Thursday, December 15, 2011
US military marks end to nearly nine years in Iraq
Commanding General of the US forces in Iraq, Lieutenant General Lloyd Austin (2nd L), folds the US Forces in Iraq flag during a symbolic ceremony marking the end of the mission in Iraq at Sather Air Base.
The US military officially ended its war in Iraq, rolling up its flag at a low-key ceremony with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta nearly nine bloody years after the invasion that ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.
"After a lot of blood spilled by Iraqis and Americans, the mission of an Iraq that could govern and secure itself has become real," Panetta said at the ceremony outside Baghdad's still heavily-fortified airport.
Almost 4,500 US soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis lost their lives in the war that began with a "Shock and Awe" campaign of missiles pounding Baghdad, but descended into sectarian strife and a surge in US troop numbers.
US soldiers rolled up the flag of American forces in Iraq and slipped it into a camouflage-coloured sleeve in a brief ceremony, symbolically ending the most unpopular US military venture since the Vietnam War of the 1960s and 70s.
The remaining 4,000 American troops will withdraw by the end of the year, leaving behind a country still tackling a weakened but stubborn Islamist insurgency, sectarian tensions and political uncertainty.
"Iraq will be tested in the days ahead, by terrorism, by those who would seek to divide, by economic and social issues," Panetta told the rows of assembled US soldiers and embassy officials at the ceremony. "Challenges remain, but the United States will be there to stand by the Iraqi people."
"After a lot of blood spilled by Iraqis and Americans, the mission of an Iraq that could govern and secure itself has become real," Panetta said at the ceremony outside Baghdad's still heavily-fortified airport.
Almost 4,500 US soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis lost their lives in the war that began with a "Shock and Awe" campaign of missiles pounding Baghdad, but descended into sectarian strife and a surge in US troop numbers.
US soldiers rolled up the flag of American forces in Iraq and slipped it into a camouflage-coloured sleeve in a brief ceremony, symbolically ending the most unpopular US military venture since the Vietnam War of the 1960s and 70s.
The remaining 4,000 American troops will withdraw by the end of the year, leaving behind a country still tackling a weakened but stubborn Islamist insurgency, sectarian tensions and political uncertainty.
"Iraq will be tested in the days ahead, by terrorism, by those who would seek to divide, by economic and social issues," Panetta told the rows of assembled US soldiers and embassy officials at the ceremony. "Challenges remain, but the United States will be there to stand by the Iraqi people."
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