Last convoy of U.S. troops leaves Iraq

PanARMENIAN.Net - The last convoy of U.S. troops to leave Iraq has entered Kuwait, nearly nine years after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

The final column of about 100 armoured vehicles carrying 500 soldiers crossed the southern Iraqi desert overnight.

At the peak of the operation there were 170,000 U.S. troops and more than 500 bases in Iraq. Nearly 4,500 U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis have died since the U.S.-led campaign began in 2003.

The operation has cost Washington nearly $1 trillion.

U.S. forces ended combat missions in Iraq in 2010 and had already handed over much of their security role. "(It's) a good feeling... knowing this is going to be the last mission out of here," said Private First Class Martin Lamb, part of the final "tactical road march" out of Iraq.

"Part of history, you know - we're the last ones out."

As the last of the armoured vehicles crossed the border, a gate was closed behind them and U.S. and Kuwaiti soldiers gathered there to shake hands and pose for pictures. The only U.S. military presence left in Iraq now is 157 soldiers responsible for training at the U.S. embassy, as well as a small contingent of marines protecting the diplomatic mission.

The low-key U.S. exit was in stark contact to the blaze of aerial bombardment Washington unleashed against Saddam Hussein in 2003, BBC News reported.