Photo Gallery Farewell Iraq
A column of armored vehicles belonging to the last combat unit to leave Iraq approaches the border with Kuwait on Thursday morning.
Brigadier General Nickolas P. Tooliatos salutes the troops as they arrive.
Soldiers at Camp Virginia in Kuwait strip their vehicles and prepare for the journey home.
Soldiers pose with an American flag after crossing the border.
Colonel Darron Wright smokes a cigar after crossing into Kuwait.
Soldiers celebrate after leaving Iraq. A further 50,000 noncombat troops will remain in the country.
Soldiers check their night-vision and equipment before driving from Iraq to Kuwait.
During the seven and half years of occupation, more than 4,400 US troops lost their lives. And over 100,000 Iraqi civilians were killed.
Terrible sectarian violence and a bloody insurgency made the country difficult to pacify.
While the violence has dipped somewhat, the suicide bombs and terrorist attacks have continued. An explosion in the southern city of Basra in June of this year killed more than 40 people
US President Barack Obama pledged to bring the troops back home during his election campaign.
Iraqi soldiers are preparing to take over, but even the top military commander in Iraq says they are not ready.
The political situation is also unstable. Months after the elections in March there is still no government. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki would like to hold onto the job.
The economy is also suffering after years of war and sanctions. The country has vast oil resources but much of the infrastructure is still damaged.
At the highpoint of the conflict, 150,000 US soldiers were deployed in Iraq. Here US troops in 2007 use smoke grenades for concealment as they engage insurgents.
Radical Islamist insurgents are still operating in the country.
