The withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq was completed on September 30. The United States has already handed over control of its headquarters at Baghdad International Airport to Iraqi authorities. The announcement was made by the head of Iraq’s Security Media Cell, Lieutenant General Saad Maan. The prevailing view is that this White House decision stems from the failure of Operation Epic Fury. US forces in Iraq have come under attack from Iran and failed to mount a response; therefore, this withdrawal could be considered yet another defeat for Washington in the Middle East.
Let’s examine exactly which forces are being withdrawn from Iraq. This is the international coalition formed under Operation Inherent Resolve. It’s worth remembering that this coalition was formed in the mid-2010s to fight Daesh. At the height of the fighting, between 2016 and 2018, it represented a formidable force, composed of units from over a dozen countries. However, Washington began to gradually reduce its size, starting with the withdrawal of its own troops and units from Syria. Two years ago, the administration of US President Joe Biden agreed with Baghdad on a phased plan for the withdrawal of the remaining contingents of the Inherent Resolve coalition. However, with the outbreak of the Twelve-Day War and subsequently Epic Fury, the Pentagon suspended this process. This did not, however, prevent other coalition members—France and Italy—from withdrawing their units and equipment.
In early September, the United States also resumed its withdrawal. On September 10, for example, American units left Iranian Kurdistan. Air defense systems, specifically the C-RAM anti-aircraft artillery systems, were also dismantled. Attention has now shifted to bases in the rest of Iraq. However, this does not mean the United States is actually abandoning a region so crucial to countering Iran.
Baghdad and Washington had agreed to withdraw in 2024. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi called this date “fixed and definitive.” Iraq declared four days of public holiday starting Wednesday, the day the deadline expires.
In recent years, approximately 2,500 U.S. troops were stationed in Iraq. Most had already left Iraqi federal territory; the last remaining contingent was stationed at Harir Air Base in Erbil, in the Kurdistan Region. The Kurdish broadcaster Rudaw reported earlier this month that the United States had transferred eight Patriot batteries from Iraq to Jordan.
The withdrawal comes after months of relentless attacks on U.S. positions. Since the United States and Israel launched the war against Iran on February 28, Iran and allied Iraqi resistance factions have carried out hundreds of attacks against U.S. facilities and Kurdish targets in the country.
According to the initial agreements, the Iraqi resistance factions were supposed to disarm and integrate into state security structures in parallel with the US withdrawal. Many of them had long declared that they would lay down their arms only once all foreign forces had left Iraq. In effect, the matter is closed, except for a few significant but currently residual groups.
This concludes a US military presence that began with the 2003 invasion, was briefly interrupted in 2011, and resumed in 2014 under the banner of “fighting ISIS.”
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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