- The Pentagon confirmed Wednesday that the last U.S. troops have left Iraq — ending Operation Inherent Resolve's 12-year mission against ISIS.
- The final personnel departed Erbil Air Base under a 2024 Biden–al-Sudani deal; roughly 1,500 U.S. and coalition troops were based there.
- Trump called the exit "orderly," hailed "the end of a very expensive excursion into Hell," and declared: "There is no longer a caliphate. We are going home!"
- He contrasted Iraq with the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, where he said "13 Warriors lie dead."
- The anti-ISIS task force headquarters moves to Jordan; Washington says it will keep providing training and intelligence support to Baghdad.
What happened
The Pentagon announced Wednesday, September 30, that every American troop has left Iraq — ending a 12-year military campaign against the Islamic State group. The final personnel and equipment departed Erbil Air Base in the semi-autonomous Kurdish north, hitting a September 30 deadline set under a deal between Baghdad and Washington.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told the AP the troops made an "orderly departure," calling it the success of "a 12-year campaign that defeated ISIS as an organised military threat." Roughly 1,500 American and coalition personnel had been based at Erbil, the mission's main hub. Trump claimed the moment on Truth Social: "This Day is a victory for the United States, a victory for Iraq, and a decisive victory over ISIS." He said he "had a choice to stay or to leave, and felt, without question, that it was time for America to go home!" — and branded the whole American involvement "a very expensive excursion into Hell."
Latest verified facts
The plan is two years old. The withdrawal timetable was inked in 2024 by then-President Joe Biden and then-Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani; Trump had first promised a full exit back in 2020. Personnel began leaving federal Iraq last October — Erbil was the last step.
Trump drew the Afghanistan contrast himself. At a White House event celebrating Hispanics, he said: "Unlike Afghanistan, where much Military Equipment and everything else was left behind, and 13 Warriors lie dead, with many badly wounded, this orderly departure of Coalition forces and equipment from Erbil Air Base marks the end of a very expensive excursion into Hell." He blamed "very bad decision making" for getting America into what he called a quagmire — and argued that his one-day action in Venezuela earlier this year and the now-seven-month Iran war both compare favorably, "taking far less time and with fewer deaths of U.S. troops."
The fight relocates, not ends. CENTCOM said the anti-ISIS task force headquarters has moved to Jordan, with hundreds of U.S. troops still stationed in Syria, and that Washington will keep providing "targeted training and intelligence support" to Iraqi partners. CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said ISIS no longer poses a systemic threat to Iraq and that Iraqi forces, including the Peshmerga, can now handle threats themselves.
One correction to Trump's telling. Al Jazeera noted Trump wrongly said Operation Inherent Resolve began with the 2003 invasion. It didn't — that was Operation Iraqi Freedom; troops came home in 2011 and returned in 2014, when ISIS had seized nearly 40 percent of Iraqi territory, under the Inherent Resolve mission that just ended.
Why it matters
For Trump, this is the fulfillment of his oldest promise: end the endless wars, bring the troops home. But it lands in the middle of a war, not after one — the U.S.–Iran war is in its seventh month, with Iran-backed militias firing on U.S. troops in Iraq while Washington struck their strongholds. Leaving now is a bet that Baghdad can hold its own.
Impact on the USA and the world
For Washington, the question is what fills the gap. Tehran and its allied groups are celebrating the exit as a triumph for the "axis of resistance." Yet many Iraqis and Kurdish officials fear a vacuum — stronger militias, an ISIS revival. The fears are sharpest in the Kurdish region, which just lost the Patriot and C-RAM air defenses stationed at Erbil, leaving it without organic protection against drones and rockets.
Baghdad is turning the moment into leverage. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi declared "Sovereignty Days" to mark the withdrawal, told the UN that Iraq is moving "from military cooperation to economic and development cooperation," and set June 2027 as the deadline for bringing all non-state weapons under government control. Iraqi troops paraded through Baghdad and Najaf on Wednesday as flag-flying convoys celebrated the pullout.
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What happens next
Three things to watch. First, the militia question: whether al-Zaidi's June 2027 disarmament deadline is real or rhetoric — the major factions have already refused to hand over their arms, calling the departure a "historic victory" won by their pressure. Second, the ISIS remnant test: CENTCOM's verdict that ISIS is no longer a systemic threat is the premise the whole withdrawal stands on. Third, the Jordan factor: operations against militants deemed a threat to American interests will continue from Jordan, with forces still in Syria. Whether that over-the-horizon posture is enough — or whether Washington gets pulled back into Iraq, as it was in 2014 — is the question history will answer.
