More from The Long War series

SPECIAL SECTION Can it hold? One year into the troop "surge" in Iraq, violence has plummeted. Will the trend continue?

VIDEO The road to reconciliation Army Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Frank meets with Baghdad leaders to discuss security after the "surge."

AFGHANISTAN 5 years after 9/11 Five years after the US invaded Afghanistan in the wake of Sept. 11, the Taliban had returned and Osama bin Laden remained at large.