US forces leave Iraq

The last US forces left Iraq and entered Kuwait Sunday, nearly nine years after launching a divisive war to oust Saddam Hussein, which many in Washington believed would see US forces conclude their mission in Iraq within months.



The last of roughly 110 vehicles carrying 500-odd troops mostly belonging to the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, traversed the border at 7:30 am (0430 GMT), leaving just a couple hundred soldiers at the US embassy, in a country where there were once nearly 170,000 troops on 505 bases.

It ends a war that left tens of thousands of Iraqis and nearly 4,500 American soldiers dead, many more wounded, and 1.75 million Iraqis displaced, after the US-led invasion unleashed brutal sectarian killing.

More than 100,000 Iraqis have been reported killed in violence since the invasion, according to British NGO Iraq Body Count.

The bloodshed was only quelled when then-US president George W. Bush ordered a "surge" of American troops to Iraq, and Sunni tribal militias sided with US forces against Al-Qaeda.

The US embassy will now retain just 157 US soldiers, for training of Iraqi forces, and a group of Marines to secure the diplomatic mission.

Iraq has a 900,000-strong security force that many believe, while capable of maintaining internal security, lacks the means to defend its borders, airspace and territorial waters.

ORIGINAL SOURCE
Content used in this not-for-profit blog remain the property of their respective owners.