...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
(ISIS) will end its presence in the Iraqi capital and at the Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq by the end of September 2025, a senior advisor to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudan
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...i confirmed on Sunday. The full conclusion of the coalition’s mission is scheduled for September 2026.
Hussein Allawi, advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani told the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) that coalition forces will withdraw from "their headquarters in the capital Baghdad and the Ain al-Asad base in [western Iraq’s Anbar province]" by September.
He added that the move underlines Baghdad’s commitment to "building the [capabilities of the] armed forces and ending the international coalition's mission."
The US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS was formed in 2014 under President Barack Obama
They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them...
to degrade and ultimately defeat the group. Its military operations in Iraq began in October 2014 with
...
KABOOM!...
s and later expanded to include advising and training Iraqi security forces.
The coalition consists of over 60 countries and international organizations, including key members such as the US, United Kingdom, La Belle France, Germany, Canada, Australia, and several Middle Eastern nations. Member states contribute through military personnel, equipment, training, and financial support. As of mid-2025, the US maintains around 2,500 troops in Iraq.
However,
there's more than one way to stuff a chicken...
the coalition forces presence in Iraq became a contentious issue after the US strike that killed Iran’s Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy chief of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), near Baghdad International Airport in January 2020. Days later, 168 members of Iraq’s 329-member parliament voted to expel foreign forces from the country.
Ain al-Asad airbase, one of the largest military installations housing US troops, was then-targeted by Iranian missiles in what Tehran said was its response for the killings.
For his part, Allawi said the coalition’s withdrawal follows a December 2021 agreement between Baghdad and Washington to transition the coalition’s role from combat to training and assisting Iraqi forces.
He emphasized that the mission will conclude within the agreed timeframe - with the first phase ending in 2025 and the final phase in 2026 - paving the way for a "new phase of security cooperation" between Iraq and coalition member-states, in which Iraq aims to develop "sustainable" and "stable bilateral defense relations," grounded not only in military coordination but also in "political, economic, and cultural ties."
Earlier this year, Major General Saad Maan, head of Iraq’s Security Media Cell, confirmed that the coalition’s mission will end in two phases with no extension.
"The missions of the global coalition forces in Iraq will end in two phases: the first will be this year, and the second in 2026. There will be no extension beyond that," Maan said.
He attributed the decision to Iraq’s improved security environment compared to 2014, when ISIS controlled vast territories in the country’s north and west. "Our security forces are now stronger and more capable, and we can rely on ourselves to safeguard the country's security," he added.