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Today is a pivotal day for the United States in Iraq. Today U.S. armed forces take the first step toward fulfilling President Barack Obama's commitment to redeploy U.S. troops from Iraq by fully withdrawing our combat forces from Iraqi cities-more than six years after its invasion and ouster of Saddam Hussein's regime.

The date itself is largely symbolic since the overall number of U.S. troops in Iraq will probably remain well over 100,000 through the end of the year, when Iraq holds its next national elections. And some U.S. troops will remain in urban areas as advisors and trainers. But today's withdrawal of most U.S. troops from Iraq's urban centers is just the first step in what should be a complete redeployment of U.S. troops in the coming months.

If the Obama...