US ends Iraq mission as regional threats persist

The United States is set to end its military mission in Iraq on Wednesday, closing a chapter that began with the 2003 invasion and later shifted to countering ISIS. The remaining U.S. presence, once about 2,500 troops, had increasingly focused on advising Iraqi forces and limiting the influence of Iranbacked militias. The withdrawal was agreed in 2024 between Washington and Baghdad, before the U.S. and Iran entered direct conflict earlier this year. Since then, the security environment has changed, with U.S. officials continuing to face attacks from Iranaligned armed groups. One U.S. soldier was killed in July during a controlled detonation of a downed Iranian drone at Erbil Air Base. At the same time, U.S. intelligence assessments say ISIS in Iraq remains severely degraded and unable to take advantage of the wider regional instability. The coalition mission has already moved its headquarters to Jordan, while Iraqi forces take on more responsibility for counterterrorism operations. Baghdad is also still trying to bring Iranbacked armed groups under state control, though that effort has been delayed until at least 2027.