US President Barack Obama said Monday that the United States will remove all of its troops from Iraq in two and a half years, but bringing security to Afghanistan will take more time.

"We will begin removing our combat brigades from Iraq later this year, and we will remove all our combat brigades by the end of next August," Obama said in Phoenix when addressing the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention.

He added that the United States will remove all of its troops from Iraq by the end of 2011.

"For America, the Iraq war will end," said Obama.

Meanwhile, Obama said that withdrawing from Iraq will make the US troops to refocus on the war against al-Qaida and its extremist allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"The insurgency in Afghanistan didn't just happen overnight. And we won't defeat it overnight," he said.

During his half-an-hour speech, the US president also criticized wasteful defense spending, including indefensible no-bid contracts that cost taxpayers billions and make contractors rich, and exotic projects that are years behind schedule and billions over budget.

The US government will fulfill its responsibility to its troops and veterans, including increasing military pay, building better family housing and helping families cope with the stresses of war, Obama said.

Obama came to Phoenix Monday morning to speak at the veterans' convention in Phoenix after making a four-state Western swing which took him and family to Yellowstone and Grand Canyon National Parks during the weekend.

Dozens of people, including opponents and supporters of Obama's health-care reform plans, reportedly took to the streets outside the convention center in downtown Phoenix to make clear their positions.

(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2009)