'The purple fingers have returned to build Iraq'
``The purple fingers have returned to build Iraq,'' Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in a televised address after the polls closed, referring to the indelible ink stains on index fingers that show voters have cast their ballots.
A triumphant President Obama on Wednesday hailed the end of the Iraq war as a symbol of America's unrivaled military strength in remarks to troops stationed at North Carolina's Fort Bragg.