Iraq vets just beginning their fight: expert

Source: CBS News
Published: Thursday 15 December, 2011

(CBS News) After nearly nine years of combat, the official end of the war in Iraq has come.
More than one million U.S. troops served in Iraq, nearly 4,500 were killed, and 32,000 were wounded.

But, even as President Obama declares the war to be over, a different kind of battle is just beginning for the troops coming home.

Unemployment, says Paul Rieckhoff, founder and executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, is the biggest challenge facing veterans as they return to the U.S. He saysthere's a 20 percent unemployment rate for members of his organization nationally, and in some states, such as Michigan, it's more than 30 percent.

U.S. officials shut down war in Iraq

Please click here to read this news item.

More News