There was a time when C-130s had to deploy countermeasures just to land at Baghdad International Airport. CENTCOM:
For the first time in 14 years, a commercial airlines flight departed the Mosul Airport Dec. 2, carrying Muslim religious pilgrims on their annual trek to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The Mosul Airport, built in 1992, had not seen commercial airline traffic since U.S. military forces declared the city a no-fly zone in 1993. After recent cooperation between by Iraqi and U.S. government agencies, and employing local workers, the airport was rebuilt with the intent to continue commercial air service to Saudi Arabia and other locations.
This is how the war ends, not with a bang but a whisper.
