>> by 2008 the iraq war was seen as america's worst foreign policy debacle since vietnam. in the primary against hillary clinton -- >> i was opposed to iraq from the start. >> -- senator obama never let voters forget he had been on the right side of history. >> i don't want to just end the war, i want to end the mind-set that got us into the war in the first place, that's the kind of leadership i intend to provide as president of the united states. >> senator clinton, that's a clear swipe at you. >> really? [ laughter ] >> i've come to speak to you about how the war in iraq will end. >> less than six weeks after he was inaugurated he told the troops his plans for withdrawal. >> i intend to remove all u.s. troops from iraq by the end of 2011. [ applause ] god bless the united states of america. semper fi.