ErbilThe last 1,500 coalition troops left Iraq.
Brown University counted up to 210,000 Iraqi civilians killed from 2003 to 2023.
Militias cited the US presence to keep their weapons, but Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi extended their disarmament deadline to June 2027.
Kurdish officials say the exit leaves Kurdistan exposed to Iranian strikes and an Islamic State resurgence.
US forces in Jordan will intervene only if Baghdad or Damascus asks.
How each outlet framed it
drawn from 850+ reports worldwide · These outlets told this story differently.
- Middle East Eye leans critical
- catalogs massive costs of 23-year intervention: hundreds of thousands of deaths, $1 trillion spent, opened door to Iranian interference; frames withdrawal in terms of human and financial toll
- Al Jazeera Online
- frames withdrawal as important step in reclaiming Iraqi sovereignty from Iraq government's perspective, emphasizing transition from wartime coalition to Iraqi-led security effort
- Asharq Al-Awsat English leans critical
- enumerates specific human costs: 210,000 Iraqi civilian deaths (2003-2023), 4,599 US troops, $2.8 trillion per Brown University; notes Trump administration made little fanfare and has not announced comprehensive review
Sources: Middle East Eye, Al Jazeera Online, Asharq Al-Awsat English