The last U.S. troops have left Iraq, closing out the 12-year Operation Inherent Resolve mission against ISIS. President Trump is hailing the withdrawal as a victory for both countries.
The last American troops have left Iraq, closing out a 12-year campaign to break the Islamic State and ending one of the most far-reaching military commitments the United States has carried in the Middle East since 2003. U.S. Central Command confirmed the final units completed an orderly departure, formally concluding the coalition mission known as Operation Inherent Resolve. President Donald Trump hailed the milestone, casting the withdrawal as a victory for both nations and the fulfillment of a promise to bring long wars to an end.
For a president who has argued that Washington should stop paying for other countries' security while its own border and economy demand attention, the moment carries real weight. The exit caps a campaign that at its peak marshaled dozens of partner nations against a terrorist army that once held territory the size of a small country.
The mission began in 2014, after Islamic State fighters swept out of Syria and seized Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, along with vast stretches of the country's north and west. Iraqi forces collapsed in the face of the offensive, and a U.S.-led coalition assembled to blunt the advance with airstrikes, advisers and training.
Over the following decade, Iraqi and Kurdish forces, backed by coalition airpower, retook city after city. Mosul returned to government control in 2017, and the group's self-declared caliphate was declared defeated in 2019. Yet American troops stayed on, shifting from combat to advising, training and counterterrorism missions that continued for years afterward.
The final departure was coordinated with Baghdad and with coalition partners. British troops also left as the anti-Islamic State mission wound down, underscoring how quickly the coalition footprint in the country has shrunk.
Trump described the end of the mission as a win for both Washington and Baghdad, casting the conflict bluntly as a costly detour the country was right to close. He has used sharper language to describe the legacy of the war, calling it a "very expensive excursion into Hell" as he celebrated the troops coming home.
Supporters of the administration argue the drawdown reflects a broader shift in how the United States fights terrorism: lighter footprints, more reliance on partners, and pressure on host governments to take responsibility for their own security. That posture has shaped decisions across the region, from the coalition's footprint in Iraq to the Pentagon's review of troop levels in Europe, where commanders are weighing deep cuts to long-standing deployments.
Critics warn that leaving can open space for a resurgence, but the administration counters that the mission's core objective -- destroying the caliphate -- was achieved years ago, and that keeping troops in harm's way indefinitely serves no clear national purpose.
The withdrawal lands in a Middle East already reshaped by conflict and shifting alliances. Iran, which spent years positioning itself as the withdrawal's ultimate beneficiary, greeted the news publicly, while Kurdish leaders in the north voiced alarm about the security vacuum a smaller American presence could leave behind.
Inside Iraq, the government in Baghdad faces its own delicate balancing act. Officials have agreed to a timeline for reining in Iran-aligned militias, pushing that process out to June 2027 -- a reminder that the militias that expanded during the fight against the Islamic State remain a powerful, and heavily armed, force in the country's politics.
For the United States, the question is whether a lighter posture can be held without inviting the kind of collapse that first pulled American forces back in. Commanders have stressed that the military retains the ability to strike terrorist targets and to support partners when needed, even with troops no longer stationed in the country.
Attention now turns to whether Iraq's own forces can hold the ground that American and coalition troops spent a decade retaking. A wave of attacks or a militant comeback would test the argument that the mission's work is done -- and could force Washington to reconsider how far it is willing to step back.
The symbolism stretches well beyond Iraq. Every drawdown signals to allies and adversaries alike how the United States intends to project power in the years ahead. For Trump, the message is deliberate: the era of open-ended deployments is over, and American strength, in his telling, is best measured by the wars it chooses to end.
The last U.S. troops have left Iraq, closing out the 12-year Operation Inherent Resolve mission against ISIS. President Trump is hailing the withdrawal as a victory for both countries.
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