When the last U.S. forces left Erbil Air Base in Iraqi Kurdistan on Sept. 30, 2026, it marked more than the removal of soldiers and military equipment. It also changed the security calculus in the region.
For years, the American troop presence had two effects at once. It provided the region – home to 6.5 million people, mainly ethnically Kurdish – with broader military support and protection against drones and missiles launched by Iran and its allied groups in Iraq. The American presence also helped make the region part of a wider confrontation between the United States, Iran and those same Iranian-allied groups.
