美国国防部长帕内塔说，随着美国纪念在伊拉克军事使命的结束，一个独立自主的伊拉克之梦已经变成实现。
帕内塔星期三在巴格达举行的仪式上说，对伊拉克人民和美国人民来说这是“一个历史性时刻”。
纪念仪式是在距离12月31日驻伊美军撤离伊拉克还剩下几个星期的时候举行的。星期四驻扎在伊拉克的美军人数还剩大约4000人。伊拉克战争中驻伊拉克美军人数最多时多达17万。
帕内塔说，离开伊拉克的美国军人深知，他们为伊拉克人民开启一个历史新篇章作出了贡献，他们将伊拉克人民 从暴政中解放出来，使他们对繁荣与和平的伊拉克充满希望。他说，很多美国和伊拉克人民都为此“洒下了热血”。
将近4500名美军和数以万计伊拉克人在2003年开始的伊拉克战争中丧生。
帕内塔说，伊拉克现在要为自己的未来负责，但美国仍将是伊拉克的一个伙伴并且在伊拉克保持“显著”外交力量。
U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta says the dream of an independent and sovereign Iraq is now a reality, as the United States marked the end of its military mission in Iraq.
Panetta spoke Thursday at a ceremony in Baghdad, calling it a "historic occasion" for both the Iraqi and American people.
It comes weeks ahead of a December 31 deadline for the remaining U.S. soldiers to withdraw from Iraq. There were about 4,000 U.S. troops remaining in Iraq Thursday, down from as many as 170,000 at the height of the war.
Panetta said those soldiers will leave Iraq knowing they helped the Iraqi people begin a new chapter in their history that is "free from tyranny" and full of hope for prosperity and peace.
Nearly 4,500 U.S. troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed since the war began in March 2003.
Panetta said Iraq is now responsible for directing its own future, but that the U.S. will remain a partner with a "significant" diplomatic presence in Iraq.
