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US Forces Exit Iraq

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-forces-exit-iraq-after-two-decades-leaving-opening-iran-2026-09-29/
48•cod1r•1h ago

Comments

meowface•53m ago
Why is this article written like an op-ed, despite being Reuters?

I am not even necessarily disagreeing with it (I lean very anti-Iran and slightly geopolitically neoconservative) but the tone is not at all neutral and makes no mention of the possible downsides of troops staying in Iraq after decades.

actionfromafar•48m ago
It is?

It reports on some reactions.

mahboi•10m ago
The beginning of the summary, which isn't a reaction, says "worst US war of 21st century"
shevy-java•46m ago
I somewhat agree - not necessarily with your content here, but that the article is written ... strangely.

For instance:

> US forces leave country where 4,500 of them died in worst US war of 21st century

I am not even certain that this war was worse than the Afghanistan war. Perhaps the Iraq war was objectively worse, but since the sudden withdrawal in Afghanistan, leaving the Taliban in charge, I am not so sure which war was worse. I am not even sure how to qualify it, so Reuters stating this was the worst war is ... indeed a strange label to use. Wasn't Reuters indeed more objective in the past? And with that I mean objective at all times, not white-washing or black-washing.

I now finished reading the article and it indeed seems op-ed. The reader now thinks that the war against Iran must continue. I still fail to understand why the USA invaded the area. Other than some making enormous profits, of course. If 911 was used as a rationale, why was not Saudi Arabia attacked?

watwut•27m ago
United States lost a total of 2,459 military personnel in Afghanistan. It had less military deaths.
Arainach•24m ago
The US had a clear reason to be in Afghanistan. It was a brutal quagmire with thousands of deaths (and many more Afghani deaths), but one could at least argue there was purpose in the beginning.

Iraq was 4500 dead for one Texan trying to imitate daddy while listening to his CEO buddies.

arrrg•24m ago
I also tripped over that line but I think it’s content is very specific and the number of deaths is the clue: in terms of deaths the Iraq war is definitely the worst war of the US in the 21st century. You have to very literally read that line. And in that context that claim makes sense: In terms of deaths the Iraq war was the worst war.

Now, there are certainly other axis along which you can judge a war.

pathsjs•11m ago
american deaths
fsh•40m ago
The article summarizes interviews with various interest groups in the region. Exactly what you would expect from a news agency like Reuters.
meowface•25m ago
It does, but it feels like every paragraph is inserted to fit only one thesis.
dmurray•16m ago
Shouldn't there be some quotes from the US leadership? Normally this would be a chance to claim a military victory, a "mission accomplished".

Perhaps the US are trying not even to acknowledge it. A reputable newspaper would normally include "the Department of War was contacted for comment" but maybe that's not appropriate for Reuters.

latexr•17m ago
> I lean (…) slightly geopolitically neoconservative

We have too many labels. That’s not good for a species which hates others based on different labels.

meowface•6m ago
I don't support the Iran War but I do support global US hegemony because I believe the other two possible candidates, China and Russia, would be worse. And I think retaliation against Iran for their massacre of protesters was morally warranted, even if that was only a pretext for the war by Trump rather than an actual moral consideration, and even if moral merit alone does not justify major intervention or war.

"Slightly geopolitically neoconservative" is the short way to describe that.

shevy-java•50m ago
Have they finally found weapons of mass destruction there? I remember a certain powerpoint presentation ...
sedan_baklazhan•43m ago
This system is rumored to be currently looking for nuclear weapons of Iran in some girl's schools.
tommica•11m ago
Why would you put your military assets in the middle of your civilian population?

Although the loss of that school is quite saddening :/ poor girls

fransje26•19m ago
> I remember a certain powerpoint presentation ...

I remember a speech at the UN, with a certain vial being held..

chicken-stew•9m ago
https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/disarm/

https://web.archive.org/web/20150218235400/https://2001-2009...

ImHereToVote•41m ago
Good news. Maybe Iraq will finally be able to control its own oil again.

https://thecradle.co/articles/why-does-the-us-still-control-...

TheqO•37m ago
Judging by what is newly happening in Venezuela, I think its unlikely USA will cede control over Iraq's oil/money as the mentality of the US state is unchanged. And USA is in debt/various individuals profiting personally.

https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/us-control-venezuelan-oil-revenue-...

Classic Chappelle show skit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFERPDn3i0o

sedan_baklazhan•13m ago
Iran is becoming the new regional power while USA is retreating from the entire ME.
drstewart•9m ago
>Iran is becoming the new regional power

Is that what the Iranian state media is telling you?

sedan_baklazhan•6m ago
These are facts. American bases are destroyed or being withdrawn. USA can no longer protect its allies from Iran. Hence, Iran is becoming the only power in the region.

P.S. I have no idea what is Iranian state media or how to watch/read it.

toasty228•40m ago
Are ya winning son?

The last 5 years will be 5 chapters in history books

vachina•33m ago
Exit Japan and Philippines next.
iririririr•31m ago
why? they haven't lost any war there
throwaw12•29m ago
Unfortunately, millions of lives lost, another millions started hating US for what it did to their families.

