U.S. military forces are scheduled to complete their withdrawal from Iraq by Wednesday, September 30, 2026, ending a continuous presence that has lasted more than two decades. The final departure involves a few hundred troops who remained to advise, assist, and train Iraqi forces in the campaign against Islamic State militants. This withdrawal follows a 2024 agreement initially negotiated under the Biden administration and executed by the Trump administration.
The U.S. first invaded Iraq in 2003 to remove Saddam Hussein and maintained an occupation until 2011. Forces returned less than three years later in 2014 to combat the Islamic State, which had seized one-third of the country. According to Reuters, roughly 4,500 American service members died in Iraq over the two-decade span, approximately double the number killed in the war in Afghanistan.
The pullout was briefly postponed at the request of former Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, but resumed following discussions between the Trump administration and the current government of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi. Iraqi security officials and Kurdish commanders expressed concerns that the exit could create a security vacuum. Kurdish commander Sirwan Barzani stated that Islamic State sleeper cells have already increased their movements in response to the withdrawal news.
The scale of the shift is defined by the removal of the final U.S. military footprint from bases like Camp Victory near Baghdad. Iraqi security experts, such as Jasim al-Bahadli, noted that the departure removes a military counterweight to Iranian influence, which may lead to Iran-backed militia groups exerting greater control over Iraq's security and political decisions. Additionally, four Iraqi security officials reported that a suspected Islamic State cell recently attempted to organize suicide attacks to coincide with the pullout, highlighting the ongoing threat from militant networks that once controlled territory and killed thousands of Iraqis.
The knock-on effects include a potential shift in the regional balance of power. Iran has characterized the withdrawal as a "crushing defeat" for U.S. policy, while the U.S. has granted a one-month sanctions waiver to Iraqi Airways for flights to Najaf to facilitate religious travel. What happens next depends on the ability of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s government to manage internal security without international coalition support. The official deadline for all personnel to be out of the country is September 30, 2026, after which Iraqi forces will be solely responsible for monitoring Islamic State sleeper cells and managing the influence of regional neighbors.