ALBAWABA - After two decades, the American forces and coalition completed their last withdrawal from Iraq on Wednesday, ending 12 years of deployment to fight the Islamic State (Daesh), according to Kurdistan 24.
The Washington Post reports that the last 1,500 U.S. and coalition personnel relocated to Jordan as the Sept. 30 deadline arrives.
According to current and former U.S. officials, the Patriot air defense battery that was stationed around Erbil was also removed.
The withdrawal ends over 20 years of American military involvement in Iraq (since the American invasion of Baghdad) that cost the lives of approximately 210,000 Iraqi civilians and 4,599 American service members, in addition to over $2.8 trillion in U.S. taxpayer money.
The U.S. military formally ended its mission in Iraq after eight years of war and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP
The Pentagon revealed that the U.S. personnel were moved to a Jordan base, and they can launch attacks on militants who pose a threat to U.S. personnel and interests anytime.
"If they metastasise to something beyond control, and they want our help, then we'll come in and help them," a U.S. official told the Washington Post.
The withdrawal decision was made by the American administration, led by former President Joe Biden, in 2024, agreeing to have zero U.S. military personnel in Iraq by 2026.
Sally Shakkour is the leader of the English news team. She is also a news and breaking news writer with over 7 years of experience in publishing content and digital journalism. Sally has a good knowledge of Google's SEO as well.
Sally also excels in writing original node stories and monitoring Al Bawaba's social media accounts with her insights and knowledge of current trends and popular issues...
Subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive updates and enhanced content
