[ti:United States Fighting Operations in Iraq Officially End] [ar:Steve Ember] [al:IN THE NEWS] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is IN THE NEWS [00:05.61]in VOA Special English. [00:09.00]American Defense Secretary [00:11.09]Robert Gates says history [00:13.33]will judge whether the war [00:15.32]in Iraq was justified. [00:17.81]He spoke during a visit [00:19.96]to a military base [00:21.71]in western Iraq. [00:23.66]Secretary Gates visited the base [00:26.49]after President Obama officially [00:29.18]declared an end to American [00:31.78]combat operations in Iraq. [00:35.01]The president made the announcement [00:37.90]at the White House earlier this week. [00:40.14]America's involvement [00:42.78]in the armed conflict [00:44.47]lasted more than seven years. [00:47.17]During the most intense fighting, [00:50.25]about 165,000 American soldiers [00:54.79]served in Iraq. [00:56.93]About 4,400 of the soldiers [01:00.76]died in the war. [01:02.71]An estimated 100,000 [01:06.40]Iraqis were killed. [01:07.69]The effort has cost [01:09.78]billions of dollars. [01:11.27]The war began in March of 2003. [01:15.66]The United States [01:17.80]led an international coalition [01:20.74]against the government [01:22.18]of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. [01:25.62]At the time, the American [01:27.96]president was George W. Bush. [01:30.79]His administration received reports [01:34.13]that seemed to show that Iraq [01:37.21]had weapons of mass destruction. [01:39.75]Later, the information [01:42.19]proved mistaken. [01:43.58]No such weapons were found. [01:46.58]At first, the American-led forces [01:50.36]were successful. [01:51.80]By May of 2003, President Bush [01:56.53]declared that major [01:57.92]fighting operations had ended. [02:00.66]Coalition troops had occupied Baghdad, [02:04.69]and Saddam Hussein had fled. [02:07.78]But as time passed, [02:10.42]resistance forces grew stronger. [02:13.26]Violence spread among Iraq's [02:16.60]many Shi'ite and Sunni groups. [02:19.58]And, supporters of al-Qaida [02:22.57]joined the fighting. [02:23.91]Coalition forces often [02:27.00]became the targets [02:28.59]of bombs and missiles. [02:30.78]In 2007, President Bush [02:35.44]ordered a surge in America's troop [02:38.42]strength in Iraq. [02:40.31]Thousands of additional troops [02:43.21]were deployed around Baghdad [02:45.80]and the western province of al-Anbar. [02:49.38]They changed the balance of the war. [02:52.92]Coalition troops defeated [02:55.95]many resistance fighters and militants. [02:59.58]Over the past few months, [03:02.92]many American troops have left Iraq. [03:06.85]This week, the American military [03:10.03]campaign in Iraq changed names [03:13.72]¨C and goals. [03:15.31]The campaign had been called [03:17.96]Operation Iraqi Freedom. [03:20.69]Now, it is known [03:22.73]as Operation New Dawn. [03:25.02]The United States now has fewer [03:29.01]than 50,000 soldiers left in Iraq. [03:33.25]Their job is to assist [03:36.24]and advise Iraqis. [03:38.83]However, some soldiers will continue [03:42.21]to help Iraqi forces [03:44.81]search for resistance fighters. [03:47.60]For example, members [03:50.38]of an American special operations group [03:53.57]went with Iraqi forces Wednesday [03:56.85]to the village of Hawija. [03:59.49]One thousand Iraqi soldiers [04:02.53]were to arrest suspected terrorists. [04:06.21]The Americans raided houses [04:09.34]and seized many suspects. [04:12.28]Some Iraqi military officers [04:16.51]have expressed worry that [04:19.05]the United States is ending [04:21.59]battle operations too soon. [04:24.47]Politically, Iraq still faces problems. [04:29.76]Elections held six months ago [04:33.25]failed to produce a clear winner. [04:36.68]For this reason, the country [04:39.07]has yet to form a new government. [04:42.45]And that's IN THE NEWS [04:45.09]in VOA Special English, [04:48.18]written by Jerilyn Watson. [04:50.71]I'm Steve Ember.