Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged the formal end of America's combat role in Iraq Wednesday at a ceremony in Baghdad.

Close to 50,000 U.S. military personnel will remain in the country to train Iraqi security forces and help run counterterrorism operations.

"I believe our men and women in uniform believe we have accomplished something that makes the sacrifice, the bloodshed, not to have been in vain," Gates said. "How it all weighs in the balance remains to be seen."

After seven years of war, are the Iraqi people better off? Jonathan Schanzer, a former intelligence analyst and vice president of The Foundation for Defense of Democracies, addressed that question and more on CBN Newschannel Midday News, Sept. 1. Click play to watch the interview.