Nine Years of War in Iraq
After nearly nine years in Iraq, the final combat troops continue to arrive back in the U.S. The war that officially began eight years and nine months earlier cost nearly 4,500 American, well more than 100,000 Iraqi lives and $800 billion from the U.S. Treasury. The bitterly divisive conflict left Iraq shattered and struggling to recover. For the United States, two central questions remain unanswered: whether it was all worth it, and whether the new government the Americans leave behind will remain a steadfast U.S. ally or drift into Iran’s orbit. Here is a look back with some of the most memorable photographs of the war. (AP)
Warning: All images in this entry are shown in full, not screened out for graphic content. Some images contain dead bodies, graphic content and tragic events. We consider these images an important part of human history.
United States Marines from the 1st Marine Division run laps around their camp early in the morning February 17, 2003 near the Iraqi border in Kuwait. The Marines were preparing for a possible military strike against Iraq. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
President Bush stands in the White House Cross Hall after addressing the nation on his ultimatum to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, in Washington, Monday, March 17, 2003. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
An Iraqi man runs across a street in Baghdad to his car with boxes of supplies as he prepares to leave Baghdad on March 19, 2003. With the threat of war approaching, many Iraqi families were scrambling to get out of the capitol. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times)
Kurds from Kirkuk walk from an Iraqi checkpoint towards the Kurdish-controlled checkpoint in Chamchamal, Tuesday, March 18, 2003. The rocks in the foreground mark the border between the Kurd self-governed region of northern Iraq and territory ruled by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Thousands of Kurds had been arriving in Kurd-controlled territories in anticipation of war. (Chang W. Lee/The New York Times)
Smoke covers the presidential palace compound in Baghdad on March 21, 2003 during a massive US-led air raid on the Iraqi capital. Smoke billowed from a number of targeted sites, including one of President Saddam Hussein's palaces, an AFP correspondent said. AFP Photo/Ramzi Haidar
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein appears on Iraqi television Thursday, March 20, 2003, a few hours after the first U.S. cruise missiles and bombs fell on Baghdad. In the nationally televised address, Saddam accused the United States of committing a shameful crime by attacking Iraq. (AP Photo/Iraqi TV via APTN)
Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division rest in fox holes by their convoy staging area in the Kuwaiti desert Friday, March 21, 2003. Allied forces missions continued as combat units rumbled across the desert into Iraq from the south and bombed limited targets in Baghdad. (AP Photo/Jean-Marc Bouju)
Capt. Andy MacLean, fire support officer for Task Force 2-69 Armor Homebase as part of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, from Fort Benning Georgia, places his hand next to a situation map as troops moved further to their objective in Iraq on Friday, March 21, 2003. Originally, the ground campaign was to follow the massive aerial bombardment, but Gen. Tommy Franks, the war's top commander, reversed the order, in part because of concern about Iraq setting southern oil fields afire, a senior official said. (AP Photo/David Leeson/The Dallas Morning News)
U.S. Marines from Task Force Tarawa roll through the Iraqi countryside in their armored assault vehicles March 22, 2003 on their way to an objective in Iraq. U.S. and British forces continued to fight in Iraq as they tried to topple the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Bullet holes riddle the windshield of a U.S. Marine humvee from Task Force Tarawa March 23, 2003 in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. The Marines suffered a number of deaths and casualties during gun battles throughout the city. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
U.S. Marines from Task Force Tarawa take care of a wounded Marine as another hugs the ground while being pinned down by intense enemy fire March 23, 2003 in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. The Marines suffered a number of deaths and casualties during gun battles throughout the city. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
U.S. Marines from Task Force Tarawa battled with Iraqi troops March 24, 2003 in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. The Marines had running gun battles over the past two days with a stubborn resistance within and around the city. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
U.S. Marines from the Marine Logistics Command wear chemical protection suits as they take cover beneath a concrete bunker during an incoming missile alert March 24, 2003 in Camp Fox, Kuwait. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
A thunderstorm lights up the sky in the Persian Gulf as attack flights over Iraq continued throughout the night off of the USS Abraham Lincoln, Tuesday, March 25, 2003. (Vincent Laforet/The New York Times)
Members of the 1st U.S. Marine Division huddle on the back of a truck as they struggle with a sandstorm, Tuesday, March 25, 2003 on a highway leading to Baghdad. The sandstorm was roaring through the region, leaving a yellow pall and dramatically reducing visibility. (James Hill/The New York Times)
A convoy with the U.S. 1st Marine Division is protected by Marines sitting by the side of a road just north of the Euphrates river, Tuesday, March 25, 2003. (Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times)
Marine Corp. Eric Silva, of New Jersey, fights the wind for his tent during a severe sandstorm at Camp Viper in the Iraqi desert, Tuesday, March 25, 2003. The storm brought dust and sand from as far away as Egypt and Libya. (AP Photo/San Francisco Chronicle, Michael Macor)
While U.S. and British troops stand guard in the Ar Rumaylah oilfields of southern Iraq, Kuwaiti and Texan civilian crews tried to control fires at oil wells set ablaze by Iraqi forces. U.S. Marines invading Iraq made seizure of these oilfields their first priority. Iraq's Southern Producing Region is approximately 5,600 square miles in size - roughly the size of New Jersey - and has a daily out put of 1.6 million barrels. (The Denver Post/ Hyoung Chang)
As oil fires burn in the distance, a man covers his face near the entrance to the besieged city of Basra March 29, 2003 in Iraq. Baath Party loyalists took up positions in Basra, Iraq's second largest city, making it a target of the U.S.-led war on Iraq. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Civilians on foot pass tanks on a bridge near the entrance to the besieged city of Basra March 29, 2003 in Iraq. Baath Party loyalists took up positions in Basra, Iraq's second largest city, making it a target of the U.S.-led war on Iraq. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
