In Damage Control Bid, Pentagon Calls Karzai

FORT BRAGG, N.C. – President Barack Obama said the Iraq war will reach its formal end Thursday, when an American flag signifying the U.S. military mission is ceremonially taken down and returned to the United States.

President Obama pinpointed the timing for the end of the nearly nine-year-long U.S. military presence in a speech in which he heralded troops who fought and died, ultimately bringing an end to the war.

U.S. troops are still