Gaza boy’s killing: Who’s telling the truth?
Jerusalem (CNN) — As Jamal al-Durrah washes his son Mohammad’s tombstone in a Gaza graveyard, he fears that the boy’s spirit rests uneasy.
The image of the father shielding his 12-year-old son in a hail of bullets, under the glare of a camera, became the symbol of the second Palestinian uprising, or Intifada.
Thirteen years later, the controversy behind those pictures is still alive.
An Israeli government committee concluded in a report presented Sunday that the story, which was broadcast by France 2 in 2000, cannot be substantiated by the pictures.
Children of the conflict: Innocence interrupted by war
The news report aired by France 2 stated: “Here Jamal and his son Mohammad are the target of fire coming from the Israeli position. … But, a new round of fire, Mohammad is dead and his father badly hurt.”
However, the Israeli government committee report states: “There is no evidence that the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) was in any way responsible for causing any of the alleged injuries to Jamal or the boy.”
It’s a statement that pains a still-grieving father. But Jamal al-Durrah is prepared to have his son’s remains exhumed to demonstrate that he was killed by Israeli bullets, as reported in 2000.
“I would like to show the world the truth, and I am sitting in front of my son’s grave and ready to accept an international independent investigation commission including Arabs,” he said. “If Israel agrees, I am ready to open the grave.”
The head of the Israeli government review committee, Yossi Kuperwasser, said he does not know what happened to Mohammad al-Durrah.
Showing the raw material provided by France 2 to CNN, he said, “See, he was supposed to be dead. He was declared dead a moment ago, understand, he was declared dead when he was lying (there.) That’s where he cut it. He said the boy is dead. But a second later, he (Mohammad al-Durrah) raises his hand.”
Analysis: Conflict shifts balance of power in the Middle East
Israel places the implications of the Mohammad al-Durrah story in a much wider context.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “It is important to focus on this incident, which has slandered Israel’s reputation. This is a manifestation of the ongoing, mendacious campaign to delegitimize Israel.
“There is only one way to counter lies, and that is through the truth. Only the truth can prevail over lies.”
The search for that truth has been conducted in courthouses, human rights reports and media investigations.
Cameraman Talal Abu Rahma, who filmed the event for France 2, and also works for CNN, has been at the center of trying to understand what happened on that fateful day.
Thirteen years later, he points to the camera that recorded the event as his most solid source, saying: “My witness is (my) camera. … I am sorry this camera does not talk, but really this camera recorded that footage.”
Mohammad al-Durrah’s story has become an important symbol in the Palestinian struggle for statehood. The image of his final moments is shown on stamps in Egypt, Tunisia, Iraq, Iran and Morocco.
Israel says that the false narrative of al-Durrah’s death has been used to justify terrorist attacks against Israel and worldwide anti-Semitism.
It is perhaps the ongoing struggle between Israelis and Palestinians over the righteousness of their narrative that will not let this image be forgotten.
Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/21/world/meast/israel-palestinians-disputed-video/index.html?eref=edition
The Monaco Grand Prix has been held in the picturesque principality of Monte Carlo on the French Riviera since 1929 and the race remains the jewel in Formula One’s crown.
Monaco is a magnet for celebrities like Hollywood actor Will Smith and popstar Nicole Scherzinger — who is dating Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. Smith and “Scherzy” are pictured with Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone in 2012.
The tiny city will welcome 200,000 fans over the grand prix weekend with many of them watching from yachts in the harbor.
The racing drivers — like Red Bull’s 2012 winner Mark Webber shown here — speed within inches of Monte Carlo’s famous landmarks.
Monaco’s street circuit is relatively unchanged since Formula One cars began racing there in 1950. Stirling Moss says his victory in Monaco in 1961, shown here, was the best race of his career.
The late triple world champion Ayrton Senna won the Monaco race a record six times and says he entered a “trance-like” state while driving through the narrow streets.
But for some sun-seekers in Monaco, the cars are a distraction…
Mark Webber receives the winning trophy from Prince Albert II of Monaco after his superb victory from pole. 
Red Bull driver Webber leads the way but behind him Romain Grosjean forces Michael Schumacher to go wide in an early clash.
Kamui Kobayashi of the Sauber team goes airborne in spectacular fashion at the Monaco Grand Prix.
F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone with Hollywood actor Will Smith and Lewis Hamilton’s girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger. 
A view of the track from the harbor area of Monte Carlo which is part of the tight street circuit for the Monaco Grand Prix. 
Webber takes a post-race dip as the Red Bull team celebrate a third consecutive Monaco triumph. 
Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were long-time rivals before they became teammates at McLaren. 
Prost and Senna (No.1) clash at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka in 1989. Prost clinched the title after the Brazilian was controversially disqualified after winning the race. 
As they both battled for world titles at McLaren, Prost and Senna’s relationship came under great strain. 
Stand off: Senna and Prost walk away after the early crash at Suzuka in the final race of the 1990 season which left the Brazilian as world champion.
