U.S. Army convoys are given the thumbs up from a fellow soldier after crossing into Kuwait during the last convoy out of Iraq December 18, 2011. The last convoy of U.S. soldiers pulled out of Iraq on Sunday, ending nearly nine years of war that cost almost 4,500 American and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives and left a country still grappling with political uncertainty. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (KUWAIT - Tags: MILITARY CONFLICT POLITICS)