After Two Decades, U.S. Forces Leave Iraq to an Uncertain Future

Scritto il 30/09/2026
da Erika Solomon, Falih Hassan and Eric Schmitt

Some Iraqis are celebrating the end of an American military presence that unleashed waves of bloodshed. Others fear what happens next for their country, trapped between Washington and Tehran.A giant Iraqi flag hung from the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul’s old city on Tuesday. With the end of Operation Inherent Resolve, the last of the 2,500 U.S. forces stationed in Iraq this year are now gone.