Prost’s time with McLaren proved the most fruitful of his career as he captured three world titles. 
Prost earned the nickname ‘The Professor’ for his thoughtful and studied approach to Formula One racing. 
Prost competing in wet conditions at the Monaco Grand Prix which he won four times during his glittering career.
Prost and Senna formed a united team in 1988 as the latter won the championship for McLaren.
The medical team at Imola tend to the stricken Senna after his fateful crash in the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994. 
Prost joined a pantheon of Formula One greats at Senna’s funeral in Sao Paulo in 1994. 
In the latter part of career Prost had to battle with the youthful exuberance of future seven-time champion Michael Schumacher.
“I wouldn’t say I’m happy in the Formula 1 paddock,” Mark Webber told CNN. “It’s an environment that’s not always real. You can click your fingers for food, for whatever you want really. But for me, I always try to ensure that I treat people as I’d treat myself.
Mark Webber led the way from pole on the way to his eventual victory at the Monaco Grand Prix — his first win of the season. 
Red Bull’s Australian driver Mark Webber celebrates after winning the British Grand Prix at Silverstone — his second victory of the 2012 season. The Australian held off Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in a close battle to win the race.
Webber is very much the understudy to double world champion Sebastian Vettel, who is seemingly on his way to a third consecutive world title.
Vettel has long been nurtured by Helmut Marko, titled a motorsport consultant at Red Bull but the eyes, ears and mouth piece of team owner Dietrich Mateschitz, and a figure Webber has not always seen eye to eye with.
Before extending his Red Bull contract, Webber had talks with Ferrari over a possible switch to the Italian team. “Ferrari approached us first,” said the Australian. “Things happen for a reason and it feels I’m staying here for the right reason. We made the decision just before Silverstone when both teams seemed pretty interested. I’m happy with that decision.”
Webber switched to karting as a 14-year-old and the move paid instant dividends as he won his state championship in New South Wales. The Australian describes the medium as “very raw.”
Webber started off in Formula One as a test driver for the former Bennetton team in 2001 and got his big break in the form of a race seat with Minardi the following season. 
Webber still looks fondly upon his time as a go-kart driver and recently took to the seat again as part of the Red Bull Kart Fight event in Japan.
Webber says: “Karting is the best way for you to get a feel of how to race each other, dealing with the competition, dealing with winning, dealing with losing and you soak it up so much at a young age and learn very fast.”
The forthcoming U.S. Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas will be the first F1 race to be held in the country since 2007.
Teachers from Fairview Elementary School help clean up former school counselor Kay Taylor’s home in south Oklahoma City, on Wednesday, May 22, two days after an extremely powerful tornado tore through Moore, Oklahoma. 
Jake English, 12, cleans up retired school counselor Kay Taylor’s home on May 22 in south Oklahoma City, just west of Moore. The storm was part of a tornado outbreak that began in the Midwest and Plains on Sunday, May 19. 
A man talks on his cell phone in front of a destroyed house on May 22.
A man looks through a pile of clothing at a roadside relief camp on May 22 in Moore.
Volunteers form a chain to retrieve clothing and other household items on May 22.
Jon Booth moves a piece of debris from his mother’s destroyed home across the street from Plaza Towers Elementary School on May 22.
Matt Johnson salvages items from his grandparents’ home on Tuesday, May 21.
Two men fold an American flag found in the debris of a house on May 21 in Moore.
A young girl stands among the rubble outside Briarwood Elementary School on May 21.
A doll covered in dirt is among the rubble scattered throughout a neighborhood in Moore on May 21.
Bonnie Lolofie, left, and Ashley Do carry belongings from their apartment, which has no power, on May 21.
Residents salvage belongings from their demolished homes in Moore on May 21.
Kelli Kannady weeps after finding a box of photographs of her late husband in the rubble near where her home once stood in Moore on May 21.
Tufts of pink insulation hang from the rafters of a store in Moore on May 21 that was destroyed in the storm.
Natalie Johnson searches through her mother’s destroyed car outside Briarwood Elementary School in Moore on May 21.
Rescuers dig out a house in Moore on May 21. 
June Simson embraces her cat Sammi after she found him standing among the rubble of her destroyed home in Moore on May 21.
A man stands on the roof of a destroyed home in Moore on May 21.
A man helps move a resident’s belongings from a destroyed home on May 21 in Moore.
Air Force Airman First Class Justin Acord sifts through the rubble of his father-in-law’s home in Moore on May 21.
People recover belongings from the rubble of a home in Moore.
People sort through a leveled home in Moore on May 21.
Debris lies among headstones in the Moore Cemetery on May 21.
Workers clean up the Warren movie theater in Moore on May 21.
Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett surveys damage in Moore on May 21.
Piles of debris lie around the north side of Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore on May 21.
As dawn breaks, storm clouds roll in over a devastated neighborhood in Moore on May 21.
Members of the Oklahoma National Guard look for survivors in rubble in Moore on May 21.