A family tries to leave the besieged Iraqi city of Basra March 31, 2003 in the back of a truck near a British manned bridge that had become a demarcation line. Basra, Iraq's second largest city, had been declared a military target as Saddam Hussein loyalists took up positions in the city, stalling any coalition entry. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
An image from video shown during a news conference Wednesday, April 2, 2003 at Camp As Sayliyah, Central Command Center, Doha, Qatar, shows the rescue of United States soldier Jessica Lynch on Tuesday, April 1, 2003. On March 23, the convoy Lynch was riding in took a wrong turn and were ambushed in Nasiriyah. Lynch was severely injured and was captured along with five other soldiers. (AP Photo/U.S. Central Command, HO)
U.S. Army 3rd Division 3-7 Private Kirby (R) and his squad man a cover position April 4, 2003 in a hallway of the VIP terminal of Baghdad International Airport during a dawn advance on the Iraqi capital. U.S. and Iraqi forces exchanged heavy fire during the operation. (Photo by Scott Nelson/Getty Images)
U.S. Army 3rd Division 3-7 infantry troops sweep towards the main terminal of Baghdad International Airport during an allied advance April 4, 2003. U.S. and Iraqi forces exchanged heavy fire throughout the day as they battled for control of the strategic facility. (Photo by Scott Nelson/Getty Images)
A U.S. Marine Cobra helicopter prepares to take off after being repaired April 5, 2003 in central Iraq. The Marines continued to sweep through the country looking for enemy forces. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
U.S. Army Stf. Sgt. Chad Touchett, center, relaxes with comrades from A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, following a search in one of Saddam Hussein's damaged palaces on April 7, 2003 in Baghdad. (AP Photo/John Moore)
Khudair Al-Amiri (L) cries with his son, Ali Al-Amiri, as they are reunited after the father's return to his hometown as a translator for American Marines April 7, 2003 in Qal'at Sukkar, Iraq. Al-Amiri fled Iraq after the first Gulf war and returned with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, seeing members of his family and village for the first time in over a decade. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Villagers celebrate the arrival of the U.S. Marines April 7, 2003 in Qal'at Sukkar, Iraq. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit entered the town looking for weapons and to destroy pictures of Saddam Hussein. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Iraqis wave to armored attack vehicles from the U.S. Marines of Task Force Tarawa April 7, 2003 as they move through central Iraq. The Marines were sweeping through the country looking for enemy forces as the war in Iraq continued. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
U.S. Marines from the 3rd Batallion yell to urge infantrymen to rush across the damaged Baghdad Highway Bridge, Monday, April 7, 2003, as they moved forward into the city while under fire in the southeastern outskirts of Baghdad. (AP Photo/Boston Herald, Kuni Takahashi)
With the sky filled with the smoke of battle, U.S. Army PFC Javier Johnson lies on his back while taking cover from Iraqi forces firing on him and fellow soldiers from A Company 3rd Battalion 7th Infantry Regiment from across the Tigris River in Baghdad Monday, April 7, 2003. The American forces were occupying a presidential palace which they had taken over earlier in the day. (AP Photo/John Moore)
A British paratrooper, left, talks with an Iraqi girl while holding his position near the main street in Basra as coalition forces took control of much of Iraq's second city. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)
Marines detain a car at a checkpoint April 8, 2003 near Mahra, Iraq. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit took over the airport near Mahra in an attempt to defeat the remains of an Iraqi division that was in the area. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
A young Iraqi girl cries as a British Challenger tank moves in on the Baath party office in Basra April 8, 2003. (Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images)
An Iraqi T72 tank erupts in flames after 2nd Tanks Battalion Bravo Company blew it up on their way to a blocking position near the Tigris River on the outskirts of Saddam City, near the Tigris River. The tank had no personnel but was full of fuel and ammunition. The combat train took fire from an ambush with the enemy firing AK-47's from both sides of the narrow road while driving through a small city. The Marines from the 1st, 5th and 7th Regimental Combat Teams, headed for Saddam City for their objective. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)
Iraqi civilians and U.S. soldiers pull down a statue of Saddam Hussein in downtown Baghdad, Wednesday, April 9, 2003. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Family members mourn the death of three male relatives, in Baghdad, Iraq Thursday, April 10, 2003. The three - a father, his teenage son, and another male relative - were shot and killed by U.S. Marines Wednesday night, April 9, after the car they were driving allegedly did not stop while passing a building occupied by U.S. Marines. The victims' relatives were waiting for their return, and did not know about the incident until relatives towed the car, containing the three bodies, to the family's home on Thursday. (AP Photo/Carolyn Cole, Los Angeles Times)
U.S. Army soldiers walk near a massive arch of swords at Saddam Hussein's military parade grounds Friday, April 11, 2003. (AP Photo/John Moore)
Three Iraqi soldiers sit bound and hooded, waiting to be interrogated by Marines of the Force Recon attachment to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit April 12, 2003 in central Iraq north of Nasiriyah. The prisoner and two others were picked up fleeing from the Marines and trying to discard military uniforms and IDs. Force Recon is the Marines equivalent of Special Forces, Marines tasked with recon and other sensitive missions in small groups. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
U.S. Army Spc. Shoshana Johnson, 30, of Fort Bliss, Texas, who was held by Iraqi troops as a prisoner of war, prepares to enter a plane after arriving at Logistical Support area Chesty April 13, 2003 in central Iraq. Seven POWs were released into Marine custody, April 13. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
US Army Sergeant Craig Zentkovich from Connecticut of the 1st Brigade Combat Team photographs a pink bedroom at Saddam Hussein's presidential palace 13 April 2003. (Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images)
