Iraq

20100819-200626-pic-860277012.jpg

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS U.S. Army Sgt. Jason Thompson (left) and Lt. Col. Nate Flegler wave to one of the last Stryker armored vehicles to leave Iraq.

20100819-200626-pic-603766539.jpg

Soldiers keep watch as members of the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division depart from Iraq. Some 50,000 will stay in Iraq another year in a noncombat role.

iraq_5144

U.S. Army Sgt. Jason Thompson, left, and Lt. Col. Nate Flegler, right, wave to one of the last Stryker armored vehicles to leave Iraq as it crosses the border into Kuwait at the Khabari border crossing, Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010. The U.S. Army's 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division is the last combat brigade to leave Iraq as part of the drawdown of U.S. forces. (AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)

iraq_5143

U.S. Army Spc. Luisito Brooks gives a thumbs-up to the last Stryker armored vehicle of the 4th Brigade to leave Iraq, as it crosses the border into Kuwait at the Khabari border crossing, Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010. The U.S. Army's 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division is the last combat brigade to leave Iraq as part of the drawdown of U.S. forces. (AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)

iraq_5142

** FILE ** In this Aug. 16, 2010, photo, U.S. Army soldiers from the 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment pose with an American flag for a photograph after crossing the border from Iraq into Kuwait. The soldiers are the last combat brigade to leave Iraq as part of the drawdown of U.S. forces. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

iraq_5141

In this Aug. 16, 2010 photo, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jackie Vanover, from Spanaway, Wash. holds a hand-made message for his family, including his two-month-old daughter, Austin, after crossing the border from Iraq into Kuwait. Staff Sgt. Vanover, of 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, is in the last combat brigade to leave Iraq as part of the drawdown of U.S. forces. (AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)

iraq_5140

**FILE** U.S. Army soldiers from 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment count ammunition Aug. 16, 2010, before turning it in after crossing the border from Iraq into Kuwait. (Associated Press/Maya Alleruzzo)

iraq_5139

In this Aug. 16, 2010 photo, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Luke Dill, from 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division are seen in the motor pool at Camp Virginia in Kuwait as they strip their armored Stryker vehicles before shipping them to the U.S.. Staff Sgt. Dill, who first came to Iraq during the 2003 invasion, is part of the last combat brigade to leave Iraq as part of the drawdown of U.S. forces. (AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)

iraq_5137

U.S. Army Col. John Norris, commander of the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, waits for the last Stryker armored vehicle carrying his soldiers to arrive after crossing into Kuwait from Iraq, Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010. The U.S. Army's 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division is the last combat brigade to leave Iraq as part of the drawdown of U.S. forces. (AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)

iraq_5136

In this Aug. 15, 2010 photo, U.S. Army soldiers from C Co., 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division gather for inspection of their night-vision and equipment before driving from Iraq to Kuwait. The soldiers are the last combat brigade to leave Iraq as part of the drawdown of U.S. forces. (AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)

iraq_5135

The last in a convoy of U.S. Army Stryker armored vehicles leave Iraq at the Khabari border crossing into Kuwait, Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010. The U.S. Army's 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division is the last combat brigade to leave Iraq as part of the drawdown of U.S. forces. (AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)

iraq_5134

A U.S. Army Stryker armored vehicle crosses the border from Iraq into Kuwait Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010. The U.S. Army's 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division is the last combat brigade to leave Iraq as part of the drawdown of U.S. forces. (AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)

iraq_5133

This Aug. 17, 2010 photo taken at sunrise shows members of the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division led by Col. John Noris cross the Iraq desert a few miles from the Kuwait border. The 1,800 soldiers in 360 vehicles traveled 369 miles to leave Iraq. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Carolyn Cole)

iraq_5132

U.S. Army soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division race toward the border from Iraq into Kuwait Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010. The soldiers are part of the last combat brigade to leave Iraq as part of the drawdown of U.S. forces. (AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)

iraq_5131

A U.S. Army soldier from 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division waves from his Stryker armored vehicle after crossing the border from Iraq into Kuwait Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010. The soldiers are part of the last combat brigade to leave Iraq as part of the drawdown of U.S. forces. (AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)

Iraq Americans Head H_Lea.jpg

A column of U.S. Army Stryker armored vehicles cross the border from Iraq into Kuwait on Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010. The U.S. Army's 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, part of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, is the last combat brigade to leave Iraq as part of the drawdown of U.S. forces. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Iraq Americans Head H_Live.jpg

U.S. Army soldiers from C Co., 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division gather Saturday for a formation before driving from Iraq to Kuwait. The soldiers are the last combat brigade to leave Iraq as part of the drawdown of U.S. forces. (Associated Press)

Iraq Americans Head H_Bone.jpg

In this Aug. 16, 2010 photo, a U.S Army soldier dismantles a machine gun mounted on his Stryker armored vehicle immediately after crossing the border from Iraq into Kuwait. The U.S. Army's 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, part of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, are the last combat brigade to leave Iraq as part of the drawdown of U.S. forces. (AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)

iraq_4941

In this image from mobile phone video people look on the scene where at least 61 people were killed and 125 wounded in Iraq on Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010, when a suicide bomber blew himself up among hundreds of army recruits who had gathered near a military headquarters in the capital, Baghdad. (AP Photo)

iraq_4940