U.S. troop withdrawal

U.S. Marines conduct an operation to clear a village of Taliban fighters on July 5, 2009, in Mian Poshteh, Afghanistan. The U.S. and NATO forces plan to withdraw their remaining troops from Afghanistan by September.

Opinion: U.S. Faces Hard Choices To Fight Terrorism After Afghanistan Withdrawal

4:32pm April 15, 2021

by Colin P. Clarke

Al-Qaida is degraded but not defeated. Analyst Colin Clarke assesses where the U.S. may be mapping out its future counterterrorism presence after withdrawing from Afghanistan.

Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie (center) visits Kabul, Afghanistan, in January 2020. The Biden administration said it plans to complete a drawdown of U.S. troops in the country by Sept. 11.

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Biden Administration Says It Will Withdraw U.S. Troops From Afghanistan By Sept. 11

3:13pm April 13, 2021

by Rachel Treisman

A senior administration official said that all U.S. troops will leave Afghanistan by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks that prompted America's involvement in its longest war.

A U.S. soldier stands at a spot struck by Iranian missiles in January at Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq's Anbar province. The attack was in retaliation for the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The U.S. is drawing down 2,500 troop

White House Orders Thousands Of U.S. Troops Withdrawn From Afghanistan And Iraq

7:45pm November 16, 2020

by Dustin Jones

The American troop presence will decline in Afghanistan from 4,500 to 2,500, and in Iraq from 3,000 to 2,500. Senior military leaders reportedly oppose the move.

U.S. soldiers walk alongside tanks from the U.S. 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, parked at Germany's Bremerhaven port on Feb. 21. The U.S. could be considering drawing down a portion of its armed forces based in Germany.

A Possible Plan To Pull U.S. Troops From Germany Causes A Stir In Both Countries

6:20pm June 12, 2020

by Rob Schmitz

Reports that the White House wants to pull 9,500 troops out of Germany have raised concerns among current and former officials. Russia welcomed the possible move.

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Defense Secretary Mark Esper (left) speaks as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley listens during a briefing at the Pentagon on Monday.

Defense Secretary Gives Go-Ahead For U.S. Troops To Start Afghan Drawdown

3:26pm March 02, 2020

by David Welna

A peace deal signed with the Taliban calls for 4,000 of the approximately 13,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan to leave within 135 days and for all U.S. troops to be out within 14 months.

In this Nov. 7, 2018, photo released by the U.S. Army, U.S. soldiers gather for a brief during a combined joint patrol rehearsal in Manbij, Syria.

Opinion: Leaving Syria Is Far Less Risky Than Staying

7:32am January 19, 2019

ISIS may not be defeated, but the U.S. is right to withdraw from Syria, argue Aaron David Miller of the Woodrow Wilson Center and Richard Sokolsky of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

An explosion damaged a restaurant in Manbij, Syria, on Wednesday, as shown in a screen grab from the Kurdish Hawar News agency, or ANHA.

U.S. Troops Killed By Blast In Syria; Islamic State Claims Responsibility

5:42pm January 16, 2019

by Daniella Cheslow

Four Americans are reported dead, and three more injured, in a suicide bombing in northern Syria. The attack comes shortly after President Trump announced the U.S. would withdraw troops from Syria.

U.S. Army soldiers walk as a NATO helicopter flies overhead at coalition force Forward Operating Base (FOB) Connelly in the Khogyani district in the eastern province of Nangarhar on August 13, 2015.

How U.S. Troops Will Exit Afghanistan Remains Unclear

10:06am October 17, 2015

by David Welna

Now that the Obama administration has decided to keep U.S. forces in the country longer than initially planned, the 14-year conflict will likely be handed to his successor.