Obama to Order Iraq Withdrawal on Day One, Axelrod Says

On Economy, Axelrod Says Obama Will Have Strong Message for Bankers

By MARY BRUCE
ABC News
Jan. 18, 2009

Incoming White House senior adviser David Axelrod said this morning that President-elect Barack Obama will fulfill his campaign promise and begin on Wednesday the process of withdrawing America forces from Iraq within 16 months.

"He believes that that is a reasonable timetable. We've moved a great distance from the time he started talking about that, and now we're in an area where everyone agrees that we should be on a path to withdrawing those troops. And he is going to begin that process, as promised, on that day," Axelrod said in a "This Week" interview with George Stephanopoulos.

On Wednesday, Obama will call in his military commanders and ask them to come back with a plan for withdrawal.

Axelrod: Economy Is Administration's Top Priority

But Axelrod made clear that the economy will be the top priority of the incoming administration, and that Obama will have a strong message for bankers once he takes office: start lending again.

(More here.)