Iraq Transitions As U.S. Forces Withdraw After 8-Year Presence

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - DECEMBER 11: Disabled athlete Saad Hussein, who said he was wounded by an American bomb in January, 2008, walks past a blast wall through the Al Thura Disabled Veteran’s Community to meet a family member who lives there on December 11, 2011 in Baghdad, Iraq. Hussein said he was farming with his cousin when the bomb struck. Iraq is transitioning nearly nine years after the 2003 U.S. invasion and subsequent occupation. American forces are now in the midst of the final stage of withdrawal from the war-torn country. At least 4,485 U.S. military personnel have died in service in Iraq. According to the Iraq Body Count, more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died from war-related violence. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)