"We have met our responsibilities," President Barack Obama said, declaring the end of combat and direct military involvement in Iraq.

These responsibilities have endured since long before UD's undergraduates could vote. At the time of the fall of the twin towers, most of us were sitting in grade school classrooms.

Many say the war that officially ended on Tuesday, Aug. 31, was declared on a September morning almost a decade ago. The war on terror and the conflict in Iraq became a backdrop for American adolescents whose childhood innocence crashed down in the rubble of New York's Twin Towers.

For a country that has become accustomed to an ever increasing death toll from the Middle East, this official end of military involvement raises many questions.

What does this really mean? Is this really the end?

We remember the years of bloodshed that followed a declaration of "mission accomplished" in Iraq. Obama was careful not to use those particular words or the flair of his predecessor in this regard, but he too leaves troops, approximately 50,000, in the country for peacekeeping purposes.

Though they are scheduled to leave in the following year, we are left to wonder, in our generation, what does victory really look like? Does modern warfare mean there can be no victory dancing in Times Square?

A war against a concept means the enemy can never be completely eliminated. But with the end of combat in Iraq, there is new energy and hope to channel toward issues at home and abroad.

Obama emphasized a fresh focus on the economy and job creation that will surely affect our futures. Likewise at this historic turning point seven years after the conflict began, our generation has an opportunity to reflect on how we heal and grow past a war.

Despite ever-present questions of religious and cultural misunderstanding, FN expresses hope for the future.