A NEW DAWN

The United States formally ended its seven-and-a-half-year combat mission in Iraq beginning Barack Obama's Operation New Dawn on September 1, 2010. Iraq remains a twilight zone, neither completely sovereign nor completely occupied. The US-led invasion in 2003 and ensuing inter-communal warfare has allowed for no semblance of a normal life.

The following essay looks at the state of Iraqis and their country as the United States withdraws combat troops.