President Obama has marked the formal end of American combat missions in Iraq by visiting a military base in Texas to pay tributes to the troops. Mr. Obama told them their efforts have made the United States more secure and given Iraq an opportunity to build a better future. A million uniformed men and women have served in Iraq in one of America's longest wars.President Obama said the combat phase was over, but American forces would still, in his words, be going after terrorists in Iraq.In a speech delivered in a rare Oval Office address, he said he was “awed” by the sacrifice of the US military. But he said America's most urgent task was now to restore our economy. He said the US would continue to support Iraq's government and people.Meanwhile, the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has admitted that he did not anticipate the nightmare that unfolded in Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. In his newly released memoirs, Mr. Blair said he is desperately sorry for the relatives of British soldiers killed during the military campaign.But he stands-by his decision to commit Britain to the war. Doing nothing, he said, would have been a greater threat to Britain's security than removing Saddam Hussein.In his memoirs, Mr. Blair criticised his successor Gordown Brown for abandoning the Labour Party's core policies, thereby losing the general election in May.