December 15, 2011, will remain forever as a great day in history for the United States, as it is the day that the war in Iraq officially ended, according to The Envoy. Today, at the Baghdad International Airport, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and General Lloyd Austin, the top United States Commander serving in Iraq, presided over the ceremonies that marked the ending of the war. The United States and many other countries who have been involved in this fight have sacrificed a lot since its beginning in 2003. Here is some more information about those sacrifices and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
* After the 9/11 attacks, Iraq was firmly on President George W. Bush's radar as a country that not only was becoming more dangerous with their supposed weapons of mass destruction but with their alleged ties to terrorist groups like Al-Qaida who were responsible for the 9/11 attacks, according to History.com.
* On November 8, 2002, UN Security Council Resolution 1441 stated that Iraq readmit weapons inspectors and comply.
* Even though it seemed as Iraq did comply with the UN Security Resolutions, the U.S. gave an ultimatum to Saddam Hussein telling him to leave Iraq within forty eight hours or the U.S. would be invading.
* On March 20, 2003, after Hussein refused to leave, the U.S. and British troops launched an airstrike and an attack by land from Kuwait on the country.
* Baghdad was won over by the U.S. led forces on April 9, 2003, according to CBS News.
* On May 1, 2003, President George W. Bush, aboard a USS Abraham Lincoln declares combat operations in Iraq over, according to BBC News.
* The U.S. led the occupation of the country with minimal losses until sectarian violence grew throughout Iraq.
* While the U.S. seemed to be winning the war, one of the things that they were missing from their victory was capturing Saddam Hussein. But on December 13, 2003, Saddam was captured in Tikrit, Iraq in a farmhouse, according to The Washington Post.
* Saddam is tried by an Iraqi court and found guilty of crimes against humanity specifically for the 1982 killings of 148 people, and is sentenced to death by hanging. He is executed in December 2006, according to MSNBC.
* Even though Hussein has been captured, tried, and executed, the Iraq War is increasingly bloody; with the number of U.S. troops killed reaching 3,000 in December 2006.
* A surge of 20,000 additional U.S. troops is announced in January 2007.
* The fighting continues, but the U.S. and Iraq ratify an agreement on December 8, 2008 that says that the U.S. will leave the country by the end of 2011.
* The war is officially declared over on December 15, 2011.
* 4,483 Americans were killed during the war in Iraq, according to antiwar.com.
* 100,000 Iraqi civilians are estimated to have been killed during the war, according to About.com.
* The total cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom is estimated to be around $806 billion, according to The Congressional Research Service.
Lauren Finnegan graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a bachelor's degree in political science and has an insider's perspective on the military because of her role as a military wife who has lived around the country.
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