US withdraws troops from Iraq after 12 years of fighting ISIS — but not everybody is happy about it

After 12 years of fighting ISIS and 23 years since the start of the Iraq War, U.S. troops have withdrawn from Iraq.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement released Wednesday that Operation Inherent Resolve had “formally concluded” in Iraq and that troops and equipment had departed Erbil Air Base in Northern Iraq, marking “the successful conclusion of the military mission that defeated ISIS in Iraq.”

‘The United States supports a strong sovereign Iraq.’

Parnell added that the Iraqi government must now take “responsibility for addressing Iraq’s remaining security challenges, including ISIS remnants and Iran-aligned militias that undermine Iraqi sovereignty and regional stability,” even as the U.S. continues “to work with Iraq and our partners to ensure ISIS can never reconstitute from Iraqi territory.”

U.S. CENTCOM claimed