The Americans did not understand the country when they invaded in 2003. From the earliest days, there were signs of the trouble ahead, our correspondent recalls.
In March 2003, a statue of Saddam Hussein was still standing near a communications center in Baghdad that had been bombed two days earlier. A month later, the statue would be downed as well.
Some Iraqis are celebrating the end of an American military presence that unleashed waves of bloodshed. Others fear what happens next for their country, trapped between Washington and Tehran.
A giant Iraqi flag hung from the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul’s old city on Tuesday. With the end of Operation Inherent Resolve, the last of the 2,500 U.S. forces stationed in Iraq this year are now gone.
Connexion
