Washington says the 50,000 U.S. troops would remain in Iraq to conduct support and training missions. The last batch of U.S. troops is scheduled to leave Iraq by the end of 2011.
However, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Ray Odierno, said last week that the United States could maintain a military presence in Iraq after the 2011 deadline "if the government of Iraq requests some technical assistance."
As the deadline for withdrawing combat troops looms, Stieber said it would be easy for people to forget about the impact the war had on U.S. soldiers and on Iraqi people alike. He wants to remind people of the horror of the war, and make sure such things never happen again.
"Something a lot of people don't think about is just the many lives that have been affected on both sides," he said, recalling friends who end up going to psychological institutions because of post traumatic stress disorder as a result of the war.
"Some of the things we saw there, and the way that a lot of people in Iraq was treated, and so many of them were forced from their homes, and the things that went on in their lives," he said.
"I hope people would not think that combat troops are gone, and we don't have to worry about Iraq any more," he added.
Special Report: Situation in Iraq