Iraqi National Museum Deputy Director Mushin Hasan holds his head in his hands as he sits on destroyed artifacts April 13, 2003 in Bagdhad, Iraq. The museum was severely looted in the preceding days. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
U.S. Marines from Task Force Tarawa 1/2 Charlie Company read letters that arrived in the mail from home April 14, 2003 near Al Kut, Iraq. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
U.S. Marines from Task Force Tarawa 1/2 Charlie Company take a makeshift shower April 14, 2003 near Al Kut, Iraq. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
A U.S. Marine takes away a man suspected of looting April 14, 2003 in Baghdad, Iraq. The Marines began to crack down on looters after Baghdad residents complained of the lack of law and order in the capital. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
U.S. Army Third Infantry Division Sgt. Roscoe Archer of Fort Stewart, Georgia catches a nap on a couch in the Republican Presidential Palace April 14, 2003 in Bagdhad, Iraq. The compound was guarded and had been secured by the U.S. Military. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
A man lies handcuffed with his artificial leg near his head after U.S. Marines caught him and other looters robbing from a bank April 16, 2003 in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
A U.S. Marine pulls down a picture of Saddam Hussein at a school April 16, 2003 in Al-Kut, Iraq. A combination team of Marines, Army and Special Forces went to schools and other facilities in Al-Kut looking for weapons caches and unexploded bombs in preparation for removing and neutralizing them. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Iraqi men push the head of a statue of Saddam Hussein after its destruction April 18, 2003 in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo by Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images)
President Bush declares the end of major combat in Iraq on May 1, 2003 as he spoke aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln off the California coast. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
A woman cries out the name of her missing son as U.S. Marines searched for evidence at a mass grave on May 14, 2003 in Hillah, Iraq. At least 2,000 bodies had been dug out at the site making it the largest mass grave discovered in Iraq following the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
An Iraqi child jumps over a line of remains in a school where bodies had been brought from a mass grave discovered in the desert in the outskirts of Al Musayyib, 50 km south of Baghdad, May 27, 2003 in Iraq. People had been searching for days for identity cards or other clues among the skeletons to try to find the remains of family members, including children, from the grave that locals say contained the remains of hundreds of Shi'ite Muslims executed by Saddam Hussein's regime after their uprising following the 1991 Gulf War. (Photo by Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images)
A Kurdish girl, Leiwan, 2, attends a traditional wedding celebration June 15, 2003 in Bakochek, Iraq. Saddam Hussein's regime killed an estimated 180,000 Kurds from 1988-1991 in a genocidal campaign involving both chemical and conventional weapons. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Off-duty U.S. soldiers enjoy Saddam Hussein's swimming pool at the Republican Palace July 14, 2003 in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo by Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images)
Iraqi mini-bus driver Sami Kadum Sadiq is wheeled through a Baghdad hospital after he was injured when a homemade bomb exploded Wednesday, Sept 24, 2003 along a road in Baghdad, missing a U.S. military patrol but killing at least one Iraqi, injuring 18, and destroying two civilian buses. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
Iraqis run through the neighborhood of al-Qurtan in the Iraqi town of Khaldiyah Monday Sept. 29, 2003 as U.S. troops withdrew from the area after a firefight backed by U.S. attack aircraft, helicopters and tanks. One American soldier was killed and three others wounded in two roadside bombings, one prompting the firefight. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
U.S. Army soldiers and Iraqi policemen walk past two bodies as they seal off the scene of a massive car bomb attack on the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) October 27, 2003 in Baghdad, Iraq. The attack killed at least ten people and came on the first day of the holy Islamic month of Ramadan. (Photo by Scott Nelson/Getty Images)
An Iraqi prisoner of war comforts his 4-year-old son at a regroupment center for POWs of the 101st Airborne Division near An Najaf, March 31, 2003. The man was seized in An Najaf with his son, and the U.S. military did not want to separate them. (AP Photo/Jean-Marc Bouju)
U.S. paratroopers with the 1-504th regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division from Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, nicknamed the "Red Devils," shine lights onto the face of a detained man while they try to identify him during a raid November 26, 2003 in Nassar el al Salaam, Iraq. The man was questioned and later released. The overnight raid netted two men suspected of militant activities against American forces. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Fearful women and children watch paratroopers in the 1-504th regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division, nicknamed the "Red Devils" raid their house, a suspected militant compound on November 26, 2003 at in Nassar el al Salaam, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
American soldiers in the 4th Infantry Division stand over the opening of the "spider hole" where Saddam Hussein was captured December 15, 2003 in Ad Dawr, Iraq. Iraq's notorious dictator was captured in a raid at the compound on December 13, 2003. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
A man cries over the remains of a relative he found at a mass grave that contained the remains of up to 3,000 people believed to have been killed during the 1991 Shia revolt against Saddam Hussein's regime in Mahawil, Iraq, on May 14, 2003. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times)
A paratrooper in 1st Brigade of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division drives a Humvee through the base December 30, 2003 near Fallujah, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
U.S. Army combat medic Sgt. Luis Pacheco of the 1st Brigade, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division, from Chicago, Illinois, treats an Iraqi insurgent for a gunshot wound to the chest as another soldier searches the home during early morning raids January 6, 2004 in Fallujah, Iraq. The Army said the man was fired upon by U.S. soldiers after brandishing a rifle. The raids netted four suspects including an Iraqi man suspected of constructing IED's for insurgents. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
