Troops hope new President brings them home responsibly

Breakfast was already being served in Baghdad yesterday morning when Tuesday's polls closed back home, and at Forward Operating Base Prosperity all eyes were on the dining hall's giant TVs.

Someone whooped when NBC called the election, but mostly the troops sat in silence, eyeing their new commander-in-chief while eating their eggs. Soldiers said they hoped Barack Obama would fulfil his promise to bring them home quickly and responsibly.

"What soldier's going to say they don't want to go home? I have a wife and four kids. I want to go home. But one thing we all want is to make sure the friends we lost over here weren't for nothing," said Captain Ryan Morrison, from Colorado Springs.

"We have to pull out responsibly. I have the feeling he wants to do it responsibly," he said.

Mr Obama has pledged to pull US combat troops out of Iraq within 16 months of taking office, a promise that seemed bold when he first made it last year but now coincides roughly with the timetable favoured by Iraq's government.

"I'm excited. He's going to be president and he's going to pull us from over here," said Sergeant First Class Norman Brown.

"If McCain had won we'd be over here for years, and I mean years and years. I reckon even people here don't want us here."

With levels of violence falling - last month saw the fewest violent deaths among both Iraqi civilians and US troops since the war began - Iraqis increasingly express their hope that the force of more than 150,000 US troops can leave soon.

"I as an Iraqi am asking Obama to keep his promises about the withdrawal of the US security forces from our land," said Baqi Naqid, a Baghdad journalist. "We don't need an occupation."

But Iraqis also worry about US forces leaving too quickly. Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said Mr Obama may need to adjust his campaign pledges for conditions on the ground. "I think you will hear a lot of discussion, and goals and slogans during the election campaigns. When there is a reality check, I think any US President has to look very hard at the facts on the ground," Mr Zebari told Al-Jazeera television.

"I think that Mr Obama and his teams and advisers recognise that fact. The situation is complex, it's difficult. The gains that we have attained and won with hard struggle and a great deal of sacrifice need to be sustained." Baghdad housewife Um Saba, 58, said she preferred the Republicans for backing a troop increase which curbed violence. US troops "came on a mission. They should complete it. There should be 100 per cent security before they leave," she said.

Among US troops, political loyalties were divided and debate spirited during the long campaign. African American soldiers described Mr Obama's victory as inspirational.

"It gives me hope that anybody can accomplish anything no matter what your race, colour or creed," said Los Angeles native Staff Sergeant Andre Frazier.

Top goals of Obama and fellow Democrats

• House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, says the top goal will be to set timetables for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, which would free up additional US troops to help root out militants in Afghanistan and other countries.

• Democrats want to reverse what they view as years of inadequate federal regulation of the financial industry, which has helped lead to the current turmoil on Wall Street and record home foreclosures.

• Stimulate the economy. This could be done, in part, by spending the hundreds of billions of dollars on hiring people to rebuild crumbling US roads and bridges as well as sewer and water systems. Mr Obama also wants to cut taxes for the middle class and plug tax loopholes he says encourage US companies to move overseas, taking American jobs with them.

• Expand health care, perhaps starting with passing a bill vetoed by outgoing President George W. Bush to increase federal aid to the State Childrens' Health Insurance Programme.

• Move the US towards energy independence by encouraging oil companies to drill where they already are allowed, step up conservation, accelerate development of alternative energy sources and rein in oil speculators blamed, in part, for steep prices increases this year.

• Enact legislation vetoed by Mr Bush that would expand federally funded embryonic stem cell research.

• After eight years of Mr Bush nominating anti-abortion rights conservatives to federal courts, Mr Obama would likely name moderate and liberal ones.

• Legislation to allow workers to organise if a majority of them sign a union card. This would let them avoid secret-ballot elections that critics say are often thwarted by employers.