A National Guardsman assists in the search for victims on May 21. 
A rescue worker leads a horse from the wreckage of a day care center and barns on Monday, May 20, in Moore.
Men tie an American flag on debris in a neighborhood off Telephone Road in Moore on May 20.
Children wait for their parents to arrive at Briarwood Elementary School in south Oklahoma City on May 20.
Teachers carry children away from Briarwood Elementary School on May 20.
Teachers lead children away from Briarwood Elementary School on May 20. 
A fire official drives through the rubble of Moore Medical Center on May 20.
Abby Madi, left, and Peterson Zatterlee comfort Zatterlee’s dog, Rippy, on Monday, May 20, in Moore.
A woman is treated for her injuries on May 20 at a triage area set up for the wounded.
Two girls stand in rubble in Moore. 
Rescue workers help free one of more than a dozen people who were trapped at a medical center in Moore on May 20.
Oklahoma City firefighters check on Gene Tripp on May 20 as he sits in his rocking chair where his home once stood.
A nurse helps an older man who suffered a head injury on May 20 in Moore.
Cars marked with an orange X, meaning they have been checked for occupants, are piled up in front of the entrance to the damaged Moore Medical Center on May 20.
Jim Routon hugs his neighbor, 7-year-old Hezekiah, after the tornado strikes on May 20. An earlier version of this caption incorrectly stated that Routon was Hezekiah’s teacher. 
People look through the wreckage of their neighborhood after a tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20.
Dana Ulepich searches inside a room left standing at the back of her destroyed house in Moore on May 20.
Residents look through the debris in Moore on May 20.
A man looks through the remains of a home after the massive tornado struck Moore on May 20.
A woman is transported on a stretcher after she was rescued from the damaged medical center in Moore on May 20.
A woman walks through debris in Moore on May 20.
A man is taken away from the IMAX Theater in Moore that was used as a triage center on May 20.
A girl wraps herself in a blanket near the Moore Hospital on May 20.
A nurse walks by the destruction at a Moore hospital on May 20.
Destroyed cars scatter the landscape in Moore, Oklahoma, where hundreds of homes and buildings were put to ruin on May 20.
A woman with an arm injury is helped on May 20 in Moore.
Extensive damage from an EF4 tornado destroyed cars and demolished structures in Moore on May 20.
Onlookers stop to view a portion of the destruction left behind on May 20 in Moore.
Overturned cars are among the rubble from the tornado that hit Moore on May 20.
A woman is comforted after the May 20 tornado in Moore.
A shredded tree stands amid debris in the aftermath of the storm in Moore on May 20.
A shopping center parking lot is covered with debris and damaged cars on May 20.
Law enforcement officers block a roadway in Moore where there was extensive damage from the tornado.
A massive tornado approaches Moore on May 20. The storm first touched down to the west of the city near Newcastle, Oklahoma. Visit 
An aerial view of the destruction caused by the massive tornado that struck areas south of Oklahoma City on Monday, May 20, shows the magnitude of damage left in its path. The storm’s winds topped 200 mph as it 
The storm, which touched down near Newcastle, Oklahoma, spanned 1.3 miles. Some areas along the path were completely flattened.
Officials from the National Weather Service gave the tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20 a preliminary EF5 rating — the highest score on the scale that measures tornado intensities.
The tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburbs, hitting the town of Moore the hardest. It packed winds that topped 200 mph.
A search-and-rescue effort to find survivors shifted Tuesday to one of recovery, officials said.
The devastation in Moore was so complete that the mayor said city officials were racing to print new street signs to help guide rescuers and residents through a suddenly twisted and unfamiliar landscape.
A group of homes was reduced to rubble.
Debris from homes and structures was strewn for miles around. 
In some areas, the homes of an entire street were destroyed.
Rescuers and first responders immediately began searching through the rubble of structures on May 20.
Large trees were uprooted and flattened.
Given its breadth and power, the tornado ranks among some of the strongest storms ever to strike the United States, CNN senior meteorologist Dave Hennen said.
Homes in some areas were relatively undamaged while others very nearby were destroyed.
Police, firefighters, volunteers and nearly 180 National Guard troops joined forces Tuesday in searching the rubble and securing areas hit by the storm.
In 1999 and then again in 2003, Moore took direct hits from tornadoes that took eerily similar paths to 2013′s twister. The 1999 storm packed the strongest wind speeds in history, Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb said.
A section of a bridge outside of Oklahoma City was blown off its foundation.
The path of the tornado is clearly visible with dirt and debris painting a wide path across the Oklahoma landscape.
The scene — block after block of flattened homes and businesses, the gutted remains of a hospital and hits on two elementary schools — left even seasoned veterans of Oklahoma’s infamous tornadoes reeling.
View more galleries: 
Teachers from Fairview Elementary School help clean up former school counselor Kay Taylor’s home in south Oklahoma City, on Wednesday, May 22, two days after an extremely powerful tornado tore through Moore, Oklahoma. View more photos of the aftermath in the region and another gallery of aerial shots of the damage.
