Baghdad: US soldiers serving in Iraq on Thursday marked Christmas celebrations, wishing they were home but delighted with their early holiday present.
In a ceremony held at a US military base in western Baghdad, US soldiers attended mass and enjoyed festive meals amid hopes for peace in their country.
"My wish for the new year is for the Notre Dame university team to win national champion in football in 2010 and I would love to go home after my tour done here," a US soldier, Koudelka, said.
Alice Roben, another US soldier, expressed her desire to go home.
"My wish for the new year is to go home and see my family, I miss them a lot, of course I want to go home." She said.
US President Barack Obama has pledged to end combat operations in Iraq by August 31, 2010, ahead of a full pullout by the end of 2011. The US force in Iraq is supposed to be reduced to 50,000 by the end of August from around 115,000 now.
Violence in Iraq has fallen sharply in the past 18 months but Sunni Islamist insurgents like al-Qaeda remain potent.
Under a bilateral security pact signed last year, all US troops must withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011.
The date for the end of combat operations is not included in the agreement but was set by Obama as part of a pledge to US voters to end the war in Iraq.
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