Iraq War Ends, an Uncertain Future Begins
16 December 2011
U.S. Army soldiers load trucks as they begin their journey home to their base in Texas
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
This week, the war in Iraq officially ended.
American troops lowered their command's flag on Thursday in a ceremonial close to nearly nine years of conflict. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta spoke at the ceremony at a heavily protected area of an airport in Baghdad.
LEON PANETTA: "To be sure, the cost was high -- the blood and treasure of the United States and also for the Iraqi people. But those lives have not been lost in vain. They gave birth to an independent, free and sovereign Iraq."
Tens of thousands of Iraqis died in the military campaign known as Operation New Dawn. So did more than four thousand Americans. The American-led invasion quickly ousted Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein. But violence between competing groups grew and pushed Iraq toward civil war. The violence has decreased sharply. But insurgents, some of them operating with Iranian support, continue attacks.
Some American officials wanted to keep several thousand troops in Iraq after December thirty-first. The two countries agreed to that withdrawal date three years ago, when George W. Bush was still president. But the Obama administration failed to reach an agreement with Iraq on legal protection for American troops. A small number of troops will remain, mainly to protect diplomats.
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