The Last Day Of The Iraq War

Window on Iraq: Civilians are seen through the window of an American Humvee on patrol in Ramadi. Chris Hondros/Getty Images

From Newsweek:

It's too late to fix Iraq before the pullout date. All U.S. troops can do now is keep trying to slow the killing and get out. They call it 'Iraqi good enough.'

An Iraqi police SUV stays parked across the entrance to the market in Mahmudiyah, about 10 miles south of Baghdad on the highway to Najaf. The market road through town has been closed to traffic for years, but drivers seem OK with the long, bumpy detour. Better to endure the inconvenience than to risk more car bombings or another attack like the explosives-and-gunfire rampage that killed roughly 70 people in one half-hour in July 2006. By late 2007, attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces in the area had slowed but still occurred about 15 times a week. Just last March, the town endured nearly a week of urban warfare in which roughly 2,000 Iraqi troops and 300 Americans battled a few hundred Shiite militiamen and their neighbors, who joined the shootout. Things are quieter now—although no one wants to take chances in the area that's been known since 2004 as the Triangle of Death.

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More News On Iraq

As war winds down, will Iraq's progress hold steady? -- Christian Science Monitor
Iraq: Cleric urges 'revenge operations' over Gaza -- AP
Shi'ites in Iraq mark Ashura in show of force -- Yahoo News/Reuters
Iraq: Suspected suicide bomber arrested at Muslim festival -- ADNKronos
Iraq sends 30,000 troops to guard Karbala pilgrims -- Yahoo News/AP
Women Banned from Baghdad Shrine -- BBC News
Marines Raise Flag on New US Embassy in Baghdad -- AFPS
This Time, Iraqis Hear and See Candidates -- New York Times
Former Blackwater Guards Plead Not Guilty -- Washington Post
Guards Plead Not Guilty in ’07 Killings in Baghdad -- New York Times
US, Iraqi troops get the picture (not their man) -- AP