The Pentagon said Wednesday that the last United States troops deployed in Iraq under the anti-ISIS coalition mission have left the country, completing a years-long drawdown after more than two decades of American military presence.
Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell said remaining U.S. and other international coalition forces conducted an “orderly departure” from Erbil Airbase in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, taking equipment with them. U.S. Central Command said the task force overseeing anti-ISIS operations has been relocated to Jordan. Erbil had hosted about 1,500 U.S. and coalition troops before the exit, CENTCOM said. Hundreds of U.S. troops remain in Syria.
Parnell described the withdrawal as marking “the success of a 12-year campaign that defeated ISIS as an organised military threat in Iraq” and a shift toward an Iraqi-led security effort with a more normal bilateral relationship. President Donald Trump hailed the move on Truth Social as a victory for the United States and Iraq, writing that he “had a choice to stay or to leave” and that it was “time for America to go home!” and calling the long Iraq involvement a “very expensive excursion into Hell.” Al Jazeera (opens in new tab) noted Trump incorrectly framed Operation Inherent Resolve as beginning with the 2003 invasion; that earlier war was Operation Iraqi Freedom, while Inherent Resolve began with the 2014 redeployment against ISIS.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi praised the exit as opening a new bilateral era. Kurdish officials have been among the most vocal critics, warning the Kurdistan region could face greater exposure to Iranian strikes or an ISIS resurgence. ISIS remains territorially defeated but retains cells in Iraq and Syria.