U.S.-led coalition mission in Iraq to end by September 2025 - official says move 'not a withdrawal' [Again, remind me. What was this "mission?"] | 27 Sept 2024 | A U.S.-led coalition's military mission in Iraq will end by September 2025 and there will be a transition to bilateral security partnerships, the United States and Iraq said in a joint statement on Friday. The U.S. has approximately 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in neighboring Syria as part of the coalition formed in 2014 to combat Islamic State as it rampaged through the two countries. The joint statement provided few details, including how many U.S. troops would leave Iraq and from which bases. In a briefing with reporters on Friday, a senior U.S. official said that the move was not a withdrawal and declined to say if any troops would even be leaving Iraq. "I just want to foot stomp the fact that this is not a withdrawal. This is a transition. It's a transition from a coalition military mission to an expanded U.S.-Iraqi bilateral security relationship," the official said.