Obama begins troop withdrawal - approval rating goes up slighlty

June 30, 6:16 PMGallup Polls ExaminerJonnathan Coleman

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U.S troops began withdrawing from Iraq on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 in the first step towards ending the war effort by 2011. 131,000 U.S troops will remain to secure Iraq's borders and give Iraqi urban troops advice and assistance. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

U.S troops began pulling out of Iraqi cities on Tuesday in President Obama's first step to ending the war in Iraq by 2011. During the same period, the President's approval rating went up one point to 60% and his disapproval rating fell two points to 32%.

Suprisingly, Democrats lost two percentage points of approval, bringing their aproval rating down to 88%, while Republicans' approval rose two points to 25%. Independents saw the biggest jump of any political demographic, rising five points to 60%.

Even though troop withdrawal has begun, many military experts expect setbacks in the coming months, and almost everyone expects an American military presence to remain in Iraq for some time to come. With that being said, Iraqi citizens were delighted by the first withdrawals, marking Tuesday as National Sovereignty Day, and orchestrating military parades and marching bands throughout Baghdad.

Reminding the celebrators that the violence in Iraq hasn't fully ceased, a car bombing killed at least 27 people in the city of Kirkuk justifying military decisions to keep a number of U.S troops in the cities to provide Iraqi troops with advice and assistance.

The remaining 131,000 U.S troops not in the cities will be securing the borders and won't take part in any urban combat. Reactions to the withdrawal are mostly positive, but several still have mixed views on the situation and 65% of Americans say the economy is the country's biggest problem anyway.

Mr. Obama held a quiet celebration in the East Room of the White House where he praised American troops and declared Tuesday an "important milestone." Important mileston or not, Mr. Obama also spoke of the uncertain future of Iraq and its people.

“The Iraqi people are rightly treating this day as cause for celebration,’’ Mr. Obama said in his brief remarks, adding, “Iraq’s future is in the hands of its own people and Iraqi leaders must now make some hard choices.’’