The last U.S. troops left Erbil Air Base on Wednesday, U.S. Central Command said, ending a 12-year mission against the Islamic State group and an American military presence in Iraq that began with the 2003 invasion. The Kurdistan Regional Government's Peshmerga Ministry said its region endured more than 1,000 drone and ballistic-missile attacks during the recent U.S.-Iran conflict. It called the exit "without the provision of a defense system" "a matter of concern."
The Pentagon framed the day as a success. Spokesperson Sean Parnell called it an "orderly departure" and the formal end of Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq. He said the departure reflects "the success of a 12-year campaign that defeated ISIS as an organized military threat in Iraq and across the region."
A Handover With Loose Ends
Erbil Air Base served as the task force's main operational hub. It hosted most of the roughly 1,500 American and coalition personnel who supported counter-ISIS operations, according to CENTCOM. The U.S. had kept about 2,500 troops in Iraq in recent years. Most left last year; hundreds remained in the Kurdish north.
The broader campaign isn't over. Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve has moved its headquarters to Jordan, while U.S. forces continue counterterrorism operations in Syria. Parnell said the U.S. will continue targeted training and intelligence support for Iraqi forces. Primary responsibility for ISIS remnants and Iran-aligned militias now rests with Baghdad, he also said.
The militia question remains open. Iraq's government initially tied the Sept. 30 deadline to disarming non-state armed groups. Only a handful of less influential militias agreed to surrender their weapons. Powerful Iran-close groups refused or set conditions the government was unlikely to meet. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi told The New York Times earlier this month that the disarmament deadline had slipped to June 2027. NPR reported he had agreed in July at the White House to a Sept. 30 deadline, then asked for an extension. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration knew al-Zaidi was committed to the process, though he didn't publicly say the U.S. had agreed to the delay.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella of Iran-backed militias, said talks on regulating weapons had produced no agreement. It said it was "not bound by any timeline or agreement" announced by the government. Kataib Hezbollah's Abu Mujahid al-Assaf warned that "any government that does not work for the benefit of the people will be overthrown by all means."
Who Carries the Risk
For many Iraqis, the question is what comes next. Some, particularly in the Kurdish region, fear an ISIS resurgence, attacks by Iran-linked groups and the loss of U.S. air defenses. Retired Iraqi Army Gen. Mohammed al-Jubouri told Reuters, "The most important question now is whether Iraq's security institutions have prepared a viable Plan B for the post-coalition phase." Abdulrahman al-Zobaie, a Sunni tribal leader in Fallujah, said, "We believe Iraq is still not fully ready to take over the security file at this time."
ISIS hasn't vanished. Scattered sleeper cells remain active in Iraq and Syria, including in disputed territory in the north. Iraqi special forces said they killed two suicide bombers near Kirkuk on Sunday before the men could detonate their explosive vests. A civilian also died.
Sabah al-Numan, spokesman for the chief of the Iraqi armed forces, said Baghdad wouldn't leave the Kurdish region undefended. Iraq is discussing air defense purchases from South Korea, Turkey and the United States, he said. He also said the country has established two joint Iraqi-Kurdish brigades. NPR reported that the Iraqi military's main U.S. support, apart from air assets, was intelligence, including signals intelligence using technology Iraq doesn't possess.
Al-Zaidi called the moment a "new phase" defined by sovereignty. Baghdad declared a holiday and named Wednesday "sovereignty day." President Donald Trump called the war "a very expensive excursion into Hell" and "a quagmire."
The Cost Behind the Milestone
The toll of the war is still being counted, but sources disagree. The Hill, citing Brown University's Watson School of International and Public Affairs, reported more than 4,500 U.S. service members killed and between 186,000 and 210,000 Iraqi civilian deaths. NPR reported more than 4,400 U.S. military deaths, citing defense ministry figures. It also reported at least 200,000 Iraqi civilian deaths as the most conservative estimate, citing Iraq Body Count. NPR noted the U.S. government justified the invasion by pointing to weapons of mass destruction that didn't exist. Iraq had no link to the Sept. 11 attacks.
The present war adds to the toll. Since the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran on Feb. 28, bases in the Kurdish region have regularly come under attack. Fox News reported that seven of the 18 U.S. service members killed in Iranian attacks this year died in Iraq.
At home, Foreign Policy reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth plans to cut reserved positions for generals and admirals by 20 percent, affecting around 800 people. Critics said the change could discourage dissent and sideline experienced commanders.
Why This Matters: A troop departure doesn't resolve the questions that drove the war or the harm it caused. Iraqi civilians have endured the invasion, the insurgency and ISIS; now they face a region in open conflict. The Kurdish government says it's being left without air defenses while under fire. The militias Baghdad promised to disarm have refused, and the deadline has slipped to June 2027. Sheikh Kadhim al-Fartousi of Kitaib Sayid al-Shuhada pointed to U.S. influence over Iraq's economy, noting that oil revenue has sat in New York Federal Reserve accounts since 2003. Whether Iraqi institutions can protect people now matters more than any ceremony. So does whether the U.S. and its partners keep supporting them, and whether Americans get a clear accounting of what the war cost.