The American Military is leaving Iraq, when will they leave Afghanistan too

15 Dec 2011: Casing of the Colors signifying the end of US official military presence in Iraq

So it finally  happened, on 15th December 2011, the Americans are formally leaving Iraq which they invaded in 2003, and after nearly nine years, 4,500 American dead, 32,000 wounded and more than $800bn (£517bn) spent, US officials have formally ended the war in Iraq with a highly symbolic ceremony during which an American forces flag was lowered. Read the story here.

All American troops will leave Iraq by 31 December 2011 (Courtesy AP)

For details of the Cost of American lives and dollars read here.

And what about the Iraqis who were killed during the occupation:

The Wikileaks data showed how many died, particularly in the violent sectarian aftermath of the war, with murders as the main cause. That database recorded 109,032 deaths , 66,081 of them civilians, 23,984 insurgents and 15,196 Iraqi security forces. 

The Majority of the Iraqis who suffered tremendously under the invasion and occupation of American led forces would shed no tears for the Americans, of that I am very sure:

Iraqis celebrating the withdrawal of American troops

Rana Walid Hammoud holds a picture of her dead father during a demonstration celebrating the US troop withdrawal in Fallujah, Iraq. Hammoud was killed during a fight with the US army in 2004.

Perhaps George Galloway has the last say:

"Apart from the thousands of their servicemen and women whose lifeblood they are leaving in the sands of Iraq, and the tens of thousands too maimed or otherwise damaged to make it back to home and hearth. And minus the trillion-plus of dollars in treasure they have expended on destroying an Arab country (which may have lost a million souls and seen three millions off into exile), fanning the flames of fanaticism, making Iran more powerful, and unleashing a wave of sectarianism throughout the Muslim world."

"I wrote at the time that the invasion of Iraq would be worse than a crime: it would be the Mother of All Blunders. I told Tony Blair – outside the men’s lavatory in the library corridor of the House of Commons, to be precise – that the fall of Baghdad would be not the beginning of the end, but merely the end of the beginning. And that the Iraqis would fight them, with their teeth if necessary, until they had driven them from their land. I told Blair that there was no al-Qaida in Iraq, but that if he and Bush were to invade there would be thousands of them."

Read more by George Galloway: Last Post in Iraq: This is the death kneel of the American Empire

I am now waiting for the American Last Post in Afghanistan. Its really time for the Americans to leave Afghanistan too.