.jpg)
President Donald Trump celebrated the final withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq on Wednesday, declaring an end to a military mission that stretched across more than two decades of American involvement in the country.
Speaking at a White House Hispanic heritage event, Trump blasted the original 2003 invasion and said the United States was finally closing the book on a conflict he described as a costly mistake.
“It was a quagmire. Many, many years it lasted, but soon that part of history will be over,” Trump said.
“We’re getting the hell out of there,” the president went on, calling Iraq “a place where we probably shouldn’t have gone.”
The U.S. military announced Wednesday that the last American troops had departed from Erbil Air Base in northern Iraq under an agreement reached between Washington and Baghdad in 2024.
The withdrawal ends the current U.S. military mission in Iraq, which began in 2014 after American forces returned to help fight ISIS following the terror group’s seizure of large portions of Iraq and Syria.
Trump framed the departure as a victory for both countries and for the campaign against ISIS.
“This day is a victory for the United States. It’s a victory for Iraq and a decisive victory over ISIS,” he added, praising Baghdad’s “wonderful new prime minister” Ali al-Zadi.
The president also welcomed what he described as the orderly departure of American forces and equipment from the country.
“This orderly departure of coalition forces and equipment from Erbil Air Base marks the end of a very expensive excursion into hell.”
POLL: Do You Approve Of Secretary Of War Pete Hegseth?
American troops first invaded Iraq in 2003 and toppled Saddam Hussein before becoming locked in years of insurgency and sectarian violence.
Roughly 4,500 U.S. service members were killed during the Iraq War.
American forces withdrew in 2011 under President Barack Obama but returned three years later after ISIS swept across the region.
Donald Trump used Wednesday’s announcement to draw a sharp contrast between the decades-long Iraq war and his pledge to keep the Iran conflict from becoming another open-ended U.S. military commitment.
He said the United States had been fighting Iran for six months and suffered 18 deaths, arguing that his administration would not allow the conflict to become another decades-long war.
“We have a war with Venezuela that was over in 148 minutes,” he continued. “We have another one where we’re six months in… and we’re going to have that war won very quickly, one way or the other.”
The comparison comes as Washington and Tehran remain locked in negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program.
RELATED: BREAKING: Iran Makes Massive Nuclear Concession
Trump has repeatedly said he expects the Iran conflict to end without turning into the kind of open-ended military commitment that defined Iraq.
In a separate social media post Wednesday, Trump again criticized the decision that initially sent U.S. troops into Iraq.
He wrote that there was “very bad decision-making that got us involved in this quagmire.”
Trump also argued that his administration followed a more limited mission focused on defeating ISIS and leaving once the job was complete.
“I set a clear mission, gave our Commanders the tools to finish it, and refused to let a temporary presence become a permanent one,” he wrote of the US role in Iraq.
The Pentagon said the withdrawal marks a transition toward an Iraqi-led security effort, while the United States is expected to continue providing limited training and intelligence support.
The departure also leaves Iraqi forces responsible for containing remaining ISIS cells and dealing with powerful Iran-backed militias operating inside the country.
POLL: Will You Support Trump And His Candidates In The Midterms?
Continue reading...
[ H/T Trending Politics ]
