THE US yesterday moved into the final phase of its military involvement in Iraq, with administration officials saying the war was ending even as the new commander of the remaining 50,000 troops warned of the ongoing threat from “hostile elements”.

The US military is gradually edging closer to unleashing a new model army of robot soldiers on the battlefield.

An Iraq war review says the US military achieved a historic level of co-ordination of air, land and sea power but fell short in other respects, at the cost of American lives.