A U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter crew works on a runway prior to flying in the violent so-called Sunni Triangle area January 19, 2004 at Forward Operating Base Ridgway, Iraq. The helicopter's crew is one of many from the 2nd Battalion, 82nd Aviation Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division based at Forward Operating Base Ridgway located near the restive town of Fallujah. Several helicopters have been shot down in the region since November prompting pilots to vary routes and tactics to reduce their vulnerability to insurgents. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
US Army First Armored Division Spc. Robert Laux of Sacramento, California attempts to open the hood of an Army vehicle during a maintenance check at Baghdad's police academy February 16, 2004 in Baghdad, Iraq. A delegation of six US Congress members visited the academy and laid a wreath to express condolences for the dozens of Iraqi policemen killed in an attack in Fallujah over the weekend. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Boys wave as they ride in the trunk of a car February 19, 2004 in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Iraqis enjoy an amusement park as they celebrate the last day of the Eid al-Adha holiday February 4, 2004 in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Victims of an explosion are wheeled away from the scene on March 2, 2004 in Karbala, Iraq. As many as 25 people were killed after at least 6 blasts hit the holy city, where many thousands of Muslims were celebrating the festival of Ashura. (Photo by Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images)
Iraqis chant anti-American slogans as charred bodies hang from a bridge over the Euphrates River in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, Wednesday, March 31 2004. Enraged Iraqis in this hotbed of anti-Americanism killed four foreigners, including at least one U.S. national, took the charred bodies from a burning SUV, dragged them through the streets, and hung them from the bridge. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
U.S. Marines pray over a fallen comrade at a first aid point after he died from wounds suffered in fighting in Fallujah, Iraq, Thursday, April 8, 2004. Hundreds of U.S. Marines have been fighting insurgents in several neighborhoods in the western Iraqi city of Fallujah in order to regain control of the city. (AP Photo/Murad Sezer)
An Iraqi man celebrates atop a burning U.S. Army Humvee in the northern part of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, April 26, 2004. An explosion leveled a building in northern Baghdad on Monday, setting four U.S. Humvees nearby on fire. At least one U.S. soldier and several Iraqis were wounded. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
A hooded and wired Iraqi prisoner is seen at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, Iraq in this undated photo. (AP Photo/Courtesy of The New Yorker)
The father of 12-year-old Ali Basem Karim mourns his loss as Hussam Hassan washes the body of the boy on May 6, 2004 in Najaf, Iraq. Karim was killed in Basra when the wedding he was attending was attacked by extremist militias. The wedding was attacked because they were celebrating, which the militia considerers inappropriate. Another child was wounded in the attack. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images)
Two men, overcome with emotion after being released from Abu Ghraib prison, hug May 14, 2004 in the city of Baquba, outside of Baghdad, Iraq. One hundred and eight-three prisoners were released from Abu Ghraib prison on May 14 after they were driven up through Tikrit and finally released in Baquba. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images)
U.S. Army soldiers rush to evacuate an injured comrade in the center of Baghdad, Iraq, after thunderous explosions at the capital, Tuesday, May 25, 2004. A U.S. helicopter landed in the square and evacuated at least one wounded person as American troops and military vehicles provided security. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
An Iraqi militiaman loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr fires a mortar round during fighting between Sadr's Mahdi army and U.S. forces June 5, 2004 in the eastern Baghdad district of Sadr city, Iraq. Fighting continued in the capital despite a cease fire brokered between U.S. forces and the cleric's militia in Najaf and Kufa. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images)
An injured child is comforted by a neighbor as he is treated at Kindi hospital after suffering injuries when two apparent car bombs exploded just minutes apart outside nearby churches August 1, 2004 in Baghdad, Iraq. Car bombs exploded outside at least six Christian churches in an apparent coordinated attack timed to coincide with evening prayers. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul- Ahad/Getty Images)
Iraqi Shiite militiamen prepare to fire their weapons during clashes with U.S. Marines August 7, 2004 in Najaf, Iraq. Fighting was continuing for the third day between Iraqi combatants and multinational forces in the holy city of al-Najaf. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images)
An Iraqi Shiite militia man loyal to the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr fires his machine gun at a US helicopter during more fighting, on August 11, 2004 in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq. Heavy fighting continued in the holy city of al-Najaf while US forces carried out final preparations for an attack on Sadr's supporters. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images)
A woman sits in front of a burning car 50 meters away from the shrine of Imam Ali on August 25, 2004 in Najaf, Iraq. The car was hit by US fire on Rassol Street. The main streets leading to the shrine from the south were transformed into a sniper alley by US forces. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images).
Iraqi Shiite demonstrators flee from unknown gunmen as bullets fly overhead on August 26, 2004 in Najaf, Iraq. The Shiite demonstration came under fire while en route to the Imam Ali Shrine, further inflaming a situation already tense after at least 25 people were killed in a suspected mortar attack on a mosque filled with protesters preparing to travel to Najaf, August 26, in Kufa, Iraq. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images).
Iraqi Shiite demonstrators carry an injured man as bullets fly overhead on August 26, 2004 in Najaf, Iraq. The Shiite demonstration came under fire while en route to the Imam Ali Shrine. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images).
