Operation New Dawn (OND)

Over the course of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), a broad insurgency ebbed and flowed, challenging efforts to create a democratic Iraqi government and threatening open sectarian warfare between minority Sunni and majority Shia, with northern Kurds aspiring to regional autonomy amid the unrest.

In January 2007, United States military forces in Iraq implemented “the surge,” a counterinsurgency strategy devised by General David Petraeus. U.S. combat operations ended on September 1, 2010. American troops remained in the country to advise Iraqi security forces as part of Operation NEW DAWN until the final withdrawal on December 15, 2011.