USA · updated 59m ago · 2 min read
U.S. Completes Withdrawal Of All Troops From Iraq, Ending Operation Inherent Resolve
U.S. completes withdrawal of all troops from Iraq, ending Operation Inherent Resolve. Last bases in Iraq emptied, with forces withdrawn by the September 30 deadline.
Whether the withdrawal is mainly a security risk or moral reckoning.
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“using false reports of Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction as a pretext for starting the conflict.”Read the original ↗
LIGA.net emphasises ISIS and Iran risks. Daily Kos emphasises false WMD pretext and human costs.
US exits Iraq
The United States completed the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq on Wednesday, ending a 12-year mission to fight the Islamic State group, according to the U.S. military announcement reported by JC Post. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that U.S. troops and equipment completed an “orderly departure” from the air base in Irbil, in northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region. The United States plans to complete the withdrawal of its remaining military forces from Iraq by this Wednesday, ending a deployment that has marked the country’s history for more than two decades.
The withdrawal comes after an agreement reached in 2024 between Washington and Baghdad to end Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led coalition mission against IS. U.S. forces had withdrawn in 2011, but returned in 2014 to help defeat the Islamic State (IS).
Sovereignty, militias, and risk
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi presided over the handover ceremony and described the U.S. withdrawal as the beginning of a “new phase, one defined by Iraq’s sovereignty, the strength of its institutions, the readiness of its forces, the unity of its decision-making, and balanced partnerships with its friends.” Iraq is set to hold four “Sovereignty Days”, a national holiday marking the complete withdrawal of US troops from the country. al-Zaidi said his government was “striving to ensure that the state is the ultimate decision-maker in matters of peace and war, and that weapons and tools of power remain in the hands of its constitutional institutions”.
Douglas Silliman warned that “It’s going to be a very difficult series of decisions,” for both the militias and for Prime Minister al-Zaidi and his defence team. Renad Mansour described Iran-aligned militias as remaining “in full-on war mode, working with the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] in the region.”
What comes next
The BBC said the withdrawal comes as ongoing tensions with Iran have again placed U.S. personnel in Iraq in the crosshairs.
H. A. Hellyer told the BBC, “This is about risk, not IS; that justification expired years ago,” pointing to recent attacks on U.S. facilities in northern Iraq amid regional tensions involving Iran.
al-Zaidi’s wider vision includes accelerating efforts to disarm all militias in the country by June 2027, including several powerful pro-Iran groups.
al-Zaidi told The New York Times earlier this month that both the US and Iran-aligned militias have given assurances that they will refrain from any attacks for 90 days following the US withdrawal.
The Iraqi government has sought to disarm militias “with little success so far,” while Iran-backed groups celebrated the withdrawal and raised concerns among some Iraqis, particularly in the Kurdish region.