{"id":49324,"date":"2026-01-20T00:22:53","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T00:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2026\/01\/20\/us-completes-withdrawal-from-al-asad-airbase-iraq-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:53:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:53:20","slug":"us-completes-withdrawal-from-al-asad-airbase-iraq-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2026\/01\/20\/us-completes-withdrawal-from-al-asad-airbase-iraq-says\/","title":{"rendered":"US completes withdrawal from al-Asad airbase, Iraq says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The United States has quietly completed its withdrawal from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/10\/01\/us-military-starts-drawing-down-mission-in-iraq-officials-say\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/10\/01\/us-military-starts-drawing-down-mission-in-iraq-officials-say\/\">al-Asad air base in Iraq\u2019s Anbar Province<\/a>, the Iraq Defense Ministry said Saturday, bringing to a close more than two decades of American military presence in the western part of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iraqi Army Chief of Staff <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/modmiliq\/status\/2012962420281553152?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/x.com\/modmiliq\/status\/2012962420281553152?s=20\">Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah<\/a> oversaw the transfer of responsibilities at the base, according to the Defense Ministry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the handover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The drawdown follows <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/pentagon\/2024\/09\/27\/us-task-force-to-fight-isis-in-iraq-will-end-by-2026-officials-say\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/pentagon\/2024\/09\/27\/us-task-force-to-fight-isis-in-iraq-will-end-by-2026-officials-say\/\">an agreement<\/a> reached in September 2024 between Washington and Baghdad to shutter the U.S.-led military coalition that had long served as a bulwark against the Islamic State. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two sides initially set a target for completion by the end of September 2025, but a small contingent of roughly <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/iraq-islamic-state-sudani-us-military-advisers-2180dbaf3ea209bd6af32b43c266603d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/iraq-islamic-state-sudani-us-military-advisers-2180dbaf3ea209bd6af32b43c266603d\">250 to 350 American military advisers<\/a> remained at the base in response to developments in neighboring Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2400\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635665062651357306-050712od-salute-norris2jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-99979\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635665062651357306-050712od-salute-norris2jpg.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635665062651357306-050712od-salute-norris2jpg.jpg?resize=300,240 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635665062651357306-050712od-salute-norris2jpg.jpg?resize=768,614 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635665062651357306-050712od-salute-norris2jpg.jpg?resize=1024,819 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635665062651357306-050712od-salute-norris2jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1229 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635665062651357306-050712od-salute-norris2jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1638 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3000px) 100vw, 3000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Actor Chuck Norris visits Marines at al-Asad in 2007. (Sgt. Sheila Brooks\/U.S. Marine Corps)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President Donald Trump and his Syrian counterpart, Ahmed al-Sharaa, held a phone call on Monday to discuss \u201cdevelopments in the situation in Syria\u201d and affirmed \u201csupport for its unity and the fight against terrorism,\u201d Damascus said <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SyPresidency\/status\/2013338722339598602?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SyPresidency\/status\/2013338722339598602?s=20\">in a post on X<\/a>. The two leaders also agreed to continue cooperation to combat ISIS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CENTCOM underscored its collaboration with Syria in its ongoing campaign against the Islamic State. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe welcome ongoing efforts by all parties in Syria to prevent escalation and pursue resolution through dialogue,\u201d CENTCOM head Adm. Brad Cooper <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CENTCOM\/status\/2012563385452314819?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CENTCOM\/status\/2012563385452314819?s=20\">said in a statement<\/a> on Saturday. \u201cAggressively pursuing ISIS and relentlessly applying military pressure requires teamwork among Syrian partners in coordination with U.S. and coalition forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors is essential to peace and stability across the region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. \u2014 alongside partner forces \u2014 has over the past month conducted a series of \u201clarge-scale\u201d strikes against ISIS targets throughout Syria as part of \u201cOperation Hawkeye State.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defense Pete Hegseth said the operation was launched as a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SecWar\/status\/2002140737060692098?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SecWar\/status\/2002140737060692098?s=20\">\u201cdeclaration of vengeance\u201d<\/a> in direct response to the deadly ISIS attack on two American soldiers and one U.S. civilian interpreter in Palmyra on Dec. 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. troop levels in Iraq reached a peak of about 169,000 in August 2007, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/assets\/a203616.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/assets\/a203616.html\">a Government Accountability Office <\/a>report stated. Since the end of the American combat mission in the country in December 2021, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/12\/28\/new-in-2021-us-troop-presence-heading-down-to-2500-in-iraq-and-afghanistan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/12\/28\/new-in-2021-us-troop-presence-heading-down-to-2500-in-iraq-and-afghanistan\/\">approximately 2,500<\/a> U.S. forces were stationed in different installations across Iraq.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The move brings to a close more than two decades of American military presence in the western part of the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":112038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,11,47,36,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3488],"class_list":["post-49324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-global","category-mideast-africa","category-newsletters","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"U4CJWUXMHVA3HOPUN4UGDCIZSY","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2026\/01\/20\/us-completes-withdrawal-from-al-asad-airbase-iraq-says\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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