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U.S. Completes Withdrawal from Iraq, Ending 12-Year Mission
Confirmed
In Short: The U.S. military has completed its withdrawal from Iraq, marking the end of a 12-year mission.
The U.S. military announced Wednesday that it has completed the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq, with the last U.S. troops leaving an air base in northern Iraq.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, who presided over the handover ceremony, said the withdrawal was the beginning of a 'new phase' for a sovereign Iraq.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that the withdrawal reflects the success of a 12-year campaign that defeated ISIS as an organized military threat in Iraq and across the region.
Baghdad said the withdrawal signals the country's increasing strength and sovereignty.
However, the withdrawal also marks a transition from a wartime coalition mission to an Iraqi-led security effort supported by a more normal bilateral security relationship.
At least 200,000 Iraqi civilians were killed during the conflict, according to Iraq Body Count, a U.K.-based independent organization.
In 2005, retired General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the current chief of defence forces in Uganda, commanded the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment during a major counterinsurgency campaign against al-Qaida in Tal Afar, Iraq.
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is demanding a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory up to its internationally recognized border and the release of all Lebanese detainees.
Salam's meetings in New York on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly have so far failed to secure Lebanon’s request for a six-month extension of the UNIFIL mandate.
The U.S. withdrawal from Iraq comes amid concerns about Iranian-backed militias operating outside Baghdad's control, which remain a threat to Iraqi sovereignty.
What's confirmed
- General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the chief of defence forces and son of the president, announced the withdrawal on the social media platform X.
What's still developing
- The withdrawal was agreed on two years ago and brings to a close a 12-year mission to fight the Islamic State group, the Associated Press reported.
- “We want the war to end and we want the ceasefire [with Israel] consolidated,” Salam said in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday.
- A US-brokered framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel in June provides for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory and the deployment of the Lebanese army in areas vacated by Israeli forces.
- Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst shares an exclusive interview with U.S. special envoy Jared Kushner on his meetings with Hamas leadership and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 'The Story.' The Israel Defense Forces captured Hamas' head of general security during a raid in Gaza, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said.
- An Israeli security official identified the Hamas leader as Mu'in al-Arabid, head of the General Security Apparatus, saying he was arrested during an Israeli incursion deep inside Hamas territory in Gaza.
- The IDF carried out airstrikes to cover the raid's withdrawal, adding that there were no Israeli casualties.
- He further emphasized alignment with the throne, stating, “We shall not participate in anything that does not have His Majesty’s approval.” Reports indicate the general specifically objected to internal military factions supporting what he termed the “Harry-Meghan nonsense,” leading him to quash the participation immediately.
- The 52-year-old general is widely viewed as the preferred successor to his 81-year-old father, who has ruled Uganda since 1986.
- Uganda’s military commander has pulled the country out of Prince Harry’s Invictus Games, turning a dispute within the British royal family into an unexpected foreign policy intervention by one of Africa’s most controversial generals.
- Announcement came from General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda's chief of defence forces. 10 outlets, one story, no spin found. 9 of 10 outlets skipped it: invictus had not received official withdrawal information.
- The withdrawal came only two months after Uganda said it would join the Invictus Games, and the BBC reported that Uganda had become the 26th country to take part.
- The BBC reported that a spokesman for the Invictus Games said they had not received any official information about a potential withdrawal and were seeking clarification from their contacts in Uganda.