Questions remain on Iraq’s future as final US convoy rolls out

The final convoy rolled across the border into neighbouring Kuwait at daybreak yesterday.

Soldiers whooped, bumped fists and embraced each other in a burst of joy and relief.

The exit marked the end of a bitterly divisive war that raged for nearly nine years and left Iraq shattered, with troubling questions lingering over whether the Arab nation would remain a steadfast US ally.

The mission cost well over 100,000 Iraqi lives and $800bn from the US Treasury. The question of whether it was worth it all is unanswered.

Captain Mark Askew, a 28-year-old from Tampa, Florida, who was among the last soldiers to leave, said the answer to that question would depend on what type of country and government Iraq ends up with years from now, whether they are democratic and are considered an American ally.

“It depends on what Iraq does after we leave,” he said, speaking ahead of the exit. “I don’t expect them to turn into South Korea or Japan overnight.”

The war that began in a blaze of aerial bombardment meant to shock and awe the dictator Saddam Hussein and his loyalists ended quietly and with minimal fanfare.

US officials acknowledged the cost in blood and dollars was high, but tried to paint a picture of victory – for the troops and the Iraqi people now free from tyranny and on a path for democracy.

But gnawing questions remain: Will Iraqis be able to forge their new government amid the still stubborn sectarian clashes? And will Iraq be able to defend itself and remain independent in a region fraught with turmoil and still steeped in insurgent threats?

The soldiers left behind an Iraq free from the tyranny of Saddam, inching toward democracy and vowing to be a good neighbour in the region. Many Iraqis, however, are nervous about the future.

Their relief at the end of Saddam, who was hanged on the last day of 2006, was tempered by a long and vicious war that was launched to find non-existent weapons of mass destruction and nearly plunged the nation into full-scale sectarian civil war.

Some criticised the Americans for leaving behind a destroyed country with thousands of widows and orphans, a people deeply divided along sectarian lines and without rebuilding the devastated infrastructure.

Some Iraqis celebrated the exit of what they called American occupiers, neither invited nor welcome in a proud country. Others said that while grateful for US help ousting Saddam, the war went on too long. A majority of Americans would agree, according to opinion polls.