Leaving Iraq After nearly nine years, the removal of Saddam Hussein and the death of more than 4,000 U.S. troops, the U.S. exits Iraq. What kind of country does it leave behind?
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Leaving Iraq
U.S. soldiers celebrate as the first vehicles of the last U.S. military convoy carrying troops out of Iraq passes through the K-Crossing at Iraq's border with Kuwait early on Sunday morning. Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani speaks at the opening of the huge U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Jan. 5, 2009. It is the largest U.S. Embassy in the world. Handout/Getty Images hide caption
Makeshift houses in Baghdad are the only homes some internally displaced Iraqis know. Many are too afraid to go back to their original homes; for them, the threat of being targeted is still very real. Mohammed Ameen/Reuters /Landov hide caption
Gen. David Petraeus (center, with no gun) walks with troops in 2007 in Baqouba, Iraq. The area had recently been seized back from al-Qaida control with help from U.S. forces who were part of the surge. The surge is widely credited with changing the course of the war; now, some experts are debating how much credit it deserves. Chris Hondros/Getty Images hide caption
A U.S. convoy departs from Contingency Operating Station Kalsu, a U.S. base about 60 miles south of Baghdad. For many U.S. troops, it is the last stop in Iraq on the way out of the country. Sean Carberry/NPR hide caption
The American flag, Iraqi flag, and the U.S. Forces Iraq colors are carried during ceremonies in Baghdad today marking the end of the U.S. military mission in Iraq. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/pool/AP hide caption
Kelly McEvers speaks with Renee Montagne from Baghdad
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (left) shakes hands with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during an official meeting in Tehran last year. STR/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
U.S. Army Lt. Adam Wilson from Ontario, Calif., shakes hands with Sheik Mahmood Al-Ghizzi, possibly for the last time, on Dec. 5 in Nasiriyah, Iraq. The two men met for a final lunch as the U.S. military prepares to leave Iraq after a nearly nine-year presence. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption
U.S. troops topple a statue of Saddam Hussein on April 9, 2003, the 21st day of Operation Iraqi Freedom, in central Baghdad. Gilles Bassignac/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images hide caption
Iraqi soldiers take part in a graduation parade in Kirkuk on Monday. The oil-rich city is a mix of Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen and others. Its future status is a source of tension within Iraq. Marwan Ibrahim/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Vice President Joe Biden is interviewed by NPR's Robert Siegel in the Secretary of War Suite of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Dec. 13. David Lienemann/The White House hide caption
Biden: Iraq Will Be A Partner; History Will Judge If War Was Worth It
A day after leaving Iraq last week, U.S. Army soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division lined up their armored vehicles near Kuwait City, Kuwait. Armored equipment will not stay behind after troops leave Iraq, but other property may. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki shakes hands with President Obama in the Oval Office at the White House on Monday. The two leaders met as the U.S. prepares to withdraw the last of its combat troops from Iraq. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption
A convoy of soldiers from the 82nd Airborne line up at Contingency Operating Station Kalsu, a U.S. base about 60 miles south of Baghdad. For many U.S. troops, it is the last stop in Iraq on the way out of the country. Sean Carberry/NPR hide caption
U.S. servicemen line up to board a bus as they begin their journey home at Al Asad Air Base west of Baghdad, Iraq, on Nov. 1. The U.S. has promised to withdraw from Iraq by the end of the year as required by a 2008 security agreement between Washington and Baghdad. Some 39,000 U.S. troops are scheduled to clear out along with their equipment. Khalid Mohammed/AP hide caption