An Iraqi Shiite militia man prepares to fire his RPG rocket launcher at US tanks as another militia man warns fighters on the other side of the road, in the Shiite area of Sadr city east of Baghdad on September 5, 2004. U.S forces continued to fight rebels in Northern Iraq for the second day, adding to the violence over the weekend including a suicide bomb in Kirkuk September 4 which killed 17. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images)
U.S. Army soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division's 2nd Battalion-2nd Regiment clear abandoned houses of insurgent fighters November 10, 2004 during fighting in the Iraqi insurgent stronghold of Fallujah. On the authority of Iraqi President Ayed Allawi, U.S and Iraqi forces were engaged in a battle to take back control of the city.
Iraqi firefighters extinguish fire from a burning vehicle at the site of a car bomb attack September 22, 2004 in a busy shopping area in western Baghdad, Iraq. Six people were killed and another 54 wounded in the blast. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images)
A U.S. soldier carries an Iraqi girl away from the scene of three explosions September 30, 2004 in Baghdad, Iraq. Three separate explosions near a U.S. military convoy which was passing the opening ceremony for a sewage station killed at least 35 people and wounded more than 100 others in southern Baghdad according to Iraqi police. (Photo by Wathiq Khuzaie/Getty Images)
British private contractor Michael Fitzpatrick thanks his U.S. Army nurse Jayme Sells while recovering from a suicide bomb attack in an American military hospital in Baghdad, Iraq Friday, Oct. 15, 2004. Fitzpatrick said that he was drinking coffee in the Green Zone Cafe when a suicide bomber detonated one of two explosions that killed 6 people and wounded many more. The U.S. embassy and Iraqi government buildings are located in the heavily fortified area. (AP Photo/John Moore)
Marine Lance Cpl. James Blake Miller, 20, of Kentucky, a member of Charlie Company of the U.S. Marines First Division, Eighth regiment, smokes a cigarette in Fallujah, Iraq, on Nov. 9, 2004. Miller came to be known as the "Marlboro Man" for this iconic photograph from the Iraq War. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Luis Sinco)
Although wounded, Staff Sgt. Shannon Kay, of 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, fires on an enemy position after being attacked with a car bomb, Saturday, Dec. 11, 2004, in Mosul, Iraq. (AP Photo/Army Times, M. Scott Mahaskey, via USA Today)
A militiaman loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr fires towards American positions during clashes in Najaf, Iraq, on Aug. 22, 2004. (Joao Silva/The New York Times)
American soldiers from Company C, First Battalion of the Fifth Cavalry Regiment on a rooftop in a cemetery as a round from a Bradley Fighting Vehicle hits a tomb where a sniper was suspected to be hiding in Najaf, Iraq, on Aug. 11, 2004. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times)
Shia Iraqi men crush in to get election pamphlets from the United Iraqi Alliance, a coalition of various Shia political and religious parties, as they are handed out at Buratha Mosque December 31, 2004, in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
An Iraqi police officer fires at attacking insurgents during a firefight January 16, 2005 in Tal Afar, Iraq. A routine patrol in the insurgent stronghold turned into an hour-long running gunbattle January 16, with a combined U.S. and Iraqi police force battling insurgents across alleys and down boulevards. Despite several close calls, there were no U.S. or Iraqi police casualties. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
U.S. soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division out of Ft. Lewis, Washington fire at insurgents during a firefight January 16, 2005 in Tal Afar, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Journalists, U.S. troops and Iraqi police run for cover during a firefight with insurgents January 16, 2005 in Tal Afar, Iraq. A routine patrol in the insurgent stronghold turned into an hour-long running gunbattle January 16, with a combined U.S. and Iraqi police force battling insurgents across alleys and down boulevards. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Capt. Thomas Siebold of the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division out of Ft. Lewis, Washington calls to his troops during a firefight with insurgents January 16, 2005 in Tal Afar, Iraq. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Paratroopers with the Yorkshire Regiment participate in exercises with helicopters with the 845 Royal Navy Squadron January 16, 2005 in Basra, Iraq. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Image).
Paratroopers with the Yorkshire Regiment participate in exercises with helicopters from the 845 Royal Navy Squadron January 16, 2005 in Basra, Iraq. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Image).
Spc. Franklin Smith pulls away as a 120mm mortar blasts out of a tube January 17, 2005 at the edge of the US airbase in Tal Afar, Iraq. US mortaring teams frequently fire "harassment and interdiction" mortar fusillades from the base to suspected enemy positions or watched areas nearby. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Samar Hassan, 5, screams after her parents were killed by U.S. Soldiers with the 25th Infantry Division in a shooting January 18, 2005 in Tal Afar, Iraq. The troops fired on the Hassan family car when it unwittingly approached them during a dusk patrol in the tense northern Iraqi town. Parents Hussein and Camila Hassan were killed instantly, and a son Racan, 11, was seriously wounded in the abdomen. Racan, paralyzed from the waist down, was treated later in the U.S. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Racan Hassan, 11, is carried by hospital staff after being shot by U.S. soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division January 18, 2005 in Tal Afar, Iraq. The troops fired on the Hassan family car when it unwittingly approached them during a dusk patrol in the tense northern Iraqi town. Parents Hussein and Camila Hassan were killed instantly, and their son Racan was seriously wounded in the abdomen. Racan, who lost the use of his legs, was treated later in the U.S. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
A car bomb went off next to a school in south of Baghdad one hour after a suicide bomber targeted a police station in the same area. January 28, 2005, Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images).
