U.S. war in Iraq ends with lowering of flag in Baghdad

The United States’ war in Iraq officially ended on Thursday as the U.S. flag was lowered in Baghdad.

Obama called the winding down of the conflict “an extraordinary achievement.”

Some 4,500 American troops and at least 60,000 Iraqis died in the Iraq war, which Obama has said would cost more than US$1 trillion.

Security is now in the hands of Iraqi authorities.

Obama welcomed home some of the last U.S. troops from Iraq on Wednesday, marking a symbolic end to the nearly nine-year war that has strained America’s armed forces.

On Thursday, Iraqis criticised Obama’s Wednesday speech to troops, saying that the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 has only brought sectarianism and devastation to Iraq.

“The (Obama’s) speech hailed the U.S. invasion, but we were against the American invasion. In my opinion what has happened and is still happening in Iraq including terrorist acts and devastation, were the outcome of the U.S. presence in Iraq. The situation in Iraq is still unstable because of the U.S. presence in my opinion. The U.S. forces also helped terrorism to enter Iraq,” said Iraqi citizen Hussein al-Najjar.

Addressing soldiers at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Obama stopped short of declaring victory in Iraq. He thanked soldiers and their families and said he was confident the U.S. departure from Iraq as well as the eventual transition from Afghanistan would leave the United States in a better position overall.

“If the Americans have achieved anything, they have achieved it to their own benefit in the first place. They are the ones who get benefits from this issue,” said Iraqi citizen Qassim Abdullah.

“As for Iraqis, maybe they have the change they have been waiting for, but they paid high price for it as you can see the killings, devastation and sectarian violence. And up to now the situation is still unstable. The price was very expensive. We were waiting for the change, but at minimum losses as possible. I do not think that the Americans have benefited us the way we have expected, or even in the way they are portraying it to us,” Abdullah added.

“What is their achievement? There is no achievement. Since the first day they entered the country and up to date they have sewed seeds of division and sectarianism,” said Iraqi citizen Ahmed Jassim.

As of this week, there were about 5,500 U.S. troops left in Iraq, down from more than 170,000 at the height of the war that Obama’s predecessor George W. Bush started in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

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