Obama said on August 28 that the end of US combat operations on August 31, and a fall in US troop numbers to 50,000, helped fulfill a promise he made during the 2008 presidential campaign to end the 7-1/2-year war launched by his predecessor, George W. Bush.

But the failure of Iraqi leaders to form a new government almost six months after elections, and persistent attacks by insurgents, have done little to instill confidence among Iraqis.

Overall violence has fallen sharply since the peak of sectarian carnage in 2006/07. Nevertheless, like many Iraqis, Moussawi has little faith in the abilities of Iraq's 660,000-strong police and army to protect the country.

Suspected Sunni Islamist insurgents have put the domestic security forces to the test, killing 57 at an army recruitment center on August 17 and more than 60 when suicide car bombers attacked police stations around the country on August 25.

Obama's remarks were seen as a preview of a televised address he plans to give on Tuesday evening from the White House Oval Office. The White House is trying to emphasize Obama's accomplishments ahead of November elections when his fellow Democrats face war-weary voters preoccupied by economic jitters.

But 50,000 US soldiers will remain in Iraq up to an end-2011 deadline set in a bilateral security pact Bush signed with the Iraqi government just before departing the White House.