British soldiers with the Welsh Guards battle group man a heavy machine gun at the back of a Chinook helicopter February 8, 2005 above the southern Iraqi city of Ammarah. Criminality, not insurgency, was the biggest issue for British troops in Ammarah, with gangs frequently kidnapping people and stealing cars at gunpoint on the main road running through the province. Ammarah is Iraq's poorest province. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images)
U.S. Army Sergeant 1st Class Troy Hawkins of the 1st Cavalry, Task Force 1-9, falls to the ground after being wounded during a firefight while on patrol with an Iraqi Army unit February 16, 2005 in the Haifa Street neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq. After being tended to by a medic he continued to fight in the narrow streets. The U.S. Army was handing control of the volatile area over to the Iraqi military as they continued to decrease their involvement in the city. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
An suspected Iraqi insurgent is detained by commandos of the 3rd battalion of the Commandos brigade after raids against suspected insurgents, 30km north of Baghdad, on February 18, 2005 In Taji, Iraq. Most of the members of the Commandos Elite Force were members of the security apparatus under the former regime. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images).
Support Squadron -SPC Carlos Riverarosado, of Narantito, Puerto Rico sits on his cot with his Rosary Beads at camp Striker in Iraq. He said spirituality had always been a big part of his life. He prays the Rosary every night at 8:00 PM. (Craig F. Walker/The Denver Post)
An American soldier of the 3rd Battalion of 21st Infantry Regiment prepares to enter a house as the door opens in the northern city of Mosul, March 03, 2005. As curfew comes to effect each night, American soldiers came out looking for suspects and searching houses looking for weapons. In a conservative society like the one in Mosul, knocking on doors and searching houses in the middle of the night is believed to be a major source of anti-American feelings in the city. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images).
Combat Support Hospital Army Nurse supervisor Patrick McAndrew tries to save the life of an American soldier by giving him CPR upon arrival at the Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq on April 4, 2005. (AP Photo/John Moore)
An Iraqi man raises his hands as he is approached by U.S. soldiers during a night raid June 18, 2005 on the outskirts of Baquba, 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) northeast of Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images).
Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is seen as he was questioned by Chief Investigative Judge Raid Juhi, not seen, in this Aug. 23, 2005 photo at an unknown location. (AP Photo/Iraqi Special Tribunial, Pool)
A British soldier makes his way out of a burning Warrior fighting vehicle in Basra, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad Monday Sept. 19, 2005. British forces and demonstrators exchanged gunfire in the southern city of Basra leaving two civilians dead after two British men were arrested for allegedly gunning down an Iraqi police officer. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)
Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, front center, and Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, back center, berate the court during their trial in Baghdad, in this Dec. 5, 2005 photo. (AP Photo/David Furst, Pool)
An Iraqi man is held against a Humvee by a US Marine after being searched during snap vehicle checks on February 8, 2006 in Ramadi, Iraq. Marines of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Regiment frequently took to Ramadi's tense streets in Humvee convoys, randomly stopping vehicles to search for weapons and insurgents. Sniper attacks were common, so the Marines usually set off smoke bombs to screen them from attackers. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Major Hans Bakken, a U.S. Army neurosurgeon from Decorah, Iowa, enters a surgical ward with his unloaded rifle on his back March 16, 2006 in Balad, Iraq. Balad is one of the primary hospitals for troops and civilians injured in the ongoing conflict in Iraq, which was entering its fourth year. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Marine Sgt. Jesse Leach drags Lance Cpl. Juan Valdez of the 4th Mobile Assault Platoon, Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment to safety moments after Valdez was shot through the arm and right side by a sniper while on a joint patrol with the Iraqi army in Karmah, Anbar Province, Iraq, on Oct. 31, 2006. (Joao Silva/The New York Times)
President Bush, center, stands with, from left, Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace as he talks with reporters about a meeting with his national security team Thursday, Dec. 28, 2006 in Crawford, Texas. Bush met with his national security team at his Texas ranch, and declared he had moved one step closer to devising a new Iraq strategy but would seek more advice before settling on a final plan. "We're making good progress," Bush said. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
A British soldier guards a position as two armored vehicles burn after a roadside bomb hit his unit patrol in the southern city of Basra, 29 December 2006, killing an unidentified soldier. (ESSAM AL-SUDANI/AFP/Getty Images)
An effigy of Saddam Hussein hangs in a central Baghdad street 30 December 2006, as Iraqis reeled from the news that ousted Iraqi despot Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging. More than 50 Iraqis were killed and dozens more wounded in a series of bloody car bombings that caused chaos after the government's pre-dawn execution. (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)
Her mother, no first name available, comforts 18-year-old Fatimah Krim at a hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday Jan. 17, 2007. Twin car bombs tore through a leading Baghdad university as students left classes in the deadliest attack in Iraq in nearly two months killing at least 65 students. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
A U.S. Marine wakes another for his turn on guard duty as the Marines cluster for warmth while sleeping in a house captured by American and Iraqi forces from a man the military says is a former insurgent financier during an operation in Ramadi, January 17, 2007 in the Anbar province of Iraq. The combined forces swept into Ramadi under the cover of darkness and began searching neighborhoods for insurgents. Ramadi, with daily combat between insurgents and U.S. led forces, had seen some of the highest casualty rates of the war. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
A U.S. Marine guards an Iraqi mother and children while other Marines interrogate the father while on a search operation for insurgents in the early hours of February 1, 2007 in Ramadi in Iraq's Anbar province. American forces used night vision goggles, taking advantage of technology to aid the element of surprise and reduce the effectiveness of insurgent snipers on U.S. forces. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Members of the U.S. Marine Security Force walk through the halls of the U.S. Embassy February 6, 2007 in Baghdad, Iraq . The platoon of Marines from the Anti-Terrorism Battalion is tasked with defending the exterior of U.S. diplomatic mission against attacks in one of the most dangerous cities in the world. The United States had used the former palace of Saddam Hussein as its embassy since shortly after the invasion in 2003. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Iraqis grieve in front of a burning building after a double car bomb attack in central Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Feb. 12, 2007. Thunderous explosions and dense black smoke swirled through the center of Baghdad when at least one car bomb blew up in an underground parking garage, setting off dozens of secondary explosions and killing at least 59 people, police said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
