The U.S. marked the official end to the war in Iraq on Thursday, the Washington Post reports. Speaking from Baghdad, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta sounded a positive note as that chapter of U.S. history drew to a close: “[T]he mission of an Iraq that could govern and secure itself has become real,” he said. “To be sure, the cost was high–in blood and treasure for the United States, and for the Iraqi people. Those lives were not lost in vain.”