State Department spokesman Philip Crowley described the end of combat operations in Iraq as a “historic moment” and vowed that America would be unwavering in its long-term commitment, reports Agence France Presse. "We're not ending our involvement in Iraq. We will have important work to do,” he added “This is a transition. This is not the end of something. It's a transition to something different. We have a long-term commitment to Iraq."

Michael R. Gordon for The New York Times reports that the Obama administration is "planning a remarkable civilian effort, buttressed by a small army of contractors, to fill the void" left by the removal US combat troops. The State Department, through the use of contractors, will assume responsibility for training the Iraqi police force by October 11.

“With no American soldiers to defuse sectarian tensions in northern Iraq, it will be up to American diplomats in two new $100 million outposts to head off potential confrontations between the Iraqi Army and Kurdish peshmerga forces,” Gordon points out.

Ernesto Londoño for The Washington Post suggests that the Iraq war will continue to be an issue for the United States. "There might never be an acknowledged end to the Iraq war -- a moment where it ceases being America's conflict,” he comments. However, he points out, "US commanders also seem to be stressing that this is no longer America's war to lose."

“Will the pullout improve America’s image abroad, particularly in the Middle East?” asks Nicholas Cull, chair of the Master’s Program in Public Diplomacy at the USC Annenberg School in an article for Politics and Society, a USC publication. Comparing the withdrawal from Iraq with the 1973 troop withdrawal from Vietnam, Cull notes, “Of course, the long-term effect on world opinion hinges on what happens next in Iraq,” before adding, “If the country falls apart immediately, it will hardly reflect well on the United States.

Revealing a certain level of skepticism about Iraq’s long-term prospects, Gen. David Petraeus said “the final chapter for Iraq is certainly still to be written, reports Politico. He pressed on the importance of the formation of a new government, which has been held up by inter party squabbling since the elections that took place in March of 2010, an “immediate, pressing issue.”

In his view, a power-sharing agreement will be pivotal to Iraq's stability. In Iraq, a mood of deep apprehension tinged with bitterness took hold among Iraqis as the American troops, whom they once feared would stay forever, are in fact going home, reports the Los Angeles Times. As Iraq is in the throes of a deep political crisis which may take a violent turn, national unease is growing

"I'm not happy at all. I'm worried. They're leaving really early," said Wissam Sabah, a carpet seller in one of Baghdad's shopping districts. "We don't have a government and we don't know what is going to happen next. Maybe we will go back to civil war.

Many Iraqis worry that the troop reduction comes too early, while believing that the Americans are bailing out of Iraq, leaving Iraqis to their own fate. "Some people think it's a run-out. An irresponsible withdrawal," Kurdish legislator Mahmoud Othman said, echoing Obama's pledge to bring about a "responsible withdrawal" of US troops. "This is about what's going on in America, not about what's going on on the ground."

A group of Iraqi soldiers standing guard beside their US-supplied Humvee on a major Baghdad street didn't seem so sure.

One of the soldiers, when asked whether he thought security would deteriorate without US combat forces, replied, "Of course, because we have no government." The soldier, who wished to remain anonymous, made it clear he wasn't happy to see the Americans leave the country.

James Zogby, President of the Arab American Institute, explains for The Huffington Post that the war in Iraq “has been a calamity on too many levels,” with the withdrawal far from being a success or an accomplishment in itself.

“From the beginning, President Obama has said that he was committed to a responsible departure from Iraq. Now we are leaving, as we must, but we have continuing responsibilities to the people of Iraq,” he comments, maintaining that the United States should remain committed to Iraq “Bush and company may have started this mess, but America still owns it. We are part of Iraq's history and must recognize that reality,” concludes Zogby.