A U.S. soldier in the 10th Mountain Division winces in pain as his gunshot wound to the leg is treated by medics of the 28th Combat Support Hospital based in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina February 27, 2007 in Baghdad, Iraq. Wounded children and adults were rushed to the 28th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad, a military hospital that took wounded Iraqi and U.S. forces alike. The boy had shrapnel wounds and a piece of shrapnel lodged in his skull but was expected to recover. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
A child cries next to a person injured in an attack while in a hospital in Kirkuk, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 10, 2007. A rocket hit an open market in central Kirkuk killing two people and injuring another 35, police said. (AP Photo/Emad Matti)
An Iraqi woman washes dishes as US soldiers from Baker Company 2-12 Infantry Battalion temporarily occupy her home during a patrol in the Dora neighborhood of southern Baghdad, 16 March 2007. Shiite protesters demanded the removal of a US military base from Sadr City in east Baghdad as US commanders reported a surge of attacks on troops in a province near the capital. (DAVID FURST/AFP/Getty Images)
Mary McHugh mourns her slain fiancŽ Sgt. James Regan at "Section 60" of the Arlington National Cemetery May 27, 2007. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Family members mourn after funeral services for Spc. David William Behrle of Tipton, Iowa, 20, at the Tipton Middle School May 29, 2007 in Tipton, Iowa. Behrle along with five other members of the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, Texas died of injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle while serving in Iraq on May 19, 2007. (Photo by Scott Morgan/Getty Images)
Two Iraqi girls watch Staff Sgt. Nick Gibson of the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Division June 21, 2007 as the unit was canvassing the tense Dora neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq. U.S. soldiers patrolled the area almost daily in an effort to get to know the residents and find insurgents. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
An Iraqi Army soldier (L) watches as medics of the Army's 2-12 Cavalry Battalion try to save a civilian man injured by a roadside bomb aimed at Iraqi troops by local militants at Joint Security Station Casino in the divided Gazaliyah neighborhood June 29, 2007 in Baghdad, Iraq. Gazaliyah, one of Baghdad's most troubled neighborhoods, was patrolled by the 2-12 Cavalry out of Joint Security Station Casino, one of the field bases that figured prominently in the "surge" strategy of General David Petraeus. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Pft. Daniel Sims of Clemson, South Carolina of the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment of the U.S. Army sits during watch duties in a partially destroyed building that was being converted to an Army field post July 13, 2007 in the tense Amariyah neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq. Insurgents who were in control of Amariyah attempted to destroy this building and an adjacent bunker with explosives and burning tires, but the Army was able to salvage the compound and was occupying it. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Family, friends and fellow soldiers salute as US Army 1st Lt. Mark Harold Dooley's remains were carried to the graveside during his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery July 13, 2007 in Arlington, Virginia. A member of the Army National Guard's 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment (Mountain), 42nd Infantry Division, Dooley died in Ramadi, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during patrol operations on September 19, 2005. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
U.S. Army 1st. Sgt. Kenny Power from Lajas, Puerto Rico (not seen) watches television as US President George W. Bush makes an address concerning the war September 14, 2007 in Baghdad, Iraq. Power watches the address live via satellite television at the Joint Security Station Maverick in Baghdad, Iraq. Power is from Bravo Company of the 2-12 Cavalry Regiment based in Fort Bliss, Texas. Bush announced a withdrawal of about 20,000 troops from Iraq by July 2008. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
American soldiers cheer as the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders took the stage as part of a military USO tour of Iraq September 15, 2007 in Baghdad, Iraq. The cheerleaders, on their first trip to Iraq, were doing 5 shows throughout the country for the soldiers, many of whom were on 15 month deployments. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Juvenile detainees wait for their turn outside portable bathrooms at the "House of Wisdom" school operated by the U.S. military near the Camp Cropper detention center September 19, 2007 in Baghdad, Iraq. More than 800 juvenile detainees were in American custody at the center. Most were captured during the 2007 troop "surge" in Baghdad. They attended six classes - Arabic, Science, Math, History, Civics and English every three days. Many of the detainees, ages 12-17 years old, were captured while planting roadside bombs or IEDs targeting U.S. forces, according to military officials. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
A U.S. Army nurse takes the fading pulse of a dying American soldier at the 28th Combat Support Hospital September 22, 2007 in Baghdad, Iraq. The soldier was fatally wounded by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Baghdad. The hospital, located in Baghdad's Green Zone, received many of the nearly 30,000 U.S. soldiers wounded in Iraq. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Members of the Honor Guard ready themselves next to the gravesite for a burial service for Army Spc. Camy Florexil at Arlington National Cemetery October 5, 2007 in Arlington, Virginia. Spc. Florexil, 20, of Philadelphia, died July 24 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
A U.S. army soldier from Ghostrider Company, 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment runs for cover during Operation Phantom Phoenix in the village of Abu Musa on the northern outskirts of Muqdadiyah, in the volatile Diyala province, about 90 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008. Facing another decision about U.S. troop levels in Iraq by spring, U.S. President Bush said Saturday Jan. 12, 2008 it's "fine with me" if generals recommend no more reductions than those already planned to take the force posture down to about 130,000. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
