The final convoy of American troops to leave Iraq crossed the border into Kuwait early this morning, finally marking the end of the nine-year military misadventure in the country. At the height of the war, more than 170,000 U.S. troops were in Iraq at more than 500 bases; now, just 150 U.S. troops will remain at the U.S. embassy. There will, however, be 16,000 people involved the diplomatic mission there — the larges diplomatic effort ever — including thousands of security contractors.
“That’s it, the war is over,” NBC’s Richard Engel quoted one of the last soldiers out as saying. Photos of the pull out:
The last column of U.S. troops leaving Iraq crosses into Kuwait
Iraqis wave at an armored vehicle as it leaves the country.
A U.S. soldier celebrates as his vehicle crosses the border
A member of the Kentucky National Guard kisses the ground after landing in Indianapolis, Indiana
Previous in TP Security
By clicking and submitting a comment I acknowledge the ThinkProgress Privacy Policy and agree to the ThinkProgress Terms of Use. I understand that my comments are also being governed by Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, or Hotmail’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policies as applicable, which can be found here.