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August 31, 2010 (Geopoliticalmonitor.com) - Just hours before an official end to US combat operations in Iraq, President Nouri Maliki used a major speech to declare that Iraq is now independent and its security forces are up to the task of keeping order.

Amid much fanfare last week, the last supposed “combat” troops left Iraq as the administration touted the beginning of the end of the Iraq War and a change in the role of the United States in that country. However, military officials confirm that we are committed to intervention in that country for years to come, says U.S. congressman Ron Paul.

Iraq has between 25 and 50 percent unemployment, a dysfunctional parliament, rampant disease, an epidemic of mental illness, and sprawling slums. The killing of innocent people has become part of daily life. What a havoc the United States has wreaked in Iraq.

August 19th, 2010 (Geopoliticalmonitor.com) - The last US combat brigade has crossed over from Iraq into Kuwait, but many questions still remain over the role of troops left behind and the stability of the Iraqi government going forward.

Iraqis now have greater physical security, though violence continues and politics are stalemated. But the years of conflict have corroded trust, entrenched sectarian identities, undermined livelihoods, and ravaged the environment.

August 3rd, 2010 (Geopoliticalmonitor.com) - As expected, President Obama has confirmed that August 31st will mark an end to combat operations in Iraq. However, it is commonly accepted that his announcement is more about honoring campaign promises than reacting to the reality on the ground in Iraq.

July 20, 2010 (Al Jazeera, Laurence Lee) - The UK's Iraq Inquiry has been marked by politicians and former senior British government officials either defending positions or, perhaps, massaging history to fit their purpose.

July 20, 2010 (Wall Street Journal) - British oil major BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) and partners China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC.YY) and Iraq’s state-run South Oil Co. expect to issue tenders to drill between 80 and 100 wells in the immense Rumaila oil field this year and next year, a company executive said Monday.

July 15th (BBC News) - The US military is to hand over control of its last remaining detention centre in Iraq, as it increases the pace of its withdrawal from the country.

July 9th (BBC News) - A suicide bomber has blown up a car at an army check point in Baghdad killing at least five people, officials say.