US forces begin a new mission in Iraq:Biden

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that American forces had begun a new mission in Iraq, a day after the U.S. combat role in the war-torn country officially came to an end.

"Operation Iraqi Freedom is over but American engagement with Iraq will continue with the mission that began today, Operation New Dawn," Biden told U.S. troops at Camp Victory, outside of Baghdad.

Biden was speaking hours after President Barack Obama announced in an Oval Office address that the U.S. combat role, begun with the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, was now over, as uncertainty and violence continue to cloud the nation.

He said Iraqis had rejected violence, and called upon their leaders to form a new government, nearly six month after an indecisive general election.

Referring to al-Qaeda, which has spearheaded a bloody insurgency in Iraqi, Biden said "the Iraqi people have rejected their ugly face of violence."

"I truly believe that the darkest days are now behind us," he said, pointing to Iraqis' "deeply felt desire to control their own lives and maintain their own security."

Turning to the continuing failure by Iraq's political factions to form a new government following March 7 elections, Biden stated on a light note that "politics has broken out in Iraq" and called on them to "place the national interest above their own."

"I strongly urge them to match the courage their citizens have shown by bringing this process to a close and forming a government."

The vice president, speaking at a ceremony during which Lieutenant General Lloyd Austin formally replaced General Ray Odierno new commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, Biden also touched on the politician divisions caused in the United States by former president George W. Bush's decision to go to war.

"It is no secret that this war has divided Americans but they have never shrunk from the united support of the united states military," he said.

"Now is the time to put these differences behind us."

I truly believe that the darkest days are now behind us

Vice President Joe Biden

For Gates the US war in Iraq is over but cloud remains

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that America's war in Iraq is over but admitted that the outcome will remain "clouded" by the reason it was waged in the first place.

Asked by reporters at Camp Ramadi, an American base about 100 kilometers (80 miles) west of Baghdad, whether the United States was still at war in Iraq, Gates replied: "I'd say we're not. Combat operations have ceased."

"We are still going to work with Iraqis on counter-terrorism, we are still doing a lot of training and advising," said Gates, who arrived early Wednesday on an unannounced visit to Iraq.

"So I would say we've moved into the final phase of our engagement in Iraq," he added, after meeting U.S. soldiers staying on to provide assistance to the Iraqi army.

President Barack Obama late Tuesday officially announced the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq, where U.S. forces are now down to around 49,700, for an advisory and training mission -- with the last forces to leave in 2011.

Asked if the war that killed more than 4,400 US troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis was worth it, Gates said: "The problem with this war for many Americans is that the premise on which we justified going to war proved not to be valid.

We are still going to work with Iraqis on counter-terrorism, we are still doing a lot of training and advising

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates

"Even if the outcome is a good one from the standpoint of the United States, it will always be clouded by how it began."

Former U.S. president George W. Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 arguing that the country was rife with weapons of mass destruction -- but in fact none were ever found.

Gates said he was "optimistic" about the future of Iraq, where the dictatorial regime of strongman Saddam Hussein was brought to an end by the U.S.-led war.

"But there can be no disagreement with what has been achieved here by our men and women in uniform," said Gates, referring to the stuttering democratic process under way in Iraq.

"I am optimistic that these guys will continue to make progress."

Nearly six months after elections, Iraq remains mired in a political deadlock with little sign of a new government being formed any time soon.

Gates will later on Wednesday join U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in presiding over a ceremony marking the change of U.S. military command in Iraq.

General Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq since taking over from General David Petraeus in 2008 is stepping down to be replaced by Lieutenant General Lloyd Austin.

The ceremony to take place at the Al Faw Palace near Baghdad airport will mark Operation New Dawn -- the name given to the U.S. military's new "advise and assist" mission.

Speaking to troops at Camp Ramadi who will be part of that mission, Gates did not rule out the possibility of re-negotiating with Iraq a November 2009 security agreement that paved the way for the end of the combat mission.

"Whether or not the question is reopened, I think we'll have to await the formation of a new Iraqi government. We'd be willing to look at that but again it would have to come at the initiative of the Iraqis," he said.

Obama had vowed to get American combat troops home from Iraq and has pulled nearly 100,000 soldiers out -- even as he escalated the war in Afghanistan.

On Tuesday he warned that although US combat was ending, violence in Iraq would not and "extremists will continue to set off bombs, attack Iraqi civilians and try to spark sectarian strife."

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Tuesday told the nation in a televised speech that the army and police were now in charge and that he was confident the last US forces would leave as planned in 2011.

"This is a day that will remain in the memory of all Iraqis. Today, Iraq has become a sovereign and independent country," he said.

Officials figures released Wednesday for the death toll in August showed that 426 Iraqis were killed in political violence in Iraq -- a grim reminder that bloodletting continues to plague the country.

Syria's official press, meanwhile, said that Iraq will remain "occupied" until the last American soldier leaves.

"The American withdrawal from Iraq is an important step but incomplete on the road to the recovery of Iraqi sovereignty," the Al-Baath newspaper of the ruling party said.

"Iraq will remain an occupied country as long as there is a single American soldier on its soil," the newspaper said.

Even if the outcome is a good one from the standpoint of the United States, it will always be clouded by how it began

Robert Gates

Iran welcomes US pullout, and urges punishment for Iraq invaders

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad welcomed the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq but called for punishment of the invaders, state television's Arabic-language Al-Alam channel said on Wednesday.

Ahmadinejad "welcomed the pullout of U.S. forces from Iraq but said that those behind the invasion of this country should be put on trial and punished before an international court," the channel reported.

If U.S. President Barack "Obama wants to do something useful, he should pledge not to interfere in Iraq, take his forces out of Iraq and recognize Iraq's independence and punish criminals," the channel quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in an interview.

"The terrorists use the presence of U.S. forces and their crimes as a pretext. If there are no crimes, they will not have any excuses for extremism and terrorism," the hardline president added.

Late on Tuesday, Obama announced the formal end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq. US troop numbers in the country are now down to less than 50,000 and their mission is restricted to training and counterterrorism.

Shiite Iran has enjoyed warm relations with the Shiite-led governments in Baghdad ushered in by the overthrow of now executed dictator Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime in the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

But it has been unnerved by the presence of U.S. troops on both its western and eastern borders -- in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and has repeatedly called for their complete withdrawal.

On Tuesday, the Iranian foreign ministry dismissed as "unacceptable" the continued U.S. troop presence in Iraq.