US Defense Minister, Panetta Secretly Arrived in Baghdad To Announce Iraq War Officially Over ...

Related article ~ Iraq's Economy ~ Expectations of recovery, the economic reality after the withdrawal of foreign forces ...

Thursday, 15-12-11

Baghdad, US Defense Minister Leon Panetta to Baghdad Thursday on an unannounced visit.

Member of the parliamentary defence and Security Commission chuan Taha reporter (News News Agency) Thursday: Panetta arrived earlier to Baghdad, where he will attend a celebration marking the end of this year, the US withdrawal.

Taha said that Panetta would discuss with Iraqi officials the US withdrawal from the country end of the year 2011. link

Top of the Agenda: U.S. Officially Ends Iraq War

The U.S. military officially declared an end to the nine-year-old war in Iraq at a ceremony in Baghdad (NYT) that was attended by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

The United States will close its last two military bases in the country and withdraw its remaining four thousand combat troops by December 31.

Continues ...read more ..

However, a few hundred military personnel and Pentagon civilians will stay in Baghdad to work within an Office of Security Cooperation at the U.S. embassy.

At the same time, the United States is ramping up its diplomatic presence (al-Jazeera). The Baghdad embassy is expected to be the largest U.S. embassy in the world with between fifteen thousand and sixteen thousand people.

Thursday's ceremony formally cased the American flag (BBC) at U.S. headquarters, which will be returned to the United States.

Approximately forty five-hundred U.S. soldiers and over a hundred-thousand Iraqis were killed during the conflict.