A US Army soldier from 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment stands with Iraqi policemen in a courtyard outside an Iraqi police station during a joint operation with Iraqi security forces on the first day after America ended its combat role, on Wednesday in Hawija, north of Baghdad, Iraq. The US marks on Wednesday the transition to the final phase of the Iraq war, shifting the focus of the remaining 50,000 American troops from combat operations to preparing Iraqi security forces to protect the country on their own.

Maya Alleruzzo/AP