978-1-4222-3442-6

78

I RAQ

joined the 130,000 already in the country. Accompanying the surge was a shift in U.S. strategy, from focusing on traditional combat operations to focusing on counterinsurgency, including holding ter- ritory, providing jobs, and fostering reconstruction. In August 2007 Moqtada al-Sadr, the leader of Iraq’s largest Shiite militia, the Mehdi Army, announced a cease-fire. The combi- nation of the Shiite cease-fire, the Sunni Awakening, and the shift in American military strategy contributed to decreased levels of vio- lence in Iraq, and hope that the conflict was finally near an end. Still, the prospects for a peaceful and stable Iraq hinged on politi- cal compromises among the country’s sectarian groups—which was by no means guaranteed. By late 2008 the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was confident enough in the progress toward stability to begin negotiating a security agreement with the United States by which all American troops would leave Iraq by the end of 2011. In early 2009 the newly elected U.S. president, Barack Obama, announced his intention to withdraw most American military forces from Iraq by August 2010, with all forces to be removed by 2011 in compli- ance with the Iraqi government’s wishes. In December 2011 the last U.S. troops left the country and the war was declared over. C ONTINUING C ONFLICT Although the insurgency seemed to be under control, it would soon flare up again once the U.S. troops left Iraq. In part, this occurred due to outside events: the “Arab Spring” revolts and a civil war in neighboring Syria. In late 2010 and early 2011, anti-government protests began to occur in a number of Arab countries. The protests—which became known as the Arab Spring—were aimed at improving the political circumstances and living conditions of the Arab people. In Syria, people began protesting against the Ba’ath Party, which had ruled