The U.S. is out of Iraq. President Obama made that point in last week's State of the Union address. But there are still eyes on Iraq particularly those places where there are still U.S. personnel — such as the U.S. Embassy In Baghdad. Those eyes are in the form of predator drones, watching over Baghdad according to Eric Schmitt terrorism correspondent for our partner The New York Times.

From February 10, 2007 to September 16, 2008, retired General David Petraeus oversaw all coalition forces in Iraq. He was the mastermind behind the counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan, and served as top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan until July of 2011, when he became director of the CIA. He is arguably one of the most influential military leaders in recent American history. A new biography about General Petraeus comes out this week.

Despite deep worries over the continuing stability of the Iraqi government, the U.S. is planning on selling $11 billion of arms and training to Iraq's military. The sale comes as Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has attempted to marginalize Iraq's Sunni minority since the U.S. withdrew its forces earlier in the month, setting off concerns over civil war. The Obama administration hopes the sale, which includes tanks and fighter jets, will help Iraq build its military and secure its border with Iran. But some American officials worry Iraq's government will move to align itself with the Shiite theocracy in Tehran.

Roman Baca is an Iraq War veteran and the artistic director of Exit 12 Dance Company. He has toured veterans hospitals and military bases around the world with his ballet "The Homecoming," which is about service members dealing with homesickness and the experiences of their loved ones waiting at home. He is heading back to Iraq, but this time as a dance teacher.

This week North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il died, a Pentagon investigation into airstrikes that killed 26 Pakistani soldiers heightened tensions between the U.S. and Pakistan, Countrywide was ordered to pay $355 million for discriminating against black and Latino borrowers, and a terrorism scandal in Iraq's second-highest office broke. 

At least 63 people were killed in Baghdad Thursday when a wave of 14 bombs exploded across the city. Over 185 people were injured. The attacks come only days after U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq and during a deepening political crisis in the government. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite, threatened to abandon a U.S.-backed power-sharing agreement. The crisis was prompted by accusations that Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, had been running death squads.

Iraq's largely Shiite government issued an arrest warrant Monday for Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, alleging that he was behind the assassinations of police officers and government officials. The incident, which came just a day after the United States withdrew the last of its combat troops, has created a deep rift in the government, leading top Sunni ministers to threaten to quit. Jack Healy, reporter for The New York Times, covers the story in Tuesday's paper.

At the peak of the war, over 170,000 U.S. troops were on the ground in 500 bases in Iraq. Nearly nine years, $1 trillion, and thousands of Iraqi and American lives later, the final convoy of 500 U.S. soldiers quietly slipped out of the country into Kuwait. It was an unremarkable end to a war that started with a blitz called "Shock and Awe." BBC correspondent Hugh Sykes, who has reported from Iraq for over a decade, filed this report on the end of the Iraq war.

President Obama had two words for a crowd of returning Iraq war veterans on Wednesday: "Welcome Home." The president observed the end of a war that has defined a decade of American military might, and divided the country. Yet while there are accurate statistics about soldier casualties, an accurate count of how many Iraqis have been killed or wounded during the occupation remains unclear.

In the end, the invasion of Iraq did not find any weapons of mass destruction, nor did it eradicate Al Qaida. The war did, however, topple dictator Saddam Hussein. It also cost hundreds of billions of dollars and went on for years. Now that the last U.S. troops will be quietly departing Iraq between today and the end of the year — President Obama will address soldiers at Fort Bragg Wednesday about the end of the Iraq war and the pullout of combat troops — The Takeaway looks back at the campaign that began with "shock and awe" in 2003 and will end with a "home by christmas" pullout in 2011.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki will meet with President Obama at the White House on Monday to discuss the future of the relationship between the two nations. With the upcoming withdrawal of American troops from Iraq after nearly nine years on December 31, the two nations have pledged to remain close. What that means remains to be seen, as questions persist over Iran's influence in the region as well as the stability of Iraq's government.

Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Iraq on Tuesday for an unannounced visit as the U.S. prepares to pull out of the country by year's end. As the U.S. leaves the nation its occupied since 2003, the world will be watching to see what kind of new Iraq is left behind. Charlotte Ashton, correspondent for the BBC, traveled to Iraq to meet the winners and losers of Iraqi society.

In the years since the start of the war in Iraq, thousands of Iraqis have fled their homes and sought refuge in neighboring countries like Jordan and Syria, but also here in the United States. San Diego, California is home to one of the largest Iraqi populations in the country, but many of them are facing hardships to create a happy home for themselves and their families. 

The White House is planning to boost its military presence in the Middle East when the final troops leave Iraq at December's end. The new plan comes in light of the Iraqi government's refusal to allow American forces to remain in the country after the previously agreed-upon deadline, which goes into effect at year's end. The additional combat units would be stationed in Kuwait, and the U.S. views them as a hedge for stability in the event of a collapse in security in Iraq or a move of aggression by Iran.

It is the Iraqi version of Richard Nixon's Oval Office tapes — hours of audio files recorded inside the office of Saddam Hussein during his tenure as Iraqi President in the 1980s. Almost five years after Hussein's execution, much of the collection has still never been made public. But 20 new recordings, transcripts, and high-level documents were released on Tuesday in connection with a conference on the Iran-Iraq War in Washington.

A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey on Sunday, killing at least 250 people and leaving thousands homeless. The quake decimated the city of Van, near Turkey's border with Iran. Rescue workers continue to search for survivors. Over a thousand people have been injured. This crisis comes coupled with a Turkish military operation in Iraq. Turkish troops have been pursuing Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq since militants of the Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK, killed 24 Kurdish soldiers last week. The PKK is classified as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.

The Congressional "super committee," put in charge of finding $1.2 trillion to cut from the deficit, have mostly been a top secret committee that have shared very little about their meetings. As the super committee continues to find cuts in the deficit, a number of economic indicators are set to be released this week, including new home sales and GDP figures. Also on the agenda for this week, the Pentagon is set to release a report on the role of women soldiers in the military and whether or not they should be allowed to serve in combat roles. And after President Obama's announcement that all U.S. troops will be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of the year, there could be some fallout, especially among Republicans, on Capitol Hill.

President Obama's announcement that U.S. troops in Iraq will be home by the holidays hit home for thousands of soldiers and families across the country. After 8 years and 4,400 American deaths, the U.S. will completely pull out of Iraq by the end of the year, with the exception of a force remaining to guard some U.S. facilities in the country. The conflict in Iraq changed the definition of what it means to be a soldier in the U.S. military, and what it means to be a reservist. More reservists were used in combat and support roles in Iraq than ever before in history.

On Wednesday, the Pew Research Center released a poll indicating that only a third of American servicemen and women believe the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been worth the costs. All of these complicated factors weigh on American efforts to withdraw troops from the country. The findings came only two days before the tenth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Afghanistan is now the recipient of the largest amounts of aid in the world, accruing $33 billion over the past decade. But the country is still struggling, facing an unprecedented drought and appealing for food aid for the nearly ten million people who are suffering because of it.

The U.S. put much of its global credibility on the line with its invasion and occupation of Iraq. The reconstruction program of subsequent years has been marred by violence, instability in the Iraqi government, the influence of Iran, and millions of American dollars either unaccounted for or wasted. In 2009, Foreign Service employee Peter Van Buren spent a year in Baghdad working for the State Department Provincial Reconstruction Team, where he oversaw efforts to rebuild Iraq's economy and infrastructure.