US exits Iraq as war with Iran escalates — SkimNews
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- U.S. completed the withdrawal of all troops from Erbil Air Base on September 30, with the Pentagon declaring an 'orderly departure' and the White House framing it as a victory.
- Trump described the U.S. military presence in Iraq as 'a very expensive excursion into Hell,' underscoring the long-standing cost and futility of American intervention.
- Pentagon relocated the anti-ISIS task force headquarters to Jordan and maintains hundreds of troops in Syria and bases across the Gulf, indicating a strategic redeployment rather than full withdrawal.
- Iran-aligned militias in Iraq are celebrating the U.S. departure, while Baghdad has failed to meet its deadline to disarm them, raising concerns about regional power vacuums.
- Kurds have absorbed over 1,000 Iranian drone and missile attacks since the war began and now face the U.S. exit without promised air defenses, deepening their sense of abandonment.
- Leon Hadar argues that real disengagement would mean shifting from regional policeman to offshore balancer, intervening only if a hostile power threatens regional dominance—something Iran does not currently represent.
Why it matters: The U.S. is reducing visibility in Iraq while escalating conflict with Iran, maintaining its military footprint under a new configuration. This preserves the bipartisan consensus on Middle East engagement without altering its costly, cyclical nature—meaning regional actors like Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia still operate under the shadow of American power, not beyond it.
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