ISTANBUL
- Pentagon records 123 service deaths during post-2014 deployment compared to 4,418 killed during 2003–2011 occupation
Iraq on Wednesday announced the end of the US-led international coalition’s mission, marking a transition toward bilateral security relations with coalition member states, the prime minister’s security adviser said.
The announcement comes as the US completes its military withdrawal from Iraq ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline, concluding a 12-year deployment launched to support the fight against ISIS (Daesh).
The departure terminates the multinational mission launched in 2014 rather than representing the first American exit from the country. US Central Command (CENTCOM) reaffirmed the broader timeline to Anadolu while declining to elaborate on final movements.
Here is how the US military presence evolved from invasion and occupation to counterterrorism operations and the final withdrawal.
Invasion, troop surge, and first withdrawal: 2003–2011
The long-term American military presence started on Oct. 16, 2002, when the US Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution.
It empowered the executive branch to deploy armed forces against Saddam Hussein’s government over allegations of weapons of mass destruction and ties to terrorism.
On March 19, 2003, US President George W. Bush announced Operation Iraqi Freedom to “disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.”
Coalition forces entered Baghdad in April 2003, causing the collapse of the government.
US troop levels crossed 145,600 personnel that month and remained above 100,000 for several years, according to Government Accountability Office data.
American troops captured Saddam Hussein near Tikrit on Dec. 13, 2003, leading to his trial by an Iraqi tribunal and execution on Dec. 30, 2006.
Faced with escalating sectarian strife, Bush announced a strategic reinforcement known as the “surge” on Jan. 10, 2007, deploying additional brigades that raised troop levels from 131,500 in late 2006 to a wartime peak of 169,000 personnel by August 2007.
On Nov. 17, 2008, US and Iraq signed a Strategic Framework Agreement alongside a bilateral Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), establishing a mandate for foreign units to exit.
On Dec. 14, 2008, during a joint press conference, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki praised the ratification, while Bush called the agreement “a major achievement” during a press conference where an Iraqi journalist threw shoes at him.
Operation Iraqi Freedom formally concluded on Aug. 31, 2010, transitioning into Operation New Dawn with a reduced number of troops tasked with advising domestic forces.
On Dec. 12, 2011, US President Barack Obama and Maliki marked the conclusion of the campaign.
US Forces-Iraq cased their organizational colors in Baghdad on Dec. 15, 2011.
While the bilateral security treaty established Dec. 31, 2011, as the legal deadline for departure, the final operational convoy of 500 soldiers and more than 100 vehicles crossed the border into Kuwait nearly two weeks early on Dec. 18, 2011.
Resurgence of terror threat, return of US forces
The security environment deteriorated rapidly when ISIS swept through northern and western Iraq, seizing the major metropolis of Mosul on June 10, 2014, and capturing approximately one-third of the Iraqi territory.
Following an official request for assistance from Baghdad, Obama deployed initial assessment personnel on June 16, 2014, authorizing targeted airstrikes and humanitarian airdrops on Aug. 7-8 to blunt attacks against Erbil and protect trapped civilians on Mount Sinjar.
On Sept. 10, 2014, Washington established a global coalition that expanded to dozens of member states, formalizing Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) on Oct. 17, 2014, to conduct counterterrorism air operations and assist Iraqi ground units.
Following extensive urban fighting, Iraqi forces liberated Mosul in July 2017.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi formally declared the territorial defeat of ISIS on Dec. 9, 2017, after regaining control along the border with Syria.
Regional tensions escalated sharply on Dec. 27, 2019, when a rocket strike on a Kirkuk military facility killed an American contractor, triggering US airstrikes against five Kata’ib Hezbollah installations.
Protesters breached the outer perimeter of the US Embassy compound in Baghdad on Dec. 31, 2019.
On Jan. 3, 2020, a US strike outside Baghdad International Airport killed Iranian Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Two days later, Iraq’s Council of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution demanding the expulsion of all foreign military forces.
On July 26, 2021, then-US President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi agreed to terminate combat operations by the year’s end.
The coalition formally ended its combat role on Dec. 9, 2021, shifting approximately 2,500 remaining American troops exclusively into training, advising, and intelligence-sharing functions.
Transition negotiations and final departure roadmap: 2024–2026
Bilateral security dialogue restarted in August 2023, establishing the Higher Military Commission in January 2024 to assess the persistent ISIS threat and evaluate domestic defensive capabilities.
On Sept. 17, 2024, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said that the mission’s rationale had concluded.
“Today, Iraq in 2024 is not the same as Iraq of 2014…We moved from a period of wars to a period of stability.”
On Sept. 27, 2024, Washington and Baghdad finalized a roadmap: Phase 1 concluded the coalition’s military tasks across Iraq by September 2025, while Phase 2 permitted foreign personnel to facilitate anti-ISIS missions in Syria from designated Iraqi facilities until September 2026.
On Sept. 30, 2025, the Pentagon announced it, along with coalition partners, would reduce the military mission.
On Jan. 18, 2026, the commission announced that coalition advisers had fully vacated federal military installations, including Ain al-Asad Air Base and the Joint Operations Command headquarters, transferring authority to domestic security personnel.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi visited Washington on July 14, 2026, where he met with US President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Trump affirmed that Washington would no longer require a military garrison inside the country, while Zaidi said that after Sept. 30, “there will be no need for any armed factions, and our security forces are capable of protecting our territory.”
Baghdad reaffirmed Sept. 30, 2026, as the “fixed and final date” for the mission’s conclusion following discussions on Aug. 12 between Zaidi and CENTCOM Commander Gen. Brad Cooper.
On Sept. 27, 2026, an Iraqi official said that foreign forces had completely evacuated, though the US did not confirm this on their side.
Human cost and casualty documentation
Casualty figures demonstrate the contrasting physical intensity between the original occupation and the subsequent counterterrorism mission.
During the 2003–2011 campaign under Operation Iraqi Freedom, approximately 1.5 million American service members served in theater.
According to the Pentagon’s Defense Casualty Analysis System, 4,418 US military personnel were killed and 31,994 were wounded in action.
Financially, the US Congressional Budget Office reported on April 26, 2011, that military operations had cost taxpayers roughly $752 billion.
During the 2014–2026 campaign under Operation Inherent Resolve, Pentagon casualty registries recorded 123 total deaths and 499 service members wounded in action.
Civilian losses during the operations were extensive.
Across both phases from 2003 through 2024, the tracking initiative Iraq Body Count reported more than 200,000 conflict-related civilian deaths.
According to Every Casualty Counts, more than 300,000, including civilians and combatants, were recorded as killed during the period.
