Iraq’s long, dark night ends: 23 years
of US lies, occupation, and abuse
end --- in a humiliating ouster
September 30th, 10:51am
(Press TV Strategic Analysis Desk)
The formal drawdown of US occupation forces from Iraq on
Wednesday, September 30, 2026, marks the end of a
disastrous 23-year military project that began with
a lie, was sustained by violence, and concluded
in a defeat as profound as the one the US
suffered in Afghanistan.
What the US war machine presented.. as a mission to liberate Iraq
from the Ba’athist dictatorship more than two decades ago and
eliminate the so-called “weapons of mass destruction”
became a case study in imperial overreach, leaving
behind a shattered country, millions dead, and
a region destabilized for generations.
The US-led coalition military presence in the Arab country started
in early 2003, before they were forced to leave in 2011. However,
three years later, in 2014, they returned as part of the so-called
international campaign against the Daesh terrorist group.
The brutal invasion launched on March 20th, 2003, fundamentally
rested on a false premise: that the Saddam Hussein-led regime
possessed weapons of mass destruction and posed an
imminent threat to global security.
The George W. Bush administration presented it as a central
reason for US military intervention in the Arab country.
This claim -- promoted by the Bush administration with theatrical
certainty – including Secretary of State Colin Powell's infamous
presentation to the United Nations --- was proven to be a hoax.
No stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons were found.
No active nuclear program was discovered.
The Iraq Survey Group concluded --- that Iraq had destroyed its
undeclared chemical weapons stockpile in 1991, and found no
credible evidence that it had resumed production of chemical
weapons afterward.
The postwar findings fundamentally undermined the
intelligence assessments on which the WMD case
had been built in the first place.
Saddam... was a brutal dictator who committed horrendous crimes
against his own people and against Iraq's neighbouring countries,
including Iran during the devastating 1980-1988 war in which he
used chemical weapons - with Western complicity. Repressing
Kurdish and Shi'a communities in Iraq - was also one of the
crimes he was proud of.
But the US military invasion was illegal, launched without UN
Security Council authorization, and based on intelligence
that was either fabricated or deliberately distorted. The
US appointed itself judge, jury, and executioner, and
ended up replacing one tyranny with a chaos ----
far worse.
Acknowledging Saddam's crimes.... does not mean the US war
machine had the right to impose itself on the Iraqi people and
replace Saddam’s regime via prolonged military occupation.
The cost of the US military invasion in human lives is staggering
and unforgivable. During the 2003-2011 occupation alone,
conservative estimates place Iraqi civilian killings --- at
over 110,000, with some credible studies suggesting
figures exceeding 650,000 by US military violence,
while acknowledging that these figures are only
a fraction... of the true toll.
Taken together, more than half a million Iraqi civilians - were killed
during this period. The United Nations estimated, that 1.75 million
Iraqis became refugees, either fleeing abroad or displaced within
their own country. However, other independent studies have put
the figure much higher. Brown University's Costs of War project
estimated that the wars in Iraq and Syria from 2003 to 2023
incurred the financial cost of approximately $2.89 trillion.
These figures represent only the direct casualties of war. They do
not account for the wounded, the orphaned, the widowed, or the
millions whose lives were shattered by the destruction of Iraq's
infrastructure, healthcare system, and social fabric, due to the
US military invasion.
They do not count the children who grew up without parents, the
families who lost everything, or the generation of Iraqis whose
futures were stolen by a war.... they never asked for.
A litany of US war crimes
The US record in Iraq is stained with the most horrendous war
crimes that remain largely unaccounted for. The Abu Ghraib
torture scandal ...exposed the systemic abuse of Iraqi and
foreign detainees – physical beatings, sexual humiliation,
psychological torture, and worse – yet accountability
never reached senior officers .....and policymakers
------------ also escaped justice.
International human rights organizations documented the
unlawful killings and excessive or indiscriminate force
against detainees.
The abuses... could not simply be dismissed as isolated
misconduct by a handful of US soldiers. The ruthless
interrogation and detention policies helped create
the conditions in which that abuse occurred....
and flourished.
The use of white phosphorus, depleted uranium, and cluster bombs
in civilian areas caused lasting health and environmental damage,
with birth defects and cancer rates - skyrocketing in the affected
regions. The attacks on Fallujah in 2004 involved the deliberate
targeting of civilians and denial of access to hospitals for the
wounded, leaving hundreds dead and the city in ruins.
Tens of thousands of Iraqis disappeared into detention facilities,
many never to be seen again, their fates buried ....in secret
graves or anonymous morgues.
The Haditha massacre in 2005.... in which US Marines killed 24
unarmed civilians, including women and children, was initially
covered up before emerging as one of the most documented
atrocities of the disastrous war. The list of crimes.... is too
long to enumerate fully, but each ------------ represents a life
destroyed, a family smashed, a community traumatized.
The creation of Daesh
Perhaps the most damning indictment of the US occupation in Iraq:
was its role ------ in creating the very threat it later claimed
to fight. Before the invasion - Iraq had never experienced
any insurgency of any significance. The US occupation
changed this fundamentally.
The so-called Coalition Provisional Authority's decision to disband
the Iraqi army and pursue de-Ba’athification ------- left hundreds of
thousands of soldiers unemployed, humiliated, and available for
recruitment by extremist groups. The result... was not simply
the removal of Saddam, but the wanton destruction and
reconstruction of the Iraqi state: under a Western
occupation, amid widespread insecurity,
insurgency, violence ----- and
institutional collapse.
When the US occupation forces initially withdrew in 2011, they left
behind a hollow Iraqi military that collapsed rapidly when Daesh
swept across the country in 2014, capturing Mosul and
declaring a so-called caliphate.
Ironically, the United States returned in 2014, claiming to fight the
very monster its occupation had helped to create, prolonging its
presence and perpetuating the cycle of violence. It is difficult
to understand the rise of Daesh without understanding the
environment produced by the US invasion, occupation,
insurgency, polarization - and the destruction of all
Iraqi institutions.
As per many observers, the creation and rise of the Daesh terrorist
group after the withdrawal of the US-led coalition forces in 2011
provided a pretext for them to return, which indicates that
here was more to it than meets the eye. The CIA had
a direct role in the creation of Daesh.
The Iraqi demand:
for US withdrawal
The turning point came on January 3, 2020, when a US drone strike
assassinated General Qassem Soleimani, Iran's top anti-terror
commander, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander
of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, as their convoy left
Baghdad airport.
The terrorist strike ----- was a gross violation of Iraqi sovereignty,
conducted without Iraqi permission. Prime Minister Adil Abdul
Mahdi stated that his government had denied Washington
authorization for the attack, yet it proceeded anyway
– an act of war against a sovereign nation that has
been occupied for years.
The response was swift and unequivocal. On January 5th, 2020,
Iraq's parliament passed a resolution - calling for the expulsion
of all foreign troops from Iraqi soil and the cancellation of the
request for military assistance from the US-led coalition.
The resolution was supported by approximately 180
lawmakers, which was politically significant,
although not legally binding.
At the time, Muqtada al-Sadr, the influential politician and cleric,
called the parliamentary move insufficient and demanded that
the US embassy be shut down and its troops expelled, in a
humiliating manner. His demand ------ reflected the mood
in the country.
For years afterward, Iraqi MPs, the Iraqi people, and resistance
movements repeatedly demanded the implementation of this
resolution. The delay.. reflected the complex political and
security dynamics at play, but the demand never faded.
Finally, in 2024, Baghdad and Washington agreed on a timetable,
setting September 30, 2026, as the date for completing the
coalition's military mission.
A defeated force ....departs
The US-led coalition's presence in Iraq.... has finally ended. Iraqi
P.M., Ali al-Zaidi --- declared October 1st --- the day following the
coalition's departure, as Sovereignty Day, a national occasion
that affirms the completion of Iraq's path.. to independence
and sovereignty.
This US departure ...comes after 23 years of failed policy. Like
Afghanistan, the US is leaving Iraq as a defeated force -------
defeated militarily, strategically, politically, and morally.
The invasion 23 years ago was based on a lie, the occupation
was marked by horrendous crimes, and the outcome was
the opposite of what was initially promised.
The US entered Iraq promising security, stability, democracy and
a transformation of the region. Instead --- the invasion became a
prolonged crisis that cost enormous sums, killed vast numbers
of ordinary people, generated massive displacement, caused
irreparable damage to US credibility and helped produce the
conditions from which..... Daesh emerged.
The US is leaving the country in a much worse state than 2003,
just like it left Afghanistan five years ago, handing over the
country ---- to the forces it claimed to fight for 20 years.
So, what did 23 years of US military occupation
ultimately accomplish, relative to what
Washington originally sought to
achieve? The answer is --- a
resounding ‘nothing.’
A moment - of reckoning
The economic cost to US alone is staggering. A Joint Economic
Committee report estimated that the total economic costs of
the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could reach $3.5 trillion,
most of which was wasted. These figures – the US
taxpayers' money – represent borrowed money,
displaced investment, and shattered futures.
For Iraq, the reckoning is more profound. The country now has the
opportunity to reclaim its sovereignty and chart its own path
without foreign military occupation. But the scars of 23
years of war ....will take generations to heal.
The US withdrawal from Iraq --- is a moment for honest accounting.
The US invaded a sovereign nation under false pretenses -- killed
hundreds of thousands of people, created the conditions for the
rise of Daesh, committed documented war crimes, and then....
spent two decades, refusing to leave - despite Iraqi demands.
That it's finally departing is a testament to Iraqi persistence.
The international community should support Iraq's reconstruction
& reconciliation efforts, but it must do so without the arrogance
and interference that characterized the US occupation. Iraq's
future must be determined by Iraqis ------- not Washington.
Iraq may emerge from this ordeal stronger and more unified – or it
may continue to struggle -- with the divisions the US occupation
exacerbated. Either way, the responsibility now rests with the
Iraqis themselves. The long and dark night of that US
occupation ---- is over, for good.