US forces have finally quit Iraq. What happens now?

October 1, 2026 — 5:59am

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Baghdad: US military forces pulled out of Iraq on Wednesday following two decades of American involvement that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians and thousands of US troops, and now leaves a battered but increasingly influential Iran at the centre of the region’s future.

The withdrawal concludes a Biden administration agreement made in 2024 to zero out US military personnel in Iraq by this year. Recently, there were about 1500 combined US personnel and anti-Islamic State coalition members in Iraq, a US official said, as forces consolidated and departed ahead of the September 30 deadline.

That mission will continue in Jordan, from where the Pentagon says it can target militants who pose a threat to US personnel and interests, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss military planning.

The redeployment of US forces has been a muted event in Washington. The 2003 invasion triggered a significant human and financial toll that will be felt for generations. As many as 210,000 Iraqi civilians were killed between the invasion and 2023, along with 4599 US service members, according to figures from Brown University’s Cost of War Project.

Roughly 170,000 US troops were in the country at the height of the war in 2007, when sectarian violence spiralled out of control. President Barack Obama vowed to end the unpopular conflict after he was elected in 2008. He declared an end to........

© Brisbane Times