In U.S. Exit From Iraq, Failed Efforts and Challenges (Published 2012)

A ceremony in December 2011 at the Sather Air Base in Baghdad on the withdrawal of American forces. A bid to keep about 5,000 American troops in place failed.Credit...Mario Tama/Getty Images The request was an unusual one, and President Obama himself made the confidential phone call to Jalal Talabani, the Iraqi president. Marshaling his best skills at persuasion, Mr. Obama asked Mr. Talabani, a co