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Mario Tama / Pool via EPA
Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division rejoice in the convoy staging area before departing Camp Adder, now known as Imam Ali Base, Dec. 17, near Nasiriyah, Iraq.
From NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services:
Mario Tama / Getty Images
The final section of the last American military convoy to depart Iraq from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division crosses over the border into Kuwait on Dec. 18, in Khabari Al Awazeem, Kuwait. Around 500 troops from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division ended their presence on Camp Adder, and departed in the final American military convoy out of Iraq.
NBC News' Richard Engel tweeted from the border: "The gate to #iraq is closed. Soldier just told me, 'that's it, the war is over.'"
The final column of around 100 mostly U.S. military MRAP armored vehicles carrying 500 U.S. troops trundled through the night along an empty highway, across the southern Iraq desert to the Kuwaiti border.
The Iraq war began on March 20, 2003, at a time when national defense was a top priority for Americans still shocked by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. It continued with the invasion and ouster of Saddam Hussein, then ground through years of war against an insurgency that left tens of thousands dead.
Lucas Jackson / Reuters
U.S. Army soldiers perform a casing of the colors ceremony signifying the departure of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division as they depart in the last convoy from Camp Adder near Nasiriyah, Iraq on Dec. 17.
Among those dead were nearly 4,500 Americans, and the war cost $800 billion from the U.S. Treasury. The question of whether it was worth it all is yet unanswered.
"It's good to see this thing coming to a close. I was here when it started," Staff Sgt. Christian Schultz said just before leaving Contingency Operating Base Adder, 185 miles south of Baghdad, for the border. "I saw a lot of good changes, a lot of progress, and a lot of bad things too."
"A good chunk of me is happy to leave. I spent 31 months in this country," said Sgt. Steven Schirmer, 25, after three tours of Iraq since 2007. "It almost seems I can have a life now, though I know I am probably going to Afghanistan in 2013. Once these wars end I wonder what I will end up doing."
Read the full story here.
Pool via Reuters
Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division hug while preparing to depart in the last convoy from Iraq at Camp Adder, now known as Imam Ali Base, near Nasiriyah, Iraq, Dec. 17. The last convoy of U.S. soldiers pulled out of Iraq on Sunday, ending their withdrawal after nearly nine years of war and military intervention that cost almost 4,500 American and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives.
Maya Alleruzzo / AP
U.S. Army soldiers from 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas, inspect their body armor at Camp Adder during final preparations for the last American convoy to leave Iraq.
Mario Tama / Getty Images
Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division secure equipment to a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle while preparing to depart in the last convoy from Iraq at Camp Adder, Dec. 17.
Lucas Jackson / Reuters
Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division play football while waiting at a staging area in Camp Adder to be part of the last U.S. military convoy to leave the country near Nasiriyah, Iraq on Dec. 17.
Mario Tama / Getty Images
Specialist Matthew Hildebrandt from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division smokes while preparing to depart from Iraq at Camp Adder, Dec. 17.
Lucas Jackson / Reuters
Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division celebrate through the roof hatches of their Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles as they drive out on the U.S. military's last combat patrol in the country, at Camp Adder near Nasiriyah, Dec. 16.
Mario Tama / Getty Images
A soldier from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division cleans a housing unit to be turned over to the Iraqis while preparing to depart from Iraq at Camp Adder, now known as Imam Ali Base, Dec. 17.
Mario Tama / Getty Images
A soldier from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, walks through the nearly deserted Camp Adder, now known as Imam Ali Base, on Dec. 16.
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What can I say, 9 years to late, due to that war we ruined our economy,and after they got Sadam removed the country is still a nightmare, and soon there will be internal fighting for power,but we are out and that is good,another not so little problem is how do we give all these guys a job,the unemployment will get up again for a while that is my gess,anyway welcome home guys and good luck.
good luck guys i guess it's been like hell in Iraq
I hope we have the wisdom and love to look after our men and women in uniform who served us well. Let's not send them anywhere else in different Moslem hell holes. We must look after them. They were ordered in by our politicians. Let's also not send anymore of my Billions to two faced Pakistanis or Afghans and instead use those funds to look after our soldiers. We should send a letter to that effect to our Congressmen to pass that resolution. Let the Chinese do the donations to the Moslem Begging bowl. Their favorite country.
The IRAQ War was just stupid. The nation and the world were launched into a half hearted war because a couple of our politicians had their egos bruised. We should have made a deal with Saddam like we did before. It was the Pakis that tried to sell them the Nuclear bomb but he said "no". At least he was not a Moslem Fundamentalist. It was under lies and false pretense.
Regarding Afghan/Paki war, we had no choice. They attacked the UNITED STATES on 9/11 like Pearl-Harbor was attacked. We should have nuked them in to the new stone age. The problem is Iraq had no WMD, like Pakis have and had. Pakis are out of control, have made as they call the "moslem-Bomb" with our tax payer's money and with their gay friends in China will probably start the Next Nuclear war. You see, they will try and destroy the free world for the promise of 40 virgins in their after-life.
Besides human life loss, and 5T of costs, IRAQ will prove to be a great distraction, where we took our eyes and our resources off the real problem. The same guys that killed Daniel Pearl and many other Americans directly and otherwise. The real evil Moslem fundamentalists in Pakistan and Afghanistan will probably cost the free world 3 Billion lives and half of our planet's resources. Now that'll be the real costs, because someone was being stupid.
Why did MSNBC post the story of the last person to die in Iraq to the grio as some sort of black interest story? The last person to die in Iraq is a NATIONAL news story and should be in their main news section just like their other Iraqi coverage.
Thank you troops. I wish you could all come home right now, but at least your out of that hellhole. However, no matter where you awesome guys and gals are,... THANK YOU.
The war didn't bankrupt the country...the big banks and the Fed did. 800 billion..pocket change compared to what the Wall Street bank fraud sucked up. The biggest black hole for our money is the interest we're paying China. Wake up mesmerized people....
Thank God the troops are coming home....just like W said way back when. Barack doesn't remember that and apparently a lot of you good folk don't either. "The truth, people will assail it and try to destroy it ...but in the end...there it is" Winston Churchill.
Mike , you are right on and I thank you for writing this down for people to read,this is also the way I did see the whole fiasco in Iraq for all those years,Afganistan is an other story but I strongly feel that we have to get out of that sandbox ASAP it's time to get out now.Both wars did kill our economy badly and the money could have been used here at home, the Soviets were there for 20 years and that killed their economy just as bad as ours does now. And again ,good luck to our soldiers coming home.
thank you, thank you for all our soldiers have endured in the name of the US
Happy Holidays troops , thanks so much for your service.......enjoy........
Thank you to our Troops! You are all heroes, forever.
The killers are coming! The killers are coming! Watch out!