Jake English, 12, cleans up retired school counselor Kay Taylor’s home on May 22 in south Oklahoma City, just west of Moore. The storm was part of a tornado outbreak that began in the Midwest and Plains on Sunday, May 19. 
A man talks on his cell phone in front of a destroyed house on May 22.
A man looks through a pile of clothing at a roadside relief camp on May 22 in Moore.
Volunteers form a chain to retrieve clothing and other household items on May 22.
Jon Booth moves a piece of debris from his mother’s destroyed home across the street from Plaza Towers Elementary School on May 22.
Matt Johnson salvages items from his grandparents’ home on Tuesday, May 21.
Two men fold an American flag found in the debris of a house on May 21 in Moore.
A young girl stands among the rubble outside Briarwood Elementary School on May 21.
A doll covered in dirt is among the rubble scattered throughout a neighborhood in Moore on May 21.
Bonnie Lolofie, left, and Ashley Do carry belongings from their apartment, which has no power, on May 21.
Residents salvage belongings from their demolished homes in Moore on May 21.
Kelli Kannady weeps after finding a box of photographs of her late husband in the rubble near where her home once stood in Moore on May 21.
Tufts of pink insulation hang from the rafters of a store in Moore on May 21 that was destroyed in the storm.
Natalie Johnson searches through her mother’s destroyed car outside Briarwood Elementary School in Moore on May 21.
Rescuers dig out a house in Moore on May 21. 
June Simson embraces her cat Sammi after she found him standing among the rubble of her destroyed home in Moore on May 21.
A man stands on the roof of a destroyed home in Moore on May 21.
A man helps move a resident’s belongings from a destroyed home on May 21 in Moore.
Air Force Airman First Class Justin Acord sifts through the rubble of his father-in-law’s home in Moore on May 21.
People recover belongings from the rubble of a home in Moore.
People sort through a leveled home in Moore on May 21.
Debris lies among headstones in the Moore Cemetery on May 21.
Workers clean up the Warren movie theater in Moore on May 21.
Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett surveys damage in Moore on May 21.
Piles of debris lie around the north side of Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore on May 21.
As dawn breaks, storm clouds roll in over a devastated neighborhood in Moore on May 21.
Members of the Oklahoma National Guard look for survivors in rubble in Moore on May 21.
A National Guardsman assists in the search for victims on May 21. 
A rescue worker leads a horse from the wreckage of a day care center and barns on Monday, May 20, in Moore.
Men tie an American flag on debris in a neighborhood off Telephone Road in Moore on May 20.
Children wait for their parents to arrive at Briarwood Elementary School in south Oklahoma City on May 20.
Teachers carry children away from Briarwood Elementary School on May 20.
Teachers lead children away from Briarwood Elementary School on May 20. Read more about the photo.
A fire official drives through the rubble of Moore Medical Center on May 20.
Abby Madi, left, and Peterson Zatterlee comfort Zatterlee’s dog, Rippy, on Monday, May 20, in Moore.
A woman is treated for her injuries on May 20 at a triage area set up for the wounded.
Two girls stand in rubble in Moore. 
Rescue workers help free one of more than a dozen people who were trapped at a medical center in Moore on May 20.
Oklahoma City firefighters check on Gene Tripp on May 20 as he sits in his rocking chair where his home once stood.
A nurse helps an older man who suffered a head injury on May 20 in Moore.
Cars marked with an orange X, meaning they have been checked for occupants, are piled up in front of the entrance to the damaged Moore Medical Center on May 20.
Jim Routon hugs his neighbor, 7-year-old Hezekiah, after the tornado strikes on May 20. An earlier version of this caption incorrectly stated that Routon was Hezekiah’s teacher. See an interview with the pair. 
People look through the wreckage of their neighborhood after a tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20.
Dana Ulepich searches inside a room left standing at the back of her destroyed house in Moore on May 20.
Residents look through the debris in Moore on May 20.
A man looks through the remains of a home after the massive tornado struck Moore on May 20.
A woman is transported on a stretcher after she was rescued from the damaged medical center in Moore on May 20.
A woman walks through debris in Moore on May 20.
A man is taken away from the IMAX Theater in Moore that was used as a triage center on May 20.
A girl wraps herself in a blanket near the Moore Hospital on May 20.
A nurse walks by the destruction at a Moore hospital on May 20.
Destroyed cars scatter the landscape in Moore, Oklahoma, where hundreds of homes and buildings were put to ruin on May 20.
A woman with an arm injury is helped on May 20 in Moore.
Extensive damage from an EF4 tornado destroyed cars and demolished structures in Moore on May 20.
Onlookers stop to view a portion of the destruction left behind on May 20 in Moore.
Overturned cars are among the rubble from the tornado that hit Moore on May 20.
A woman is comforted after the May 20 tornado in Moore.
