Just hours before an official end to US combat operations in Iraq, President Nouri Maliki used a major speech to declare that Iraq is now independent and its security forces are up to the task of keeping order.

The last US combat brigade has crossed over from Iraq into Kuwait, but many questions still remain over the role of troops left behind and the stability of the Iraqi government going forward.

August 3rd, 2010 (Geopoliticalmonitor.com) - As expected, President Obama has confirmed that August 31st will mark an end to combat operations in Iraq. However, it is commonly accepted that his announcement is more about honoring campaign promises than reacting to the reality on the ground in Iraq.

With all eyes on the faltering NATO campaign in Afghanistan, Iraq’s political stalemate continues to jeopardize its long-term security outlook.

As the global media narrows its collective focus onto NATO’s struggle to re-take Afghanistan, sectarian tensions are threatening to rip apart the political fabric of Iraq.

While a surge in Afghanistan and protests in Iran have been grabbing all of the headlines, Iraq’s political landscape has quietly started to heat up in the lead up to elections next March.

The recently negotiated US-Iraq Status-of-Forces security pact signals the beginning of the end of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.