After Two Decades and 4,500 American Deaths, US Troops Leave Iraq

The last U.S. forces are due to leave their bases in Iraq by Wednesday, ending a military presence that began with the 2003 invasion and cost about 4,500 American lives.

The withdrawal follows an agreement reached in 2024 under President Joe Biden and implemented by Donald Trump’s administration, even as Washington wages war against Iran.

It removes a U.S. military presence that had long checked Tehran’s influence in Iraq.

“On September 30, we will celebrate the turning of a black page in Iraq’s history and the failure of the occupation to impose its will on our country,” Abu Mojtaba al-Yasiri, a commander in the Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq, told Reuters.

A Shift in Influence

Iran-backed factions have built substantial military and political power in Iraq.

Iraqi security analyst Jasim al-Bahadli said the U.S. departure could allow them to seek a larger role in decisions about the country’s security and government.

Iran has also welcomed the withdrawal.

Amir Hayat Moqaddam, deputy chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, said this week that Tehran would support the exit of American troops from Iraq.

Washington has accused Iran-backed groups in Iraq of carrying out attacks linked to the wider regional conflict, including a strike on a major Saudi oil pipeline this month.

Baghdad says it is trying to limit the groups’ influence.

Iraq has maintained close ties with both Washington and Tehran, leaving it exposed when their confrontation has spilled onto its territory.

The U.S. killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in a strike at Baghdad airport in 2020; attacks on American bases by Iran’s allies have at times brought U.S. reprisals.

Seven of the 18 U.S. service members listed as killed in this year’s war against Iran died in Iraq, according to the account provided.

The most recent was an army sergeant who died during the controlled detonation of a drone near Erbil in July.

Fears of a Security Gap

Support for an eventual U.S. departure extends beyond Iran-aligned groups.

However, some Iraqis question whether the country is ready to lose the coalition’s intelligence, logistical support and drones.

“We believe Iraq is still not fully ready to take over the security file at this time,” Abdulrahman al-Zobaie, a Sunni tribal leader in Fallujah, told Reuters.

He said Iraqis wanted sovereignty but feared a vacuum after the coalition’s exit.

Officials in Baghdad and the semi-autonomous Kurdish region also warn that ISIS retains sleeper cells despite the defeat of its territorial rule in Iraq.

Kurdish commander Sirwan Barzani said he had observed increased cell activity in recent weeks and believed news of the withdrawal had lifted militants’ morale.

Iraqi security forces said they had identified a suspected ISIS cell preparing suicide attacks to coincide with the pullout.

The claim underscored the immediate test facing Iraqi forces as the U.S. mission ends.

American troops first left Iraq at the end of 2011, after the invasion and a prolonged insurgency.

They returned less than three years later to help Iraqi forces fight ISIS.

This departure again leaves Iraq to manage threats from armed factions and militants without a U.S. military presence on its soil.