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The American flag has been lowered, bases have been closed and the last U.S. troops are leaving Iraq, officially ending an eight-year-long war. President Obama ordered that all troops leave Iraq by the end of 2011, and the United States will now only maintain a diplomatic presence in the country. |
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| Families at Fort Bragg, North Carolina welcome their loved ones home from Iraq for the last time. The war between the U.S. and Iraqi insurgents lasted almost nine years. |
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President Obama spoke to troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina to mark the end of the Iraq conflict.
"As your commander in chief and on behalf of a grateful nation, I'm proud to finally say these two words - welcome home, welcome home, welcome home," the president said.
Controversial invasion leads to sovereignty for Iraq
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Iraqis topple a statue of their former dictator, Saddam Hussein, who was ousted by invading American forces in 2003. |
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On March 20, 2003, the United States, along with its allies, invaded Iraq. The mission, known as Operation Iraqi Freedom, was launched to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and end Saddam Hussein's government.
Within weeks, U.S. forces seized control of the capital, Baghdad, and went in search of the weapons and Hussein, who had gone into hiding.
On May 1, less than two months after the invasion, President George W. Bush gave his “mission accomplished” speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of California. President Bush stated, "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed."
However, Iraqi militants continued to fight against foreign troops. In addition, no weapons of mass destruction were found.
Iraqis also turned against each other in brutal sectarian fighting between Sunni and Shiite Muslim groups. Fearing a civil war, the United States sent a “surge” of combat troops to Iraq in 2007.
There is broad agreement that the surge did slow the insurgency help Iraq move further toward becoming a sovereign (independent) nation. The country held its first post-Hussein elections in 2005.
Assessing the human toll
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Many U.S. soldiers suffered mental illness as a result of the violence they witnessed in the Iraq war. |
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More than one million Americans participated in the Iraq war. About 4,500 troops died in the conflict, and more than 30,000 were wounded. The war has cost the American government about $7.5 billion.
Many soldiers came back from Iraq with mental wounds as a result of what they had seen. PTSD-- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder--became a common diagnosis for war veterans who had witnessed brutal attacks or roadside bomb explosions and were never the same as a result.
What happens next?
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Iraqi Prime Minister Noori al-Maliki and his government are now solely responsible for their country's security. |
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The United States will no longer have a troop presence in Iraq and President Obama says the relationship between the two nations will be very similar to relationships the United States has with most other countries. The United States will have an embassy in Baghdad that will be the largest of its kind anywhere in the world. Many U.S. diplomats will work at the embassy to keep relations between the countries strong.
The world will watch as Iraq takes responsibility for its own security in the coming months and years. Most Iraqis say they are happy the U.S. troops are leaving so they can govern themselves, but many have also expressed concern that their government, police and military forces may not be ready to handle the burden of working with the country’s many religious and ethnic groups.
Most U.S. troops who were in Iraq are heading home, but many will deploy to other bases in the region, such as Kuwait and other Middle Eastern countries. Some of the soldiers who were in Iraq may also head to Afghanistan, where the United States continues to fight Taliban insurgents.
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| --Compiled by Veronica DeVore for NewsHour Extra |
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Joplin was able to rise from the ashes because of help from everyone. And I am eternally grateful to anyone who made that possible.
