US still faces challenges in Iraq after war
The Iraq war may be over for the US military but may not be for the Iraqis or for the US government as it tries to avert sectarian strife after the departure of American troops. US officials are on edge because of the Iraqi government’s decision to issue an arrest warrant against Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, the country’s highest-ranking Sunni politician.
AS US President Barack Obama embraced servicemen in Fort Bragg 20 Dec, half a world away in Fallujah, the Iraqi city bloodily stormed by American troops in 2004, they burned the Stars and Stripes and waved pictures of slain US soldiers.
America's war may finally be over, but Iraq's singular journey as an independent nation is only just beginning, and the legacy of the post-invasion years remains far from certain. The time, location and timing of the official ceremony in Baghdad were being kept under wraps, a sign that despite years of American training of about 700,000 Iraqi security forces, the country remains highly dangerous.