The U.S. government is expected to announce a troop reduction in Iraq shortly, two administration officials said on Friday.
Negotiations between the Pentagon and Iraqi leaders have gone on for several months, which Iraqi officials have indicated would lead to the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces by the end of 2026.
September 2024 marks the 10th anniversary of the creation of the global coalition to defeat the Islamic State. Administration officials reiterated that ISIS still poses a threat, even though it does not have the territory it had back then.
“ISIS has definitely been severely defeated, certainly territorially defeated, and we want to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS, but the threat does remain,” a senior Defense Department official said.
A senior administration official added, “I think it’s fair to say we’ve had great success in territorially defeating ISIS in the core regions of Iraq and Syria. However, we are all very mindful that ISIS … is down, but they’re never quite out.”
The announcement is expected to take place after U.S. and Iraqi officials meet again at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York next week. There is also a ministerial between the two scheduled for Sept. 30.
The U.S. officials described the change as an “evolution” of the “Defeat ISIS” mission. The administration official added, “We’re talking about an evolution of the coalition mission, ultimately the ending of the coalition military mission in Iraq.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani said earlier this week that “the justifications are no longer there” for a large U.S. presence. “There is no need for a coalition. We have moved on from wars to stability. ISIS is not really representing a challenge.”
U.S. forces carry out joint missions against ISIS in Iraq and Syria with their partners in both countries. In late August, U.S. Central Command and Iraqi Security Forces carried out a raid in western Iraq that resulted in the deaths of 14 ISIS fighters, including four people described as leaders, while seven U.S. troops were injured in the mission.
One of those leaders killed in the operation was Abu-‘Ali al Tunisi, whom the State Department had a $5 million reward for information leading to his identification or location. The Rewards for Justice Program described him as “the leader of manufacturing for ISIS in Iraq” and said he had “conducted training for ISIS members, including instruction on how to make explosives, suicide vests, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).”
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ISIS in Iraq and Syria is also expected to double the number of attacks it carries out this year compared to last, CENTCOM announced over the summer. As of mid-July, 153 ISIS attacks had been tracked in 2024, though nonmilitary experts noted that part of its strategy is not to take credit for operations, indicating the number is likely even higher.
U.S. forces and their partners conducted nearly 200 ISIS missions, CENTCOM said at the time, adding that operations resulted in the deaths of 44 ISIS operatives and the apprehension of 166 others.