Veteran Whitley Carder describes the missions he had during his deployment in Iraq and recounts what his life was like under the working conditions of war. He discusses the disappointment of finding out more troops were being sent to Iraq, increasing the length of his deployment, and remembers the specifies of the missions he was a part of. On December 18, 2011 the majority of US troops left Iraq, with the rest leaving by the end of the month. The Iraq War officially ended on December 15, 2011.

Diplomatic correspondent Raghida Dergham discusses the cultural and political importance of Muntadhar al-Zaidi's shoe throwing incident. Al-Zaidi is is an Iraqi journalist who threw both his shoes at President George W. Bush on December 15, 2008 as a political statement.