Summary: Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declared a new dawn as Iraq celebrated the departure of American troops under a Bush-era U.S.-Iraqi status-of-forces agreement. Television stations aligned with Sunni and Shiite extremist groups have dubbed “Iraq Day” the “Day of Defeating the Occupier,” the “Day of Fullfillment,” or the “Day of Evacuation.”

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Summary: Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr told his militias to halt attacks against U.S. forces until the withdrawal is finished at the end of 2011 as required under a Bush-era status-of-forces agreement between Washington and Baghdad. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on September 12, 2010, Aubrey Immelman noted that the Star Tribune — Minnesota’s largest and most influential newspaper — ran an extraordinary editorial that spoke to the core issues in Minnesota’s 2010 gubernatorial race.

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Summary: Powerful anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatens to reactivate his feared Mahdi Army militia if American soldiers remain in Iraq beyond the end of 2011, after U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates offered on behalf of the Obama administration to keep American troops in Iraq if needed. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 9, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that the White House issued a warning that al-Qaida was quietly hunting for an atomic bomb, adding urgency to a historic summit where President Barack Obama aimed to persuade world leaders to step up their efforts to keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.

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Summary: Gen. Babaker Shawkat Zebari, commander of Iraq’s military, is calling for U.S. forces to stay in the country for another decade, reinforcing his stance that his country’s military won’t be able to secure the nation on their own after U.S. troops leave at the end of 2011. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on August 12, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that dozens of Iraqis were killed and hundreds wounded in a spate of bombings, raising fears of a sustained insurgent campaign aimed at provoking new sectarian tensions.

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Summary: Bombs hidden in plastic bags exploded at a market in a mainly Shiite area of Baghdad on Sunday, August 16, 2009, killing at least eight civilians and wounding 19. It was the latest in a series of bombings targeting Shiites and minorities in the capital and northern Iraq that have killed more than 160 people since August 7. Meanwhile, the first national census since 1987 has been postponed indefinitely amid fears it could stoke sectarian tensions. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 33rd day of his campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination as House of Representatives candidate in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman completed the final leg of his 100-mile Sixth District walking tour, setting out from Centerville and walking to Hugo and Stillwater. He concluded the day’s activities meeting with supporters and local residents at Little Rock Lake in Benton County to discuss constituent and campaign issues.

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Summary: In a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki at the White House on July 22, 2009, President Barack Obama said the United States will stick to its status-of-forces agreement with Iraq and remove all its troops from Iraq by the end of 2011. … One-year retrospective: On the ninth day of his 2008 campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination as House of Representatives candidate in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman issued his position statement on national security.

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Summary: The security situation in Iraq remains fragile and uncertain as the U.S. hands over security to Iraqi forces in accordance with the Bush administration’s status-of-forces agreement with Iraq.

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Summary: Iraqi officials have announced that national parliamentary elections will be held Jan. 30, 2010, sliding the date into next year in a move that could complicate the U.S. timetable for drawing down its forces. … Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says “We cannot succeed … in Afghanistan by killing Afghan civilians” and warning that the deaths of Afghan civilians caught up in U.S. combat operations could cripple President Barack Obama’s revamped strategy for the seven-year-old war. … The U.N. refugee agency reports that nearly 1.5 million people have fled their homes in Pakistan this month, saying that fighting between government forces and Taliban militants is uprooting more people faster than probably any conflict since the Rwandan genocide of the 1990s.

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Summary: Al-Qaida’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, said in an Internet video the U.S. financial crisis was caused by Washington’s military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan and taxpayers were paying the price. … Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has emerged as a nationalist strongman after reaching a status-of-forces agreement with the Bush administration requiring U.S. forces to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011.

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Summary: Iran praised the Iraqi Cabinet for approving a U.S-Iraq status-of-forces agreement. … Michael Hanna, an analyst at the Century Foundation in New York, said a continuing but finite presence of U.S. troops in Iraq could benefit Iran because it provides “retaliatory options” as Tehran pursues a nuclear program opposed by the West.

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