Iraq’s government says the U.S.-led military coalition is preparing to withdraw its forces from the Kurdistan region and hand over bases to Iraqi forces before a September 30 deadline. That’s the headline version of sovereignty, the kind that comes with inventories, handovers and a new set of uniforms guarding the same sites.
The State Hands Off the Guns
Government spokesman Haider Al Aboudi said, “Co-ordination is ongoing with the international coalition and work is under way to inventory the sites and hand them over to the competent Iraqi forces.” He added, “The work is proceeding at an organised pace towards completing this file on September 30 and these sites will be in the custody of Iraqi security agencies.” The language is neat. The machinery is not. One armed hierarchy is preparing to pass facilities to another, with ordinary people left to absorb whatever security logic comes next.
The deadline was agreed by Baghdad and Washington in 2024 as part of a broader agreement to transform the mission of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq from combat and advisory roles to bilateral security co-operation. That’s the official arc: war mission, advisory mission, co-operation mission. Different labels, same architecture of control. Kurdistan hosts several key coalition sites used for training, logistics and air operations against ISIS remnants, and those bases are now moving into Iraqi hands under a timetable set by the two governments.
Local officials reported “unusual movement” of U.S. forces in the Kurdistan Region in recent days, including convoys and equipment transfers observed in Erbil earlier this month. The Pentagon has not publicly detailed its withdrawal plan for the Kurdistan Region, but U.S. officials have previously said any transition would be done “in co-ordination with the Iraqi government” and would not leave gaps in the fight against ISIS. The phrase “no gaps” does a lot of work. It means the security state never really leaves; it just changes paperwork.
Who Gets the Bases
Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi’s government has framed the transition as a step toward full Iraqi sovereignty over security matters while maintaining that co-operation with the U.S. and other coalition partners would continue in air defence, intelligence and counter-terrorism. So the coalition leaves combat and advisory roles behind, but the relationship survives in air defence, intelligence and counter-terrorism. The state keeps the tools it likes. It renames the arrangement and calls it sovereignty.
Security analysts said the handover carries operational and political weight because Iraqi forces will assume responsibility for bases previously used by coalition trainers, and because the move answers long-standing demands from factions in parliament for a clear timeline for the end of the coalition’s presence. The parliamentary demand gets its timetable. The bases stay. The command structure changes shape, not nature.
Mr Al Aboudi said planning was under way at the highest military level and that co-ordination teams from both sides were meeting regularly to ensure the process was completed without disruption. He said the government had not specified the number of sites being transferred or the number of personnel leaving. The public gets the deadline, not the details.
Another Deadline, Another Monopoly
The Iraqi government has also set a September 30 deadline for the disarmament of Iran-backed militias. Mr Al Aboudi said the process of bringing their weapons under state control is “complex,” but said the “dialogue is ongoing and under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister.” He said the government had received significant support from Iraq’s leading political force, which issued its strongest warning yet to militias that failure to comply with the September 30 deadline would result in terrorism charges. The warning came after a meeting late on Wednesday of the State Administration Coalition, a group of top Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish political parties that form the government.
That’s the other half of the story: one armed apparatus withdrawing, another tightening its grip. The state says it will be the one holding the force. Mr Al Aboudi acknowledged “concerns and reservations” about the process but said the government is moving deliberately and “is proceeding in an organised manner and with measured steps until we reach September 30.” He added, “After September 30, the final word will be with Iraqi law and the constitution. The state will be the one holding the force.”
That line says the quiet part out loud. The monopoly doesn’t disappear. It changes custody.