CAMP RAMADI, September 2, 2010:  US defence secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday that America’s war in Iraq is over but admitted that the outcome will remain “clouded” over why it was waged in the first place.

Asked by reporters at Camp Ramadi, an American base about 100km west of Baghdad, whether the United States was still at war in Iraq, Gates replied: “I’d say we’re not. Combat operations have ceased.”

“We are still going to work with Iraqis on counter-terrorism, we are still doing a lot of training and advising,” said Gates, who arrived early on Wednesday on an unannounced visit to Iraq. “So I would say we’ve moved into the final phase of our engagement in Iraq,” said Gates, who also met US soldiers staying on to provide assistance to the Iraqi army.

Asked if the war that killed tens of thousands of Iraqis was worth it, Gates said: “The problem with this war for any Americans is that the premise on which we justified going to war proved not to be valid.

“Even if the outcome is a good one from the standpoint of the United States, it will always be clouded by how it began,” he said.

Former US president George Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 arguing that the country was rife with weapons of mass destruction — but in fact none were ever found.

Gates will later on Wednesday join US vice-president Joe Biden in presiding over a ceremony marking the change of US military command in Iraq. Gen Ray Odierno, the top US commander in Iraq, is stepping down to be replaced by Lt Gen Lloyd Austin.

The ceremony to take place at the Al Faw Palace near Baghdad airport will mark Operation New Dawn — the name given to the US military’s new “advise and assist” mission.