An Iraqi woman holds onto a truck while waiting for food supplies to be distributed by Iraqi soldiers among the residents of the Shiite enclave of Sadr city in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, May 8, 2008. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Detainees pray at a U.S. military detention facility Camp Bucca, Iraq, Monday, March 16, 2009. The United States aimed to shut down its largest detention center, Camp Bucca, by 2010. More than 9,600 detainees who were captured as national security threats over the last four years were still being held there; at its peak, the prison located 340 miles southeast of Baghdad held 26,000 detainees. Under the Jan. 1 security agreement with Iraq, the U.S. had released more than 1,800 detainees so far in 2009 and expected to release as many as 1,300 each month. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic)
A bugler stands at attention in the rain at the funeral of Sgt. 1st Class Edward Kramer at Wilmington National Cemetery on July 9, 2009 in Wilmington, North Carolina. Kramer and three others died when an IED went off near the Humvee they were in, according to a statement from the Defense Department. It was the last day of regular combat operations for U.S. forces in Iraqi cities. The four deaths marked the North Carolina National Guard's largest single combat loss since World War II. (Photo by Logan Mock-Bunting/Getty Images)
Haidar Talib embraces his four-year-old son Mustafa as he was released from U.S. military custody in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009. He was among 37 members of a militant group called Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, who were released Sunday. The group was allegedly involved in kidnapping of five British contractors in Baghdad in 2007. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
A wounded man is seen after a bombing in Najaf, 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010. Three explosions, including one caused by a car bomb, rocked the southern city of Najaf at about 5:45 p.m. near a commercial area, police said. An official in the city's health department said at least one person was killed and 50 were wounded. (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)
A U.S. Air Force Honor Guard leads members of the U.S. Air Force Band at the beginning of Captain David Anthony Wisniewski's burial service at Arlington National Cemetery August 23, 2010 in Arlington, Virginia. Originally from Moville, Iowa, the Air Force Captain, 31, was the pilot of a Black Hawk helicopter that was shot down during a rescue mission in Afghanistan on June 9 and died of his injuries on July 2. Wisniewski is credited with saving more than 240 soldiers in seven tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, 40 of which were saved in his final rescue mission in June. He was awarded the Purple Heart on June 23. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
In this Nov. 30, 2010 photo, members of 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Stewart, Ga., sit in the belly of a C-17 aircraft at Sather Air Base in Baghdad as they began their journey home after a year in Iraq. More than seven years after 1st Brigade entered Baghdad as the first conventional U.S. forces in Iraq, its soldiers were coming home from a yearlong deployment that saw the end of combat operations. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Sharon Olivieri says goodbye to her husband U.S. Army PFC Michael Olivieri, of Homer Glen, Illinois following a service at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery on June 16, 2011 in Elwood, Illinois. Olivieri, who was assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division was among five soldiers who were killed June 6 in Baghdad, Iraq when militants attacked their base. Killed alongside Olivieri were SPC Emilio Campo Jr., SPC Michael Cook Jr., SPC Christopher Fishbeck and SPC Robert Hartwick. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Shiite pilgrims pray at the Imam Moussa al-Kadhim shrine during the annual commemoration of the Saint's death, in the Shiite district of Kazimiyah, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, June 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Over 100 electric boxes connect homes in a building to a collective generator in a poor neighborhood on July 25, 2011 in Baghdad, Iraq. Despite a recent doubling of the megawatts of electricity available to Iraqis, many people only received a few hours of electricity a day from the national grid and therefore had to depend on generators and other private sources of electricity. As the deadline for the departure of the remaining American forces in Iraq approached, Iraqi politicians had been increasingly pressured to give a final decision about extending the mandate for a small U.S. military presence beyond the end of the 2011 deadline. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
US military officer Captain Max Ferguson, company commander of Charlie Company, 2-87 Infantry Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team playfully carries an Afghan child during a joint counterinsurgency patrol with Afghan soldiers in Kandalay village, southern Kandahar province. (ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images)
U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class David Hedge from Bealeton, Va., front, and fellow soldiers from 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment were bathed in rotor wash moments after arriving by Blackhawk helicopter for an operation to disrupt weapons smuggling in Istaqlal, north of Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
U.S. Military personnel hold the US flag, Iraq flag, and the US Forces Iraq colors and march during a casing ceremony where the United States Forces-Iraq flag was retired, signifying the departure of United States troops from Iraq, at the former Sather Air Base on December 15, 2011 in Baghdad, Iraq. United States forces are scheduled to entirely depart Iraq by December 31, there are currently around 4,000 troops remaining in Iraq. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
U.S. Army soldiers from the 2-82 Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, place their bags on a truck as they prepared to board buses later in the evening to fly home to Fort Hood, Texas after being one of the last American combat units to exit from Iraq on December 15, 2011 at Camp Virginia, near Kuwait City, Kuwait. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images,)
U.S. Army Sergeant Quasim Singleton from Phillidelphia, Pennsylvania of the 2-82 Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, carries his gear out of his temporary housing to a staging area as he waits to fly home from Kuwait after their unit exited from Iraq on December 15, 2011 at Camp Virginia, near Kuwait City, Kuwait. America's military continues its pullout of Iraq which is scheduled to be by the end of this year, after eight years of war and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The sun sets behind an empty staging area in Camp Adder which was the departure point for the last U.S. military convoy to leave the country on December 17, 2011 near Nasiriyah, Iraq. All U.S. troops were scheduled to have departed Iraq by December 31st, 2011. At least 4,485 U.S. military personnel died in service in Iraq. According to the Iraq Body Count, more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died from war-related violence. (Photo by Lucas Jackson-Pool/Getty Images)
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