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The American military contingent in Iraq is being replaced by a huge diplomatic contingent. All together, some 16,000 diplomats and private contractors will be working at the embassy in Baghdad and at consulates in Iraq, making it the largest such operation in any country.

Homemade bombs became the weapon of choice for the insurgency in Iraq. The U.S. has officially declared the end of the war, but one lasting legacy will be how the improvised explosive device, or IED, changed the way the military thinks about warfare.

You might remember Ben Jones as Cooter the mechanic on The Dukes of Hazzard, but Jones also spent two terms in Congress. In 1994, he faced off against a very interesting opponent: current Republican presidential frontrunner Newt Gingrich.

Vaclav Havel, the Czech playwright who led a revolution to bring down the country's communist regime, died Sunday morning. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright remembers Havel as a friend, an artist and someone who brought opportunity and possibility back to the Czech people.

As troops withdraw from Iraq, it's a bittersweet day for Brandeis University Professor Kanan Makiya. On April 9, 2003, Makiya watched the fall of Baghdad on television from the Oval Office, alongside President George W. Bush. The former Iraqi exile was an outspoken critic of Saddam Hussein's crimes against the Iraqi people and had advised the President on the invasion of Iraq. Makiya tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz he believes the war was worth it for the Iraqi people — but perhaps not for the Americans.

As Hollywood rolls out Oscar hopefuls over the next two months, there's a curious thread developing: Many of these films are set amidst the backdrop of wars — especially wars involving Great Britain.

A new Pentagon study shows that almost 30 percent of drone pilots surveyed suffer from what the military calls "burnout." It's the first time the military has tried to measure the psychological impact of waging a "remote-controlled war."

About half of African-American women in the U.S. are obese, compared to 30 percent of white women. Black women not only carry more weight, but they start piling on extra pounds years before their white counterparts. Around age 8 or 9, girls become less active, and the decline is steepest for black girls.

As the Iraq war came to a quiet close Sunday, one U.S. soldier played a major role in moving soldiers and equipment out of Iraq. Captain David Moses is originally from southern Sudan and during that country's civil war was forced to serve as a child soldier. He eventually made it to the U.S and joined the Army.

Millions of Americans, who have benefited from a holiday in paying Social Security payroll taxes, cannot count on that being extended beyond the first of the year. House Speaker John Boehner said Sunday that the bipartisan deal worked out by the Senate to keep the tax cut going for another couple of months would not pass muster with House Republicans.