On August 31, US President Barack Obama announced a formal end to the US combat mission in Iraq and said the Iraqis themselves would now take principal responsibility for security. But the situation in Iraq remained precarious, to say the least, and as US combat troops pulled out there were serious lingering doubts the nations security. This cartoon, posted by artist Fan Jianping (范建平) to his QQ blog, shows a US solider jumping joyfully out of the death-pit of Iraq and shouting, “Going home alive is a victory!”