United States completes troop withdrawal from Iraq, ending 12-year mission against Islamic State

The US military announced Wednesday that it completed the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq ending a 12year mission to fight the Islamic State group and prompting President Donald Trump to hail the conclusion of a very expensive excursion into Hell The last US troops left an air base in northern Iraq under a deal between Baghdad and WashingtonTrump in a social media post described the withdrawal by a September 30 deadline as orderly Appearing soon after at a White House event celebrating Hispanics he spoke at length about the withdrawal and said Its been a long time with very bad decision making that got us involved in this quagmire in the first place It was a quagmire For many many years it lasted But soon that part of history will be overHe said the shift was a victory for the US Iraq and a sign of victory over the Islamic State group The withdrawal agreed on two years ago comes against the backdrop of the ongoing war between the United States and Iran that has also sometimes spilt over into Iraq with Iranbacked militias firing on US troops and the US striking the groups strongholdsTrumps comments came as his own decision earlier this year to launch the war with Iran has been compared to the Iraq war for its undefined mission as it nears its seventh month Appearing at the White House Trump made that comparison arguing that both his oneday military action in Venezuela earlier this year to capture nowformer President Nicolas Maduro and the Iran war compared favourably taking far less time and with fewer deaths of US troopsIn recent years Washington has sought to shift its focus from the Middle East toward Asia but that shift has been inconsistent with the Pentagon alternating between reducing its Mideast presence and then finding itself engaging in new conflicts including the ongoing war in Iran Baghdad touted the end of the US mission as a sign of the countrys increasing strength and sovereigntyThe withdrawal was also celebrated by Iranbacked groups but raised concerns among some other Iraqis particularly in the Kurdish region where many fear a resurgence of the Islamic State group as well as more attacks by Iranlinked groups possibly emboldened by the departure of US forces Meanwhile questions loom around the future of the Iraqi militias which the Baghdad government has sought to disarm with little success so farA new phase in Iraq after decades of US involvementPentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that US troops and equipment had completed an orderly departure from the air base in Irbil in northern Iraqs semiautonomous Kurdish regionThis milestone reflects the success of a 12year campaign that defeated ISIS as an organised military threat in Iraq and across the region he said It also marks a transition from a wartime coalition mission to an Iraqiled security effort supported by a more normal bilateral security relationship He added that the US military will continue to provide targeted training and intelligence support to our Iraqi partnersIraqi Prime Minister Ali alZaidi presided over the handover ceremony and described the US withdrawal as the beginning of a new phase one defined by Iraqs sovereignty the strength of its institutions the readiness of its forces the unity of its decisionmaking and balanced partnerships with its friendsHe said Iraqi security forces will continue the fight against IS and the government will ensure that nonstate groups no longer hold weaponsTrump in his remarks on Wednesday lavished praise on alZaidi calling him outstanding a fantastic guy friend of mine and someone who will hopefully be able to handle things very well He also appeared to try to take credit for alZaidis leadership saying that the Iraqi leader was running for election and wasnt given even a chance and I endorsed him and politicked for him a little bit and he ended up winning in a virtual landslideAlZaidi was not on the ballot but was selected as prime minister when Iraqs dominant parliamentary bloc nominated him after weeks of internal debate among its member parties and Trump publicly announced his opposition to the coalitions previous choiceUS troops invaded Iraq in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein They departed in 2011 but three years later Iraqi authorities invited a smaller USled mission to fight the Islamic State group which had rampaged across Iraq seizing large swaths of territoryWith the extremist group reduced to scattered sleeper cells Washington and Baghdad agreed in 2024 to wind the mission downUS troops pulled out of bases in most areas of Iraq last year but maintained a small presence of hundreds of troops in the semiautonomous northern Kurdish region Bases there have regularly come under attack since the US and Israel launched their war against Iran on February 28 Iranbacked Iraqi militias also have coordinated with Yemens Houthi rebels to attack Saudi ArabiaThe future of militias remains unclearThe Iraqi government initially linked the September 30 deadline for US withdrawal to the disarmament of nonstate armed groups by that dateWhile a handful of lessinfluential militias have agreed to turn over their weapons powerful groups close to Iran rejected the prospect or set conditions for disarming that the government would be unlikely to meetAlZaidi has since walked back the deadline He told The New York Times earlier this month that the deadline for militia disarmament has been pushed to June 2027The effects of the US withdrawal may not be immediately visible particularly since the US military presence had already been scaled down But officials in Iraqs Kurdish region have expressed anxiety about the departure and particularly about the removal of US air defence systemsThe Kurdish regional governments Peshmerga Ministry said the Kurdish region had faced more than 1000 drone and ballisticmissile attacks during the recent USIran conflictThe departure of the United States from the Kurdistan Region under these complex regional circumstances without the provision of a defence system is a matter of concern the statement said Iranallied groups in Iraq meanwhile have celebrated the US withdrawalThe expulsion of the occupation forces defeated from the land of Iraq is the beginning of full sovereignty Abu Mujahid alAssaf a security official with the powerful Kataib Hezbollah militia said in a statementHe added a warning to alZaidi and his government not to carry out American plans threatening that any government that does not work for the benefit of the people will be overthrown by all meansKataib Hezbollah leader Ahmad alHamidawi took a somewhat more conciliatory tone calling on the groups fighters to halt their military activities with the exception of targeting hostile aircraft violating the countrys airspaceThe Islamic Resistance in Iraq an umbrella group of Iranbacked militias said in a statement that negotiations with the government over the regulation of weapons have not resulted in an agreement and that it was not bound by any timeline or agreement announced by the government or political entity The group said it is open to any dialogue that guarantees Iraqs sovereignty and dignityThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever