Iraq

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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki makes a point at a joint news conference with President Obama on Monday at the White House. (Associated Press)

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President Obama, accompanied by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, speaks during a news conference at the White House on Dec. 12, 2011. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

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President Obama meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki at the White House on Dec. 12, 2011. (Associated Press)

**FILE** Iraqi police officers demonstrate anti-riot policing techniques during a training session Nov. 25, 2009, at Camp Dublin in Baghdad, Iraq. The Italian Carabinieri police team, a part of the NATO Training Mission to Iraq, conducted the specialized training for the Iraqi National police. (Associated Press)

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Illustration: Iraq

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U.S. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. (left) and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki hold a joint news conference in Baghdad on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

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Ruins of homes destroyed by Iranian artillery during the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-88 remain standing in Mandali, a mixed Kurdish-Arab city about 60 miles northeast of Baghdad. (Associated Press)

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Gen. Lloyd Austin (left), the top U.S. commander in Iraq, looks on as Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. (right) shakes hands with the James Jeffrey, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, upon Mr. Biden's arrival in Baghdad on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

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U.S. soldiers serve Thanksgiving meal for Gen. Lloyd Austin, left, the top U.S. commander in Iraq at Contingency Operating Site Echo, in Diwaniyah, 120 kilometers (80 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. The U.S. has promised to withdraw from Iraq by the end of the year as required by a 2008 security agreement between Washington and Baghdad. A little less than 20,000 U.S. troops are scheduled to clear out along with their equipment. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

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U.S. soldiers serve food for the last Thanksgiving meal at Contingency Operating Site Echo, in Diwaniyah, 120 kilometers (80 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. The U.S. has promised to withdraw from Iraq by the end of the year as required by a 2008 security agreement between Washington and Baghdad. A little less than 20,000 U.S. troops are scheduled to clear out along with their equipment. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

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Security forces inspect the scene of a bomb attack in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. Three bombs went off in a popular open-air market Thursday evening, killing and wounding scores of people, police said. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

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Defense Secretary Leon Panetta testifies on Capitol Hill on Nov. 15, 2011, before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on security issues relating to Iraq. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** An employee works May 31, 2009, at the Tawke oil fields in the semiautonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. (Associated Press)

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Barham Salih, prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, says a democratic, federal Iraq "may well represent a very viable option for the Kurds of Iraq." (Associated Press)

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Demonstrators hold petitions asking President Obama to protect Iranians at Camp Ashraf in Iraq during a rally at the White House on Saturday.

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Demonstrators hold petitions asking President Obama to protect Iranians at Camp Ashraf in Iraq during a rally at the White House on Saturday. (Associated Press)

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Actor and Iraq war veteran J.R. Martinez has been named grand marshal of this year's Tournament of Roses parade Jan. 2 in Pasadena, Calif. He also will participate in a Nov. 11 "Extreme Makeover" TV special to benefit groups that aid veterans. (Associated Press)

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Illustration: Iraq by Linas Garsys for The Washington Times

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Family and comrades grieve during the funeral procession for an Iraqi traffic policeman Ali Hameed in Baghdad on Oct. 24, 2011. Police said gunmen in a speeding car attacked a traffic police checkpoint in the center of the Iraqi capital early that morning, killing two policemen and two civilians. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** Members of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Stewart, Ga., head toward a C-17 aircraft at Sather Air Base in Baghdad in November 2010 as they begin their journey home after a year in Iraq. (Associated Press/Maya Alleruzzo)