Posted on 12/15/2011 7:41:24 AM PST by Cardhu
BAGHDAD (AP) After nearly nine years, 4,500 American dead and 100,000 Iraqi dead, U.S. officials formally shut down the war in Iraq a conflict that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said was worth the American sacrifice because it set Iraq on a path to democracy.
Panetta stepped off his military plane in Baghdad Thursday as the leader of America's war in Iraq, but departed as one of many U.S. and global officials who hope to work with the struggling nation as it tries to find its new place in the Middle East and the broader world.
Bombings and gun battles are still common. And experts are concerned about the Iraqi security force's ability to defend the nation against foreign threats.
In addition to the dead, the war left 32,000 Americans wounded and cost the U.S. more than $800 billion.
Still, Panetta said earlier this week, it "has not been in vain."
Panetta and several other U.S. diplomatic, military and defense leaders participated Thursday in a symbolic ceremony during which the flag of U.S. Forces-Iraq was officially retired, or "cased," according to Army tradition. The U.S. Forces-Iraq flag was furled around a flagpole and covered in camouflage. It will be brought back to the United States.
"You will leave with great pride lasting pride," Panetta told the troops. "Secure in knowing that your sacrifice has helped the Iraqi people to begin a new chapter in history."
During a stop in Afghanistan this week, Panetta described the mission as "making that country sovereign and independent and able to govern and secure itself."
That, he said, is "a tribute to everybody everybody who fought in that war, everybody who spilled blood in that war, everybody who was dedicated to making sure we could achieve that mission."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.google.com ...
Wait. I thought it was 100,000 Iraqi dead in 2004. Or was that 1998?
Panetta is a turd of the highest order.
well, unfortunately, we can't give them Sadaam back, but I'm sure that in our absence, the Iraqis will have no problem replacing him in short order.
Enter the Muslim Brotherhood...it won’t be long now until we see a new Arab uprising in Iraq, the clock is running.
“The Americans did not leave modern schools or big factories behind them. Instead, they left thousands of widows and orphans.”
Go phone Germany and Japan about what you supposedly dont have after a war and cry them a river.
If you dopes weren’t trying so hard to kill Americans for the past 6 years, things would have improved much more. But you wanted us gone so badly, so have fun!
The last Americans had to be evacuated from the roof of the embassy April 1975.
As we leave, the Iranians will fill the power void. I expect lots of muslims with different points of view to slaughter each other. The Sunnis, Shias, Wahhabis and other sects will resume the battle against each other and direct more crap our direction...likely on our soil in the U.S.
Oh come on. He’s a Marxist. The only truth to him is what promotes Marxism. Marxists are using the Islamoterrorists to pursue their own agenda of weakening America. Panetta is consistent in his beliefs and objectives.
It must be wonderfully liberating to simply be able to declare something—like the WOT in Iraq is over—and pretend that it really is. Truth and reality are inconvenient annoyances that can and must be ignored.
Having said that, at least know we what Panetta’s position will be on any issue. Have no idea where Gingrich is coming from except is ego driven quest for the presidency.
Let’s see,
9 years trying the help them get their act together.
9 days for the whole thing to come unglued once we leave.
9 months for another 100,000 Iraqis to die.
Priceless.
This just in: Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, choked to death when a rope got caught around his neck after the platform on which he was standing collapsed.
I cannot disagree, but even if I do expect a turd to smell...it still smells!
Is this the signal for the MSM to start blacking out all news from Iraq when the country falls apart?
as I said on another thread, we should have left when they had their first free election...after that its their country to defend and fight for like we did in our revolution. If they lose their freedom, its their own doing...
Democracy will NEVER work in those countries - their “religion” DOES NOT allow it, EVER!
"The Americans are leaving behind them a destroyed country," said Mariam Khazim of Sadr City.Yeah, well, it turns out, the only way to modernize Iraq is to annihilate its population. Jot down this old saying -- "third time's the charm".
Your eloquence is exceeded only by your brevity.
Panetta is a traitor to this country. His sole objective is to destroy it so he and his commie buddies can replace it with a Marxist Utopia.
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