After 4 Years, U.S. Abandons Outpost in Afghan 'Valley of Death'.

KORANGAL OUTPOST, Afghanistan -- The last American soldier left here Wednesday, abandoning a base surrounded by tall cedar trees and high mountains, in a place that came to be called the Valley of Death. The near daily battles here were won, but almost always at the cost of wounded or dead. There were never enough soldiers to crush the insurgency, and after four years, it became clear that there was not much worth winning in this sparsely populated valley. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]