Baghdad farewell: President Barack Obama today declared an end to the Iraq war, one of the longest and most divisive conflicts in U.S. history, announcing all American troops will be withdrawn from the country by year’s end. Obama’s statement put an end to months of wrangling over whether the U.S. would maintain a force in Iraq beyond 2011. Obama never mentioned the tense and ultimately fruitless negotiations with Iraq over whether to keep several thousand U.S. forces in Iraq as a training force and a hedge against meddling from Iran or other outside forces. The U.S. military presence in Iraq stands at just under 40,000.
Marching out: Center Olin Kreutz has informed the New Orleans Saints that he is leaving the team after losing his passion for football. His agent, Mark Bartelstein, says the 34-year-old Kreutz “has to feel really good about the passion he has got for the game and the love he has got for the game.” Bartelstein says Kreutz felt that slipping away and “he’s just not someone who can go to work every week and collect a paycheck.” In August, the 14-year veteran couldn’t agree to a new contract with the Chicago Bears, the only other team he has played for, and signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Saints. After starting the first three games with New Orleans, Kreutz missed two with an injury, ending a string of 137 consecutive starts.
Time to move on: The governing board of the University of Missouri unanimously gave its chancellor the authority today to move the school out of the Big 12 Conference. Chancellor Brady Deaton was given the power after a two-day Board of Curators meeting that wrapped today without an announcement that Missouri is leaving the Big 12, presumably for the SEC. Deaton says discussions about realignment are ongoing and a “decision will be undertaken expeditiously.” “We’ve provided information to the SEC,” he says. “We would anticipate that any decision we make would be apropos to next season.” Deaton would not say exactly when he expects to make a decision but added, “We’re not looking at a long time frame.”
