The announcement by President Barack Obama that the U. S. will withdraw all of its troops from Iraq by December 31st brings the issue of the war full circle.

By abandoning that tack, after the Iraqi parliament apparently balked giving those troops immunity from the Iraqi legal system, Obama has committed to ending a more than eight year saga that has cost 4,479 American lives (out of 4,797 coalition deaths overall), along with scores of injured troops and strained families, and more than $800 billion.

That saga ends, fittingly, with a sovereign Iraq making the decision to rid itself the U. S. military presence. And it removes the possibility of a small, but potentially vulnerable American target staying behind in the Green Zone.

For Pres. Obama, the end of the war gives him another opportunity to declare a campaign promise — and in this case, a defining one — fulfilled.

Pres. Obama Signs 3 Trade Deals, Biggest Since NAFTA

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has signed trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Colombia, completing years of negotiations and fulfilling U. S. action on the biggest trade deal since the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement.

Pres. Obama signed the agreements Friday and planned to join a White House reception with business and labor leaders and workers who could potentially benefit from the new pacts. Pres. Obama also signed legislation to provide assistance to U.S. workers displaced because of the agreements.