U.S. troops leave Iraq, but future of Iran-backed militias remains uncertain
asserted
future → leave → militias
- The last U.S. military personnel stationed in Iraq departed Wednesday, ending a 12-year mission against the extremist group Islamic State.
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personnel → station → group
The Iraqi government hailed the withdrawal as a milestone for the nation’s sovereignty.
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government → hail → sovereignty
- Militias aligned with Iran remain a force in Iraq, raising concerns about their future role in the country.
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Militias → align → country
BEIRUT — America opened its “forever war” in Iraq more than 23 years ago with “Shock and Awe.”
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America → open → Shock
It ended it on Wednesday with little of either, even as the legacy of that conflict — which saw Iraq endure sectarian bloodbaths, civil war and an insurgency that made Baghdad the car bomb capital of the world — continues to cast its shadow on the country today.
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Baghdad → end → country
President Trump, summing up the U.S. role in Iraq as “a very expensive excursion into Hell,” said, “This day is a victory for the United States, a victory for Iraq....
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day → sum → Iraq
We’re getting the hell out of there.”
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We → get → hell
It was the second time U.S. forces have pulled out of Iraq.
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forces → pull → Iraq
The first withdrawal took place in 2011, capping the occupation that began in 2003 and toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and which resulted in Iraqi deaths that number 110,000 to four times greater and the loss of about 4,500 U.S. service members.
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that → take → members
But three years later, Islamic State jihadis scythed through wide swaths of Iraq, scooping up U.S.-supplied materiel — as Iraqi troops literally ran away — and seizing control of nearly a third of the country.
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troops → scythe → country
The U.S., this time at the Iraqi government’s request, led a coalition in a campaign — named Inherent Resolve — that by 2017 had destroyed Islamic State’s caliphate and driven most of its fighters into Syria.
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that → lead → Syria
Since then, Iraqi forces have fought Islamic State remnants engaged in a low-level insurgency around the country’s remote areas.
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forces → fight → areas
President Trump railed against “forever wars,” but with hostilities increasing and negotiations at a standstill, there appears no easy exit from the war he launched on Iran.
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he → rail → Iran
Most U.S. and coalition forces, which numbered around 2,500, began leaving Iraq in October 2025, so that by Wednesday all that was left to withdraw were a few hundred service members stationed in Irbil air base in northern Iraq, once the operational hub of Inherent Resolve.
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that → number → Resolve
“Job well done to the tens of thousands of American service members, diplomats, and civilian personnel who answered the call in Iraq,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command, in a statement.
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Cooper → do → statement
“Because of your grit, sacrifice and professionalism, ISIS no longer poses a systemic threat to Iraq’s national security and Iraqi security forces,” he said, referring to Islamic State by an acronym for its former name, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
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he → pose → Iraq
Central Command said the anti-ISIS mission would continue, with the coalition now headquartered in Jordan.
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coalition → say → Jordan
“As we step back and hand full primary responsibility for Iraq’s security to the Government of Iraq and the brave people of Iraq, U.S. and Coalition forces stationed across the region will remain ready to respond to any ISIS threats that arise,” Cooper said.
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Cooper → step → threats
Iran fired missiles into Jordan last week, killing three American service members.
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Iran → fire → members
Jordan’s growing role in the war is prompting uncomfortable conversations for the desert nation’s leaders.
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role → grow → leaders
The agreement to end the U.S. presence in Iraq was forged by President Biden in 2024 but was continued by Trump, who had made aversion to foreign entanglements — he called the Iraq war “the worst single mistake ever made in the history of our country” — a centerpiece of his presidential campaigns.
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he → end → campaigns
On Wednesday, Trump launched into a broadside on Biden.
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Trump → launch → Biden
He compared the United States’ uneventful withdrawal from Iraq to the chaos that marked its pullout from Afghanistan in 2021, which saw the U.S. leave behind tens of thousands of Afghans who had worked with American forces, and abandon much of its materiel.
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who → compare → materiel
Trump said he directed the military to safeguard U.S. supplies and equipment.
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he → say → supplies
“I said I want every screw taken,” the president said.
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president → say → ?
“I said if there’s a screw lying on the ground, take it, if there’s a canvas tent, take it.”
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I → say → it
Seemingly responding to polls showing most Americans oppose the war with Iran, Trump said that the fighting there had gone on for six months with only 18 service members killed.
“By the way 18 is too many, but [the Iranians] lost 4,500, we lost 18, and we have — very soon you’ll see, things happening very soon — but we have a nation that’s been virtually destroyed,” he said.
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he → respond → nation
In a notice published Wednesday in the Federal Register, the State Department said it was amending its International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR, so that Syria no longer was among the nations subject to approvals needed for the sale of U.S. weapons and munitions.
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Syria → publish → weapons
Iraq’s government also marked the moment, announcing a four-day holiday it called “Sovereignty Days” and holding a military parade in Baghdad’s streets.
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it → mark → streets
Speaking at a closed-door ceremony in Baghdad, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi hailed the moment as “a new phase” defined by “Iraq’s sovereignty, the strength of its institutions, the readiness of its forces, unity of decision-making, and balanced partnerships with its friends.”
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Zaidi → speak → friends
All of those elements are likely to be tested as never before in the coming weeks, as Iraq walks a diplomatic tightrope between Washington and Tehran, its two top allies, now locked in a war that shows no sign of abating.
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that → test → abating
Iran over the years of U.S. occupation built considerable influence in Iraq, nurturing militias there since 2003.
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Iran → build → 2003
Those factions, which also fought against Islamic State, have embedded themselves into the fabric of the Iraqi state and are now an official part of Iraq’s armed forces.
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which → fight → forces
They also wield financial power and are linked to political parties that have long clamored for U.S. forces to leave.
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forces → wield → parties
Since the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, the militias have escalated their years-long harassment campaign of U.S. forces in Iraq, lobbing rockets and drones on American bases and facilities.
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militias → escalate → bases
Saudi Arabia also accused them of an attack that shut down its east-west pipeline, a charge the militias deny.
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militias → accuse → pipeline
The Trump administration, meanwhile, has pushed Iraq to curb Iranian influence in Iraq and has pressured Al-Zaidi to force the militias to disband or disarm.
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administration → push → militias
On Wednesday, militias portrayed the U.S. withdrawal as a victory of their own making, organizing a parade through Baghdad, with crowds raising the factions’ flags and pictures of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to martial music.
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crowds → portray → music
At the parade, Jaafar Husseini, a military spokesman for Kataib Hezbollah, a powerful militia that works closely with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said it was the Iraqi resistance that “took up arms against the occupiers, risked their lives and bore the burden of defeating the American occupation for the sake of faith and homeland.”
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that → work → faith
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia
