President George W. Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 to overthrow dictator Saddam Hussein after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The initial military campaign swiftly toppled the regime, but it devolved into a prolonged counterinsurgency before U.S. forces fully withdrew in 2011.
Then in 2014, the internationally recognized government in Baghdad explicitly invited a U.S.-led international coalition to help defeat the Islamic State group (ISIS), and President Barack Obama authorized a new U.S. military mission in Iraq as the extremists rampaged across the region.
The 12-year advisory, logistical, and air-support campaign dismantled ISIS as a territorial threat, and the Pentagon this week announced that it has completed the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq.
The last U.S. troops left an air base in northern Iraq under an agreement between Baghdad and Washington, with Baghdad touting the end of the U.S. mission as a sign of the country's increasing strength and sovereignty.
Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi added to the celebration by declaring a national holiday, but the departure of U.S. troops has exposed deep internal divisions.
While pro-Iran factions hail it as a massive triumph, leaders in the northern Kurdish region and many ordinary citizens have expressed deep anxiety that the sudden security vacuum could spark a resurgence of ISIS or allow powerful armed militias to destabilize the state.
Bob Maginnis, president of Maginnis Strategies LLC, recognizes that Iraq is a tough place.
"You have three groups," he relays. "You obviously have the Sunnis that have historically run Baghdad. You have the Shia that are associated with Iran that are mostly in the south and on the east, then you have the Kurds that have autonomy in the north. It's really a divided country, and it always has been. I don't see that it's going to be able to stay stable given those distinctions that we've seen."
That is why he is unsure that withdrawing was the right decision.
"I'm not really sure that it's our fight, but if our interests are to stabilize the region, withdrawing now might not be in the best interest," Maginnis reasons. "But I don't like the idea that we're the policemen of the world, either. It's a hard call."