I am curious what did the world gain from this?

exe34•27m ago
Oil
p-e-w•24m ago
Did it? How did the world gain oil from the invasion and occupation of Iraq? It’s not like Iraq wasn’t exporting oil before. That makes no sense to me even under the most cynical interpretation.
meowface•14m ago
There's no evidence the US's motive or achieved outcome of the war was oil.

Seems "he tried to kill my father, now there's an excuse to take him out and turn his country into a democracy in the region, and a US-aligned entity" explains most of it.

Much like Trump, it's pettiness and prestige and a notion of more points on the board. (Though Trump did in fact attack Venezuela for oil, or possibly more so just to publicly boast about taking their oil and seem strong to his fans.)

mahboi•11m ago
This "oil" thing is a cover for Israeli lobbying
prodigycorp•10m ago
This was not about oil. This is a harmful lie. The reality is more sobering and dangerous: it's the neocon agenda that led the invasion. There are people who fundamentally believe in nation building as national duty. That ideology should be addressed and resisted directly.

Distracting people with the oil excuse gives cover to ppl who need it least.

meindnoch•29m ago
The American balloon is popping.
drstewart•16m ago
How many European forces are in Iraq? I guess the EU balloon has already popped, by your metric.
mahboi•9m ago
Well yeah, it can be both
blitzar•9m ago
Europeans left in the mid 1900's
anovikov•21m ago
One thing that people for some reason don't like to voice out loud: America won this way. Maybe it has become politically incorrect to even voice anything positive at all, like doomerism grasped all sides of society?

Baath party is destroyed and no longer exists, political and underlying ethnic groups that propped it up are deeply marginalised and sidelined, political regime in place in Iraq is exactly the one America wanted to have there, and it WORKS: they have regular competitive elections (in the strictest sense of it: before the elections, no one can predict results in advance) and a well-functioning civil society where people can advocate for, or protest against things without it devolving to tribalism (not "Shia vs Sunni" riots or similar). Iraq as it currently is, is created by America and stands firmly on its feet.

w3ll_w3ll_w3ll•18m ago
Yeah sure, really stable, apart from Islamic State invasion of Iraq between 2014 and 2017.
ib33•3m ago
2021 elections: The 2021 Iraqi parliamentary election resulted in violent protests in Baghdad as well as a political crisis of eleven months <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/12/iraqi-mps-from-fire...>

2025 elections: Briefing: Iran media call Iraq election result victory for 'Resistance' <https://monitoring.bbc.co.uk/product/b0004xgt>

Amnesty International Report on human rights in 2025 <https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-af...>

dasKrokodil•20m ago
Mission Accomplished!
maeln•20m ago
> a departure celebrated as a victory by Iran and its allies who now have deep influence in the country where 4,500 Americans died during more than two decades of war.

Kind of crazy to lead with this. Talking about the Americans victims (mostly military) and ignoring the local Iraqi victims (mostly civilians).

trentor•11m ago
It’s an article about us forces leaving Irak seems reasonable to talk about how many they lost during the time they were there…
rjzzleep•18m ago
Usually when the US forces exit a theater it's a prelude to war, like the Afghanistan withdrawal was so that they couldn't be retaliated against. I caution people not to get too excited about this.
21asdffdsa12•16m ago
The whole region is a energy drain for any empire involved. When the empire-exits, all the regional empire start butchering one another. Usually this is start of a culling of the locals by other locals. There is a reason people in empire border regions (balcans) are at each others throats 24/7.
mahboi•8m ago
This was agreed upon during Biden's term.
coldtea•7m ago
>it's a prelude to war, like the Afghanistan withdrawal was so that they couldn't be retaliated against

What war happened in Afghanistan since? Or Korea? Or Vietnam?

secult•10m ago
Iraq is a country of more than 40 million of inhabitants. They can take care of theirselves. Using an argument of some "sleeper cells", come on, it's silly. Is the US army only thing holding up their government? If yes then what do you expect? Either it falls the same way as in Afganistan, or it fights for itself.
lloydatkinson•9m ago
Again?
mahboi•7m ago
"We believe Iraq is still not fully ready to take over the security file at this time"

Welp, sounds like it wasn't going to happen.

inglor_cz•35m ago
Given the geostrategic situation there, either the West or Iran meddles in Iraq. Full sovereignty is hard to achieve in such a neighbourhood unless you are one of the traditional powers (Iran, Turkey).
coldtea•6m ago
They're not ideologues, even in the bad sense.
21asdffdsa12•15m ago
Well, in the large theme of things, its irrelevant. The region butchers itself regularly- with the us involved or without. If they spend a 100 years undisturbed doing local wars - it would have been no different.

Downvote all you want, but the region had its first "nuclear" war in 2016 - with proliferation nukes so really who cares. It blew itself up, it will blow itself up again.

Warrior cultures do not go to space, they go to heaven.

artisinal•15m ago
Europe gained millions of refugees / cheap labour.
UpsideDownRide•13m ago
World? What would make you think this was ever about the world and not very particular interests?
rainworld•4m ago
For the US, oil money (in Dollars) and control over Iraq: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/why-does-the-us-control-i...

For Israel, oil from Kurdistan: The revival of the Kirkuk-Haifa pipeline fell through but Turkey stepped in to enable transport.

For both, the neutralization of a regional actor. The chaos that also weakened its neighbors. Eventually, the destruction of Syria. A base and flight path to attack Iran.

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