "As a candidate for this office, I pledged I would end this war. As president, that is what I am doing."
