Summary: According to NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel, there have been five different wars in Iraq, with the sixth war under way — America’s exit strategy. The first five war phases were Shock and Awe (March-April 2003), Nation-Building (2003-2004), Insurgency (2004-2005), Civil War (2006-2007), and The Surge (2007-2008).

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Summary: American flags were set on fire to chants of “No, no for occupation” as followers of anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr marked the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war, which has cost hundreds of billions of dollars — and will ultimately run into the trillions — dwarfing the original Bush administration estimate of $2.4 billion.

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Summary: Six years after the U.S. invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003 — March 19 in the United States — the end of America’s costly mission is in sight, but the future of Iraq is much less clear.

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Summary: A roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan killed four NATO troops, while bombings and clashes elsewhere in the country killed 14 more people. … A suicide bomber in a police uniform detonated inside a police headquarters in southern Afghanistan, killing 11 people and wounding 29. … Iraq’s prime minister Nouri al-Maliki said any U.S. withdrawals “must be done with our approval” and in coordination with the Iraqi government. … The U.S. military confirmed that U.S. forces shot down an unmanned Iranian aircraft in Iraqi airspace. … At least 4,259 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war.

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Summary: In 2003, when America began its occupation of Iraq, bombings with half the casualties of the March 11, 2009, Abu Ghraib bombing that killed 33 suggested the United States might not prevail. Six years after the U.S. invasion, the attack failed to make the front page of the government newspaper.

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Summary: A suicide bomber struck tribal leaders touring a market in a Sunni area west of Baghdad killing as many as 33 people in the second major attack in the capital area in two days. The horrific blast followed a suicide attack that killed 30 people outside the police training academy in eastern Baghdad. The two attacks raised fears that Sunni insurgents may be escalating operations even as the U.S. phases out its combat role in Iraq.

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Summary: A suicide bomber killed 32 people at the entrance of Baghdad’s main police academy in a chilling reminder of the nation’s still-shaky security. The blast — the second major attack to hit Iraq in three days and the deadliest to strike Baghdad in nearly a month — was a bloody reminder of the ability of insurgents to defy security improvements and stage dramatic attacks as the U.S. begins to draw down its forces.

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Summary: With the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq in sight, the cost of leaving is now measured in financial, logistical, and — above all — political terms. The U.S. withdrawal from Iraq will cost hundreds of billions of dollars. … March 2009 update of key facts, figures, and statistics on Iraq since the war began in March 2003. … The Pentagon reports that up to 18 deaths of soldiers in February 2008 may have been suicides.

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Summary: A car bomb exploded in a livestock market in Iraq’s southern Babil province, killing 12 people, wounding 40, and shattering a peace that had held in the area for some time. … Insurgents attacked a main U.S.-Iraqi base in the northern city of Mosul, killing one American soldier and striking directly at the Iraqi command center for an offensive against the militants.

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Summary: President Barack Obama has won crucial backing for his Iraq military withdrawal plan from leading Congressional Republicans, including Senator John McCain and Ohio Rep. John A. Boehner, the House minority leader.

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