operation iraqi freedom began march 19, 2003 to remove saddam hussein and rid iraq of his weapons of mass destruction. weapons, it turned out, he did not have. the war has cost more than 4,400 american lives and left more than 34,000 wounded. mr. obama vowed as a presidential candidate to end the war. bill plante is at the white house and has more. bill, good evening. >> reporter: harry, good evening. the president will frame this as a promise kept and he will say that he praises and admires the sacrifice and courage of the nation's armed forces. he will mention president bush to whom he spoke this afternoon and say that even though they disagreed politically on the war, that president bush has a commitment to the security of the nation. harry? >> smith: all right. bill plante. here's the president. >> good evening. tonight i'd like to talk to you about the end of our combat mission in iraq. the ongoing security challenges we face and the need to rebuild