Iraqis celebrated the departure of US forces after more than two decades of war yesterday, though many feared that any security vacuum could increase the power of Iran-backed groups or provide an opening for the return of the Islamic State.
The withdrawal of the final troops, mainly from an airbase in Erbil in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, ended the biggest US war of the century, which brought widespread devastation and chaos from which Iraq has yet to fully emerge.
Iran, which has entrenched its influence in Iraq through allied armed groups and is determined to drive all US forces out of the Middle East, views the US pullout as a triumph for its ‘axis of resistance’ of allied armed groups across the region.
Iraqi troops paraded in vehicles through the streets of Baghdad and the Najaf to mark the pullout.
The withdrawal ‘fills our hearts with joy’, said Baghdad resident Ahmed Salah, who said he felt reborn at the age of 70. But he also said it was now time for powerful militia groups to surrender their weapons, ‘and let the government be the one responsible to protect me and you on the ground, sky and water.’
The pullout was agreed in 2024 under President Joe Biden and carried out by Donald Trump’s administration even as it wages war against Iran next door.
US forces invaded to topple Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, triggering years of upheaval and chaos. The Americans initially left at the end of 2011 but came back less than three years later to assist Iraqi forces after Islamic State fighters seized a third of Iraq and imposed violent rule.
President Trump said that the United States leaves Iraq with ‘wonderful’ Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al Zaidi, saying in a Truth Social post that he would ‘hopefully be able to handle things very well.’
More than 4,500 US troops died in Iraq, around twice as many as in the parallel war in Afghanistan. The Iraq Body Count project says more than 200,000 Iraqi civilians were killed.
The Pentagon said the United States and its coalition partners formally concluded ‘Operation Inherent Resolve’ and Washington would continue to provide targeted training and intelligence support to Iraqi partners.
The Iraqis are expected to lead the effort to secure the country, an ally of both Washington and Tehran, and keep the remnants of Islamic State suppressed.
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