A shredded tree stands amid debris in the aftermath of the storm in Moore on May 20.
A shopping center parking lot is covered with debris and damaged cars on May 20.
Law enforcement officers block a roadway in Moore where there was extensive damage from the tornado.
A massive tornado approaches Moore on May 20. The storm first touched down to the west of the city near Newcastle, Oklahoma. Visit CNN.com/impact for ways to help the victims.
Residents gather outside a community meeting at Immanuel Lutheran Church on Thursday, May 9, to talk about 
FBI agents and other law enforcement officers stand outside suspect Ariel Castro’s home in Cleveland on May 9. Castro, a former school bus driver, has been accused of holding three women captive for a decade in his house. He has also been charged with rape.
Castro hangs his head low while talking with his public defender, Kathleen DeMetz, during his arraignment on May 9.
Ada Colon prays during a vigil held in honor of the kidnapping victims in Cleveland on Wednesday, May 8.
Relatives of kidnapping victim Georgina “Gina” DeJesus hug after she returned to her parents’ home in Cleveland on May 8.
Friends and neighbors cheer as a car carrying Amanda Berry arrives at her sister’s house in Cleveland on May 8.
Gina DeJesus gives a thumbs up as she arrives at her family’s house in Cleveland on May 8.
Ariel Castro was charged on May 8 with kidnapping the three women.
The family house of Gina DeJesus has been decorated by well-wishers on Tuesday, May 7.
Friends and relatives gather in front of the family house of DeJesus on May 7.
Well-wishers visit the home of the sister of Amanda Berry on Monday, May 6.
Investigators remove evidence from the house on Seymour Avenue in Cleveland where the three women were held.
An FBI forensics team meets outside the house where three women were held as they investigate the property.
An FBI forensics team member removes evidence from the house.
A relative of DeJesus brings balloons to the home of Amanda Berry’s sister in Cleveland on May 7.
Children hold a sign and balloons in the yard of Gina DeJesus’ family home in Cleveland on May 7.
Bystanders and media gather on May 7 along Seymour Avenue in Cleveland near the house where the three women were held captive.
A bystander shows the front page of The Plain Dealer newspaper to a friend outside of the house on Seymour Avenue on May 7.
Cleveland Deputy Chief of Police Ed Tomba, center, speaks at a news conference to address details of the developments.
The house where the three women were held captive in Cleveland was the home of Ariel Castro, who was arrested and is being held pending charges in the case.
FBI agents remove evidence from the house May 7.
A police officer stands in front of the broken front door of the house on May 7, where the kidnapped women escaped.
Neighbor Charles Ramsey talks to media as people congratulate him on helping the kidnapped women escape on Monday, May 6. He helped knock down the door after he heard screaming inside.
Amanda Berry vanished a few blocks from her Cleveland home on April 21, 2003. She was 16.
Georgina “Gina” DeJesus was last seen in Cleveland on April 2, 2004, on her way home from school. She was 14 when she went missing.
Michelle Knight was last seen on August 22, 2002, when she was 21.
In March this year, the town of Meiktila in central Myanmar was engulfed in deadly sectarian violence that destroyed whole blocks of housing, shops and mosques.
Thidar Hla (right) pictured at home in Meiktila with her two daughters: Hnin Ei Phyu (far left) and Moe Ei Phyu. They are one of thousands of families was forced to flee during clashes between Muslims and Buddhists.
The remains of one of Meiktila’s mosques after it was attacked and destroyed in the March violence.
They family’s modest home survived the unrest, while thousands of other homes were burned to the ground.
Many other families have not been as lucky, with large parts of Meiktila razed to the ground.
Myanmar’s government has said it will replace all of the houses destroyed during the rioting.
As a result, Muslims like Hnin Ei Phyu can only pray at home. 
U.S. Marines in northern Kuwait gear up after receiving orders to cross the Iraqi border on March 20, 2003. It has been 10 years since the American-led invasion of Iraq that toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein. Look back at moments from the war and the legacy it left behind. For more, view CNN’s complete coverage of the Iraq War anniversary.
A pedestrian looks at front-page headlines on display outside the future site of the Newseum in Washington on March 20, 2003.
Smoke and flames rise from the riverside presidential palace compound in Baghdad after a massive airstrike on March 21, 2003.
President George W. Bush meets with his war council in the Situation Room of the White House on March 21, 2003. Clockwise from foreground: National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, CIA Director George Tenet, Chief of Staff Andy Card, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard Myers were present.
A U.S. Marine from Task Force Tarawa engages Iraqi forces from an armored assault vehicle on March 23, 2003, in the southern city of Nasiriyah.
Marines walk single-file through the desolate landscape in Nasiriyah on March 26, 2003. As night falls on the city, the troops are on alert for a counterattack.
A night-vision image shows U.S. military personnel carrying Pfc. Jessica Lynch off a helicopter on April 1, 2003, at an undisclosed location in Iraq. She had been missing since March 23, when she and members of her unit were ambushed by Iraqi forces.
