Iraq war officially ends, impact far from over

For Marines like retired Sergeant Christopher Lawrence, Thursdays official ending to the bloody nine-year war in Iraq is one of mixed emotions.Lawrences name is among the long list of casualties suffered on both sides and while a low key flag ceremony in Baghdad marked its end, the impact of the blood spilled during the conflict is something this marine, like many others, will live with for the rest of his life.The bomb was underneath the bridge and the bridge blew up beneath me, like, actually underneath my feet, some rocks were near. So, that was that day. I woke up in the National Naval medical center, that was he name of the naval hospital and I still had everything, all my hands, all my toes. And, after a few months of dragging around my leg they told me to look at the possibility of amputation so I had to actually had to tell them to amputate my leg, Lawrence tell Reuters from his home in Oceanside, California.On Thursday, U.S. soldiers lowered the flag of American forces in Iraq and slipped it into a camouflage-colored sleeve in a brief outdoor ceremony, symbolically ending the most unpopular U.S. military venture since the Vietnam War of the 1960s and 70s.Almost 4,500 U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis lost their lives in the war that began with a Shock and Awe campaign of missiles pounding Baghdad and descended into sectarian strife and a surge in U.S. troop numbers.On many levels the war though has been a success, toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is dead, executed in 2006 and the worst sectarian violence has, at least for now, passed. But Iraq still struggles with insurgents, a fragile power-sharing government and an oil-reliant economy plagued by power shortages and corruption.Concerns that raise the issue of whether mission has been accomplished.I still dont feel like we finished and I dont want my brothers that have lost their lives and my sisters to be for nothing just so we can go back there in another 20 years, continues LawrenceU.S. troops were supposed to stay on as part of a deal to train the Iraqi armed forces but talks over immunity from prosecution for American soldiers fell apart.Memories of U.S. abuses, arrests and killings still haunt many Iraqis and the question of legal protection from prosecution looked too sensitive to push through parliament.Still, for retired Lance Corporal Arturo Weber, whose four-year tour of duty ended after he was seriously injured by a sniper, leaving him with a gaping hole in his stomach and a colostomy bag, the issue isnt whether the war was worth it, but, whether he would be willing to serve again.One of those things. I wanted to do it. So I mean... dont regret it.At the height of the Iraq war, 170,000 American soldiers occupied more than 500 bases across the country.Only around 150 U.S. soldiers will remain after December 31, attached to protect the huge U.S. Embassy near the Tigris River.