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15/12/2011
American Flag Lowered In Baghdad
After over eight years of intense fighting that lead to the deaths in excess of an estimated 1 million troops and civilians, the USA has lowered its flag in Iraq, formally ending their operations in the middle-eastern country.
Some 4,000 US soldiers will remain in Iraq, but are due to leave in the next two weeks. During the peak of the operation, US forces there numbered 170,000.
The ceremony in Capital Baghdad was officially ended by the lowering og US forces flag.
Speaking at Fort Bragg on Thursday to returning troops, US President Barack Obama said: "Over the last three years, nearly 150,000 U.S. troops have left Iraq. And over the next few days, a small group of American soldiers will begin the final march out of that country. Some of them are on their way back to Fort Bragg.
"As your Commander-in-Chief, I can tell you that it will indeed be a part of history. Those last American troops will move south on desert sands, and then they will cross the border out of Iraq with their heads held high. One of the most extraordinary chapters in the history of the American military will come to an end. Iraq’s future will be in the hands of its people. America’s war in Iraq will be over."
"It’s harder to end a war than begin one. Indeed, everything that American troops have done in Iraq -– all the fighting and all the dying, the bleeding and the building, and the training and the partnering -– all of it has led to this moment of success. Now, Iraq is not a perfect place. It has many challenges ahead. But we’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq, with a representative government that was elected by its people. We’re building a new partnership between our nations. And we are ending a war not with a final battle, but with a final march toward home."
Meanwhile, the US Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, told troops the mission had been worth the cost in blood and dollars.
He said the years of war in Iraq had yielded to an era of opportunity in which the US was a committed partner.
(DW)
Some 4,000 US soldiers will remain in Iraq, but are due to leave in the next two weeks. During the peak of the operation, US forces there numbered 170,000.
The ceremony in Capital Baghdad was officially ended by the lowering og US forces flag.
Speaking at Fort Bragg on Thursday to returning troops, US President Barack Obama said: "Over the last three years, nearly 150,000 U.S. troops have left Iraq. And over the next few days, a small group of American soldiers will begin the final march out of that country. Some of them are on their way back to Fort Bragg.
"As your Commander-in-Chief, I can tell you that it will indeed be a part of history. Those last American troops will move south on desert sands, and then they will cross the border out of Iraq with their heads held high. One of the most extraordinary chapters in the history of the American military will come to an end. Iraq’s future will be in the hands of its people. America’s war in Iraq will be over."
"It’s harder to end a war than begin one. Indeed, everything that American troops have done in Iraq -– all the fighting and all the dying, the bleeding and the building, and the training and the partnering -– all of it has led to this moment of success. Now, Iraq is not a perfect place. It has many challenges ahead. But we’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq, with a representative government that was elected by its people. We’re building a new partnership between our nations. And we are ending a war not with a final battle, but with a final march toward home."
Meanwhile, the US Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, told troops the mission had been worth the cost in blood and dollars.
He said the years of war in Iraq had yielded to an era of opportunity in which the US was a committed partner.
(DW)
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