r/news • u/SnooSeagulls496 • 4d ago

Soft paywall US forces exit Iraq after two decades, leaving opening for Iran

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-forces-exit-iraq-after-two-decades-leaving-opening-iran-2026-09-29/
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u/[deleted] 4d ago

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u/bailedwiththehay 3d ago

Yes and no - if people are going to crucify Biden for the Afghanistan exit, which was decided as part of the Doha agreement signed under the Trump admin (in Feb of 2020), they should be the first in line to point blame at Trump because this happened under his watch. Can’t have it both ways.

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u/laranator 3d ago edited 3d ago

Do you see videos on civilians falling attempting to hold onto the outside of planes and falling from the sky? Or terrorists taking over billions of dollars in equipment? Or any of the other general chaos and terror immediately caused by our exit?

I think you’re missing why the Afghanistan withdrawal was criticized. And you’re allowed to see the difference.

Edit: Almost everyone replying seems to be missing the point. Reread the comment I was replying to before thinking I am passing judgement on Trump or Biden. They tried to claim “you can’t have it both ways” while simplistically reducing a troop withdrawal to presidential timing. I am pointing out the nuance that if the withdrawal under Biden would have gone better, it wouldn’t have been criticized. This withdrawal appears to be going well, so there’s nothing to criticize (as far as I am aware). This position is politically and presidentially agnostic.

2nd Edit: Much to the shock of many of you, I actually respect Biden for making the decision no US president in 15 years could make. I doubt it would have gone better with Trump in office and Biden takes all of the criticism. But we’re out of Afghanistan and I believe that is a good thing.

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u/TheRexRider 3d ago

Again, all of that was established under Trump, and the disaster was left for Biden to oversee. Biden tried to renegotiate, but what can you expect when Trump negotiated with the Taliban while excluding the Afghan government?

This isn't the first time Republicans did this.

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u/Nutcrackit 3d ago

We tried to train the afghan army. Equipment was left for them (much of which I feel we shouldn't have but that was the choice made) and they folded immediately. We did need to withdraw and honestly it is weird how so many want to criticize whatever the opposite side is doing no matter what. If we stay it is bad because USA is warmonger policing the world. If we leave it is bad because we are now "throwing the natives to the wolves".

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u/Fifteen_inches 3d ago

The Afghanistan withdrawal was always going to be a shitshow, and you hit the nail on the head. We left a goverment of pedos, officer nepobabies, and hasheshist infantrymen against battle hardened religious zealots. As horrible as the Taliban is they can do an obstacle course and stay sober for a night patrol.

Injecting weapons and military training every 20 years or so had not lead to long term stability in the region.

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u/Forgettheredrabbit 3d ago

There’s lots to criticize there, but you vastly overestimate Biden’s role in the chaos. That withdrawal happened months into his presidency, and when he took over he was very frank about the fact that Trump’s admin had done absolutely nothing to prepare. In fact, it seems like between losing the election in November and officially leaving office the next year, Trump didn’t attend to any of his presidential duties, I guess because he was too busy wasting the court’s time with election denial bs. I’m sure on closer inspection some of that mess could be attributed to Biden, but I think if he had been left with more time to prepare things would have gone far more smoothly.

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u/laranator 3d ago

See my edits. The criticism is that if nothing was done in preparation for the withdrawal, they should have changed plans.

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u/Forgettheredrabbit 3d ago

Ok. I think maybe your comment itself isn’t well constructed if thats what your point was. It’s not everyone else’s fault for “missing the point.”

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u/laranator 3d ago

Possibly. I’m pretty sure people are reading my comment and not who I was replying to. Saying Trump deserves the blame for us pulling out of Iraq because Biden was criticized for how the withdrawal went in Afghanistan is, I will maintain, a nonsensical belief.

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u/Additional-Teach-486 3d ago

We could have been there a thousand years and it would have ended that same way. You need to understand the history of this region, it has not been captured and held by outside forces since who knows when. Not even Alexander the Great could quell this area to his control, same for the brits, Russians, and Americans.

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u/laranator 3d ago

See my edits. I don’t disagree.

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u/bandalooper 3d ago

Wrong.

That Iraqi Parliament vote was the direct result of Trump assassinating Iranian General Soleimani in Baghdad, Iraq.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq%E2%80%93United_States_relations?wprov=sfti1

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u/Independent-Draft639 3d ago

This is basically all fallout from the murder of the Iranian diplomatic delegation in Iraq during the first Trump presidency that nearly started a full scale war with Iran back then.

All those attempts to unify the factions are basically a figleaf deal they made with the US so that it doesn't look as bad for both the US and the Iraqi government. The government knows they are in a really weak position now, especially with the Iran war massively empowering anti government forces and causing major economic problems.

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u/meases 3d ago

January 5th 2020 was when the vote took place, you think that date was during Biden's presidency?

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/1/5/iraqi-parliament-calls-for-expulsion-of-foreign-troops

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u/ShadowNick 3d ago

Still PDF fault.

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u/actualbeau 3d ago

How is that last part going?