President Obama on Friday announced that U.S. troops would be leaving Iraq by year’s end. The New York Times’ take: 

The president’s statement, coming a day after a NATO air campaign hastened the death of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in Libya, was laden with symbolism, marking the ebb tide of a decade of American military engagement that began after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It also capped a remarkable period of foreign-policy accomplishments for a president who is hindered by a poor economy at home.

The Times also has an interactive column chart visualizing the number of troops in Iraq since the war began:

Here’s the view of Afghanistan, which has followed a different trajectory: