Global & US Headlines
Final U.S. Contingent Departs Erbil, Concluding 12-Year ISIS Mission
Late on 30 September 2026 the Pentagon confirmed every remaining U.S. soldier and piece of equipment had left Erbil Air Base, formally shutting down Operation Inherent Resolve and ending America’s latest military chapter in Iraq.
Focusing Facts
- The last convoy rolled out of Erbil at 23:45 local time on 30 Sept 2026, meeting the withdrawal timetable set in the 2024 Baghdad–Washington agreement.
- U.S. force levels fell from roughly 5,200 advisers in 2020 to zero, transferring full security responsibility to Iraq’s army and Kurdish Peshmerga.
- Over the 23-year Iraq involvement the U.S. recorded 4,500+ troop deaths and spent an estimated $2 trillion, according to Pentagon and CRS tallies.
Context
Like the 29 March 1973 departure of the last U.S. combat troops from Vietnam or the Soviet exit from Afghanistan in February 1989, this withdrawal ends a costly expeditionary cycle rather than settling the underlying politics. It reflects a broader 21st-century trend of American retrenchment from large occupation forces—first Afghanistan in 2021, now Iraq—as Washington reallocates resources toward great-power rivalry and domestic priorities. Whether the moment proves lasting hinges on Iraq’s ability to suppress an ISIS resurgence; the 2011 pull-out was reversed by 2014, showing how quickly a vacuum can redraw commitments. On a century scale the event may signal the waning of the post-9/11 intervention era, yet history suggests disengagements are seldom final when regional balances, oil markets, and alliance credibility remain in flux.
Perspectives
Right leaning media
e.g., Fox News, Sean Hannity — Presents the troop pullout as Donald Trump faithfully ending an expensive war and clinching a definitive victory over ISIS. Champions Trump’s leadership while skimming past any risks of a security vacuum or long-term Iraqi instability, reflecting a pro-Trump partisan tilt.
Left leaning media
e.g., The Nation, The Boston Globe — Welcomes the close of a decades-long quagmire but stresses that Trump’s concurrent war with Iran and earlier policy blunders cloud the meaning of the exit. Uses the occasion to indict both Bush’s 2003 invasion and Trump’s broader militarism, potentially understating gains against ISIS to foreground an anti-war critique.
Lebanese Hezbollah-aligned media
Al-Manar TV — Frames the withdrawal as belated proof of U.S. strategic failure and the costly futility of its occupation. Its anti-U.S. posture paints the exit as an outright defeat and sidesteps Baghdad’s security dilemmas or Iran’s regional role.
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