The last U.S. combat brigade has left Iraq two weeks ahead of their planned withdrawal at the end of the month. But a fifty thousand-strong American military contingent will remain in the country for support and training until the end of 2011. They'll have the power to use their weapons in self-defense or at the request of the Iraqi government. Over seven years of being in Iraq, more than four thousand U.S. soldiers have died, according to the Pentagon.
