American Troops Leave Iraq

BAGHDAD — The last convoy of American troops drove into Kuwait on Sunday morning, punctuating the end of the nearly nine-year war in Iraq.

BAGHDAD — The last convoy of American troops drove into Kuwait on Sunday morning, punctuating the end of the nearly nine-year war in Iraq.

As an indication of the country the United States is leaving behind, for security reasons the last soldiers made no time for goodbyes to Iraqis with whom they had become acquainted.

To keep details of the final trip secret from insurgents — or Iraqi security officers aligned with militias — interpreters for the last unit to leave the base called local tribal sheiks and government leaders on Saturday morning and conveyed that business would go on as usual, not letting on that all the Americans would soon be gone.

To keep details of the final trip secret from insurgents — or Iraqi security officers aligned with militias — interpreters for the last unit to leave the base called local tribal sheiks and government leaders on Saturday morning and conveyed that business would go on as usual, not letting on that all the Americans would soon be gone.

To keep details of the final trip secret from insurgents — or Iraqi security officers aligned with militias — interpreters for the last unit to leave the base called local tribal sheiks and government leaders on Saturday morning and conveyed that business would go on as usual, not letting on that all the Americans would soon be gone.

To keep details of the final trip secret from insurgents — or Iraqi security officers aligned with militias — interpreters for the last unit to leave the base called local tribal sheiks and government leaders on Saturday morning and conveyed that business would go on as usual, not letting on that all the Americans would soon be gone.

The crossing brought a close to a final troop withdrawal drawn out over weeks of ceremonies in Baghdad and around Iraq, including a formal if muted flag-folding ceremony on Thursday, as well as visits by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, and a trip to Washington by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.

The crossing brought a close to a final troop withdrawal drawn out over weeks of ceremonies in Baghdad and around Iraq, including a formal if muted flag-folding ceremony on Thursday, as well as visits by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, and a trip to Washington by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.

The reaction among Iraqis was muted, as it had been for weeks as the Americans packed up.

The crossing brought a close to a final troop withdrawal drawn out over weeks of ceremonies in Baghdad and around Iraq, including a formal if muted flag-folding ceremony on Thursday, as well as visits by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, and a trip to Washington by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.

As the armored vehicles drove through the desert, Marine, Navy and Army helicopters and planes flew overhead, scanning the ground for insurgents and preparing to respond if the convoys were attacked.

Around 2:30 a.m., the convoy snaked out of Contingency Operating Base Adder, near the southern city of Nasiriya, and headed toward the border.

Shortly after enterng Kuwait, Sergeant Ruiz told the men in his vehicle: “Hey, guys, you made it.”

He said he had emigrated to the United States from Iraq in 2009 and enlisted a year later, and refused to give his full name because he worried for his family’s safety.

When they invaded us, we carried our machine guns and went out to fight them.

Of course, many Iraqis fear what comes next, and the withdrawal came against the backdrop of political crisis in Baghdad.

A large group of mostly Sunni lawmakers announced a boycott of Parliament on Saturday in protest of a wave of arrests by the Shiite-dominated government that swept up a number of their aides and security guards.

A large group of mostly Sunni lawmakers announced a boycott of Parliament on Saturday in protest of a wave of arrests by the Shiite-dominated government that swept up a number of their aides and security guards.

Several guards who work for Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a top Sunni leader, have been arrested, and the government is said to be preparing a case against Mr. Hashimi on terrorism charges.

Fearing that insurgents would try to attack the last Americans leaving the country, the military treated all convoys like combat missions.

Fearing that insurgents would try to attack the last Americans leaving the country, the military treated all convoys like combat missions.

Fearing that insurgents would try to attack the last Americans leaving the country, the military treated all convoys like combat missions.

As the armored vehicles drove through the desert, Marine, Navy and Army helicopters and planes flew overhead, scanning the ground for insurgents and preparing to respond if the convoys were attacked.

“It is a little bit weird,” he said, referring to how he had not told his counterparts in the Iraqi military when the Americans were leaving.

Along with keeping the highway clean, the military hoped that the sheiks would help police the highway and provide intelligence on militants.

“There are real incentives for them to keep the highway safe.

All American troops were legally obligated to leave by the end of the month, but President Obama, in announcing in October the end of military operations here, promised that everyone would be home for the holidays.

Under the authority of the ambassador will be fewer than 200 military personnel, to guard the embassy and oversee the sale of weapons to the Iraqi government.

Under the authority of the ambassador will be fewer than 200 military personnel, to guard the embassy and oversee the sale of weapons to the Iraqi government.

Under the authority of the ambassador will be fewer than 200 military personnel, to guard the embassy and oversee the sale of weapons to the Iraqi government.

History’s final judgment on the war, which claimed nearly 4,500 American lives and cost almost $1 trillion, may not be determined for decades.

But as the last troop convoy crossed over, it marked neither victory, nor defeat, but a kind of stalemate — one in which the optimists say violence has been reduced to a level that will allow the country to continue on its lurching path toward stability and democracy, and in which the pessimists say the American presence has been a Band-Aid on a festering wound.

But as the last troop convoy crossed over, it marked neither victory, nor defeat, but a kind of stalemate — one in which the optimists say violence has been reduced to a level that will allow the country to continue on its lurching path toward stability and democracy, and in which the pessimists say the American presence has been a Band-Aid on a festering wound.

But as the last troop convoy crossed over, it marked neither victory, nor defeat, but a kind of stalemate — one in which the optimists say violence has been reduced to a level that will allow the country to continue on its lurching path toward stability and democracy, and in which the pessimists say the American presence has been a Band-Aid on a festering wound.

But as the last troop convoy crossed over, it marked neither victory, nor defeat, but a kind of stalemate — one in which the optimists say violence has been reduced to a level that will allow the country to continue on its lurching path toward stability and democracy, and in which the pessimists say the American presence has been a Band-Aid on a festering wound.

But as the last troop convoy crossed over, it marked neither victory, nor defeat, but a kind of stalemate — one in which the optimists say violence has been reduced to a level that will allow the country to continue on its lurching path toward stability and democracy, and in which the pessimists say the American presence has been a Band-Aid on a festering wound.

But as the last troop convoy crossed over, it marked neither victory, nor defeat, but a kind of stalemate — one in which the optimists say violence has been reduced to a level that will allow the country to continue on its lurching path toward stability and democracy, and in which the pessimists say the American presence has been a Band-Aid on a festering wound.

But as the last troop convoy crossed over, it marked neither victory, nor defeat, but a kind of stalemate — one in which the optimists say violence has been reduced to a level that will allow the country to continue on its lurching path toward stability and democracy, and in which the pessimists say the American presence has been a Band-Aid on a festering wound.

“Things will go worse in Iraq after the U.S. withdrawal, on all levels — security, economics and services,” said Hatem Imam, a businessman in Basra.