Members of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, storm Diyala Bridge in Baghdad on April 7, 2003. 
Marines pull down a statue of Saddam Hussein, a symbolic finale to the fall of Baghdad, on April 9, 2003.
Iraqis flee Baghdad on April 11, 2003, as the capital city descended into chaos with widespread looting and lawlessness.
Marines hold a memorial service for friends killed in a battle weeks earlier on April 13, 2003, near Al-Kut, Iraq.
Iraqi National Museum Deputy Director Mushin Hasan sits among destroyed artifacts on April 13, 2003, in Bagdhad. The museum was severely looted.
Iraqi men push the head of a statue of Saddam Hussein after its destruction on April 18, 2003, in Baghdad.
Dressed in a flight suit, President Bush meets pilots and crew members of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln who were returning to the United States on May 1, 2003, after being deployed in the Gulf region.
Sailors applaud as President Bush addresses the nation aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003. Standing beneath a banner that read “Mission Accomplished,” the president declared major fighting over in Iraq and called it a victory in the ongoing war on terrorism.
A U.S. Marine pulls down a picture of Saddam Hussein at a school in Al-Kut on April 16, 2003.
Iraqi men check a list near the remains of bodies excavated from a mass grave on the outskirts of Al Musayyib on May 31, 2003. Locals said they uncovered the remains of hundreds of Shiite Muslims allegedly executed by Saddam Hussein’s regime after their uprising following the 1991 Gulf War.
U.S. Army 101st Airborne troops investigate a house where Saddam Hussein’s sons Uday and Qusay were killed in Mosul, Iraq, on July 23, 2003. The house, in an affluent neighborhood, was the scene of a fierce gunbattle.
Army Cpl. Curtis Laymon of the 101st Airborne Rakkasan regiment is reflected in a pool of oil from the Iraqi-Turkey pipeline in Iraq’s Ninewa province on October 29, 2003. The pipeline was blown apart by saboteurs two weeks earlier.
An Iraqi police lieutenant’s stars lie in a puddle of blood after a car bombing that targeted a police station in Baquba on November 22, 2003.
A construction worker removes debris from a destroyed building in Baghdad on December 11, 2003.
Saddam Hussein’s picture is taken December 14, 2003, after his capture a day earlier. U.S. troops found Hussein hiding near his hometown of Tikrit.
The entrance to the “spider hole” where Saddam Hussein was hiding in Ad Dawr is seen from the inside on December 15, 2003.
A bound Iraqi informer, with his name inked in English across his back, crouches beside soldiers in the 4th Infantry Division after providing outdated information during a morning raid in in Samarra on December 19, 2003.
Eman Mohammed, 7, stands in the Kurdish refugee camp in Kirkuk on January 7, 2004. Since 2003, thousands of internally displaced Kurds have returned to Kirkuk.
Laborers work on a hotel in Baghdad on January 15, 2004.
A worker turns a valve at the Shirawa oil field outside the northern city of Kirkuk on January 19, 2004. The security of Iraq’s oil infrastructure had improved, but exports through the region’s main pipeline had yet to resume.
A boy stands at the scene of a car bombing in front of the Shaheen Hotel in Baghdad on January 28, 2004.
Mourners carry coffins in Karbala on March 3, 2004. A day after a series of bombs killed dozens and injured hundreds during the Ashura ceremony in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, Shiite Muslims began burying their dead.
Iraqi insurgents wave their national flag as they celebrate in front of a burning U.S. military tanker they hit with rocket-propelled grenade on April 9, 2004. The attack took place on the road from Baghdad to Fallujah.
Photographs depicting detainee abuse inside Abu Ghraib prison at the hands of U.S. troops were released in late April 2004. The fallout was immediate, and the images gave anti-war protesters ammunition to rally people to their cause.
Iraqis look at rows of graves at an overflowing cemetery built in a soccer arena in Fallujah on May 3, 2004.
At home in Baghdad with his new prosthetic leg, Ahsan Hameed, 20, sits while his aunt looks it over on July 17, 2004. He lost his left leg above the knee to a stray bullet in April.
Construction workers weld beams at the Ministry of Transportation building in Baghdad on July 21, 2004. The building was being rebuilt after it was gutted by a fire.
Iraqi national guardsman Ridha Abdulkarim lies in a hospital bed after a car bomb detonated at a checkpoint in Baquba on August 3, 2004. The bomb killed six guardsmen and wounded six others, Iraqi authorities said.
Shiite militia members prepare to fire during clashes with U.S. forces in Najaf on August 7, 2004. It was the third day of continuous fighting in the holy city.
An Iraqi militia member injured in a U.S. airstrike in Najaf is assisted by one of his comrades on August 24, 2004. They were walking past the shrine of Imam Ali to make their way to a militia hospital.
