US forces formally mark end of Iraq mission

US forces formally marked the end of their mission in Iraq with a low-key ceremony near Baghdad, after nearly nine years of divisive war that began with the invasion to oust Saddam Hussein.

The “casing of the colours” near the airport, the first site the US occupied in Baghdad in 2003, comes with around 4,000 US soldiers still in Iraq, all of whom will depart in the coming days.

At that point almost no American troops will remain in a country where there were once nearly 170,000 on more than 500 bases.

The withdrawal ends a war that left more than 100,000 Iraqis and nearly 4,500 American soldiers dead, many more wounded, and 1.75 million Iraqis displaced, after the US-led invasion unleashed brutal sectarian fighting.

“After a lot of blood spilled by Iraqis and Americans, the mission of an Iraq that could govern itself has become real,” US defence secretary Leon Panetta said at the symbolic flag-lowering ceremony.

Panetta described the US withdrawal as “nothing short of miraculous” and “one of the most complex logistical undertakings in US military history.”

It brings to an end nearly nine years of US military involvement in Iraq, beginning with a “shock and awe” campaign in 2003 that many in Washington believed would see US forces conclude their mission in Iraq within months.

Instead, a bloody Sunni Arab insurgency led to widespread communal bloodshed, with more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians reported killed in the years since the invasion, according to British NGO Iraq Body Count.

That was only quelled when then-president George W Bush ordered a “surge” of American troops to Iraq, and Sunni tribal militias sided with US forces against al-Qaida.

“A lot of us feel like we haven’t done a whole lot of good,” said Sergeant Teddy Loftis, one of the 160-odd soldiers seated for the ceremony. “We accomplished our mission, but we don’t feel like we’ve won.

“There’s still terrorists here, there’s still al-Qaida here.

“(We are) happy to go home, but a little disappointed in how it’s ending.”

The pullout leaves Iraq with a 900,000-strong security force that many believe, while capable of maintaining internal security, is unable to defend its borders, air space and maritime territory.

Some US observers also fear a return to bloody sectarianism, doubt the strength of Iraq’s political structures, and feel Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has entrenched his power base to the detriment of the country’s minorities.

Picture: US defence secretary Leon Panetta puts his hand on his heart at a symbolic flag-lowering ceremony marking the end of US mission in Iraq at a US army base west of Baghdad. Picture: Ali Al-Saadi