UK Ends Combat Missions in Iraq

US troops are on their way out of Iraq, and today the United Kingdom announced that it, too, will bring its troops home. England's announcement was quieter than America's, and the withdrawal will happen quicker: the British Defense Ministry will begin "rapidly withdrawing" its 4000 troops in Iraq in March. About 400 specialists will remain through the end of July. British brigades will hand over control of their operations to the remaining Americans. At the peak of the Iraq campaign, the British had some 46,000 troops in Iraq.