The US military officially ended its war in Iraq on Thursday, packing up a military flag at a ceremony with US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta nearly nine years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. The last 4,000 American troops will withdraw by the end of the year. US President Barack Obama, who made an election promise to bring troops home, told Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that Washington will remain a loyal partner after the last troops roll across the Kuwaiti border. Nearly 4,500 US soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis lost their lives in the war.
