Dec. 15, 2011

The United States marked the official end of the Iraq War on Dec. 15, 2011, at a symbolic ceremony in Baghdad, the capital. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta was among the officials who watched as the flag of United States Forces-Iraq was lowered and cased (slipped into a camouflage-colored sleeve) according to Army tradition. In his tribute to coalition forces, Panetta stated, “You will leave with great pride, lasting pride, secure in knowing that your sacrifice has helped the Iraqi people begin a new chapter in history free from tyranny and full of hope for prosperity and peace.”

The official flags of the five branches of the United States armed forces: U.S. Air Force, top left; U.S. Navy, top right; U.S. Army, bottom left; U.S. Coast Guard, bottom center; U.S. Marine Corps, bottom right. World Book illustrations

Launched in 2003 by the administration of then-President George W. Bush, the war took the lives of approximately 4,500 U.S. troops and some 250 personnel from allied countries that participated in the effort. An estimated 100,000 to 150,000 Iraqis, mostly civilians, died in war-related violence. The war also cost the United States more than $1 trillion. The official rationale for the war–that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States–proved not to be true. Although the invasion and march on Baghdad was carried out quickly and capably, the aftermath of Saddam Hussein’s fall turned chaotic. Bloody sectarian (of or having to do with a sect; denominationa) and religious rivalries left tens of thousands of Iraqis dead. The American presence in Iraq also fueled homegrown Islamic militancy–al-Qa’ida in Mesopotamia–among the country’s minority Sunni population.

The withdrawal of coalition forces marked the fulfillment of an important campaign pledge made by President Barack Obama in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election. On Dec. 14, 2011, President Obama had thanked U.S. troops for their service in Iraq at a ceremony at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In October, the president had announced that all U.S. forces would be withdrawn from Iraq by Dec. 31, 2011. However, U.S. forces left ahead of schedule because of a breakdown in talks between the United States and Iraq on maintaining a continuing U.S. military force in the country. Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Hussain al-Shahristani noted that Iraqis were glad the US troops were leaving: “They have been difficult years,” he told the BBC. “I think we are all happy that the American soldiers are returning home safely to their families and we are also confident that the Iraqi people and their armed forces, police, are in a position now to take care of their own security.”

Additional World Book articles

• Terrorism
• Chemical and Biological Weapons (A Special Report)
• Iraq: A Quest for Political Identity in the Second Year of the War (A Special Report)
• The War in Iraq: the Military Campaign and Aftermath  (A Special Report)
• The War in Iraq: Shifting Alliances on the World Stage (A Special Report)