Iraqi Shiite faithful gather in Najaf on August 27, 2004, to mark the end of a battle. Rebel leader Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his fighters to lay down their arms in a peace deal brokered by Iraq’s most revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
Anti-war protesters in New York carry mock coffins draped with U.S. flags on August 29, 2004. Thousands took part in demonstrations outside Madison Square Garden on the eve of the Republican National Convention.
Members of the Iraqi Intervention Forces listen to last-minute instructions before heading out with U.S. troops to begin a major offensive on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah on November 8, 2004.
Marines search houses in Fallujah for insurgents on November 10, 2004.
Marines rest and check a map in a house during an offensive in Fallujah on November 11, 2004.
Iraqi men are arrested during a house raid in Fallujah on November 13, 2004.
Marines take position on a roof in the restive city of Fallujah on November 13, 2004.
U.S. Army medics treat a wounded Jordanian fighter in Fallujah on November 14, 2004.
A U.S. Marine and a soldier from the New Iraqi Army process a detainee during operations in Fallujah on November 17, 2004.
Marines use explosives to open rooftop doors while searching houses in Fallujah for insurgents on November 22, 2004.
Marines clear a home in Fallujah after four insurgents staged a bloody counterattack, killing one American and wounding many others, on November 23, 2004.
Spc. Franklin Smith pulls away as a mortar blast is fired from the edge of the U.S. airbase in Tal Afar on January 17, 2005. U.S. teams would frequently fire “harassment and interdiction” mortar fusillades toward suspected enemy positions.
Iraqis look over their ballots on election day in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad on January 30, 2005. It was the country’s first multiparty election in half a century.
Election officials count ballot papers at night on January 30, 2005, in the Shiite holy city of Najaf. Despite threats, thousands of men and women cast their votes.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Troy Hawkins is tended to after getting wounded during a firefight while on patrol with an Iraqi army unit in the Haifa Street neighborhood of Baghdad on February 16, 2005. Afterward, he continued to fight in the narrow streets.
An Iraqi soldier stands watch at a teahouse while on patrol with U.S. soldiers in Baghdad on February 23, 2005.
President Bush shakes hands with former Sen. Charles Robb, left, and Judge Laurence Silberman during a news conference in Washington on March 31, 2005. The co-chairmen of the Iraqi Intelligence Commission issued a report indicating that U.S. intelligence agencies were wrong in most pre-war assessments about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Iraqi Shiite demonstrators loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr burn a U.S. flag during a protest in Baghdad on April 9, 2005. The rally was called on the second anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, with protesters demanding an end to the U.S. military presence in Iraq.
People gather at the scene of a car bombing near a busy market in eastern Baghdad on May, 12, 2005.
A resident makes a phone call in the aftermath of a double suicide car bombing that struck civilians living near the blast walls that protect the Hamra Hotel in Baghdad on November 18, 2005.
Sgt. Thomas Gaines kisses his wife during a welcome-home ceremony in Fort Stewart, Georgia, on May 11, 2006. About 280 members of the Georgia National Guard 48th Brigade returned home from a year-long deployment to Iraq.
A British Royal Air Force gunner waves to a goat herder during a patrol of northern Basra province on July 26, 2006.
A British armored vehicle is illuminated by traffic during a patrol of Basra on July 27, 2006.
Ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein addresses the court during his trial in the heavily fortified Green Zone of Baghdad on October 17, 2006. Hussein and six co-defendants were on trial for mass killings in the Anfal campaign against Kurdish rebels in the late 1980s.
A Palestinian woman watches the news of Saddam Hussein’s execution at her home in the West Bank town of Jenin on December 30, 2006. Hussein was hanged for his role in the 1982 Dujail massacre, in which 148 Iraqis were killed after a failed assassination attempt against the then-president.
U.S. Marines prepare for a military operation at Camp Ramadi in Anbar province on January 14, 2007.
American forces in Ramadi watch President Bush deliver the annual State of the Union address on January 24, 2007. The president announced plans to increase the size of the U.S. military by 92,000 troops.
An American Apache helicopter provides air support while a Marine takes aim after being fired upon by insurgents near the Euphrates River in Ramadi on February 2, 2007.
Iraqi children watch U.S. Army soldiers climb to the roof of their school to get a high vantage point in Baghdad on April 15, 2007.
U.S. Marines sleep at their patrol base in the area known as Zaidon in Al Anbar province on May 12, 2007.
Mary McHugh mourns her fiance, Sgt. James Regan, at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington on May 27, 2007. The American Special Forces soldier was killed by an IED in Iraq in February.
U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi contractor build a concrete wall between Sunni and Shiite areas of the south Dora neighborhood of Bagdhad in the early hours of July 4, 2007.
Iraqi army commandos teach junior soldiers during a combat training course in Baquba on July 18, 2007.
Medics treat Army Spc. Jose Callazo after his mine-detecting vehicle hit a buried IED in Hawr Rajab on August 4, 2007.
An American soldier prepares to search a home for illegal weapons in the Hurriyah neighborhood of Baghdad on September 9, 2007.
Relatives help an Iraqi man at a hospital in Baghdad on September 20, 2007. He was injured when Blackwater security contractors opened fire on civilians on September 16, killing 17. The company lost its contract to guard U.S. staff in Iraq after the country’s government refused to renew its operating license.
Army Brig. Gen. Nolen V. Bivens presents an American flag to Maribel Ferrero during the funeral of her 23-year-old son, Army Pfc. Marius L. Ferrero, in Miami. He was killed by a roadside bomb while serving in Iraq.
A U.S. soldier blindfolds an Iraqi man during a raid in Mukhisa on December 3, 2007. Seven men were detained after multiple assault rifles were found in the house.
U.S. soldiers sit in a home damaged by fighting in Baghdad on March 11, 2008, near the five-year anniversary of the war.
Commanding Gen. David Petraeus, center, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington on April 8, 2008. In reporting on the success of the surge in Iraq, Petraeus said the number of U.S. troops in the country should not drop below 140,000.
A U.S. soldier with 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, stands on a kiln overlooking more than 150 brick factories in Narwan on July 1, 2008.
A boy looks out from his family shelter at a Narwan brick factory on July 1, 2008.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama flies over Baghdad with Gen. David Petraeus during a tour on July 21, 2008.
Maj. Gen. John Kelly, left, and Anbar province Gov. Maamoun Sami Rashid al-Alwani sign papers during a handover ceremony in Ramadi on September 1, 2008. The U.S. military turned over security control of Iraq’s biggest province, once a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki tries to block a shoe thrown at President Bush during a news conference in Baghdad on December 14, 2008. The Iraqi journalist who threw the shoes missed the president but could be heard yelling in Arabic, “This is a farewell … you dog!”
Pfc. Jeremy Tomlinson, who was wounded a year before in Iraq, waits with fellow soldiers to greet returning comrades in Fort Carson, Colorado, on January 28, 2008. About 3,800 soldiers were coming home after a 15-month tour of duty.
A poll worker helps a member of the Iraqi National Police cast his ballot in Baghdad on January 28, 2009. Polls were opened early to members of the Iraqi security services, many of whom would be working during the provincial elections.
An Iraqi soldier searches a boy at a polling station in Baghdad on January 31, 2009. People across the country voted to fill 440 provincial council seats.
President Barack Obama delivers an address on February 27, 2009, at the largest Marine post on the East Coast, Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. In his speech, Obama outlined plans for the gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq.
Iraqi army special forces patrol Baghdad’s al-Fadel district on March 30, 2009. U.S.-backed Iraqi forces clashed with anti-al-Qaeda militants known as the Awakening Council, or Sahwa, after fighting erupted following the arrest of Adel Mashhadani, a Sahwa leader.
A U.S. Air Force team carries a flag-draped transfer case containing the remains of Army Spc. Omar M. Albrak of Chicago at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on May 12, 2009, just over a month after the U.S. government lifted its ban on media coverage of the returning war dead. Albrak was killed while serving in Iraq.
Army Sgt. Donald Lewis from the 1st Cavalry Division is greeted by his wife, Nicole Lewis, after his brigade arrived home in Fort Hood, Texas, on November 10, 2009, after a year of deployment in Iraq.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates speaks with soldiers at a forward operating base in Kirkuk on December 11, 2009.
An Iraqi woman votes in parliamentary elections in Kirkuk on March 7, 2010.
U.S. soldiers salute during a handover ceremony of the entry points of Baghdad’s Green Zone, now referred to as the International Zone, to Iraqi control inside the heavily fortified compound in Baghdad on June 1, 2010.
A string of bullets lies across photographs of women adorning the armor of a Stryker vehicle north of Jalaulah on June 11, 2010.
An Iraqi explosives expert gets into a special suit for bomb disposal during a training session organized by his U.S. counterparts at the Warhorse military base near the restive city of Baquba on August 17, 2010.
Shiite worshipers pray during an Ashura commemoration ceremony at the Kadhimiya shrine in Baghdad on December 6, 2011. Ashura marks the death of Prophet Mohammed’s grandson, the revered Imam Hussein.
A technician works on a prosthetic at a factory in Baghdad on December 13, 2011. Iraqis have faced a shortage of prosthetics due to a spike in war-related injuries over the years.
Iraqis gather at a women’s art exhibition in a posh Baghdad neighborhood on December 14, 2011.
Gen. Lloyd Austin retires the United States Forces-Iraq flag during a casing ceremony at the former Sather Air Base in Baghdad on December 15, 2011.
Military personnel lower their heads during the flag casing ceremony in Baghdad on December 15, 2011. The ceremony officially marked the end of U.S. military operations in Iraq.
A U.S. soldier prepares to fly out of the Sather Air Base in Baghdad on December 15, 2011. The last U.S. forces left Iraq and entered Kuwait on December 18, nearly nine years after launching a divisive war to oust Saddam Hussein.
