The United States will withdraw all its military forces from Iraq before September 30, U.S. and Iraqi officials confirmed on Tuesday, bringing to an end a 23-year military presence that began with the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and in recent years had been limited to advisory and support operations against the Islamic State.
The announcement was made during a meeting at the White House between U.S. President Donald Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi. The U.S. leader said the military presence is no longer necessary given the evolution of the bilateral relationship.
“We don’t think we need the Army there anymore,” Trump said. He added, “The relationship is much broader and we no longer need the military. We are there to help them. We are there to protect them if necessary. But we don’t think that will be necessary.”
Through an interpreter, Ali al-Zaidi confirmed the agreed timetable for the withdrawal. “U.S. forces will be out of Iraq by September 30, while U.S. companies will remain in Iraq,” the Iraqi prime minister said.
Shortly after the meeting, the Pentagon reaffirmed the commitment made between the two countries in 2024, during the administration of then-President Joe Biden, to end the U.S. military mission against Islamic State fighters. Since that agreement, a significant portion of the forces has already left Iraqi territory.
In recent years, the United States gradually transferred responsibility for fighting the Islamic State to Iraqi security forces, which received training and assistance from the U.S. military. At the same time, American troops reduced their presence on the ground, withdrew from various positions, and consolidated into an increasingly smaller number of bases.
The U.S. military presence in Iraq began in March 2003, when the United States launched an invasion aimed at toppling Saddam Hussein’s regime. The offensive began with an intense bombing campaign known as “shock and awe,” which paved the way for ground forces to advance on Baghdad.
The invasion was justified by claims that the Iraqi regime was hiding weapons of mass destruction. Those weapons were never found, a point that remains one of the most controversial aspects of a war that reshaped the political and security landscape of the Middle East.
At the height of the counterinsurgency campaign in 2007, the U.S. deployment exceeded 170,000 troops. Later, the administration of President Barack Obama negotiated a gradual reduction of deployed forces.
In December 2011, the last U.S. combat troops left Iraq. From that point onward only a small contingent remained for security assistance tasks, along with a Marine detachment assigned to protect the U.S. embassy.
The situation changed in 2014, when the advance of the Islamic State allowed the group to control large areas of Iraq and Syria. In response, the Iraqi government again asked the United States and other allied countries for support to rebuild and train police and military forces that had collapsed in the face of the jihadist offensive.
After the Islamic State lost control of the territory it had occupied, the international coalition’s military operations ended in 2021. Nevertheless, the United States maintained about 2,500 troops in Iraq to carry out training and to take part alongside Iraqi forces in operations against remnants of the extremist group.
(With information from The Associated Press)