From ???Mission Accomplished??? to ???Welcome Home,??? the Iraq War Ends (ContributorNetwork)

It's officially over. The war in Iraq, waged since March of 2003, no longer is part of the U.S. military's future plans. American troops lowered the flag in their final outpost in Baghdad in a ceremony in the capital city. The war was longer than what Americans expected and our service men and women have made sacrifices above and beyond the call of duty in the name of freedom.

Here's an overview of the Iraq War.

Beginnings

CBS News reported in 2002 that former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was already setting plans in motion Sept. 11, 2001, to attack Iraq. All of the evidence was pointing towards Osama bin Laden as a phone call was made from his location in Afghanistan to an associated in the Republic of Georgia.

Operation Iraqi Freedom began in mid-March 2003 with what was termed "shock and awe" tactics. CNN reported massive aerial bombings and missile strikes all over Iraq. Major cities were destroyed and infrastructure targets were hit.

Former president George W. Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" when he landed on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Think Progress reported he delivered a speech May 1, 2003, just six weeks after the war began to declare the U.S. military had achieved their mission. Unfortunately, insurgents and the Iraqi people had other plans.

Scandals

Within months of the war, aspects of government contracts came under scrutiny. CNN reported in December 2003 that an energy company known as Halliburton was audited by the Department of Defense for overcharging the military for gasoline for the war effort. Halliburton was once run by then-vice president Dick Cheney. ABC News reported Halliburton came under fire in 2007 for allegedly gang raping a female employee who was in Iraq.

Time magazine reported the first scandal of the war involved the torture of prisoners at a prison called Abu Ghraib. Photos of U.S. soldiers posing with nude prisoners on leashes with suggestive poses were leaked to the media in 2004. Suddenly the Iraq War was more unpopular than ever before and the policies of Bush were coming into question.

Another scandal involving government contractors revolved around Blackwater, a private security firm. The company came under fire for the deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians in September 2007. Fourteen months later, the security company got in trouble for smuggling banned weapons into Iraq such as silencers for guns.

Facts and Figures

Nearly nine years after it began, the Iraq War officially came to an end. President Barack Obama promised to have all of the troops home by the end of 2011. In Obama's speech Dec. 14 at Fort Bragg, N.C., he told the troops in attendance that their sacrifices for Iraq were finally over.

"On behalf of a grateful nation, I'm proud to finally say these two words. Welcome home," Obama said.

In all, there were 4,487 American lives lost with 32,000 wounded. More than 1.5 million troops served in Iraq, many over multiple tours of duty. Over 100,000 Iraqi civilians were estimated to be killed, both during armed conflict and the ensuing insurgency that saw citizens kidnapped.

The remaining 4,000 U.S. troops in Iraq will be withdrawn to Kuwait by Christmas.

William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics. Born in St. Louis, Browning is active in local politics and served as a campaign volunteer for President Barack Obama and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111215/pl_ac/10688185_from_mission_accomplished_to_welcome_home_the_iraq_war_ends

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